Together, We Press On
Keith McFarren
September 20, 2026
Philippians 1:21-30
    The word
“happiness” can bring about a number of visions in our mind: happiness is
unwrapping presents on Christmas morning, being surprised on your birthday,
spending time with family and friends, or maybe happiness is just being at home
and relaxing after a long trip or a very stressful day.  
    Everyone wants to
be happy.  In fact, many of us spend our
entire lives chasing happiness.  We spend
our money pursuing happiness and we sacrifice our free time collecting things
and searching for new experiences in life.

    But if our
happiness depends on our circumstances and our possessions, what happens when
life around us begins to decline.  What
happens when our long, sought after toys begin to break or begin to rust out?  What happens when our money begins to run low
or our health changes and we come to realize that the journey to find happiness
is all but over?  When our happiness
begins to subside and begins to disappear…we find that despair begins to set
in.
    Despair has become
a part of our lives. Especially when we feel like life is pressing in on us
from all sides.  Take a good look at all
that is going on in the world.  The
politics, the wars, and all the trash talking rhetoric; we have family
problems, we worry about the economy; and don’t forget all the hatred and the
violence and the death and the destruction that surrounds us.  
    And now, just to
add a little fuel to the fire, just this week they began saying this thing
called Artificial Intelligence, which I don’t know to much about, could kill us
all and destroy civilization within the next ten years.
    We all have our
concerns and our worries.  Many of us are
staring at our calendars trying to figure out how we can be two places at once
because we have schedules that are way too full and are sometime conflicting.
    Whether you’re up
here in the pulpit or sitting out there in a pew, we are surrounded by despair
and we’re looking for a way out of the stress and worry that inundates our
lives.
   The Philippians
weren’t facing the stress of 24 hour news alerts and the constant interruptions
of texts and cell phones ringing…nor were they worried about the fluctuating
economy or the uncertainties of Artificial Intelligence…but Paul and the
Philippians had their own sources of stress and worry and they struggled to
live faithfully as the world around them seemed to be closing in on them a
little at a time as they were being persecuted for their faith.
    Paul begins his
letter this morning by reminding the Christians at Philippi that he is praying for
them…from his prison cell.  He prays for
them and by extension into the future, he is also praying for us as he wrestles
with a life and death situation.  And I
guess, being in the type of barbaric prison he was in, struggling with life and
death is understandable.  
    Except he’s not
struggling with the usual prison problems.
He’s not worried about how he is going to escape or how he’s going to
talk his way out of prison.  
    Instead, he’s
having an inner debate with himself about the purpose of his life and about the
purpose of his faith.  Here is a man who,
since his conversion to Christianity, has joyfully preached about spending time
in eternity with Jesus and how we all need to be looking forward to that.
    Here is a man who
wasn’t afraid to died.  In fact, he would
much rather die and go to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus than spend the
rest of his life here on earth.  No one
would have faulted him for worrying about his fate.  No one would have blamed him for being
concerned about the state of his soul as perhaps the final moments of his life
approached.  
    And yet as much as
he wants to be with God, he joyfully decides that being here on earth, being
here among all the negative things that are going on in his life and in the world
around him, is where he needs to be so that he can continue God’s work of
preaching the gospel and being of service to other people.  
    He’s not doing all
this for his own sake, so that he can be some type of hero or perhaps some type
of martyr.  He’s doing it for the sake of
the people of Philippi…the people who need someone to help them continue to
strengthen their faith.  
    Despite all the
bad stuff that’s going on in his life, he writes to the people of Philippi that
even though he would rather die and go and be with Jesus, he is motivated to
live and work for the cause of Christ.
He motived to continue to work for Christ’s church here one earth…and
he’s doing it all because he loves them.
    To people who
don’t believe in God, life on earth is all there is; so it’s natural for them
to want to strive for the things the world offers and to strive for worldly
values, things like money, popularity, power, pleasure, and prestige.  
    But for Paul,
happiness comes not from having power or prestige or possessions, or even from
escaping from prison.  Instead happiness
comes from developing eternal values.
Despite all the world offers us and despite all the hardships in our
lives, Paul is convinced it is more important to focus on God and instead,
joyfully tell others about Christ, who helps us see life not from a worldly
view but from an eternal perspective.  
    For Paul, the
whole purpose of life was to boldly and joyfully speak out for Christ, in spite
of all that is going in our lives, and to strive to become more like him every
day.
    Despite being in
prison and despite facing death, Paul cheerfully accepts whatever circumstances
he finds himself in, and he’s convinced that he has been put in that situation
for no other reason than to defend the gospel.
Instead of complaining about the situation he finds himself in and the
restrictions put upon him, he looks at his suffering…whatever that suffering
may be…as a positive opportunity to serve God.
    I think that maybe
Paul’s Christ focused attitude toward life is best reflected in the words of
John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service found in our United Methodist Hymnal.
    “Put me to what
you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let
me be employed for you or laid aside for you; exalted for you or brought low
for you; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all thing, let me have
nothing.”
     Paul has hit rock
bottom; he’s found himself in perhaps the worst situation of his life, he would
just as soon die as to live…and yet he sees even this as an opportunity for God
to be glorified.
    “…live your life
in a way that is worthy of the gospel…” Paul tells us (Philippians 1:27).  No matter what your situation, live your
life.  Live it well…in good times and in
bad  Live it as Jesus would want you to
live it.  But don’t try to do it all by
yourself.
    Within all of this
is Paul’s call to unity.  A life worthy
of the gospel is a life that is lived in community, a community of faith, a
Bethel UMC community of faith; a community that works together in its mission
and in its ministry.  
    Working together
as a faith community is not something that is a by-product of living out the
gospels…working together as a faith community is instead what the gospels are
all about.  Working together as a faith
community, working together as Bethel UMC, for God’s kingdom is what gives us
the strength and the power to stand up against the world outside the doors of
this church…a world that would love nothing more than to see our mission fail.
    Paul is telling us
this morning that it is a combination of our faith and of our unity as a
community of faith, as Bethel UMC, that helps protect us from the evils of the
world around us.  
    It’s about working
together.  It’s about our perseverance
and it’s about our commitment to God’s kingdom, a kingdom that helps us put on
God’s armor…an armor that helps us ward off
the obstacles that are put in our way…obstacles that are meant to keep
us from being successful in measuring out God’s kingdom to those around us.
    Strive to live
your life in a way that is worthy of the gospel.  How we live…how we each conduct ourselves is
a faith issue.   If your faith in Jesus
has no impact on the priorities by which you live, if your faith in Jesus has
no impact on the values by which you live, if your faith in Jesus has no impact
on the causes you support…then one has to wonder if your faith is really a
transforming faith?  If your faith in
Jesus never changes how you live, then how can you say that your faith is
bringing joy to our lives?  
    Let your faith and
the community of faith in which you live and belong guide you in living a
joyful life…a life that depends not on your circumstances but on the presence
of God in your life.  
    We are called…we
are invited…and we are encouraged to joyfully strive together, side by side, in
working for the kingdom of God.  The work
is not easy…but know that God is always in the midst of it.  And as we work together as a community of
faith, regardless of our circumstances, we joyfully let the gospel be the
measure by which our lives are shaped…and together, we press on, striving together
in all ways, regardless of our circumstances to spread the good news of the
gospel to all people everywhere.