Church Planting in Philippi
Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 11 June 2005 19:00
Sermon Notes
HISTORIC SETTING
By the time it had reached its full height in power, the Roman Empire had conquered most of Europe, much of the Middle East, and huge sections of Asia. With its reign, the Empire brought a certain degree of social stability. Cities tended to do fairly well since they were not having to constantly fend off warring neighbors. Also, the Empire introduced a widespread reliance on a real, codified system of laws. This was not the first real system of laws, but it was the most universal application of law by far up to this point in history. Maybe, most significant of all, the Empire brought large scale infrastructural improvements including an elaborate road system that dramatically enhanced regional trade. Travel was certainly not easy, but it was possible and people did it even in small groups, much more than at any time previously in history. This entire social construction came to be known as the Pax Romana or peace of Rome.
But we should not be fooled into imagining that this was some kind of ancient ideal, global society. Leith Anderson is right when he says, Rome ?was a pagan place where Christian values were little known or honored, where corruption was pervasive in business, where morality was at an historic low, where divorce was common to the point that marriage was little known.? In fact, the Pax Romana really referred to the large scale, regional peace that Rome established. But individuals often did not fair well under the rule of Roman law, especially those who weren?t Roman citizens. And if you were not born in the city of Rome itself, citizenship was somewhat hard to come by. It was granted to all who served as a soldier in one of Rome?s legions and to those who did some special work for the Empire. But the rank and file resident of much of Rome?s territory didn?t enjoy the benefits of Roman citizenship.
Let me read more of Leith Anderson?s description in which he reminds us of the harsh realities of life in the ancient world. ?It was a dirty and a filthy place riddled with disease and epidemics. Life expectancy was less than half of what it is in the United States today. There were few families who had both parents, and few parents ever saw all of their children grow to adulthood? Because medical procedures were primitive, germ theory had not yet been invented, and no one knew about soap, infection was common ? Abortion was common. And a primary method of birth control was selective infanticide. They would determine the gender of the child at birth, keep the male babies, and take the female babies either down to the seashore or out to the forest and leave them to die of exposure. This caused enormous social upheaval in the Empire because there was a huge disequilibrium between the number of males and females.? In other words, in short it was a harsh world.
I said earlier that cities tended to do well under Roman rule. We should qualify that by saying that it was not unusual for epidemics to sweep through cities sometimes killing up to half of the population. In these cases, Rome would often repopulate the cities with displaced and rebellious people or with retired soldiers. This resulted in communities where there were scores of different languages spoken, and people had difficulty communicating.
The Roman Empire was also a place of wildly divergent religious beliefs. This is probably because Rome was unusual for an ancient empire in its tolerance of religions. As long as the general peace was not disturbed, people were allowed to worship whatever they wished and in any manner that they wished. But because Rome was sensitive to the potential for rebellion, any disturbance of the peace was dealt with swiftly, cruelly and unsympathetically.
At its best, Rome imagined itself as the world?s protector. At its worst, it raped the world around it for its own benefit and pleasure. It was an empire that lusted for power and prosperity and that attempted to eliminate any threats to those ends. It worshipped beauty and strength and was largely unsympathetic toward weakness.
It was in this world that the Apostle Paul made three significant missionary journeys. And into this world he introduced the story of a crucified God. Specifically, he presented a Jewish Messiah crucified under the authority of Rome itself.
APPLICATION
If we?re going to experience God?s joy ?
1. We?re going to have to understand the power of the gospel ? over all circumstances, to change lives.
- More powerful than wealth
- More powerful than social and political forces
- More powerful than prison and persecution
2. We?re going to have to relax into God?s sovereign movement through and around our lives. Chinese hand cuffs ? relax into God?s control of events and circumstances
3. We?re going to have to remember (experience) the time of newfound belief.