Willow Welcomes | Dr. Charlie Dates

Well, I was glad when they said unto me, come let us go to South Barrington to the Willow Creek Community Church where the Lord does great work. Let me rush to say what an honor and a privilege it is to be here at the invitation of such a dynamic and gifted leader. Willow, will you help me celebrate God for your pastor, Sean Williams? Bless you brother. Thank you. Sometimes I get to travel the nation and the world and it feels like people like their mailman more than they like their pastor. But God, unlike your mail carrier, uses your pastor to bring you good news every week. May not feel like good news at first, but God uses him. And man, your giftedness, your sensitivity, your humility precedes you. And I wanna honor you and thank you for the privilege of opening the door to your heart so that we could get to know you. I'm not here by myself today. Thank you for those two claps. I'm not here by myself today. My wife of 20 years is here today. I'm gonna ask her to stand, but I want you all to brace yourselves because you've never seen anybody this good looking. And I don't want you to get up and run after her.

She tripped off the balcony of heaven about nine months after I was born. And now she's here. Will you help me celebrate my miss pretty Kirstie Elisabeth? Yeah. And our children, Charlie and Claire here, bright young people in their own regards. They have no choice but to be something special because God has put them in such a special environment. We honor the Lord for that. Now, listen, I got 28 minutes to do this. And if you know anything about black preaching, you know that 28 minutes is just enough time to start a fire and run. And so that's what I hope to do today. Meet me in Philippians chapter one. I don't know who exactly I'm talking to, but I have a word of encouragement on my heart for you. Philippians chapter one. I want to begin reading at verse 12. As you turn there, I would like to say that you can have real joy in unlikely circumstances when the motivation for your joy is not your circumstances. Beginning at verse 12 of Philippians chapter one, I want to read down to verse 18. This is how the Bible reads. Says, now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel

so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian guard and to everyone else. And that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. That last verse for our preaching emphasis today. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in this, I rejoice. If I may, I want to put a tag on this text and title our message today. Something good is gonna come out of this. Thank you, me and you, the whole service. All right, me and you. Something good is gonna come out of this. Will you breathe the word of prayer with me, please?

Gracious God in heaven, we do thank you and praise you. I believe you, Lord. I believe your word is true. I pray that you will grant me clarity of mind, concision of speech and conviction of heart, that I may in this moment tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And if I've asked you for too little, I pray you do something even bigger than what I just asked you for. In Jesus' name. Amen. In 1897, he was sitting reading the New York Journal when suddenly he came across his own obituary. That's strange because he was alive reading his own obituary. It turns out that the editors of the New York Journal got a hold of the news that his cousin James Ross Clemens had passed and I guess without checking the details, they eagerly printed the obituary for Samuel Longhorn Clemens. It's at that point when Samuel Longhorn Clemens, known to us by his pen name, Mark Twain, wrote those now famous words to the New York Journal. That the news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated. Life has a way of exaggerating the details of your circumstances. If you're not careful, you too will believe that things in your life are worse than they actually are. That seems to be the tenor and tone of what the aged Apostle Paul is writing to this fledgling startup church in Philippi. This young church concerned about his welfare and knowing

that he is personally financing his Roman imprisonment. Beloved of their pastor and demonstrating their concern for him, that young church sends him a financial gift through Epaphroditus, a kind of courier and an encouragement. In response, Paul writes to them a short thank-you note. That short thank-you note becomes what we know as the four-chapter epistle, Philippians. It's as though Paul is saying out of the gate immediately after his customary salutation that that church in Philippi ought not believe the reports that his circumstances are bringing about the demise of his ministry and the destruction of his life. Quite to the contrary, Paul writes to the church at Philippi the startling words of our passage this morning. It turns out that his circumstances are working for the progress of his ministry and the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus the Christ. That's startling, Willow, however you look at it. It's startling for at least two reasons. Number one, it's startling because of the physical location from where Paul is writing this letter. And number two, it's startling because of the joy with which he intentionally pens this epistle. Now, I can tell that either very few of you have been to jail or that you missed the mutually exclusive nature of these two startling reasons. Paul is in jail on his own dime. It's bad enough to be in jail. It's worse to have to work while you're in there to pay for your own stent.

There Paul sits in a Roman apartment chained to a rotating guard. He is unable to work. He is unable to leave at will. He cannot go dine al fresco at the local gelato eatery. Yet he writes to this Philippian Church with a strange dominating thing. He uses the word or at least the root word for joy more than 10 times in this fourth chapter epistle. It's the word from which we get our word charisma or charismatic. It's a joy-filled person. It's as if Paul's pen is tripping over the word joy in every other sentence. Now, let me tell y'all with a fair measure of confidence that if I were in jail with the opportunity to write my church in Chicago, my letter would not be four chapters long. In fact, I've thought about it. It would be brief and to the point it'd be about five words long. Get me out of here. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate prison ministry and even right now this service is being simulcast to the inmates at Jefferson City County Prison and we celebrate what God is doing in the life of that prison. I appreciate prison ministry willow. I just don't appreciate it enough to stay there after the sermon is over but not so with this aged godly Apostle. Not only is he asked not asking for a lawyer. Not only is he not asking for legal reprieve,

but Paul is actually saying that his jail stint is working out, that it is falling forward, that it is turning out for the good of his ministry. And as a result, he has decided to rejoice in the face of an unknown future and to keep on rejoicing. Do you get the picture? Do you see what I'm aiming to argue from this text? It is that you too, friend, can have real joy in some unlikely places when the motivation for your joy is not the place you're in. And I don't know who I'm talking to here today, but my guess is with this many people in this room, somebody in here is experiencing an imprisoning circumstance. Your hope feels depleted, your joy feels low, you're tempted to despair like there's no other option or outcome. But I wanna tell you, even in the middle of that, you can have joy. And so how do I have joy? That's the one question I came ready to answer today. How can I have joy, Pastor Charlie? You're preaching from the book of Philippians. I feel like I'm connected to the apostle Paul's circumstances. What gems through the hallways of history can you pass along to me that will help me make it through my difficult circumstances? Here we go.

Are you ready? Number one, you can rejoice in adverse circumstances when you see that those circumstances are catalysts and not constraints. I want you to listen to the word that Paul uses. He says, I want you to know in verse 12 that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. That word greater progress is an old military term that spoke to the advanced team that went in front of Caesar's army. Check this out, church. So before the army went carrying Caesar's agenda to conquer a new territory, there was an advanced team that went before them. And that advanced team would go clear brush, fell trees, level out ground so that the marching army behind them could move with greater ease to conquer the new territory. Are you with me? Do you see what I'm saying? This advanced team would go and level the ground, clear brush, fell trees, and make things smooth for the army. What Paul is arguing is that his circumstances are functioning as God's gospel advanced team. That those circumstances are clearing the way for a greater proclamation of the gospel. Paul actually understands his time in jail to be providentially used by God

so that somebody will hear the gospel of Jesus the Christ. Go with me. When I tell you that I think I'm on good Bible grounds, because at the end of the epistle to the church at Philippi, Paul sends greetings and he sends them from those in Caesar's household. That means that God may have let Paul go to jail so that while Paul was in jail, the gospel could get to Caesar's house. I'm preaching better than y'all looking at me. And I'm gonna tell you how I know it. Because Paul is sitting in a Roman prison chained to a rotating guard. Three or four of them come in every day. They are chained to him and they sit with him. This is like house arrest made for TV. And so you have a different guard coming in, the Praetorian guard. These are guards who didn't work the beat in Inglewood. No, these are guards that Caesar considered it a professional liability not to keep them pleased. So he gave them easy jobs. They were his bodyguards. So they go and they are chained to the apostle Paul six to eight hours a day. Do you follow me so far? And that guard being chained to the apostle Paul six to eight hours a day, let me ask you, what do you think they talked about?

No TikTok, no Disney Plus, no Hulu. Just sitting there talking for six to eight hours. In my mind, I'd like to think that the conversation went something like this. Paul says, how you doing? The guard says, I'm fine. He says, what's your name? Says, my name is Maximus. What's your name? I'm Paul. Paul, what are you here for? Have you heard about Jesus? That guard leaves. Another guard comes in. Paul says, how you doing? I'm good. What's your name? Aurelius, what's your name? I'm Paul. Paul, what are you here for? Have you heard about the way where there is no way? And day after day, hour after hour, God uses Paul's proximity to the Praetorian guard to get the gospel in the Rome. And some suggest that this is how the door opened for the gospel to get to Rome. Now, if God could do that for Paul, what can he do for you? Every doctor's visit, every wayward child, every distress, every discomfort

may be but a platform that God has raised for you to share the gospel in an uncomfortable way. And that gospel takes off. Well, let me keep on going. Your circumstances are catalysts and not constraints. But also this text says that you can rejoice in unlikely circumstances when you realize that your enemies are encouragers, not impediments. I don't know if any of y'all have enemies, but let me tell you, they're real. And they're not nice. Sometimes they smile in your face all the time. All they're trying to do is take your place, backstabs. Okay, somebody got it. Somebody, there we go, the worship team. They know that good music. Paul is saying that his imprisonment affected and motivated two different types of people. Here it is. Paul says that my imprisonment has become well-known throughout the whole Praetorian Garden, verse 13. And verse 14, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord, because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some to be sure, preaching Christ, even from envy and from strife, some from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives,

thinking that they are pressing my chains and the handcuffs harder on my wrists and on my feet. These two people are striking groups. Some people see the trouble that Paul is going through and they are motivated to stand even more firm for Jesus. Others see the misery that Paul is going through and they are motivated by his misery. And thinking to do him harm, they actually start preaching the gospel because they wanted to get back to Paul that his enemies are preaching. What they did not know is that Paul was gonna hear that his enemies were preaching and he didn't even have to do the preaching. Preaching is hard work, I'm trying to tell you. He got to sit back and watch them preach the gospel. I wanna submit to you today that in this context, in this old ancient Philippian jail, Paul issues us some good news that is fresher than tomorrow's newspaper. It is that God can take what people mean to harm you and use it as your encouragement at the end of the day. Preach, Charlie. I'm doing the best I can. God can take what people intend to harm you and use it as an encouragement to advance your mission. Now, I didn't learn that in seminary and I spent a lot of time in seminary. Oh my goodness. I didn't learn that though.

You know where I learned that? I learned that Saturday morning cartoons when I was growing up, anybody, a geriatric millennial like me, we had good cartoons when we were growing up. I don't know what this stuff is today that I'm afraid to turn the TV on, but my favorite Saturday morning cartoon was about a guy, a fella, by the name of Popeye the Sailor Man. And I like Popeye. I like Popeye. Popeye had a girl. He really liked his girl. Now, I gotta be honest with you. I never saw in olive oil what Popeye saw in olive oil. I never saw it. Even as a kid, just didn't occur to me. But what I appreciated was that Popeye loved him some olive oil and he would fight for her. He would stand by her. He would stick by her. Popeye had an enemy whose name was Bluto. Now, Bluto looked like he smelled bad from the TV screen. He was a big, burly guy, bearded guy. And he liked olive oil too. And he liked messing with Popeye. He would beat Popeye up in every episode. I mean, I'm a grown, grown man now. And I still remember some of those moments where, ooh, I saw Popeye get beat up.

One episode, Bluto cleaned the table at the restaurant with Popeye. He took him like a dishrag and wiped the table clean. And then in another episode, he had a powerful right hook. He caught Popeye's chin and he knocked Popeye up over towns and cities and villages until Popeye landed somewhere else. I gotta tell you, Willow, I did not watch Popeye the Sailor Man to watch him get beat up every Saturday. No, I knew it would, but that wasn't why I watched it. You know why I watched it? Because I was waiting for that one moment in every episode where Popeye got tired of getting beat up and he would look with righteous indignation and vigor and he would say, no, I didn't took all I can take. I didn't stood for all I can stand. Me can take no more. Bad grammar, but great energy and pathos. And somewhere off the side of his belt, he would pop a can of spinach. I don't even know where he got it from. It just would come up and he would pop it and that spinach would leap out of that container and it would get inside of him and it would blow him up. And the same Popeye who was getting beat down started to do the beating down. His enemy, watch this, pushed him to the place of his strength. Our enemies cease to be evil in one sense

if they but knock us up against the source of our strength. And I learned from Popeye that your enemies can work for your good and not against your good. I'm done church when I tell you finally that if you're gonna have real joy in unlikely circumstances, you're going to have to embrace the fact that joy is consequential, not circumstantial. I think a lot of what we pass joy off for today is what circumstantial happiness. You know, we're happy if the bank account is satisfied. We're happy if the kids are acting right. We are happy when the doctor's report comes back favorably. But the challenge with that is that life is so full of twisted circumstances that if you base your happiness and your joy on the circumstances, you'll be gone with the wind. Do you notice how many Americans are losing their minds every two to four years based upon what's going on in the nation? There's got to be something better than this, y'all. It's gotta be something that is stronger to root our hope and our joy. We cannot be the type of people who get our joy based upon what's going on. And that's what Paul is saying here. Paul is saying, I have a better, higher, heavier, holier motivation for joy. He says in verse 18, what then?

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yay, and I will rejoice. Man, I like that. Paul is a preacher. He uses rejoice two times. Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, because there are a lot of people who are saying, I'm not making no fun or nothing. I'm a guest preacher. I'm gonna be home next week. I'm not trying to create no trouble for my friend, Sean. There are a lot of people who come to church and they sing songs and read their Bible and they have no joy. There's no movement. You ever had joy before? You've seen joy before. I know you've seen joy before. Early this year, Caleb Williams dropped back and he threw an incredible pass, I think, to like DJ Moore. Atlanta caught it in the corner of the end zone and all of those people in that stadium had joy. I mean, they just, it was over the top and I thought about that. I think about this a lot. I preach in spaces like this one where the subject matter of my preaching has done more for the people I'm preaching to than Caleb Williams has done for Chicago

or the Chicago Bears. But those people in that arena can show way more joy than the people in the local church. And I wanna say sometimes, if they could act. like that over somebody who hadn't paid their bills, hadn't healed their body, hadn't raised their kids, hadn't kept them sane, isn't holding their heart together, then surely we like the apostle Paul could say, hey, I'm going to rejoice. And then when you think about it, say it again, and I will rejoice. Why are you going to rejoice? Because the subject matter of my joy is not circumstantial. The consequence of me thinking about the subject matter of my joy produces joy. Paul says, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. Y'all, this is a big gospel. I done been so many places where people preach a small gospel. I'm tired of that. I need a gospel that's bigger than a home in the suburbs. I need a gospel that's greater than a school system or a degree. I need a gospel that's stronger than who I marry and type of family. I need a gospel that is big and can handle real life. And that's the gospel that you and I have. Have you noticed the beauty of this gospel?

This gospel is about the person and work of Jesus the Christ. Y'all mind if I say it the way I feel it? You ain't never met nobody like Jesus. Jesus, I try to recall it now. Jesus was born contrary to the laws of birth and he died triumphant over the laws of death. He only wrote but once, that in the disappearing sands of the temple. But every library in all of the world cannot contain the books that have been written about him. We have but one instance where we heard of him singing when he was going down from the Mount of Olives. But the most brilliant of our musical genius has had to surrender its gifts and praise to him. He was born as old as his father and ages older than his mama. He never worked at Walgreens or CVS. But my mama used to say that in the hem of his garment was more medicine than all of the pharmacies in town. He never rode in a presidential motorcade but one day he rode on a donkey as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And if you can't remember nothing else that I just said, remember this, he's bread when you're hungry. He'll be water when you're thirsty. He's a bridge over troubled waters. He's a way where there is no way and a heavy load sharer. And if you can't remember any of that, remember that when sin bankrupted your life,

when God had every reason to count everything you've ever done against you, instead your sin has fallen exhausted at the feet of his grace. God's grace, hey, hey. I said God's grace through Jesus is so deep and profound that when you get done doing your best sinning, grace will look at you and say, is that all you got? They put nails in his hands and a spear in his side and a crown of thorns upon his head and my Jesus died. No church, he did not die in a coma. He died state sanctioned violent death on a cross. He died till death died. He died till sin apologized. He died till the earth rocked and reeled like a drunken man. The Bible says that he died until the sun refused to shine. Then they took him down off of that old rugged cross and they laid him in a borrowed tomb. Ask me why I was borrowed? Because early Sunday morning, he was gonna give it back to its owner and say, I don't need it anymore. That's joy. That's reason to have joy. God bless you. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.