March 25, 2020
Philippians 3: 10-16
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. 15 Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. 16 Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.
In Junior High, I ran track for one very long season of meets and
tournaments. I think our coach knew that
I played soccer and knew I could do a lot of running and so I was voluntold to
run the mile, the half-mile and the 400m.
Running a mile is no big deal, I had to run miles a day in soccer
practice. However, running a mile
contested with other runners, and all of those that ran cross-country, was a
joke on my part. But at the end of the
race, which was always between our two best runners, the two of them would occasionally
come to the finish line neck and neck and each would stretch out their heads,
bending down at the waist, in the hopes of winning literally “by a nose.”
This idea of stretching out and straining to win the race is the very image
Paul uses in the letter to the Philippians.
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. Paul himself does this very
thing of stretching and straining to reach the finish line and he urges the church
in Philippi to do likewise. To forget
the things that lie behind and to strain forward to what lies ahead. While the image of that of the runner on the
track, Paul is really dealing with something else by comparison. The church in Philippi is a suffering
church. They were quite poor and under
constant harassment from the community around them. These are the things Paul asks them to leave
behind and to strain forward for the heavenly call of God.
We likewise are a suffering church. Many
of our churches are not poor, we are quite affluent. Many of our churches are not persecuted, many
have wonderful relationships with the communities around them. Many of our churches are not in spiritual
poverty, the Spirit of Jesus Christ has given many gifts to many people. But nonetheless we are a suffering church, because
we are assaulted by sickness and quarantine.
We cannot gather to worship and serve God; we must keep to ourselves and
self-isolate. We cannot encourage one another
face to face, even those that are attempting to cope with grief. We worry about our financial longevity, about
how the bills are going to be paid. We
know people in hospitals, suffering and dying.
While the circumstances are quite different than the Philippians, we,
like they, are a suffering church.
But just as we share in the sufferings of Christ, we will also share in the
resurrection of Christ. Since, the Spirit
of Jesus Christ lives in us, we share through baptism, in the sufferings and
death of Christ now, but we will also come to share in the full resurrection of
Christ later. Paul continues, I
want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his
sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow, I may attain the
resurrection from the dead. 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. Not that I have already obtained the
resurrection from the dead or have already reached the goal, but I press on to
make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Paul wasn’t at the finish line yet, but he
was still running, and not running half-hearted or lackadaisical, but pressing
on, straining to reach the goal.
How are you running your race? Have you run
any steps stretching forward or are you on the verge of stopping all
together? I have no doubts, that each of
us faces the daily and perhaps hourly temptation to forgo our discipleship of
Jesus Christ. Following Jesus was hard
enough when we were not dealing with pandemics and quarantines, but now following
Christ seems much harder. But like the
church in Philippi, we are to forget the things that lie behind and to press
forward to the goal, the heavenly call of Jesus Christ. To forget the difficulties of the past, to
shrug off the present troubles, and to press forward, to strive forward, to
bend at the waist and reach for the finish line. This is not the attitude and behavior of
someone looking for a participation award, this is the attitude and behavior of
someone looking to win the race. To
invest in the struggle, to exhaust every source of strength to run, to train
and to sweat, because the goal is worth the struggle. How are you running your race?
My friends, our discipleship or following Jesus is never easy, and now our discipleship
is harder being unable to gather face to face.
But we are not to become discouraged but to press on. We are not to become worried about the present
but strive for the future of God that lies before us. We are not to concern ourselves with today’s
trials because we are coming closer to our Goal. My friends we are not there yet, but we are
running the race, let us therefore do this one thing; forgetting what lies
behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. Amen.
Prayer
O Holy and Loving God, we thank you for your power and love that calls and equips us to run the race of our discipleship of Christ. Give us everything necessary to finish our race, forgetting what lies behind and ignoring the things around us that we might reach our finish line and obtain our prize, the resurrection of our bodies. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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