In Philippians 3:4b-14, Paul continues his warning against some errors. In the process, we learn some personal spiritual biography that illustrates why his opponents are going down the wrong path. His life is testimony to the conclusion he has drawn that Torah is not the path to right standing with God. We can infer that his opponents thought that at least some of the Jewish Law remained authority for Christians. Paul will offer the course of his life as a testimony of the falsity of that claim.
The passage raises an important question for us as readers. Is there anything we have had to switch off to see the prize set before us in Christ? In fact, do we desire Christ so much that we are willing to reorder our lives around him? In what ways do we view suffering in this life as participation in the suffering of Christ? How would doing so change our view of suffering? The passage raises the question of the vision we have for our lives. It raises the question of the passion that guides our lives. It may well be that the saddest thing in the world is people who can physically see but have no vision (Helen Keller). People with vision are the people who will change the part of the world their lives touch. Such a vision or dream begins now to alter our lives (Goethe).
Paul begins by recounting his past religious life. 4bIf anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more. In his case, his religious life gave him much about which to boast. He had been an observant and obedient Jew. Some signs of this were the privileges of birth. He arranges in ascending order four clauses that describe the privileges inherited by the apostle apart from his own act or will. First, he received circumcision on the eighth day. Second, he was part of the people of Israel. Third, he could identify himself with the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of the first king of Israel, Saul, after whom he may have had his Jewish name. Fourth, he kept the languages and customs of the Jewish people as Hebrew born of Hebrews. However, moving on to the aspects of his past religious life that were a matter of adult choice, he even chose to be part of the most observant sect of his time, as to the law, a Pharisee. He interpreted Torah strictly and organized his life around it. He could have chosen to be a Hellenist, but he rejected that path. Further, when a dangerous teaching arose that said to Jews that Jesus was the promised Messiah, he zealously protected his Pharisee sect and, in the process, protected the special place given to Torah: 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church. Paul refers to this fact in other passages as well. He admits that he was unfit for God to call him to be an apostle, as in fact the least of the apostles, due to his persecution of the church of God (Romans 15:9). He admits that he violently persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. In that context, he also testifies that he was zealous for the traditions of his ancestors (Galatians 1:13-14). Further, I Timothy 1:13 also describe him as a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church, and a man of violence. He concludes his reflection upon his past religious life by affirming that as to righteousness under the law, blameless, a life without fault. He was scrupulous in his obedience to Torah. Paul does not say that he considered himself "without sin" at that point - only that regarding scrupulous obedience to the law, he was "without fault." Recall that even Jesus allowed that the Pharisees were exact in their obedience to the quantitative elements in the law.
Considering his devotion to this form of life, I find it genuinely amazing that his testimony now focuses on a transformation of the course of his life. People do not make such dramatic changes easily in life. To do so, we must admit we are on the wrong path. He is clearly still zealous, but he re-directs his zeal. He was a man so devoted to his brand of Judaism that defined itself by adherence to a code that be became a man of violence. The transformation he experiences will make him an apostle of reconciliation and peace. He went through an amazing transformation. In verses 7-14, he reassesses his past religious life in the light that Christ brings. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard (in the perfect tense, which means he has a specific moment in his past, his conversion, that dramatically changed his thinking) as loss because of Christ. His reassessment of his past religious life is with the language of commerce. When we think of the community to which he writes, we might understand why he uses the metaphor. This community provided him with financial support, more than other communities did. This may mean it was the wealthiest. In 4:10-20, he acknowledges his debt to the community as he continues to describe their relationship with the language of commerce. He is aware of his reliance upon the community for financial support. Yet, they have not become his master or lord. He reaffirms to them the spiritual value of knowing Christ as his Lord. 8 More than that, I regard everything (not just his Jewish heritage) as loss. The fact that Paul is now in prison makes such a statement even weightier. He has even given up his liberty. That which he considered advantages are now nothing. While he had considered his past religious life as to his credit, he has done some rebalancing of the book of his life, as if in a dramatic moment of his life, which changed his thinking. All the things he once viewed as valuable he now considered in the loss column of the account book that is his life. This rebalancing of the book of his life, as if by an accountant, is because of Christ and the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He has given up himself to Christ, who has become the greatest possible gain or profit for his life. If we think of the rebalancing of the scales of his life, Christ did not just tip the scales, but threw them away. His perception of what made anything a gain or loss has changed. When we consider the context of the rest of the writings of Paul, we need to exercise some care as to what Paul means. He does not repudiate his Jewish life and faith. Much of his argument, especially his reference to the Old Testament, involves a reinterpretation of the basic themes of Jewish thought and life. Part of his point is comparison. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. By going through this dramatic transformation, he has gained or won the most precious thing of all. He can treat his past as loss because he has gained so much in Christ. Paul sold his old possessions to work for a new master.
I am not so sure Paul was a seeker. Paul had found that for which he would have invested his life. he was so convinced that he united himself with a group, the Pharisees, and he acted violently against others who did not share the code that bound them. rather than seeking, he was one who in his pride and arrogance thought he had found. Only when he gave up his reliance upon the value of what he had found did he truly become a seeker open to the experience of knowing Christ. Today, we pat ourselves on the back in calling ourselves seekers. Yet, are we really seeking? It may well be that contained in the prideful claim that we are seekers is an arrogant assumption of our superiority over those who have found something in which to invest their lives. Alternatively, we might like to say to ourselves that we are genuine seekers. Yet, we cling to our former way of life and thought. A genuine seeker is one whose hands are empty, counting everything as loss. Then, one becomes a decisive seeker and a seeker with a goal. With empty hands, the real seeker has not yet apprehended. In fact, the real seeker wants that which he or she seeks to apprehend him or her. Such seeking is not occasional or distracted. Such a seeker presses on and sacrifices.[1] We can see that the same zeal Paul brought to his life centered in Torah he now brings to his life centered in Christ.
We are not the value of our list of credentials and good things. As I think about that, I must say that my experience of life is different from that of Paul. I do not have a list of credentials. My family was a modest lower working-class family. I know of nothing great about either the Plasterer or the Knee families. Other than Hormel meat packing, my hometown of Austin, MN has little claim to fame. I went to small Christian colleges in Kansas and Indiana. I also graduated from an evangelical theological school, Asbury, which for some might be impressive, but for many others, not so much. My Doctor of Ministry well it is a Doctor of Ministry and not a PHD. I think I served the South Indiana and the Indiana Annual Conference well, and therefore the congregations I served, but extraordinarily little to distinguish me. Oh, I could point to helping three congregations merge and build a new facility. That was amazing and continues to be something to which I can point. My point is, I come from a common background and have led a common life. I could harshly say that I have led a forgettable life. Frankly, if it has any value, it will be because Christ gave it value.
We are creatures of time. Therefore, we have a past. Being human, we may look back and have good reason to take pride in what we have done. Some of the things in which we take pride are well beyond our doing, such as family of origin, the neighborhood from which we come, or even the nation in which we reside. Some are the result of our choices. We may also look back with regret over things in which we had no control. We may have some embarrassment concerning biological family, race, or nationality. We may also look back at choices we have made with regret. We may even experience our past a burden we must bear in life. We also have a future, of course. It will be difficult for us to move forward if we are constantly relying upon the past and looking back.
Let us pause for a moment and ponder whether Christ means this much to us.
Dr. Helen Huston was a Canadian missionary surgeon who had spent her working life in Nepal. She had written a letter in which she had spoken of Christians who had been willing to suffer for their faith. When Victor Shepherd visited with her around 2002, she told him and others of fellow believers in Nepal who were at the receiving end of persecution from the Hindu government. Friends and neighbors ostracized some. Some are in prison. Hundreds are out of jail only because they have posted bail and must report to the courts every month. Many have mortgaged their lands in order to pay their bail. She then offered her bottom line. “We must stand in solidarity with them. It is worth everything to know Jesus.”[2]
Such focus upon Christ we find also in St. Patrick, who sang the following hymn.
I arise to-day
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of Doom ... .
Christ to shield me to-day
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise to-day
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.[3]
In verses 9-11, Paul will move from the testimony of the transformation of his life to the kerygma, the basic themes of his preaching. God never ceases to make continual new beginnings with people. God is continuously effectual in the divine work. This is what it means to be before God and to know God.[4] Paul will mention his favorite theological topics. He will elaborate in II Corinthians 2-7. 9 And be found in him, or “in Christ,” as if a part of or member of Christ. He has a personal participation in Christ. If that is the case, then his right standing with God does not come through the scrupulous observance of Torah, as he formerly believed and lived: not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law. Again, think of the dramatic transformation that must happen in his life for this to happen. 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. Rather, he nurtures his relationship but one that comes through faith in Christ (πίστεως Χριστοῦ, even from Christ) and this means he has righteousness from God based on faith. Such faith or trust that opens one to the presence of the grace of God is the only type of righteousness that matters to Paul. For Paul, it means that Christ is worth more than anything else in existence. Such faith gives the future meaning. Such faith means that righteousness is far more about relationship than it is about following scrupulously a set of ethical, liturgical, and purity rules. He has given up on the code that bound him to the Pharisee community and led him to the arrogance and eventual violence toward those who did not value the code as did he. His contrast is between righteousness based upon blameless observance of Torah versus righteousness based upon grace from God. In this simple phrase, he summarizes the argument in Galatians and Romans. By becoming “in Christ,” the believer shares in the righteousness of Christ. Such a statement contains the basis for the doctrine of justification, of which faith is the means of justification rather than its source. This notion of an exchange of places between the innocent Jesus, executed as a sinner, means the manifestation of the righteousness of God in those whom Christ represents before God. Yet, such an exchange of places occurs only as sinners for whom Jesus died let their lives link to the death of Jesus.[5] As he continues with summarizing his kerygma in verses 10-11, he uses the language of commitment. As if in a definitive act, 10 I want to know Christ, not simply in a “knowledge about” way, of course, but in a personal relationship that transforms his life. He wants this transforming knowledge to occur in a specific way. And he wants to know the power of his resurrection. He wants to experience in his life the power that raised Jesus from the dead. It will take such power to break the power of sin and death that operates in our lives. Paul identifies the gain that has happened in his life. Yet, an even more amazing gain, and the sharing (κοινωνίαν) of his sufferings (παθημάτων) by becoming like him (συμμορφιζόμενος, conformed or formed) in his death, 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. His life is conforming or forming to that of Christ through the suffering he presently experiences. His apostolic ministry involved much suffering. He applies the cross of suffering that led to the cross of Jesus to his experience of suffering as an apostle. His theology of the cross entails discipleship as fellowship with Christ in his suffering. Paul will expound upon the theme of baptism as union with Christ in his suffering, death, and resurrection in Romans 6:3ff. In that sense, faith and baptism belong together.[6] To engage in a discipleship process of becoming like the Son is to participate in the sufferings of Christ. Such a statement is not just a reference to persecution, although for Paul it did mean that and for many Christians in the world it still does mean that. The experience of faithful discipleship in a secular culture will have its own form of persecution, even if it is as simple as the easy dismissal of Christ, whom the follower of today considers every bit as precious as did Paul. However, Paul seems to speak broadly of the struggle against sin, Gethsemane, and Calvary. It expresses the faith/union relation between Christ and believer. The fellowship of the suffering of Christ implies a communal event. The suffering occurs together for the sake of and the name of Christ. The suffering of believers participates in the suffering of Christ. Christ is present with us in our suffering. In this discipleship of faith and union with Christ in his resurrection and suffering, Paul expresses some humility in saying that 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. His expectation and hope is in the direction of resurrection. The context suggests that Schleiermacher was right to say that the Christian hope of life beyond death has its basis here on the fellowship of believers with Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus means participation already in the salvation of eternal life.[7] 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.
The transformation that occurs for Paul is the result of a revelation, a sudden and jarring insight into himself that led him to re-think his notion of God and the people of God. The Torah, along with the specific definition of that code through uniting with the party of the Pharisees, was the code by which Paul lived. It took a jarring revelation for him to see that his adherence to the code led him to be a man of violence, arrogantly placing himself above other Jewish sects. Thinking Torah would lead him toward become a righteous man, his revelation showed him to be a man of anger and division. His form of code adherence led him to make thick boundaries between his sect and other sects. Of course, this meant the thickest of boundary existed between Jew and Gentile. Adherence to Torah led him to become a man who missed the mark and become a man of rebellion from that which God wanted. He came to see that Christ defined who God is and whom the people of God are to become. The self-emptying and humble life of Christ meant that the people of God are to live self-emptying and humble lives, becoming people of faith, hope, and love. Paul made the transition from a person of violence, anger, and division to a man of peace, love, and reconciliation. It took him over a decade in Syria to reflect upon all this in a biblical way, but he saw that through Christ, even the Old Testament testified to the primacy of faith and to the longed for peace and reconciliation for the people of God broadly inclusive of Jew and Gentile.
We could look at the life of Paul and suggest that his adherence to Torah was the prevenient grace of God at work and that he was a seeker after genuine righteousness. Yet, I do not think Paul viewed his experience that way. He viewed it as a sudden and jarring revelation that caused him to re-direct his life toward the grace, forgiveness, and life-giving power of resurrection through the Holy Spirit.
Further, a careful reading of how Paul uses the Old Testament suggests that the New Testament carries within itself a deep appreciation of it as the inspired word of God but critically read through the genuinely new work of reconciliation and redemption that took place and continues to take place in Christ. While we see Christ as fulfillment of the promise of God in the Old Testament toward the people of God and toward humanity, we also need to see it does so with a critical eye toward certain parts of the Old Testament. This is not the place to get into detail, but only to be suggestive that believers today do not need new theories of what to do with troublesome passages in the Old Testament. The New Testament already carries within itself a criticism of such passages, (polygamy, purity and dietary law, holy war, cursing of enemies, death penalty, thick division between people of God and world), and we need to pay attention to the basis for the criticism. In Paul, the basis for the critique of the Old Testament is simple as he focuses our attention upon the event of revelation from God found in Christ.
In 3: 12-14, moving from a summary of his kerygma, he returns to the effect upon his life. regardless of his age at the time of this writing, it has a youthful feel.[8] He will shift the imagery from commerce to athletic competition. Such language reminds us as readers that the Christian life is goal oriented and future directed, as we will find in an athletic contest or in a successful competitor. Another variation of this theme is in I Corinthians 9:24-25. The present struggle in training and discipline prepares one for the contest. Of course, 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal (the resurrection); 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 repeatedly and recognizing the constant challenge of straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I continually and in a determined way press on toward the goal for the prize (though not named, we might think of Christ as the prize) of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Just as the winner of a contest stands on a pedestal to receive the crown or prize, so will those who are in faith relationship and union with Christ receive the prize of eternal life. Suffering is finite and temporal. No contest is infinite in duration; nor is a human life. The Christian situation is a provisional one. The Spirit is the one who sets us on the march.
We might think of life as a racing contest. We have a goal, a finish line. We will reach it (death, eternity) no matter what we do. What is important, however, is to run the race well. We will never reach the goal with a sense of having done all we can if we are constantly looking back. We will need to shed thoughts of what we have done and focus upon what is to come.
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.
I have three things to share.
First, let us think about letting go of the past. In the race, you are shedding what you do not need 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. God does not love us because we are good. God loves us because God is good. Many of us have difficulty with this notion because it means we have lost power or control of the relationship.[9] Whether we are good or not good enough does not matter. Our past is behind us.
Those who listened to The Shadow on the radio probably remember vividly is the beginning with the scary music and a man's deep, sinister voice asking, "What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" The voice would trail off in menacing and foreboding laughter. It scared listeners. It still scares people. What indeed does my Shadow know? Do I also know it? Will it surprise and scare me? Can I handle it? That is where courage comes in. Too many of us think evil exists in people or groups. If we could just be rid of communists, white people, capitalists, the upper one percent, men, and the list continues. You know the drill. If that were so, we could safely isolate evil from us good folk. However, the dividing line between good and evil runs through your heart and mine. If we have the courage to embrace the scary shadows of our lives, we would take a giant leap toward healing the deep and lasting pain of our lives.[10] Our refusal to acknowledge the shadow is the central defect of the evil that resides within us. When we acknowledge all parts of us, we can move from childhood to maturity, from isolation to community, and from running and cowering to peace and equanimity.[11]
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. Paul offered a doxology in which he wrote:
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, reading a biblical reflection 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. Some people have life experiences in which we would understand if they “limped in.” Family background may have been horrible. An accident or an injury in war may give a serious disability. Limping in is the conservative play. You have enough interest 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.
Let me see if this analogy works. Speaking as a male, romantic attraction to a woman is powerful in that we can adjust our time and energy to get acquainted with the lovely woman. We will adjust our schedule and even our normal routine to put ourselves where she will be. We press onward and go hard after her to spend time with her.
Another analogy from my college days (1972-4). My first course with Duane Thompson at Indiana Wesleyan College I was captured by the way he thought and taught. I took every course I could from him. He even taught a course in Aesthetics that I took, even though at the time I had no interest in the arts. All I needed to know was that Duane taught the course. I adjusted the precious time and financial resources to make sure I got what I could from him as a teacher. I continued that relationship with him in the years after college and renewed it with him late in life for a few years before he suddenly and tragically died.
We have only one life to live before we die. Are we truly living before we die? We need to be sure that we do not allow our past to become our prison. We need to reach forward and dream of what God wants us to do next.
I find myself in awe of such passion and devotion. I am confident my life would not stand up to this test. Many of us know what it is like to play the religious game. We can be active in church. We can serve on committees. We can be pastors and bishops. We can hear about the cross and resurrection so much that we become numb to what it means if we take this event of the past and make it our own. If that happens, we are no longer playing the religion game.[12] We are all in.
I share final reflections that have proven meaningful to me. I hope they stimulate in you an opportunity for reflection.
Dom Helder Camara came from a well to do home. No one had said anything about what he should be when he grew up. However, one day he said he would like to be a priest. His father was surprised. He warned him that he would never marry, never have a nice home, no children, no feasts as we have, nor own wonderful things. Then the father said, "But, son, you would have no one to spend your days with but God, praying every day and saying the mass! You would have to be entirely looking at God all the time." At the age of 10, he said, "Oh, yes! Yes, that is just what I want. Wouldn't it be wonderful?"[13]
[1] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.2 [64.4] 376-7.
[2] —Victor Shepherd, “The surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” August 2004, Sermons and Writings of Victor Shepherd Web Site, victorshepherd.on.ca.
[3] -"The Deer's Cry," Early Irish Lyric Poetry, translated by Kuno Meyer, Mockingbird.creighton.edu/. Retrieved
[4] Church Dogmatics II.1 [25.1] 25.
[5] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 428.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 232, 257.
[7] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 534, 568.
[8] Barth Church Dogmatics III.4 [56.2] 613.
[9] Richard Rohr
[10] Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian dissident and novelist
[11] Dr. David Kundtz, Stopping (Berkeley: Conari Press, 1998), 156.
[12] Lee Strobel, Inside the mind of the Unchurched Harry & Mary, 1993, 118.
[13] Emphasis, Se-Oc 1993.
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