20171008 Pressing On
Pressing On / Based on
Philippians 3:4b-14 / Delivered on October 8, 2017 at CCH
Hymns: We Are Called, Because
He Lives, I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
Philippians 3:4b-14
3:4b If anyone else has
reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:
3:5 circumcised on the
eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
3:6 as to zeal, a
persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
3:7 Yet whatever gains I
had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.
3:8 More than that, I
regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I
regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
3:9 and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that
comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
3:10 I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming
like him in his death,
3:11 if somehow I may
attain the resurrection from the dead.
3:12 Not that I have
already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make
it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
3:13 Beloved, I do not
consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what
lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
3:14 I press on toward the
goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Good morning and Happy
Sunday to you. My name is Darci Strutt
McQuiston and I am one of the Lay Speakers from the UMC up on the hill. I’m pinch hitting this morning so you will be
getting me twice this month.
I’m pulling in some of the
ideas from the Old Testament lesson Isaiah 5:1-7, and the Gospel lesson for
today Matthew 21:33-46, as well as Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
Isaiah and Matthew are
both stories about a vineyard and the owner of that vineyard. In Isaiah, the land owner prepares the
perfect spot and does all he can for the vines but at harvest time he only
finds rotten fruit not the produce he worked for. The land owner represents God, and the vine
represents the people of Israel who have not been faithful. 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is
the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he
expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!
In Matthew Jesus tells a
parable of a landowner that hires tenants to take care of his vineyard but when
harvest time comes and he sends servants to collect the grapes from them they
refuse to give them, and go as far as killing the owner’s son with the
assumption that then they will be the owners of the vineyard. The land owner is again God, the vines are
the people of Israel, and the added character, the tenants, are the religious
leaders. 21:45 When the chief priests
and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about
them.
The ideas I’m pulling from
these scriptures are:
Don’t get stuck
Be fruitful
Recognize the prize
Don’t get stuck
Our passage from Paul’s
letter begins with his resume’.
3:4b If anyone else has
reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:
3:5 circumcised on the
eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
3:6 as to zeal, a
persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
He was an A+ student of
the law. Perfect score. But then Christ knocked him blind and he
understood he had missed the point.
3:7 Yet whatever gains I
had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.
3:8 More than that, I
regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I
regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
3:9 and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that
comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
He had been prideful in
his adherence to the law and saw it as the way to earn God’s favor. Christ taught that the love of God was not
something you could earn. This isn’t to
say the law has no value. Jesus said in
Matthew 5:17 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Jesus came to help us
understand that relationship to God and your neighbor was the goal. The law could help you understand how to live
in right relationship, but the relationship was what was important. Paul was stuck in the classroom with the law
being his textbook. He and the other
religious leaders saw the law as the goal.
The Pharisee only cared about the report card of what laws you obeyed.
The word Paul used in
verse 8 is translated as “rubbish” but a truer translation is closer to
“excrement”. His judging of people by
their adherence to law needed to be flushed away.
To remain focused on
adherence to the law as the end goal was like being stuck in school. School is important and study is important,
but eventually you need to move out into the world and start working and using
what you learned in productive ways.
Be fruitful
3:10 I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming
like him in his death,
3:11 if somehow I may
attain the resurrection from the dead.
3:12 Not that I have
already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make
it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Paul wanted to follow
Christ totally, from suffering through resurrection, in response to Christ
calling him personally. He gives us the model
of response God is hoping for.
The two parables of the
vineyard make it clear God is looking for a response to his love and care. In Isaiah God wished for justice and
righteous living. In Matthew Jesus says,
21:43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and
given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” The Pharisee were self-righteous, not
righteous, and there is a big difference there.
They cared about their appearance, not their fellow Israelites.
I don’t think this is
falling back into a “saved by works” situation.
“We love because he first loved us.” We aren’t earning God’s love by
acting in a certain way. We are
responding to God’s love. As Paul said,
“Christ Jesus has made me his own” and that is why he is pressing on. God wants us to be his partner, his bride,
and that requires us to join him in his work of love.
In the parables of the
vineyard, the vine is surrounded by the love and care of the owner of the
vineyard. We are those vines. We have God’s love and care. He has provided what we need to thrive. The decision to respond is ours.
Recognize the prize
As I meditated on the
scripture and thought about what hymns to pick to support it I was drawn to
Easter hymns. Paul could have written “because
he lives I can face tomorrow”. Paul’s
response is to the knowledge in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.”
The prize is to be in
loving relationship with God for all eternity.
3:13 Beloved, I do not
consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what
lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
3:14 I press on toward the
goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
One of my study resources
had an interesting statement about the work of the church. He said the work of the church isn’t about
making bad people good or good people better, it is about bringing the dead to
life.
We are called to new life
in Christ. We are called to help others
wake up and know that life. God has
committed His love to us. Can we commit
our love back? It isn’t easy. Paul referred to it as “straining forward”
like in a foot race. There is no first
or second place ribbons in this race, there are just finishers and non-finishers.
I wrote a song based on
this verse from Philippians and want to sing it for you.
I haven’t crossed the
finish line I have a ways to go
Sometimes I feel I run
real fast sometimes I’m a little slow
I keep on looking straight
ahead toward that finish line
‘cuz if I look back at
where I’ve been I’d fall on my behind
Each day I can get better
if I keep my goals in sight
I know that God is with me
and I trust in his might
I want to be like Jesus
and feel God’s love you see
Even before my race is
done he’s made me family
I haven’t crossed the
finish line I have a ways to go
Sometimes I feel I run
real fast sometimes I’m a little slow
I keep on looking straight
ahead toward that finish line
‘cuz if I look back at
where I’ve been I’d fall on my behind
I pray we all press on
together.
Amen
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