The Bible Top 40
Philippians 4:9-10
[Screen] GIGO
Who knows what GIGO means?
A person involved in computers has probably heard this acronym. It means, “garbage in, garbage out.” A computer, no matter how sophisticated it may be, only does what it is told. Most computer errors are actually human errors that we blame on the machine. And that does not mean that it is the person at the keyboard who made the mistake – oftentimes the error is made before the operator even sits down to work. It was a team of programmers saving a few bytes of space that lead to the whole Y2K scare. And while no planes fell from the sky, and elevators in our tallest buildings did not all stop working at 12:00 midnight on 1/1/00 – it was a very real threat that cost an estimated 100 billion dollars in this country – that’s $365 for each man, woman and child in the United States. We didn’t have the nightmare that some predicted, but not without a price tag. And all to save a couple of bytes. Of course, in the 1950’s, when the problem was set in place – computer memory was a rare commodity and very expensive, so only listing a year as “’57” in stead of “1957” made a big difference.
Now days, we have incredible amounts of memory. I have 10 times more memory in my Palm Pilot that costs $99 than the church had in our first desk top computer that we paid $1800 for in 1995! It contains 5 years of calendars; 3000 to do list items; 5000 names, addresses, phone numbers; and some great games.
But with all that memory and capability – I still have to manually put in the data, or it does me no good. If I haven’t taken the time to type in each persons name, address and phone number, and done it correctly, then when I need that information later, it will not be available. Or if, in the process of typing in Dino Claraco’s work phone number, I type in 262 instead of 414 as the area code, I will be frustrated when I try to call him and get the wrong number.
GIGO – garbage in, garbage out.
Last week in our study of the Bible Top 40 we looked at a passage of Scripture that put GIGO on a spiritual plane. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth…” and we referenced the words of Jesus, who said, in Matthew chapter 15, verses 18 and following:
…Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man…
Jesus says, in a very practical way, “GIGO!” The garbage that is in our hearts, and our minds is what is revealed when we open our mouths.
This week’s Top 40 passage is a complementary thought to last week’s. Take your Bible and turn to Philippians chapter 4 (pg 791). A few weeks ago we studied two verses from this chapter – verses 6&7. Today, we are going to look at the next two verses – 8 & 9.
Philippians 4:8&9 read:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. The things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Now, we usually have done these verse studies word – for – word, and we are going to do the same today, but today I want to start out at the end, and then go back to the beginning.
Do you notice that last line? “…and the God of peace will be with you.” Let’s make a couple of observations about that. First, I think it is important to note that it is not the “peace of God who will be with us,” but rather, “the God of peace HIMSELF!” That’s a pretty great thing, isn’t it? You might be thinking, “well, of course He’s with me! He says He will never leave me,” and that is true, but there is a connection between the thoughts of our minds, and the content of our hearts, and the closeness of our relationship with God.
We sang this morning, “Jesus draw me close, closer Lord, to You, let the world around me fade away, I desire to worship and obey.” Doesn’t that imply that sometimes we can drift away, if we need to be drawn close? Doesn’t it assume that we can always be closer to God – no matter how close we are now? Yes, it does. If I may, let’s just take a quick look back at the verse we looked at last week. It’s just a few pages back toward the beginning of your Bibles, in the letter just before Philippians, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29.
Last week we were challenged to “let no corrupt word proceed out of our mouths…” Now look at the next verse, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” You see, it is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit by the words that flow from our mouths, from the content of our hearts and minds. That does not mean that we have lost our salvation, Paul makes it clear that the Holy Spirit has “sealed us for the day of redemption,” but it does show that we can strain the relationship between God and us when we allow our hearts and minds to be filled with the kind of evil that Jesus talked of (evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies, and the rest).
Did you know that? Did you realize that your relationship with God is affected by the things that we fill our minds and hearts with? Maybe you never thought of it in these terms before, but it is critically important for us to understand.
Imagine yourself in a situation where you are introduced to your perfect match. He or she is simply everything you ever wanted in a life partner. They are as beautiful on the inside as the outside. You share the same values, interests and goals. And the amazing thing is, they are just as crazy about you as you are about them! She really loves you and you really love her! You have me that once-in-a-lifetime match – it’s like something from a movie script.
So once a week you get together for an hour to tell each other how much you love each other, but the rest of your week you spend looking at pictures of other women, you spend hours on the phone talking to other guys. You spend your leisure time with them, you have your fun with them. But your true love is with your soul mate – that one you see once a week for an hour – they’re the one you really love!
Would anyone believe that? Can you imagine going home and telling your parents that you have finally found the love of your life, and he’s perfect, and you are going to spend the rest of your life devoted to each other – but your marriage is going to be spent in the arms of other guys, having fun with them, but once a week, you’ll call to show how much you love each other? Is there anyone who would call that a healthy relationship?
Of course not!
Going to church once a week is not enough to walk in close fellowship with God. Dialing Him up once a week, or even once a day for a few seconds is not what it takes to build a relationship. And before you blow off this illustration as foolish – think about it seriously!
God is your greatest lover. No one will ever love you the way He does. No one knows your flaws, your secrets, your inner-most being like He does, and He still loves you enough to give up everything He has to love you. You will never find a lover like that – no matter how you may try, and no matter how good they may appear. None comes close to God’s love for you. And yet, we grieve Him – we grieve Him by pushing Him away with our speech that flows from a heart that is full of other loves. Our love of self causes us to lust after flesh. Our love of the world’s toys causes us to seek substitute gods. We spend our lives ignoring the one who loves us most, and it grieves Him. And then we wonder why our “religion” seems so hollow.
So what are we to do? Are we supposed to leave it all behind, move to a monastery, or convent, where long robes, and meditate and chant all day?
No! That’s not the life Jesus lived, and it’s not the life He called His disciples to, either. Flip back to Philippians, chapter 4 again. Let’s look at what we do to have this close fellowship with God. Paul tells us that it all goes back to what we think about. In the NKJV it says, “meditate on these things.” That is just the right translation. In the NIV and the KJV it reads “think on these things,” but the word “meditate” captures the meaning of the original language much better. Paul tells us that the key to us having a close, meaningful relationship with the God of peace is to have our thoughts on the things listed – which we will look at in a moment.
For now, let’s meditate on that word meditate. When Paul wrote this letter, he chose the
word logivzomai, logizomai, which means, “to take into account, to reflect upon
and then allow these things to shape your conduct.” When a college senior gets drafted by the Packers, he is given a
play book. He doesn’t just think about
that play book – he meditates on it.
When he gets in the huddle, and Brett Favre calls out, “ProRt39Sweep”
that kid had better know instantly what that means, where he is to line up, and
who he is supposed to block. You don’t
get that by “thinking about it.” You
get to that point by “logizomai-ing.”
You meditate on it, you absorb it, you allow it to become a part of you.
That’s
what Paul is talking about here. So
what is it we are to meditate on? “I
suppose we’re supposed to do nothing but read the Bible for the rest of our
lives, and listen to hymns, and only watch TV preachers !” you might be
moaning. But that is not what Paul says
at all. In fact, he leaves the door
wide open to a number of options, and even personal taste.
The list
of things to think of includes that which is TRUE – we should meditate on truth
– and even though much of the world denies it, there is absolute truth – we
need to be people who speak the truth, who love the truth and who proclaim the
truth. We are to meditate on the NOBLE
– that which is of high character – honorable it is the behavior that comes
from thinking about the true. We are to
think about that which is JUST – We are to find ways to secure fairness for
others, and we are to meditate on the PURE – that which is clean, and modest
and sin-free. We are to focus our
thoughts on the LOVELY – those things that are acceptable and pleasing, or
attractive, as well as those things OF GOOD REPORT – things that are well
spoken of, that have a good reputation.
Paul
could have listed out all sorts of specifics, and it would have doubled the
length of this letter – but he sums it all up by saying, “if there is any
virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.” Rather than call us to dark, cloistered
halls, separated from the world, Paul encourages us to meditate on the good
things of God where ever they may be found.
“If there is anything virtuous…”
Anything that is of good conduct or thought, anything that is morally
excellent, think about those things, learn those things, allow them to change
your life. Matthew Henry says, “[Paul]
would have the Christians learn any thing which was good of their heathen
neighbors. ‘If there is any virtue,
think of these things – imitate them in what is truly excellent among them, and
let not them outdo you in any instance of goodness.’” As Christians, as children of God who claim to have this close,
personal relationship with God, we should be the undisputed champions of
goodness, purity, justice, truth and honor.
Lots of
people can quote this passage of Scripture, but do we really understand and
apply what it means? How much of my
time is really spent absorbing and concentrating on those things that fit the
description Paul gives here – true, noble, just, pure, lovely, well spoken of,
virtuous, praiseworthy?
What do
I really meditate on? What thoughts and
images fill my mind? What agenda do I
have for my day – justice or self-advancement, purity or pollution, to be
honorable, or to be an embarrassment?
Is my life a place where God can be, or do my thoughts and actions grieve
Him?
Paul
calls on us to go beyond learning and receiving, beyond hearing and seeing; he
calls us to put into practice – to DO these things. May the God of peace be with us, as we learn, receive, hear and
see – and DO.
Prayer.