A text – Philippians 3:4-14
4 even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 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; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 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 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. 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, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
A reflection:
This passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is pretty familiar to churchgoers. It comes up often and, of all Paul’s writing, seems maybe the boldest, brashest, and most annoying. But who he was up to the point he met Jesus was pretty impressive, and he lists it all, both things he got as an accident of birth to his particular parents as well as things he accomplished through study and lifestyle. All of it together would have made him most enviable, most powerful, most lauded among Jews.
In our world, Paul’s accomplishment list could be equalled perhaps by a child of a famous faithful person, brought up reading the scriptures, aware of every Bible story you can think of, graduating from the best religious schools, attaining an MDiv or DMin degree from a very stringent seminary, and becoming pastor to governors or even presidents, or becoming the leader of a religious organization known for its piety and truth-seeking. Having reached this pinnacle of success, he or she could rest on laurels and truly declare, “I have made it. I’m at the top.” Indeed, everything Paul has earned had brought him success.
And then Paul declares this:
“7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 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 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.”
Our lives, once we meet Jesus, belong to Jesus. Everything we have been and learned and done before may have brought us to Jesus, but everything we know and do afterward are out of faith and love for Jesus. Nothing matters as much as Jesus. And we never get to the top until the day we meet Jesus face-to-face and live in resurrected life with him and all other believers. That is the goal, the end of the race Paul is running and we are running. This is a good thing. It even humbles the proud Paul! Jesus is more valuable than anything I ever accomplished by striving, he says. If Paul is humbled and living in gratitude for Jesus and his love, then we can live humbly, looking out for the needs of our neighbors, too. Just as in the Philippians text from last week, we can set aside any equality with God we may think we have earned in favor of the task of living to serve others with the gifts God has given to us; serve the Jesus we love by serving others.
A prayer:
Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for your gifts to us that we are to use in service of others. Help us to recognize that you are the giver, and the gifts flow through us to your beloved children everywhere. Amen.
