PRESS ON

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 25, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Philippians 3:4b-14
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circum-cised 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 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 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. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 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. 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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In this morning’s second lesson is an excerpt of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. Things have been going well there. Their church is growing steadily, both men and women are involved in leadership, and their stewardship is going well. The church has plenty of money. But all is not well. Believe it or not, this congregation has issues within and without. Inside the congregation, there is petty fighting, jealousy and cliques forming. Outside the congregation, Jewish neighbors are looking down on these new converts to the faith and believing themselves superior because they follow all the Jewish laws and rituals.

Good old Paul to the rescue! He writes to the Christians in Philippi to help them deal with all of these issues. He sees that they are having some pride trouble—that they are getting all puffed up about themselves and therefore missing the point. So Paul uses himself as an object lesson. He recites all of of his pedigree, as if putting together his religious resume. He was born a Jew and his family followed all the rules and had him circumcised on the 8th day, just like you’re supposed to. Not only that, he is an elite purebred Hebrew. Not only that, his family comes from the Tribe of Benjamin! He’s virtually religious royalty. That ought to impress. But that’s just the start. He’s got the right education and behavior as well. He recalls how zealous he was, how righteous and blameless under the law. In fact, all these things had Paul pretty puffed up (like this paper bag I’m blowing up).

But Paul had a dramatic religious experience in which he encountered Jesus Christ and all of that changed. All of his confidence in himself, in his fabulous religious resume and pedigree became unimportant. In fact, he says that he counts it all a loss because of Christ. He counts his own accomplishments as nothing more than trash (pops paper bag), compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ. It is just not important in comparison to what Christ has done for us on the cross. It is garbage now. What matters is his new life in Jesus.

And this relationship turns Paul completely around. In fact, he even gets a new name. This radical encounter with the living Christ turns him from persecutor of Christians to the first and perhaps boldest Christian missionary. Now, because Christ has taken hold of him, he has all new priorities.
Bulking up your religious resume has not benefit, he tells the Christians at Phillipi. Getting puffed up and thinking you are somehow better than this person or that only leads to conflict. What is most important is knowing Christ. Paul puts it in this way: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings.”

During Holy Week, which begins next Sunday we will be focusing on Jesus’ passion and death, and that is a necessary part of our journey to Easter. But even in the heart of Lent, we must not lose sight of the fact that we are Easter people. It has been said, truly, that you can’t have Easter without Good Friday. But Good Friday wouldn’t be “good” if it weren’t for Easter. If Jesus had simply suffered and died, and that was the end of the story, why would we want to share in his suffering? In fact, if we were putting our trust in a Christ who was not raised from the dead, we would be, as Paul tells us in another passage, “of all people most to be pitied.”

But just what does Paul mean to “share in his sufferings?” What does this mean for us? Suffering is not something we generally sign up for. Perhaps this Lent we have been practicing some kind of “fasting”: in the kinds or quantities of food we eat, or in our enjoyment of some other pleasures. Or perhaps we have chosen instead to take on some spiritual discipline for this holy season—like more time for prayer. This is a very small way to share in Christ’s suffering, to become like him in his death. Perhaps we need simply to “die” a little more to ourselves—to focus on others and not just on our own concerns and the concerns of those near and dear to us. Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of his brothers and sisters we do to, or for, him. How might we enter into the suffering of those brothers and sisters—the sick, the poor, the homeless or hungry, those who are alone, who are oppressed? It’s not too late to make that a part of our Lenten practice. In fact, we can and should do it anytime, no matter what the season.

Our reading concludes with one more passionate remark from Paul. He writes: “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I press on! What lies behind is unimportant. We can’t impress God with our fabulous religious resumes. They are trash. What we need is Christ’s resume. We need the one who paid the price for our sins to earn God’s favor for us. We have a friend in Jesus who has redeemed us, and who is calling us, who is calling us to enter into his suffering, death and resurrection. That is the ultimate prize! And it is ours for the taking. So we must press on!

Eugene Peterson has written a paraphrased bible, called The Message. In it, he paraphrases this verse by saying: “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”

No my friends, we’re not turning back. We know Christ and in our heart of hearts we want to know him more. We want to love him. We want to be entirely his own. Let us press on to follow his call wherever it lead us!

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007