Philippians 3:8-14 * March 21, 2010 * Lent 5 * Pastor Leyrer
Dear
Friends in Christ,
One
of the most recognizable pieces of sculptured art was created by August Rodin
right around the turn of the Twentieth Century.
It’s called “The Thinker,” and whether you’re interested in that kind of
thing or not for many its very name conjures up a mental image.
In
case it doesn’t, “The Thinker” depicts a man perched on a rock. He’s hunched over with one hand on his knee. On that same knee he’s planted his elbow. His chin is resting on the back of his other
hand, almost like he’s balancing his head on it. He’s obviously a man deep in thought.
Of
all the sculptures in the world, why do you suppose this one is so well known?
Probably because we can all identify with, if not the pose, the process it
conveys. Just consider some of the
phrases we routinely use. “I’ll have to think about that.” “You better think that through.” “What
do you think?”
All
of which is to simply say we spend a lot of time in thought.
The
Apostle Paul certainly did. And one of
the things he gave a lot of thought to was his spiritual life and the blessings
that were his as a child of God. Our
text for this morning gives us the benefit of some of the things that were
always on his mind. As we examine his words we’ll find him to be
both a model and a teacher for us on what we might call
CLEAR THINKING
CHRISTIANITY
on the great subjects of
1. Salvation,
2. Forgiveness,
and 3. Discipleship.
We’re
going to limit ourselves to the final three verses of this text, verses
12-14. To understand them properly, however,
we need to know that in the verses immediately preceding them Paul talks about
his relationship with Jesus. He speaks
of his desire to be so intimately connected with Christ so as to share in His
sufferings and resurrection and in the process actually experience a state of
spiritual perfection.
Paul
was not some kind of mystic or new age spiritualist; he knew this wasn’t
possible on this side of heaven. Nevertheless
– out of love for his Savior – he still made it his goal. So he
tells us: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made
perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold
of me.
In
the two remaining verses of our text Paul basically restates the same
thing. He knows he has not yet taken
hold of the perfection that will be his in heaven, but until that time – out of
love for Christ and because of the fact he knows where he’s going to be for eternity
– Paul’s single-minded desire in the present is to strenuously live his life
for his Lord. “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God
has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
In these verses Paul says a
lot about himself, his own personal faith and the essential nature of true
Christian faith in general. Without
elevating himself to the status of some super-saint, he simply shares with us
his divinely inspired thoughts on what it means to be a Christian and what is
all involved in our continuing life of faith.
In the
process he provides us with some clear thinking.
As
he expounds upon the broad subject of faith and salvation, we notice that two
times Paul makes reference to Christ
Jesus. In other words, Christ Jesus – his Savior and Lord –
was at the core of everything Paul was and would be.
Paul
understood who Jesus Christ was, what He was all about, and why He came to our
planet. But not everyone back then did;
nor does everyone today.
Some
years ago a noted theologian was asked to give a lecture at the
By
this remark he showed he understood the sinful nature of man and the need for a
Savior. So did Paul. He understood very well that Jesus Christ was
not (as many will claim today) simply some sort of good teacher or high moral
example who came to make good people better as they aspired to be more like
Him.
No,
Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of which Paul would later say “he was
chief.” Paul knew he was a sinner saved
by grace. He knew that his eternal
salvation did not depend upon what he did for God, but on what God had done for
him in the life, death and resurrection of Christ
Jesus. On the subject of salvation
Paul was a clear thinker.
By
God’s grace, so are we. That kind of
clear thinking about our salvation gives each of us great consolation. There is a word coined by the Christian
Church to describe the blessed assurance of our salvation. You’ve heard it mentioned before. It’s called “certitude.” And we have it.
It doesn’t
mean we can be certain as to when our last breath will be. That could happen at any time to any of
us. Certitude means we know exactly what
happens and where we’ll be the moment after
our last breath. Heaven. Why?
Because the sins that should have denied us access there have been paid
for. We have been forgiven…
Which
is the next topic Paul shows clear thinking on in our text; the whole subject
of forgiveness. Not just what it means
for us as it relates to our future life of glory, but especially how it relates
to our present life.
Did you notice that when Paul talks about going forward in his life as a Christian he began by saying: “Forgetting what is behind…?” If we remember Paul’s past we realize just how powerful a statement this is. Paul, you will recall, was a Christian hater and persecutor. For years he operated under the guiding principle that the only good Christian was a dead Christian – or at least imprisoned.
But then you’ll remember how the Lord turned everything
around for Paul on the road to
The point: Paul had a past. He had plenty of skeletons in his closet. He never really forgot that… but God did. That’s what forgiveness is all about. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us,” says King David in Psalm 103. Consequently, when Paul looked back on his life, he didn’t focus on the magnitude of his sins. Rather he rejoiced in the greatness of his forgiveness.
If you were here for the WELS Connection last week or read this month’s Forward in Christ magazine you were exposed to a modern day example of the exact same thing. We were introduced to a Native American Apache man by the name of Gary Lupe. He told a truly amazing story of how through his study of the Bible God transformed him. The difference between what he was and what he is now is remarkable.
He was open and honest about the bleakness of his former life of addiction and darkness and despair, but he went on to make a point of saying he doesn’t think about those days. Rather than looking back, he goes forward each day in thankfulness and gratitude.
This is so important and comforting for us to know because each of us also has our own past sins, our own skeletons in the closet. All of us can look back on certain things we did or said or didn’t do and make ourselves wince at our own actions. We may even still be living with the consequences.
On top of that, you know who else seems to have an uncanny memory of these things? Satan. And one of his greatest tricks is to drag them out into our consciousness and put them on in full display within our mind’s eye and remind us of what once was in the attempt to make us doubt our salvation or our worthiness to be called God’s children.
But here is where our thinking must be clear. Our forgiveness is total. As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our transgressions from us.
So Paul – and every Christian – can talk about “forgetting what is behind.” Even though his past was never fully erased from his mind, he knew it was in the mind of God. He knew that every single last sin he ever committed (or would commit, for that matter) had been nailed to the cross with Jesus and buried in the empty tomb. And it moved him to go forward in a greater love for Christ, his Savior.
It also drove him into a deeper life of Christian discipleship. That’s the final area he shows clear thinking in our text.
There are three words in particular that make it very clear that Paul paid attention to his life of discipleship. Twice he talks about “pressing on” and once he talks about “straining.” He also talks about a “goal” and “winning” a “prize.” All of these words are from the world of competitive athletics. They all talk about effort, practice, focus.
Let’s not misunderstand.
Paul knew that he was going to heaven because Jesus had provided it for
him. He knew that eternal life was his,
and that it was for that reason that “Christ
Jesus took hold of me.” He speaks of
his confidence as a child of God, and how “God
has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
But he also speaks of the personal effort involved in maintaining his faith up until that time. And therein is another lesson for us.
Living the Christian life and maintaining our faith takes just as much effort and dedication and discipline as preparation for an athletic event.
The Christian life means pressing on against a world and our own sinful nature that are not always very agreeable to this pursuit.
The Christian life means straining against the lazy tendencies of our old sinful nature which, for instance, seems to have no trouble dedicating time to watching television or reading the paper or engaging in our hobbies, but sometimes finds it hard or inconvenient to carve out 5 or 10 minutes a day for a daily devotion.
That’s the kind of thing Paul is talking about. Salvation is ours. Christ is ours. But to make Christ and our salvation a living, vibrant, life-altering, daily presence in our lives we must expend effort incorporating Him into our lives through spending time with Him in His Word.
Bible class attendance. Personal devotions. Quiet times to simply contemplate the grace of God and the love of Christ. You have heard these encouragements before. Many of us already know the blessings that result from this.
But regardless of our strength or weakness in this area, it would be good for each of us to take Paul’s words personally as encouragement to press on toward higher heights of the Christian life. While on the one hand these are the words of a man who certainly understood the struggles of faith, a man who “fought the good fight,” on the other hand they are not the words of a man who was exhausted because of the effort. Rather, they are the words of a contented, confident, grateful man.
Following his example can produce the same blessed results in each of us.
And on that note we’ll close. Paul was a thinker. More importantly, he was a clear thinker on the great subjects of salvation and forgiveness and discipleship. Having tapped into his mind and considered his divinely inspired insights, let us simply pray that God will always grant us the same clarity of thought. Amen.