Sermon from 15th June 2008
Today, one of our ordinands in training, Gill Tayleur, preaches, based on the reading from Philippians 3:1-11.
Let’s pray: Lord please open our hearts and minds to see something more of you this morning. Amen.
What do you want more than anything else?
(a more fulfilling job? money to pay off your debts? to be better from a long term health problem?)
What do you want more than anything else?
I wonder whether many of us would answer the way Paul did in the reading we’ve just heard. For him, the answer was: Knowing Jesus Christ!
What did he want more than anything else in the world? to know Jesus Christ!
What did he value more highly than anything else? Knowing Jesus Christ!
What gave him confidence that he was right with God? Knowing Jesus Christ!
In case this sounds a little over enthusiastic to our ears, a bit super spiritual, let’s take a closer look at what Paul said and why.
There was a problem in Philippi. That’s where the Christians were that Paul was writing to, in ancient Greece. Paul wrote from prison in Rome, to thank them for a gift they’d sent him, and to encourage them to be joyful in their faith. A couple of weeks ago, when Adjoa preached, she described this as a love letter! And last week we heard about the supportive and loving relationships between Paul, Timothy and Epaaprodite.
All very warm and cuddly – but now in this morning’s section of the letter - WHAM!
The tone suddenly changed, as Paul got angry saying WATCH OUT!
The Greek word translated watch out, ‘blepete’ is used 3 times: watch out for those dogs! Watch out for those evil men! Watch out for those who insist on cutting the body!
Watch out?! Paul obviously thought there was real danger for the Philippian Christians, so what was it?
The danger was that they’d put their trust in the wrong things.
That they’d think they were alright with God for the wrong reasons.
What could be so wrong? On the surface, it was the issue of circumcision. There were people who had infiltrated the Philippian church who said that anyone who became a Christian had to be circumcised. They said faith in Jesus Christ was not enough; they must fulfil the requirements of the Jewish law as well.
Now this wasn’t a new problem for the early church. The issue of whether or not non Jews who became Christians had to be circumcised or not, had caused lots of trouble in other places. There had been some serious splits over it. So much so that a big meeting had been called in Jerusalem to thrash it out, some years before. The Council of Jerusalem.
So Paul wanted to nip any potential problems in the bud in Philippi, to make sure those who said Christians must be circumcised were not listened to right from the start.
Paul called them dogs! In that society dogs weren’t family pets, they were disease carrying scavengers. Calling someone a dog was very insulting.
Paul was saying don’t listen to them; circumcision doesn’t matter.
Don’t trust that you’re alright with God because of an external thing like that.
V 3 “We do not put any trust in external ceremonies.”
He said it’s only by faith in Jesus Christ that we can be right with God.
It’s only knowing Jesus that brings true confidence that we’re right with Him.
There are lots of other things that might be attractive to put our trust in, external things, which we might want to believe can put us right with God – but they don’t.
It has to be faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul goes on to say if there was anything else that could make us right before God, if it was dependent on our own credentials or effort, well, we could have a competition to see who’s got the best of them – and he’d win! And he goes on to list the things that he could put his trust in, saying he had the best of them all.
First, he was circumcised when 1 week old, following the exact requirements of the Jewish law. Then there’s Paul’s religious heritage. A pure blooded Jew, of the kingly tribe of Benjamin. That’s a top pedigree! Then Paul says he was strictly religious. He was a Pharisee. He was very sincere and thought Christianity was so terrible that he persecuted Christians very determinedly. And Paul said he led a very good life. He was scrupulous at keeping every law and every rule. “I was without fault” in verse 6 about obeying the Jewish laws.
So Paul’s credentials were first rate, unbeatable really. And I wonder about ours, wonder whether we might be inclined to think we have the right sort of background and achievements to give us confidence before God, to make us right with him.
Maybe you, like me, were born into a Christian home. Maybe you were baptised as a baby, receiving that mark of belonging to God’s family. Although it isn’t quite the same as circumcision, baptism is a sign of being made right with God. But on its own, without faith, it’s not enough. We can’t trust baptism by itself to put us right with God.
As for national or cultural heritage, today some people might think being British automatically makes them CofE, makes them part of God’s family. Or maybe that having a Christian upbringing and family, having been to Sunday School, gives us confidence that we’re alright with God. But we can’t inherit faith, we have to know Jesus for ourselves.
As for sincerity like Paul’s, today many people say, it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. We may think it’s sincerity that matters before God.
But we can be sincerely wrong! I can sincerely believe the P4 bus will take me to Oxford Circus but it won’t! Paul was sincere but wrong when he persecuted the church and killed the Christians. Sincerity on its own isn’t enough.
How about keeping a moral code? Many people today think “I’ve never hurt anyone”, and that leading a generally good life is enough to make them right with God. So, a lot of people have difficulty seeing their need for forgiveness. But when we compare our lives to how Jesus lived and loved people, then we may realise how far short we fall.
No we can’t be made right with God by living what we think is a fairly good life.
We dare not put our confidence in any of these things to make us right with God.
It’s knowing Jesus that made Paul right with God, and it’s the same for us. He said, “I no longer have a righteousness of my own, the kind that is gained by obeying the law. I now have the righteousness that is given through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is based on faith.”
Paul had found a new righteousness, quite different from his previous self righteousness.
Quite different from the righteousness he thought he was earning by keeping the Jewish rules and regulations so carefully.
This new righteousness, this new being put right with God, is a gift from God! We don’t deserve it and cannot earn it. It’s a gift, which we receive “through faith in Christ” as Paul said. Jesus made it possible by his death on the cross, taking our sin and shame on himself, for us to be totally forgiven. Believing this, having faith in Jesus, is the way of receiving it.
If someone gives us a present, we can’t suggest we’ve earned it. However we do have to receive it, to unwrap it and enjoy it. By faith we start to receive God’s gift and enjoy it. What we enjoy is getting to know Jesus!
Yes we can get to know the Jesus of the Gospels today. We can’t see him physically but we can talk to him, hear him speak to us, experience his love, his direction and his power to change us from the inside. We can get to know him in the same sort of way as Paul did.
And it’s this knowledge of Jesus Christ that Paul got so excited about.
He had 2 pictures to show how wonderful it was to him. One is of profit and loss on a balance sheet. Like the pros and cons. All those things that could be counted as profit, his family background, his religious heritage, his achievements and his morality, he considered them all as losses, because knowing Jesus is far greater! “All these things that I might count as profit, I now reckon as loss for Christ’s sake. Not only those things: I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
The other picture is of rubbish. He said everything other than knowing Jesus is like stinky rubbish that he chucks out! He said “For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere refuse!” The word used for refuse here verse 8 is filth: it means either human excrement or stinking rotting food. He said everything, even those great credentials he listed, everything is like filth in comparison with knowing Jesus Christ.
All those things which brought him confidence before he was a Christian, he now considers as useless. They’re insignificant, as he has now got something far far greater by comparison.
So, the question is, have we? Have we that relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we know Jesus? And if so, do we value that relationship above everything else in our lives? What priority do we give it? Is there something above it? If it needs more time, do we make it?
Paul gave up his family, friendships and freedom to know Jesus and his power. We may need to make sacrifices to know Christ too. Maybe the approval of some of our friends, or maybe some of our own self centred plans. Maybe that time to spend with Jesus in prayer, reading the Bible and worship. Knowing Christ is worth any thing we might think we have to let go of! No matter what we give up, we’ll always be in credit.
And as we get to know him better, we’ll experience his power to be changed from the inside. That same power that rose Jesus from the dead can be at work in us! How does that happen? Verse 10 explains: “All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection – to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death.”
How do we share in his sufferings and become like him in his death? There’s a part of each of us that wants to go our own way, not live God’s ways, not live in the right relationship with Christ that we’ve been thinking about.
I find, the more honest I am, honest with myself and with God, about the ways in which I live in a self centred way, the more I experience God’s power to change! The more I recognise how I want to put myself and my needs first – and repent of it, put it to death, if you like, the more I know God’s power to free me from it. The death and suffering we share in, is a death to sin, an ongoing every day death to the self-centred me. And that’s how I experience the power of his resurrection - the new, God-centred me grows instead, living out the ‘right with God’ status we have. As we grow to know him better, we grow in his love and power day by day. And we grow in true confidence that we’re right with God.
Is that what we want? What we REALLY want? If so, let’s go for it - we won’t be disappointed!
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that we can know you, not because of anything we’ve done but because of God’s gift of faith in you. Please help us to receive and enjoy that gift, by making it the most important thing in our lives.
In your name, amen.
Let’s pray: Lord please open our hearts and minds to see something more of you this morning. Amen.
What do you want more than anything else?
(a more fulfilling job? money to pay off your debts? to be better from a long term health problem?)
What do you want more than anything else?
I wonder whether many of us would answer the way Paul did in the reading we’ve just heard. For him, the answer was: Knowing Jesus Christ!
What did he want more than anything else in the world? to know Jesus Christ!
What did he value more highly than anything else? Knowing Jesus Christ!
What gave him confidence that he was right with God? Knowing Jesus Christ!
In case this sounds a little over enthusiastic to our ears, a bit super spiritual, let’s take a closer look at what Paul said and why.
There was a problem in Philippi. That’s where the Christians were that Paul was writing to, in ancient Greece. Paul wrote from prison in Rome, to thank them for a gift they’d sent him, and to encourage them to be joyful in their faith. A couple of weeks ago, when Adjoa preached, she described this as a love letter! And last week we heard about the supportive and loving relationships between Paul, Timothy and Epaaprodite.
All very warm and cuddly – but now in this morning’s section of the letter - WHAM!
The tone suddenly changed, as Paul got angry saying WATCH OUT!
The Greek word translated watch out, ‘blepete’ is used 3 times: watch out for those dogs! Watch out for those evil men! Watch out for those who insist on cutting the body!
Watch out?! Paul obviously thought there was real danger for the Philippian Christians, so what was it?
The danger was that they’d put their trust in the wrong things.
That they’d think they were alright with God for the wrong reasons.
What could be so wrong? On the surface, it was the issue of circumcision. There were people who had infiltrated the Philippian church who said that anyone who became a Christian had to be circumcised. They said faith in Jesus Christ was not enough; they must fulfil the requirements of the Jewish law as well.
Now this wasn’t a new problem for the early church. The issue of whether or not non Jews who became Christians had to be circumcised or not, had caused lots of trouble in other places. There had been some serious splits over it. So much so that a big meeting had been called in Jerusalem to thrash it out, some years before. The Council of Jerusalem.
So Paul wanted to nip any potential problems in the bud in Philippi, to make sure those who said Christians must be circumcised were not listened to right from the start.
Paul called them dogs! In that society dogs weren’t family pets, they were disease carrying scavengers. Calling someone a dog was very insulting.
Paul was saying don’t listen to them; circumcision doesn’t matter.
Don’t trust that you’re alright with God because of an external thing like that.
V 3 “We do not put any trust in external ceremonies.”
He said it’s only by faith in Jesus Christ that we can be right with God.
It’s only knowing Jesus that brings true confidence that we’re right with Him.
There are lots of other things that might be attractive to put our trust in, external things, which we might want to believe can put us right with God – but they don’t.
It has to be faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul goes on to say if there was anything else that could make us right before God, if it was dependent on our own credentials or effort, well, we could have a competition to see who’s got the best of them – and he’d win! And he goes on to list the things that he could put his trust in, saying he had the best of them all.
First, he was circumcised when 1 week old, following the exact requirements of the Jewish law. Then there’s Paul’s religious heritage. A pure blooded Jew, of the kingly tribe of Benjamin. That’s a top pedigree! Then Paul says he was strictly religious. He was a Pharisee. He was very sincere and thought Christianity was so terrible that he persecuted Christians very determinedly. And Paul said he led a very good life. He was scrupulous at keeping every law and every rule. “I was without fault” in verse 6 about obeying the Jewish laws.
So Paul’s credentials were first rate, unbeatable really. And I wonder about ours, wonder whether we might be inclined to think we have the right sort of background and achievements to give us confidence before God, to make us right with him.
Maybe you, like me, were born into a Christian home. Maybe you were baptised as a baby, receiving that mark of belonging to God’s family. Although it isn’t quite the same as circumcision, baptism is a sign of being made right with God. But on its own, without faith, it’s not enough. We can’t trust baptism by itself to put us right with God.
As for national or cultural heritage, today some people might think being British automatically makes them CofE, makes them part of God’s family. Or maybe that having a Christian upbringing and family, having been to Sunday School, gives us confidence that we’re alright with God. But we can’t inherit faith, we have to know Jesus for ourselves.
As for sincerity like Paul’s, today many people say, it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. We may think it’s sincerity that matters before God.
But we can be sincerely wrong! I can sincerely believe the P4 bus will take me to Oxford Circus but it won’t! Paul was sincere but wrong when he persecuted the church and killed the Christians. Sincerity on its own isn’t enough.
How about keeping a moral code? Many people today think “I’ve never hurt anyone”, and that leading a generally good life is enough to make them right with God. So, a lot of people have difficulty seeing their need for forgiveness. But when we compare our lives to how Jesus lived and loved people, then we may realise how far short we fall.
No we can’t be made right with God by living what we think is a fairly good life.
We dare not put our confidence in any of these things to make us right with God.
It’s knowing Jesus that made Paul right with God, and it’s the same for us. He said, “I no longer have a righteousness of my own, the kind that is gained by obeying the law. I now have the righteousness that is given through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is based on faith.”
Paul had found a new righteousness, quite different from his previous self righteousness.
Quite different from the righteousness he thought he was earning by keeping the Jewish rules and regulations so carefully.
This new righteousness, this new being put right with God, is a gift from God! We don’t deserve it and cannot earn it. It’s a gift, which we receive “through faith in Christ” as Paul said. Jesus made it possible by his death on the cross, taking our sin and shame on himself, for us to be totally forgiven. Believing this, having faith in Jesus, is the way of receiving it.
If someone gives us a present, we can’t suggest we’ve earned it. However we do have to receive it, to unwrap it and enjoy it. By faith we start to receive God’s gift and enjoy it. What we enjoy is getting to know Jesus!
Yes we can get to know the Jesus of the Gospels today. We can’t see him physically but we can talk to him, hear him speak to us, experience his love, his direction and his power to change us from the inside. We can get to know him in the same sort of way as Paul did.
And it’s this knowledge of Jesus Christ that Paul got so excited about.
He had 2 pictures to show how wonderful it was to him. One is of profit and loss on a balance sheet. Like the pros and cons. All those things that could be counted as profit, his family background, his religious heritage, his achievements and his morality, he considered them all as losses, because knowing Jesus is far greater! “All these things that I might count as profit, I now reckon as loss for Christ’s sake. Not only those things: I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
The other picture is of rubbish. He said everything other than knowing Jesus is like stinky rubbish that he chucks out! He said “For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere refuse!” The word used for refuse here verse 8 is filth: it means either human excrement or stinking rotting food. He said everything, even those great credentials he listed, everything is like filth in comparison with knowing Jesus Christ.
All those things which brought him confidence before he was a Christian, he now considers as useless. They’re insignificant, as he has now got something far far greater by comparison.
So, the question is, have we? Have we that relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we know Jesus? And if so, do we value that relationship above everything else in our lives? What priority do we give it? Is there something above it? If it needs more time, do we make it?
Paul gave up his family, friendships and freedom to know Jesus and his power. We may need to make sacrifices to know Christ too. Maybe the approval of some of our friends, or maybe some of our own self centred plans. Maybe that time to spend with Jesus in prayer, reading the Bible and worship. Knowing Christ is worth any thing we might think we have to let go of! No matter what we give up, we’ll always be in credit.
And as we get to know him better, we’ll experience his power to be changed from the inside. That same power that rose Jesus from the dead can be at work in us! How does that happen? Verse 10 explains: “All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection – to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death.”
How do we share in his sufferings and become like him in his death? There’s a part of each of us that wants to go our own way, not live God’s ways, not live in the right relationship with Christ that we’ve been thinking about.
I find, the more honest I am, honest with myself and with God, about the ways in which I live in a self centred way, the more I experience God’s power to change! The more I recognise how I want to put myself and my needs first – and repent of it, put it to death, if you like, the more I know God’s power to free me from it. The death and suffering we share in, is a death to sin, an ongoing every day death to the self-centred me. And that’s how I experience the power of his resurrection - the new, God-centred me grows instead, living out the ‘right with God’ status we have. As we grow to know him better, we grow in his love and power day by day. And we grow in true confidence that we’re right with God.
Is that what we want? What we REALLY want? If so, let’s go for it - we won’t be disappointed!
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that we can know you, not because of anything we’ve done but because of God’s gift of faith in you. Please help us to receive and enjoy that gift, by making it the most important thing in our lives.
In your name, amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 1:49 pm
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