Throwing it all Away
though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, 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. (Philippians 3:4-14 NIV)
In verses 4-6 Paul outlines his Jewish heritage to help prove a point. The point he is trying to make has to do worldly achievements and giving them up for the “sake of Christ.” It is a common held belief that Paul was not encouraging others to abandon the ship of Judaism; instead, Paul thought it his responsibility to modify it. Paul’s goal was more of ushering a new era of Judaism than it was creating a whole new religion. With this in mind, it will better help us to understand Paul’s writings. Paul and his family had worked very hard to achieve the status they had but Paul was willing to throw it all away because what he found in Christ was worth more to him. Paul’s faith made him realize that the righteousness that came from knowing Christ was more important than any worldly distinction or honor. Paul wanted to truly know Christ, and for Paul this meant that he wanted to know the power of his resurrection, he wanted to participate in his sufferings, all so he could attain the resurrection from the dead himself.
The greek verbage in this scripture reads a lot like a romantic novel. To be honest, the greek words Paul chose make this scripture sound a lot like a love story. It may seem a little strange for us to think of it in this way but our relationship with God is exactly that: a story of love. For example, when we choose to marry someone, we share in the life experiences. Good and bad, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health we are making the decision to go through life with this person. We share in the tears of joy and in the tears of joy. Our relationship with Christ is no different: we share in his sufferings so we can also share in his resurrection. With Christ, as in marriage, we share pain together so we can celebrate joy together. In our earthly relationships we fight with and for the ones we love and it is important for us to understand that this way of thinking is no accident for we have learned this from God who has fought with and for each of us. Paul was willing to throw all of his earthly honor away so he could achieve heavenly honor. So he could win the prize of being called upward by Christ.
This got me thinking about the phrase we have all heard: God will not give us more than we can handle. For whatever reason, this phrase started making less sense to me for there are countless examples of people who were given more than they could handle. But this phrase has been used to give us strength in the sense that whatever we are going through, we should be able to handle it because God put it in our plate because he knew that we could handle it. This phrase insinuates that it is God that is piling on these things that we assume we can handle simply because they keep happening to us. This way of thinking then gives us the assumption that God is in control of every single aspect of our lives and not just our lives but the lives of every single person on this planet, past, present and future. Its not that I don’t feel God is capable of this but I do feel that it is unlikely. We know God knows every hair on our head and that he knew us even before we were born but to think he controls every facet of our lives is difficult to imagine. Why do so many suffer while others don’t? With this cliche, the answer is because God knows we can handle it while others can’t. If that were the case, then it would seem that God hands out a certain amount of pain to hand out and hands that pain out according to those whom He feels can handle it. I have a hard time believing this to be the case simply because it seems that God is punishing those whom he feels can handle this punishment. To me, it seems that a God of love would not act in this way. The sufferings in which Paul is referring to in our scripture this morning are never blamed on God. Paul never blames God for his sufferings as we so often do today.
These sufferings, pains and sorrows are apart of life. It is in life that experience these things. We participate in these sufferings because we have no choice. Whether we have faith or not, we are going to lose ones we love. We are going to experience things that hurt. But our love story with Christ does not end in pain, it only begins there. For in Christ we have the eternal promise of love and grace. It seems that I am chalking the negative things in life to our life experiences and the good things in life I am giving credit to God. How can I give credit to God for the good things and not the bad? If God is in control of one, how can He not be in control of the other? In both sorrow and happiness, we share in both with God. If you were to lose you job, you couldn’t really blame your spouse but they are still there to share in your pain. If you were to get a promotion and better pay and benefits, you can’t really give credit to your spouse but they are still there to share in your joy and accomplishment. God may not be directly responsible for your pain or your happiness but in both, we can share in the experience with God. God does not hand out pain nor does He hand out joy to those whom He feels can handle it. I have never heard the phrase: God only gives enough joy and happiness to those who can handle it. Yet we feel the opposite is true...? Paul’s goal was to share in the experiences of Christ. We share in the experiences of our friends and family here on earth. I believe this is what God desires from each of us. He wants to share in our experiences, both good and bad. In order, for that to happen, we have to be willing to let God into our lives just as we let our loved ones into our lives. There is a level of intimacy in this love story and that is how close God wants to be us but we have to let Him in. Our joys are joyous to God. He laughs with us but He also hurts with us. Knowing that God is with us, despite whatever is going on in our lives, is the love story in which Paul is writing about.
God does not have to be in control for us to find comfort in Him. Look at the loved ones in your life who have provided comfort in your darkest days... How many of them were fully responsible for the situation you were in? None of them? Yet there were there for you. Crying with you, helping you mourn, giving you the strength to keep pressing onward and upward. Paul confesses to not yet fully grasping the fullness of Christ but there is one thing he does and one thing he encourages us to do: Forget what is behind you and strain toward what is ahead. God wants so badly to be a part in all the parts of your life but we have to allow that to happen. God wants to share in your joys but also in your sorrows. Paul says that Christ has taken a hold of him and Jesus carried that commitment with him. Jesus lived and died for that promise. God is always with you. So keep pressing toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Jesus Christ. Amen.
In verses 4-6 Paul outlines his Jewish heritage to help prove a point. The point he is trying to make has to do worldly achievements and giving them up for the “sake of Christ.” It is a common held belief that Paul was not encouraging others to abandon the ship of Judaism; instead, Paul thought it his responsibility to modify it. Paul’s goal was more of ushering a new era of Judaism than it was creating a whole new religion. With this in mind, it will better help us to understand Paul’s writings. Paul and his family had worked very hard to achieve the status they had but Paul was willing to throw it all away because what he found in Christ was worth more to him. Paul’s faith made him realize that the righteousness that came from knowing Christ was more important than any worldly distinction or honor. Paul wanted to truly know Christ, and for Paul this meant that he wanted to know the power of his resurrection, he wanted to participate in his sufferings, all so he could attain the resurrection from the dead himself.
The greek verbage in this scripture reads a lot like a romantic novel. To be honest, the greek words Paul chose make this scripture sound a lot like a love story. It may seem a little strange for us to think of it in this way but our relationship with God is exactly that: a story of love. For example, when we choose to marry someone, we share in the life experiences. Good and bad, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health we are making the decision to go through life with this person. We share in the tears of joy and in the tears of joy. Our relationship with Christ is no different: we share in his sufferings so we can also share in his resurrection. With Christ, as in marriage, we share pain together so we can celebrate joy together. In our earthly relationships we fight with and for the ones we love and it is important for us to understand that this way of thinking is no accident for we have learned this from God who has fought with and for each of us. Paul was willing to throw all of his earthly honor away so he could achieve heavenly honor. So he could win the prize of being called upward by Christ.
This got me thinking about the phrase we have all heard: God will not give us more than we can handle. For whatever reason, this phrase started making less sense to me for there are countless examples of people who were given more than they could handle. But this phrase has been used to give us strength in the sense that whatever we are going through, we should be able to handle it because God put it in our plate because he knew that we could handle it. This phrase insinuates that it is God that is piling on these things that we assume we can handle simply because they keep happening to us. This way of thinking then gives us the assumption that God is in control of every single aspect of our lives and not just our lives but the lives of every single person on this planet, past, present and future. Its not that I don’t feel God is capable of this but I do feel that it is unlikely. We know God knows every hair on our head and that he knew us even before we were born but to think he controls every facet of our lives is difficult to imagine. Why do so many suffer while others don’t? With this cliche, the answer is because God knows we can handle it while others can’t. If that were the case, then it would seem that God hands out a certain amount of pain to hand out and hands that pain out according to those whom He feels can handle it. I have a hard time believing this to be the case simply because it seems that God is punishing those whom he feels can handle this punishment. To me, it seems that a God of love would not act in this way. The sufferings in which Paul is referring to in our scripture this morning are never blamed on God. Paul never blames God for his sufferings as we so often do today.
These sufferings, pains and sorrows are apart of life. It is in life that experience these things. We participate in these sufferings because we have no choice. Whether we have faith or not, we are going to lose ones we love. We are going to experience things that hurt. But our love story with Christ does not end in pain, it only begins there. For in Christ we have the eternal promise of love and grace. It seems that I am chalking the negative things in life to our life experiences and the good things in life I am giving credit to God. How can I give credit to God for the good things and not the bad? If God is in control of one, how can He not be in control of the other? In both sorrow and happiness, we share in both with God. If you were to lose you job, you couldn’t really blame your spouse but they are still there to share in your pain. If you were to get a promotion and better pay and benefits, you can’t really give credit to your spouse but they are still there to share in your joy and accomplishment. God may not be directly responsible for your pain or your happiness but in both, we can share in the experience with God. God does not hand out pain nor does He hand out joy to those whom He feels can handle it. I have never heard the phrase: God only gives enough joy and happiness to those who can handle it. Yet we feel the opposite is true...? Paul’s goal was to share in the experiences of Christ. We share in the experiences of our friends and family here on earth. I believe this is what God desires from each of us. He wants to share in our experiences, both good and bad. In order, for that to happen, we have to be willing to let God into our lives just as we let our loved ones into our lives. There is a level of intimacy in this love story and that is how close God wants to be us but we have to let Him in. Our joys are joyous to God. He laughs with us but He also hurts with us. Knowing that God is with us, despite whatever is going on in our lives, is the love story in which Paul is writing about.
God does not have to be in control for us to find comfort in Him. Look at the loved ones in your life who have provided comfort in your darkest days... How many of them were fully responsible for the situation you were in? None of them? Yet there were there for you. Crying with you, helping you mourn, giving you the strength to keep pressing onward and upward. Paul confesses to not yet fully grasping the fullness of Christ but there is one thing he does and one thing he encourages us to do: Forget what is behind you and strain toward what is ahead. God wants so badly to be a part in all the parts of your life but we have to allow that to happen. God wants to share in your joys but also in your sorrows. Paul says that Christ has taken a hold of him and Jesus carried that commitment with him. Jesus lived and died for that promise. God is always with you. So keep pressing toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Jesus Christ. Amen.
This is a picture of our friends from Wakonda Christian Church that came down and shared their musical talents with us last weekend.
God Bless,
Clinton
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