Grace Comes Full Circle

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Philippians 4:23).

All great stories finish where they started. The end of the movie or book wraps up with a strong connection to the opening scene. Everything that’s happened to the main character in the beginning has a whole new meaning in light of all that’s occurred. Think about Rosebud in “Citizen Cane”. There’s the box of chocolates in “Forrest Gump”. How about the opening and closing cemetery scenes in “Saving Private Ryan”? 

Our man Paul loves ending his letters in the same place he starts them. Philippians is certainly no exception. Once again, he bookends his note with God’s amazing grace. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (v23). The very last verse mirrors the opening lines. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:3).  Bookends of grace. That only makes sense. God’s glorious Gospel starts with grace and it ends with grace. The apostle wants us to know that Jesus’ grace always comes full circle. What goes around comes around.

Paul kicks off every single letter with greetings of grace. And he ends each one with more of the same. Every. Single. One. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a quick tour just to be sure. 

Romans 1:7 and 16:20. 

1 Corinthians 1:3 and 16:23. 

2 Corinthians 1:2 and 13:14.

Galatians 1:3 and 6:18.

Ephesians 1:2 and 6:24.

Colossians 1:2 and 4:18.

Philippians 1:2 and 4:23.

1 Thessalonians 1:1 and 5:28.

2 Thessalonians 1:2 and 3:18.

1 Timothy 1:2 and 6:21.

2 Timothy 1:2 and 4:22.

Titus 1:4 and 3:15.

Philemon 3 and 25.

Be sure this is no quick cut-and-paste. The apostle isn’t wasting his time with some generic throw-away filler. One reason is that each and every word of Scripture is inspired by God’s Spirit (2Tim 3:16). Second, you didn’t just swing by Office Max for a pack of the papyrus used by authors like Paul in the first century. He’s not just scribbling randomly. There’s no waste when it comes to grace.

So just what is this grace that he talks so much about? The Greek word is charis, which means undeserved kindness, goodwill, and favor. The best way to try and wrap your brain around it is as a totally unexpected gift. It’s God’s blessing from the blindside. Grace is so surprising because we’re so rebellious. It all started when our first parents fell for the lie of a satanic snake (Gen 3:1-7). We continued our terrorist campaign against God’s kingdom throughout the centuries (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21). That’s when the craziest thing happened. Instead of dropping His divine hammer and putting a stop to this ridiculous revolt, He sent His sinless Son to rescue us and bring us into His family (Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8). We did nothing to deserve to be saved. As a matter of fact, someone once said the only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. A great definition of grace is God’s descending one-way love. 

Yeah, so grace is a big deal. A VERY big deal. Paul wants us to never forget where we would be without God’s overwhelming and undeserved goodness headed in our direction. But notice the subtle difference from the apostle’s grace greeting at the beginning of this letter (and others) with what he writes here at the close. The epistle lifts off with “grace TO you” (Phil 1:2) and lands with “grace…WITH your spirit” (v23). Grace comes TO us. Grace stays WITH us. And that’s EXACTLY how it works in every one of Paul’s letters. Grace TO you. Grace WITH you. Feel free to check those verses I listed above. I’ll wait right here.

The apostle opens each letter by personally delivering the grace of Jesus. Then he signs off reminding us of the overwhelming goodness from God to us in Christ that never ends. Grace TO us. Grace WITH us. It’s this mind-bending benevolence that rescues us in the first place. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Once God overwhelms us with His grace and uses His kindness to turn us back to Him (Rom 2:4), all we do is place our trust in who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. He lived the perfect life of obedience to God’s Law we failed to live. He died the death for our sin we should have died. He rose to new life we don’t deserve. By placing our faith in Jesus, we embrace His grace. 

Christ’s grace is to “be with your spirit” (v23). The Greek word here (Gr. pneuma) basically means breath or wind. Think pneumatic. More specifically, Paul is talking about our very life spirit and the immaterial part of our human personality (Lk 8:55; Acts 18:25; 1Cor 5:3; 2Cor 7:1). Remember that God created us in His image (Gen 2) and He Himself is spirit (Jn 4:24). In a letter to the church in Rome, the apostle says our own soul/spirit connects with the indwelling Spirit of God in such a way that we know without a shadow of a doubt that we’re God’s very own kids (Rom 8:16). In other words, God’s grace goes deep inside us and touches us in a powerful way. Jesus doesn’t apply it topically. Or as the Message so wonderfully crafts this verse, “Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves” (v23 The Message).

Everything starts with grace. It ends with grace. Just like it does in Paul’s letters, God’s goodness bookends our lives. It goes deep into your very soul and impacts every aspect of your life. Because of His grace, I love because I’ve been loved. Because of His grace, I give because I’ve been given. Because of His grace, I serve because I’ve been served. It starts with grace. It ends with grace. Once the goodness of Jesus pours into my life, it has to flow out. You see, grace always comes full circle. What goes around comes around.

Worship and the Empty Glass

“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me” (Philippians 2:17-18).

Most of the time, an empty glass is not a good thing. It usually means the fun is just about over. The last sad slurp from the straw in the milkshake. An evening with friends at the local watering hole has come to a close. The end of a flight after testing craft beers. The last sip of a wine tasting. The final swig of coffee before heading to work. We normally see the empty glass as a sign that the party is over. Forrest Gump and his momma think life is like a box of chocolates. Not Paul. For the apostle, life is like a glass filled to the brim, and an empty glass is an act of worship. The sight of a mug poured out in service to Jesus a joy to behold. The party is just getting started when the glass is empty. 

The apostle’s joy drips down the pages of this epistle. You might read this little letter from Paul to his friends back in Philippi as some sort of “wish you were here” kind of postcard. There’s just one little problem with that. He’s in jail. And he’s been behind bars for several years. After firing off a few other notes to put out fires among other followers of Jesus (Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon), the man from Tarsus writes a letter to a funky little church he planted back in Macedonia. No crisis to deal with. No problem to solve. He’s just catching up with some of his favorite people on the planet. They stoke his fire for Jesus and vice versa. His relationship with the Philippian followers of Jesus are a big reason he has joy in the joint.

From his cell in Rome, Paul sees his life as an empty glass. “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering” (v17). He uses a Greek verb (Gr. spendo) which describes letting liquid flow. The apostle paints a picture of emptying himself like a frosty beverage. He’s not sipping. He’s chugging. But a closer look lets us know he’s not drinking but pouring himself “upon the sacrificial offering of your faith” (v17). What in the world is this dude talking about? Why would he waste a perfectly good drink by dumping it out? This image goes right over our heads. But his first century readers would know exactly what Paul’s talking about. In just about every form of worship at that time, you would pour wine on or in front of a burning animal sacrifice, wine would be vaporized. The writers of the OT describe drink offerings several different times (Ex 29:38-41; Num 15:10; 27:8; 2Ki 16:13; Jer 7:18; Hos 9:4). For worshipers Yahweh, the steam rose symbolizing the offering to God. But the Philippians come out of a pagan religion which bowed down to a boatload of minor league deities. While they didn’t have a clue of ancient Hebrew worship, they know all about pouring drinks like wine as something done at their temples.

So Paul sees the Philippians living a life of sacrificial worship to Jesus. It’s the same kind of “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable” he wrote to the Roman church about (Rom 12:1). These believers are giving themselves as “a sacrificial offering” for their trust in Christ. This “offering” is the Greek term leitourgia, which means an act of worship. It’s used to describe the service of a priest in the temple. It’s the source of our word liturgy. The big idea here is we’re all priests. Paul’s buddy Rocky goes out of his way to let us know that the followers of Jesus are a “royal priesthood” (1Pet 2:9). It’s not just folks wearing one of those weird collars. It’s not limited to dudes in pointy hats. Once Christ comes to our rescue, we’re all priests. We don’t need any sort of religious middle man to make it happen. That’s why Jesus personally ripped the drapes in the temple from top to bottom at His crucifixion (Mt 27:51). There’s no longer any separation between us and God. We’re all worshipers. As a result, my life is as an act of worship. The only problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps wiggling off the altar. 

So here’s the picture Paul wants us to see. The Philippians offer themselves as an act of worship to Jesus. The apostle joins in to complement their sacrifice. He pours himself onto the altar of their surrender to our Savior. Paul’s point isn’t about Paul. It’s not a “hey, look at me” moment. He’s so stoked about what Jesus is doing in and through the lives of the Philippian followers that he wants to enhance their offering. Who is pouring into your life? Who is spending a tremendous amount of their energy to enhance your worship of Jesus? Who is spilling into your life and giving of themselves on your behalf? But the pour doesn’t just stop in your glass. It doesn’t just end with my mug begin full. Who am I spilling into? Who am I emptying myself to intensify and amplify their relationship with Jesus? This is about sacrifice. It’s about pouring ourselves out for others. We’re simply doing for others what Jesus did for us (Mt 26:27-28; Lk 22:19). Worshiping is about being an empty glass.

Paul tells us that an empty glass is actually a thing of joy. When he’s poured out, “I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me” (v17-18). Don’t be sad when your glass is empty. This is a time to celebrate. This is a time to rejoice. It means we’ve poured out our lives for the Gospel in the lives of others. The party is just getting started when the glass is empty.