Making Jesus Famous

“Yes, and I rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as alway Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life for by death” (Philippians 1:18b-20).

Jesus is a game changer. He brings hope where there should gloom. He brings joy where there should be tears. There’s no greater example than the life of Paul, especially during his four years behind bars for telling everyone who would listen about Jesus. I mean there must have been some absolutely crazy stuff going on in the Roman prison where the apostle was in custody. Jesus used Paul to transform this place of pain and suffering into a joyful joint. You see, the man from Tarsus knew that no matter what happened to him during his time in the pen, Christ would use it to make Himself more and more famous. 

Let’s be honest. This little letter to a tiny group of believers in Philippi just doesn’t make sense. Jesus’ top spokesperson is locked up. The church he planted in the Macedonian seaport sent their current pastor to help but he nearly died making the trip to Rome. Yet this note absolutely drips with joy. Yeah, you read that right. Joy. If Paul had a boom box, he may have had Pharrell’s “Happy” cranked to 11. Here in the darkest dungeon of the empire, the apostle feels like a room without a roof. He knows that Jesus has given him something so incredibly awesome that Caesar’s supermax can’t take away. That’s the reason for his joy. As a result, God uses the apostle to turn the slammer into a greenhouse for Good News. Paul is telling everybody who will listen about the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter from Galilee.

We pick things with Paul’s joy on repeat. “Yes, and I will rejoice” (v18). He’s just said that he’s absolutely stoked to know that no matter what the motives are of the various messengers, they’re spreading the message of Jesus. Because “Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice” (v18). His joy keeps jumping he knows one way or the other Jesus will spring him from prison. While the apostle’s praying for his friends back in Philippi (Phil 1:3-11), they’ve been praying for him too. God is up to something “through your prayers” (v19). Their concern for their founder isn’t just lip service. Their prayers have clearly resulted in action. They’ve sent very practical help in the form of their pastor Epaphroditus (Phil 4:18). The Big E nearly died on his mission to aid Paul (Phil 2:30).

Do you pray for your friends and family? Do you know of fellow believers who are, in the words of Ulysses Everett McGill in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, are in a tight spot? Do you ask the One who’s in charge of the universe to help them out? That’s a huge part of God’s gift of prayer. It’s not an intercom so God can be some sort of supernatural butler to freshen your drink. John Piper sees prayer like a walkie talkie on the battlefield. We use it to call in the ultimate air support. We call on God when we’re in real trouble. We call on God when we know the ones we love are in real trouble. Who needs your prayers right now? Call HQ and get Jesus involved. That’s what the Philippians have done for Paul. 

The prayers of the Philippian followers of Jesus sound the alarm for “the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (v19). No, they’re not baking a cake with a file in it. There’s no plan to bust Paul out of the joint through an elaborate jail break. Paul knows that there’s something, or should I say Someone much greater at work. The Holy Spirit has something up His sleeve. The Third Person of the Trinity provides “help” (v19). Paul uses the Greek word epichoregia here. This describes a large supply, a rich provision, and overwhelming assistance. God’s Spirit just won’t give what Paul needs to squeak by on the cellblock. He’s giving him more than he could ever dream of wanting or needing (Eph 3:20). Later, the man from Tarsus proudly writes, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). In this particular instance, he knows that the combo of their prayers and God’s Spirit “will turn out for my deliverance” (v19). One way or the other, prisoner Paul will be a free man soon.

You would think it to be bad press when God’s top missionary is locked up in prison. Wrong. It’s not that any publicity is good publicity. It’s because Paul knows that he “will not be at all ashamed” (v20). He knows that as long as he is obedient to God’s call on his life and in willing submission to the Lord’s leadership, Jesus’ glory will continue to roll around the world. In the big house in Rome, I wonder if Paul remembers his words to the Roman church that he sent them a few years back. “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). He’s not ashamed to broadcast the Good News of Christ because it’s more than powerful enough to change the lives of everyone who hears it. “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been give to us” (Rom 5:5). Something tells me that Paul not only remembers these words, but is giving them very practical application in this Roman prison.

Here’s where the rubber meets the road for the apostle. He’s completely confident “with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life of or death” (20). Check out the word he drops that the folks at the ESV translate “honored.” Megaluno. It means to magnify with great intensity, enlarge greatly, make incredibly conspicuous, or even to make famous. Check out a few other times writers of the NT use this term. Mary sang about how her very soul was a magnifying glass of God’s glory (Lk 1:46). When God’s Spirit bum rushes Gentile believers right before Peter’s eyes, they couldn’t stop enlarging Jesus’ rep to everyone who would listen (Acts 10:46). God used Paul’s preaching about Jesus to turn Ephesus upside down to the point that Christ’s name became known all throughout the city (Acts 19:17). It’s a stone cold, lead pipe lock that God will use whatever happens to Paul in order to make Jesus famous.

So from the comfort of my suburban life in America, do I have the same confidence as Paul does in prison? Am I honoring Jesus with my life? Am I making Him famous? Am I using my soul as a magnifying glass of God’s glory? Am I doing everything I can to tell the world about the One who has come to my rescue? I need to remember the incredible cost Jesus paid to make me His and what I should do about it. “For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1Cor 6:20). There’s also a mammoth point here that God calls us to worship with so much more than our minds. We’re to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:2). I’m not saying that I need to do P90X for Jesus (then again, this particular “temple” could certainly use a little renovation). But there is certainly a physical component to following Christ. 

When it’s all said and done, Paul knows that no matter what happens to him the Lord will use it as part of the worldwide campaign to spread the Gospel. And that includes whether the apostle walks out through the front door of the prison or whether he dies behind bars. Jesus will be honored “whether by life or by death” (v20). That’s not something most American believers are facing these days. But there are those around the world that bring glory to our Savior as they face death at the hands of terrorists like ISIS and Boko Haram. Paul doesn’t let the possibility of dying in jail steal his joy. He knows more than most that Jesus is a game changer. God will use whatever happens to make sure Christ is the lead story in every newscast.