Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3: 4b-14 (NRSV)

⁴ 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 make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 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, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Year C

Fifth Sunday in Lent

March 13, 2016

Cross~Wind

Title: “All In” or “Limping In”

 

Introduction

I do not think I have ever been in a real race. I like to run the Indianapolis mini-marathon, of course, but I do not compete with anyone except me. I would like to do better than I did the previous year. Some years, I just want to complete it, and I always have. One year, it took me the longest time to complete. I developed a cramp in my leg, but I kept going. When it came to that last mile, I was determined to take it up a notch. It did not work. I walked across the finish line. I am rather stubborn that way.

            In February 2008, a rocket blast struck Maj. Phil Packer while serving with the British Armed Forces in Basra, Iraq. He suffered major heart and spinal injuries — enough that medics told the now-paraplegic soldier that he would never walk again. They were wrong — wrong by 26.2 miles. He completed a London marathon on crutches. While starting the marathon with the main race group, he finished it 13 days later. He covered roughly two miles a day, and the whole journey took him 52,400 steps. When doctors tell you that you will never walk again, every step is worth counting. When each race day consists of 4,000 painful steps, you probably count each limp and remember every one of them. He has not stopped inspiring people. Phil set out on 14th September 2015 to complete a marathon distance through the City of London in an incredible 14 hours.

            For Packer, limping in was actually all in.

            On his web site[1], he identifies his mission in life:  

"To deliver inspiration, create greater inclusion and to influence in the areas of self-harm, depression and mental health at the highest level in order to improve the vital support for young people experiencing trauma in their lives."  

By the way, have you ever thought your mission in life?

            His marathon was a fundraising movement to donate more than £1million (about $1.5 million) to Help for Heroes — a charity that rebuilds the torn-up lives of people injured in military service. As Packer successfully limped toward his funding goal, scores of tear-drenched supporters joined him each day along the road. Onlookers seemed caught up in his transcendent journey.

            He recognized the one-year anniversary of his war injury by rowing across the English Channel.

 

           Packer took on Yosemite’s infamous El Capitan — one of America’s hardest mountains to scale. He accomplished a four-day summit almost entirely by upper-body strength developed through his training regimen of 4,000 pull-ups.

            We might learn a lesson here. He refused to let his past dictate his present or future. Most of us understand giving up in this situation. When he could have given up, he refused to do so.

Here is another lesson. He decided to live his life to its fullest.

            Are we “all in” with God, or are we going to “limp in”? 

 

 

Application

            A race begins and ends. In part, that is why we train, give it our best, and hope to attain the goal. Our lives begin and they end. Do we refuse to let the past dictate our future? Do we live our lives to fullest?  You have one life to live. God wants you to give it your all, for in that giving, you will find joy.

Based upon this passage, I have three things to share.

            First, let us talk about letting go of the past.

            In the race, you are shedding what you do not need in order to run more efficiently, you are pressing toward the goal; you expect to achieve the prize. You shed the useless stuff so your running can be light and without unnecessary impediments.

When Paul uses his accounting image, he argues that as followers of Jesus we need to write off the past, even the good things (profits and assets) in which we took much pride. Yes, he calls it rubbish.

 

            You may have a spiritual past in which you take some pride, whether it is church attendance, self-control, discipline, theological knowledge, faithful giving, and so much more.

            For others, the past is what makes them feel unworthy of Christ. The failed relationship. The debt. The secret habits. The abortion. They feel unlovely and unlovable.

            A Peanuts cartoon has Lucy standing in the outfield of Charlie Brown’s baseball diamond. As a fly ball sails toward her, she remembers all the other times she has dropped the ball. You can guess what happens next: She drops this one, too. Then Lucy calls out to Charlie Brown, who is standing there on the pitcher’s mound: “I almost had it, but then my past got in my eyes!”

            Has the past ever gotten in your eyes? Has it hindered you from accomplishing what God wants you to accomplish?

            The checkered past and the sterling past have the same thing in common for Paul — they are a pile of … rubbish.

            You see, the scandal of grace is that we are without merit. We cannot bring anything good enough to get God to love us. Nor can we do anything vile enough to sever the love God has for us. God loves us because of who God is, not because of who we are.

            Richard Rohr put it this way:  

“God does not love us because we are good. He loves us because God is good. Why can we not surrender to that? Because it initially feels like a loss of power and importance!” 

Whether we are good or not good enough does not matter. Our past is behind us.

            Second, let us consider living into the future.

            Having shed unnecessary baggage, Paul, the runner, now says that we press and strain forward with our eyes on the prize. We are now free to embrace the future God has for us. As Paul puts it, he wants to strain forward to what lies ahead and press on toward the goal (v. 13, 14).

            When Christ is everything to us, the future is big. It is risky. It is creative. It is fulfilling.

            Many of us are afraid to stretch toward our best. We are content with just getting by in life, and maybe even in our discipleship. Paul will have none of that. Paul has a goal that involves continual maturing of his discipleship. Some of you might remember a doxology in Ephesians 3.   

 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3: 20-21) 

            So as followers of Christ, let us develop a little holy imagination. Let us ask God what the future could look like and then ditch our fears that hold us back from it.

            Third, let us consider whether we are all in or limping in?

            These terms are from poker. Now, do not make assumptions about either my past or present. How bad is this, coming to church and learning some poker lingo. In any case, Texas hold'em is quite popular on both Internet and television. When you limp in, you wager the minimum amount to stay in the hand. It is a conservative play. You are interested enough to bet the minimum and see what cards might turn up, but you are not totally committed to the hand. The opposite poker play is a term more of us may be familiar with: “ALL IN!” That is the bravado cry of players pushing every chip they have into the pot. They hope they have what it takes to go for it all.

            To return to Maj. Packer, he had two ways he could have approached life. The first was to collect a disability check and a whole lot of sympathy because of his past. Any of us might have taken this approach in his situation. We would understand that approach. It would be a matter of approaching the end of your life as “limping in.” Here is the conservative play. You are interested enough to keep living.

            The other was to call the past irrelevant regarding the future and take the risk of stretching toward the best life God has for you. That is all in.

            Paul is in prison. He could have limped in. Any of us might have reason to consider the conservative play in our lives and limp in.  

Conclusion

            Sadly, many churches have people who are limping in. They have checked the “I'm saved” box. They do not realize that God values their lives and this time. Let me ask you something. You have only one life to live. Are you truly living before you die? God has so much more to offer you. Refuse to let your past become your prison and dream of what God wants you to do next. 

Going deeper

[Philippians 3:1b-4:3 consist of warnings against errors. If one accepts the idea of multiple letters combined into one as the canonical text, this is letter C.]

[Paul begins by saying that to write the same things to them is not troublesome to him. It safeguards them. He wants them to beware of dogs, evil workers, and those who mutilate the flesh. The most common identification of these "dogs" by scholars is the "Judaizers" -- those who taught that both adherence to the Law of Moses and a confession of Christ as Lord were necessary for complete entrance into Christian fellowship. The term suggests Gentiles who have adopted the rite of circumcision, possibly as a semi magical initiation ritual. Paul, of course, had no doubts about whether following Jewish law was still a prerequisite for joining the church. It was not.  According to Martin, Paul's Judaizing opponents believed his teachings needed to be supplemented by Jewish ceremonies, such as circumcision.  The use of "dogs" they understand neither Jewish nor Christian faiths. Noting the special zeal that issues from new converts, as well as the emphasis placed on circumcision by those Paul is opposing, many scholars argue that they were likely Gentile-Jewish-Christians. Having moved through progressive stages to reach their current place in the Christian fold, these converts insisted that all others must traverse the same spiritual trail they had trod. For a Gentile to move directly to a confession of Christ was deemed "skipping a step." Paul continues by stressing that “we” are the circumcision, meaning that “we” worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh. Yet, he stresses that he has reason to have confidence in the flesh.]

            [Paul is clearly defending himself against some sort of opponents who had infiltrated the Philippian community. Who were these opponents, and why was Paul disturbed by them? Many answers have been offered to these questions, and none are without their shortcomings. From the context of Philippians, we can conclude that the opponents were proclaiming a message contrary to Paul’s; further, we can tentatively suggest that they were preaching a pattern of Jewish customs which they thought were authentic, as opposed to Paul’s newfangled customs derived from his belief in the messianic age. Were these opponents an observant group of Jews already living in Philippi? Alternatively, were they a group of “Judaizing” Christians that followed Paul from his missionary base at the synagogue of Antioch? We may never know, and in truth, the distinction between a “Jew” and a “Judaizing Christian” would be very difficult to make at such an early stage of Paul’s missionary activity. The very ideas and practices that would come to distinguish between Jews and Christians were precisely what Paul debated and delineated in conversation with Peter and the other ancient Jews who believed in Jesus the Messiah.] 

Philippians 3: 4b-14 (NRSV)

⁴ If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: [He may have been responding to some arguments or rumors that impugned his background. Paul makes it clear that far from having a past he might want to hide, his personal history was one that would ordinarily lead to boasting. He had lived the life of an observant, obedient Jew. The four clauses describe the privileges inherited by the apostle apart from his own act or will, are arranged in ascending scale.] ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day [therefore not as an adult], a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin [which produced a king, Saul, who may have given the Hebrew name of Paul], a Hebrew born of Hebrews [meaning he kept the language and customs of the Jewish people]; as to the law, a Pharisee; [Not only had Paul inherited special privilege and place, but also when grown to adulthood, he chose to strengthen his position in the law even more by becoming a Pharisee - the most literally observant sect in first-century Judaism. The contrast would have been a Hellenist. Regarding the Torah, he was a Pharisee.] ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; [In I Corinthians 15:9 he admits he is not fit to receive the calling of an apostle, since he persecuted the church of God. In Galatians 1:13 he notes that he followed Judaism carefully and persecuted the church. In addition, I Timothy 1:13 has an interesting way of phrasing this, saying he cursed Christ, persecuted Christ, and acted arrogantly toward Christ.] as to righteousness under the law, blameless. [Note that he was without fault in scrupulous obedience to the Torah, but not “without sin.” Jesus granted that the Pharisees were exact in their obedience to the quantitative elements in the law.

[In verses 7-14, Paul reassesses his past in light of his new life in Christ.] ⁷ Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. [He now uses the metaphor of gain and loss to illuminate the transition he made from Pharisee to Christian. He seems to draw the image from the language of commerce. The Philippians were clearly Paul’s wealthiest community, or at least, the community that provided the most financial support to his ministry. In Philippians 4:10-20, Paul acknowledges his debt to the Philippians, assuring them that in his ministry he seeks “the profit that accumulates” to their “account” (4:17). Paul knew that he already had some sort of commercial relationship with the Philippians, an account of credits and debits. In financial matters, the community at Philippi had become a sort of lord or master (kurioV) to Paul. Paul stresses that whatever gains he had as an observant Jew, he has come to regard (count, as in rebalancing the books) them as loss because of Christ. The verb for “count” is in the perfect tense, which means he has a specific moment in his past, his conversion, that dramatically changed his thinking. The experience of Christ does not just tip the scales.  It throws them away all together. After his conversion, Paul completely altered his whole perception of gains and losses. However, we should not interpret any of this as repudiation of Jewish life and faith. In fact, much of his argument in his letters contains traces of his Jewish background. The point is that in comparison, what he thought was gain became loss, so that he could know Christ. Thus, more than that, he regards everything loss. What was gain is now loss. What were advantages are nothing in comparison to what he has now.] ⁸ More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. [He wants them to understand without doubt that the spiritual value of knowing Jesus Christ as his kurioV far surpasses any earthly gains he has made through the transactions of Jewish law or his financial transactions in the ministry. Paul sold his old possessions to work for a new master. He now has the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus “my Lord.” He has given up himself to God, which has become the greatest possible gain.] For his sake I have suffered [better, treated] the loss of all things [not just his Jewish heritage. The fact that Paul is now in prison makes such a statement even weightier. He has even given up his liberty.] and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [He can treat his past as loss because in Christ he has gained so much. He regards them as rubbish for the sake of his new master.] 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. [What we find next is the Pauline teaching in miniature. He will mention favorite theological topics. Paul elaborates upon this theme in II Corinthians 2-7. Pannenberg stresses that an exchange of places between the innocent Jesus, who was executed as a sinner, and the manifestation of the righteousness of God in those whom Christ represents before Christ. Yet, Paul stresses that this exchange of places takes place only if the sinners for whom Jesus died let their lives, which  have fallen victim to death, be linked to the death of Jesus.^[2] In Romans 6:3ff, Paul will also describe the result of baptism as union with Christ in his suffering, death, and resurrection. One way to think of this is that faith and baptism belong together.^[3] The Philippians here catch a glimpse of what Paul expounded more fully to the Galatians and the Romans. “In Christ," means as a part or member of Christ.  Only by becoming a part of Christ can Christ's righteousness become our own.  Note that faith is the means of justification, not the source.  This contains Paul's doctrine of Justification by faith, Christ being worth more than anything else in existence.  Paul's denial of all previous "profits" so that he may claim and "gain" Christ, or even "belong to Christ," leads him to contrast law-based righteousness with grace-based righteousness - righteousness that comes from God "through faith in Christ" alone. Paul's declaration that he has no righteousness for himself based on the law is a remarkably radical statement for this Pharisee to make. According to Pharisaic interpretations, carrying out every jot and tittle of the law attained righteousness. People nurtured their communion with God through a scrupulous adherence to legal duties. Now as a Christian, faith alone ensures Paul of his right relationship with God. Being open and present in God's present grace is, to Paul, proper righteousness.  There is no law, no liturgy, no precedence for the power that is offered to the one who has faith. It is only faith that gives the future meaning. All Paul's previous energies are now a "loss" because his newfound faith in Christ revealed to him that righteousness is a relational existence, not an ethical standard.] ¹⁰ I want to know [aorist tense suggesting a definitive act, a knowledge that is far from simply intellectual, but transforming] Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,[Paul forcefully states his radical theology of the cross, the life of discipleship entailing fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. The disciple must become conformed or formed with (summorfizw) the death of Christ. Clearly, Paul is not referring to the unjust death of the cross that Christ experienced. Rather, the disciple is to conform to the humble act of self-emptying he described in 2:5-11. However, Paul has also uniquely applied the cross to his apostolic ministry as well. Participation in Christ's sufferings is the practical result in life.  It implies not only persecution, but also includes struggles against sin, Gethsemane and Calvary. This is another way of expressing the faith/union relation between Christ and believer.  Reference to Christ's death one best understands as death to sin. Some have suggested that we should understand Paul's words here as referring to an inward transformation. In such a reading, the old self unites with Christ in such a way that it puts to death its previously sinful nature. However, Paul's words would seem to indicate a more tangible relationship with Christ's sufferings. Paul not only understands the ends of Christian faith to be superior to all else (sharing in the power of the Resurrection) but that the means of Christ's life also offer a superior model to those who proclaim their faith. We may also translate "Sharing of his sufferings" as "the fellowship of his sufferings." "Fellowship" in Christ's sufferings is a communal, not simply a personal, event. Even as Paul emphasized the individual gift of rebirth hoped for by all who share faith in Christ, he could emphasize the spirit of a koinonia community that would and could suffer together for Christ's sake and in Christ's name. For Paul, all our suffering is Christ's, and Christ is present with us in our sufferings. God unites the body and all its members in suffering, death and resurrection. Paul connects participation in all suffering to the ultimate gift of resurrection with Christ.] ¹¹ if somehow [an expression of humility, expectation, and hope] I may attain the resurrection from the dead. [We can see here that Schleiermacher is right in basing the Christian hope of life beyond death on the fellowship of believers with Jesus sets it on the right basis, even if he did not go far enough in providing a rational justification for it. For Paul, the resurrection of Jesus means participation already in the salvation of eternal life.^[4] Paul admits that he has not already obtained this resurrection. Obviously, "the power of his resurrection" refers to the power manifested by the resurrected Christ. It is a power that works in the lives of all believers, replacing the death-grip of sin with the lifeline of Christ. This is the miraculous "gain" that Paul now realizes and to which all other "gains" pale in comparison.

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press [strains (present tense, suggesting repeated action and constant challenge)] on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 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, ¹⁴ I press on [present tense as well] toward the goal for the prize [Christ?] of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. [Paul now shifts the metaphor to that of athletic competition. The metaphor does lots of rhetorical work for Paul: It reminds the reader that the Christian life is goal-oriented, as is an athletic contest, and future-directed, as is any successful competitor. He is still a work in progress. He is not content with his present condition.  Paul thus retains the athletic metaphor throughout the verse: Just as the winner of a contest is called “up” to a pedestal to receive a crown or a prize, so will the saints be called up to receive their prize of eternal life. Perhaps most importantly, the athletic metaphor implicitly reminds Paul’s readers of the finitude of their sufferings for the sake of Christ. Just as no contest is infinite in duration, neither is human life infinite. In Paul’s eschatological outlook, indeed we are already around the final turn and into the homestretch. He may refer to the foot race, as he did in 2:16 in order to describe the spiritual quest he finds himself embodying. The ideal is to reach the finish line. While Paul's personal and theological focus has changed from Torah-centered to Christ-centered, his passion for righteousness has not changed. The same zeal he brought to his former faith he brings to his present commitments. He denies any inference that he has reached his new goal of being fully in Christ. We can see here a tension between his present attainment and his future aspiration.  He views perfection as what will be his at the resurrection.  There is no fullness of perfection here and now. Barth says that God never ceases to make continual new beginnings with people. God is continuously effectual in the divine work. He thinks this is what it means to be before God and to know God.[5] He also wants to bring verses 12-13 together with I Corinthians 9:24-25, variations of the image of the athlete in the arena. Together, they bring out the fact that the Christian situation is so obviously a provisional one. In the Christian situation, the necessity is present to run to the very utmost of our resources. The Holy Spirit is the one who sets us on the march. A real seeker is one whose hands are empty. One is not an indecisive and planless seeker. One knows what one is seeking. A real seeker is one whose hands are empty, who has not yet apprehended, but wants to apprehend because one is already apprehended. One is not an occasional or distracted seeker who divides powers between running and resting, between seeking and possessing. As those in fellowship with Jesus Christ, it is their portion to seek, to set their affection, to go to run, to press on and to sacrifice.[6] For verses 12-14, Barth refers to the youthful objectivity of the passage, regardless of the age of the author.[7]

 

 

 

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[1] You can visit his web site here.

[2] Systematic Theology Volume 2, 428.

[3] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 232, 257.

[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 534, 568.

[5] Church Dogmatics II.1 [25.1] 25.

[6] Church Dogmatics IV.2 [64.4] 376-7.

[7] Church Dogmatics III.4 [56.2] 613.