Epistles – Philippians 3-4

We continue reading this remarkable letter from Paul to the Philippians today.

If you recall, Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter and in this 2 chapters, he continues his encouragement to the members, despite his adverse circumstances.

As we read today’s passage – you can start highlighting well known passages in Philippians – cause many of these verses can serve as the guideposts in your life of faith through the years…

BIble Passage:  Philippians 3-4

Whew!  That was a lot of great Bible verses, wasn’t it?  And I am hard pressed to think about what I would like to share today. There is just so many things one can choose to highlight.

But as my family was reading this passage together, one verse stood out for me.  In fact, I have never shared what I am about to say with anyone before…

“Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you”

Philippians 3:17

Following My Example…

Although I am a 3rd generation believer in our Church, I was not much of a good Christian when I was young.  Sure I was well behaved and not rebellious.  I don’t think I gave my parents too much trouble.  And although I did have some siblings quarrels, in general – I think I was not too bad.

The problem was I did not spend a lot of time in Church.  My REU classes was always interrupted by my extra curricular activities.  My school friends were my best friends and although I attended theological seminars, the lessons were often discarded the moment it ended.

Life in Church was not so important for me.  The world was…

This was my state when I entered into National Service.  By the grace of God, I was put into an 8 to 5 job and I could go home everyday.  The only problem was … all my friends were stuck in the army camps.  And I was alone.

My Grandfather

Some of you may know that I had a grandfather who was an Elder in our Church.

My grandfather was one of the early believers of our Church in Singapore.  Some may remember him… a quiet man of few words. He was also one of those in his generation who finds it difficult to express himself in a grandfatherly manner to his grandchildren.

And when it was his turn to speak a sermon – you can almost hear all the silent groans in church.  Because he spoke in his dialect (yes… in the 70s and even early 80s, we had sermons delivered in dialects) – many had difficulty in completely understanding his message.

But he continued faithfully serving God and attending services.  One of the more senior deacons once told me that in the early days of our church, because there were few members and most were rather poor – whenever the offerings for the week were not sufficient to cover the cost of renting the church premises, my grandfather would dig into his own wallet to make up the difference.  But true to his character – he never ever disclosed this to me.

I can never say that I was close to him.  Even though I grew up practically one street away from him and visited him almost every day, I could never carry a conversation of more than 3 sentences with him!

But to this day, I remember his unwavering pattern in his life.  Every morning before he set off for work, he will gather the whole family to pray together.  The same happens in the evening.  This takes precedence before anything else.

Even though he was old and his eyesight was not great… he will still drive his Volkswagen Beetle faithfully to Church for all services, Sabbath or night services.

So one aimless evening when I was at his place during my NS days, he said, “Come with me to Church”.  Having nothing to do, I followed him for a night service.  And this gradually became a regular occurrence.

He never ever missed one service.  And so I started being regular in attending services as well.

More often than not – the journey to church was in silence (well… I did say both of us were not the best communicators!).  It was a good thing that the journey only lasted 5 to 8 minutes each time

But I will never forget what he said to me after several months of going to church together…

“Don’t stop going to church.  You must love Jesus.  And make sure you serve God properly.”

There!  His 3 sentences were up and then silence resumed…

To this day, I can never recall these words without tearing.  These words and how he led his life was his legacy for me.

While he may not say much… his actions spoke for him.

I believe it took a lot out of him to even say those 3 sentences to me.  But he did it and it completely changed my attitude towards Church life and God… and it brought me completely back to Church and God.

Whenever I am tempted to slide backwards… to take a break… or even contemplate doing nothing… his words and example still encourages me.  And just thinking about it now makes me hard not to cry.

Live According to the Pattern We Gave You …

God’s providence of examples for me to follow did not end there.  In fact, I am blessed that I have had many good examples that showed me how to live my life as a Christian.  And it would not be possible to tell you all of them…. but I would like to share one more example.

My Uncle

He was also a deacon and was my grandfather’s second youngest son.   He too has been called back to the Lord but the memory of his example still lingers on.

If you knew my uncle (and many of the olders one will), he is the complete opposite of my grandfather.

While my grandfather was quiet – he was the noisy one.  While my grandfather was a man of few words, he would be speaking a hundred words a minute.  While my grandfather is contented to sit alone and just watch… my uncle was always in the centre of everything that was happening in church.

But what was consistent was their love for God and His Church.  And they read the Bible constantly and knew God’s words.

My uncle would spend hours in Church doing whatever that was needed to be done.  Cleaning, driving, yum chai (fellowship) and very importantly for a lot of us… cooking! He loved to eat and cook (which explained his size) and he always took care of our overseas brethren and made them feel that they were home away from home.

He was a real people people.  He always had time for members and helped in any way he could always.

While I was ‘lost’ in the wilderness, I never fully appreciated what my uncle was doing in Church.  But when I started attending services regularly again, I started to see all his actions of kindness and patience, his heart of service to God and His people, and above all, his generous heart to all those in need.

Working with him on Church matters was a joy and even though we were uncle and nephew, he always treated me as an equal.

Indeed, his life was a pattern of faith and service that I strive to follow up to today.

Leading By Example

My grandfather and uncle led me by showing their lives as an example of their faith and dedication to the Lord.  Whether they did so because they were following Paul’s instructions or not, I am not sure.

But Paul recognized that leaders always lead by personal example, whether they are aware of it or not.  And their example tends to extend beyond the nature of the tasks at hand.  This was how I saw my grandfather and uncle.

And when I read that Paul encouraged others to follow his example, I am thankful I had good examples to follow.

Besides my grandfather and uncle, there are many other examples in church for me.

Like the brother who never gave up on me despite all my broken promises to attend Bible Study Fellowships during my ‘wild years’.

Like the brothers and sisters who still pray for me up to today.

Like the Elder who can hardly see and yet taught me a lifestyle of prayer and worship.

Like the brother who silently went about doing all the maintenance work in church to make sure everything works.

Like the sister who went out of her way every Sabbath to bring a young brother and sister to church for RE Classes – and this siblings are now very active in church.

Like the … the list of great examples just go on and on.

These are the examples that Paul wanted in members so that others can follow their lead and become examples to others.

Paul followed the best example – Jesus.  And just as he had imitated Christ, he wants others to do likewise (1 Cor 11:1).

So to end  off, we should consider …

What sort of example do we set for others?

Are you aware of how you influence them?

I truly believe that today, we need more good examples in Church for us to follow. We need more examples whom we can learn to live according to the pattern of their lives so that we ourselves can be the good examples.

My grandfather and uncle lived their lives as an example for me. You may have your own examples too.

The key question is what kind of examples are we?

Are we even examples?  This is a question that is surely worthy of our consideration.

May our Lord Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, help build us up in the most holy and perfect faith.