Title: Don’t Let Religion Get Stuck on Your Shoe
Text: Philippians 3:4b-14
Thesis: Following Christ means we move past the past in pursuit of increasing conformity to Christ.
Introduction
I was intrigued by a September 2003 postnote from the British Office of Science and Technology, which is an office representing both houses of the British Parliament, which analyzes and publishes public policy. You can check it out at www.parliament.uk/post.
It seems that gum chewing is up in the UK by one-third since 1998. Gum chewers are dropping their “already-been-chewed” gum onto pavements where it sticks firmly to the surface as it dries. The have discovered that chewed gum, “does not break down over time, so the gum deposits accumulate and compromise the quality of public spaces in the same way as other litter.”
In 2002 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commissioned a survey in which they discovered that chewing gum was the major source of staining on pavements. They cite “the greatest problems are around facilities such as schools, cinemas and swimming pools that are frequented by children and young people.” You can read it… it’s in the post.
One of the proposals for reversing this trend is the appointing of street wardens who may issue 50 pound “on-the-spot fines.” In other words, if you get caught spitting out a wad of gum it could cost you twenty-five bucks…
Other proposals include the restriction of gum sales in areas of particularly heavy deposits of chewed gum and the development of non-sticky or biodegradable gum.
I think they need to do what they did when I was a kiddo… if you got caught chewing gum you had to spend after school time scraping gum off the bottoms of school desks or the underside of bleacher seats.
At any rate… over the years I’ve stepped in a lot of stuff and among the more unpleasant has been a big glob of sticky gum. Sticky gum is hard to get off your shoe… so it is best to dispose of the sticky stuff properly, so it does not cling your shoe.
In our text today, God is speaking to us about the proper disposal of things in our past and present that inhibit or distract us from making forward progress in our journey of faith and our relationship with Christ.
We begin our discussion of the text by recognizing that some folks have reason to feel very (and perhaps very, very) good about their religious or spiritual accomplishments.
Perhaps you feel good about your religiosity…
I. We may feel very, very good about our goodness…
“I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! [Plus] I was never accused of any fault.” Philippians 3:4 and 6
A. Paul felt very, very, very good about his religiosity. He could boast of being:
• Circumcised when he was eight days old.
• Born into a pure-blooded Jewish family of the tribe of Benjamin. A real Jew… if there ever was one!
• A Pharisee who observed the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
• He zealously persecuted those who followed Christ rather than practice Judaism.
In Acts 9 we get something of the intensity with which he practiced his religion. “With every breath Saul was uttering threats… he was eager to destroy the Lord’s followers. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus asking their cooperation in the arrest of the followers of Christ he found there. He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains.”
In June of 2004 Patricia Shroeder wrote an editorial in USA Today describing Ronald Reagan as the “Teflon President.” She concluded that whether he had sticky stuff or not, because of his sincerity and ability to communicate… nothing stuck to him.
He concluded the assessment of his own religiosity saying, “I observed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.” Philippians 3:6 The Apostle Paul was, as one commentator put it, a “Teflon” teacher. Nothing stuck to him.
B. Some of us can feel pretty good about our goodness or religiosity as well.
Some of us have carefully observed a list of things that we’ve been told are necessary in the making of a righteous person, who can be proud of his spirituality… some of us have a lot to brag about. Perhaps:
• You were born into a Christian home.
• You went to church whenever the church doors were open.
• You learned early that you “don’t smoke, drink, dance of chew, neither do you go with girls who do.”
• You learned that Hollywood was evil and playing cards was of the devil.
• You learned that shooting pool was what they did in pool halls and having a pool table in your basement was conformity to the world.
• You were baptized, confirmed and joined the church.
• You listened to rock’n roll but when the preacher came around you knew enough to turn it off.
• You learned that you needed to say grace before eating anything that cost more than a quarter.
• You learned to vote Republican.
• You’ve been a faithful spouse and a responsible parent.
• You’ve worked hard to create a good life and a secure future.
• You’ve kept your nose clean and stayed out of trouble…
I trust you have heard my little list in the spirit in which it is intended… I speak these things “tongue-in-cheek” to illustrate how it is that some of us may look at our lives with some sense of religious or spiritual achievement.
Stephen Manes wrote a delightful little book, Be the Perfect Person In Just 3 – Days. It is about a little boy named Milo who discovers Dr. Silverfishs’ book by that title. Milo takes the book home and tries to do every step in his effort to be perfect in just 3-days. The last step on day three was to “not do anything for one whole day.” Milo fails the last step because he fell asleep prompting Dr. Silverfish to declare, “Congratulations Milo! You’re not perfect.”
We know we aren’t perfect people… whatever goodness we can boast about does not change the fact that we aren’t all that great.
Perhaps it would be helpful if we would just acknowledge that all of our doing does not constitute a relationship with Jesus Christ.
II. We may “do” religious activity and not “know” or have a relationship with Christ.
“I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him…” Philippians 3:8
However we slice it, Paul perceived that in order to become who God wants us to be in Christ, we need to dispose of anything that is sticking to our shoes… good or bad.
A. Our achievements are worthless and likened to garbage or gum that sticks to the bottom of our shoe. Philippians 3:
Actually the wording is much stronger than just saying worthless… some translations use the word “rubbish” which is certainly more tasteful than the original language which likens our achievements to dung or the nasty stuff that sticks to the pavement.
Paul acknowledges that we value our religious or spiritual achievements… we are proud of the fact that we are good people. But, Paul also says that we need to stop holding on to those things as a measure of righteousness. They are in essence worthless when compared to moving on into knowing Christ and becoming like Christ.
B. Knowing and becoming like Christ as “priceless.” Philippians 3:8
When Paul contrasts our achieved sense of righteousness with what we can yet become, he says…we need to move beyond seeing ourselves as models of spirituality and begin to see Christ as our model.
• “Let the mind of Christ be in you…” Philippians 2:5
• “Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Romans 12:1-2
• “God whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Romans 8:29
I think one of the lessons of the text is that we are reminded that we are people in process.
III. We may be pretty good persons, but we haven’t arrived yet.
“…I have not reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.” Philippians 3:12-14
The concept of being in process is a favorite of mine… there is hope in any process. There is the present reality of what is but there is also the vision of what may be.
God is into the concept of our being persons who are in process.
• “I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finished on that day when Christ comes back again.” Philippians 1:6
• “For God is working in your, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13
• “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we an do the good things he planned for us a long time ago.” Ephesians 2:10
There is a fascinating article in the April 2007 issue of Smithsonian Magazine about French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson. In 1947 he was labeled the “photographer of the decisive moment.” The article states that, “since 1952 and the publication of his book of photographs, The Decisive Moment, his name has conjured up unerring vision and hair-trigger timing.” He became famous for being able to time and capture the perfect photograph.
In the 1980’s, his wife, Martine Franck discovered a scrapbook of photos that showed that Cartier-Bresson did not just point and decisively shoot. The article states, “He found promising settings, lay in wait and took many shots, both vertical and horizontal. So his decisiveness lie in his famously ruthless selection of a single shot from each campaign.”
The scrapbook of photographs reveals a stage between his shooting and publishing the decisive moment photo. He shot and printed multiple images of the same subjects. He then choose one…the one that captured the decisive moment.
The process of living as followers of Jesus Christ is something like that… we are essentially the subject of multiple shots throughout every day of our lives. And, hopefully there will be those occasional shots that may be described as decisive moments in which we are captured modeling the life and character of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion:
AOL News reported the story on July 4, 2002. Perhaps you remember. Steve Fossett, a Chicago millionaire, soared into the record books by becoming the first person to fly around the world in a hot air balloon solo. After beginning his voyage on June 19, 2002, in Western Australia, Fossett’s balloon touched down safely at dawn on July 4, 2002, on a rock-strewn plain in the Australian desert, about 870 miles northwest of Sydney. The record was set exactly 13 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes, and 13 seconds after the adventure began.
Although Fossett holds other world records in ballooning, sailing, and flying airplanes, his goal of circumnavigating the globe in a one-man balloon was not reached easily. Five previous attempts ended in bitter disappointment. He was almost killed during his fourth attempt in 1998, when his balloon was torn to shreds by lightning and plummeted 29,000 feet into the Coral Sea off Australia. His fifth attempt last year ended prematurely when he had to touch down because of severe weather and depleted oxygen supplies.
While meeting with the media following his feat, Fossett celebrated the "persistence of staying with [his goal]." He said, "It’s been six attempts before I’ve finally been successful; I think it is a very worthwhile objective.’’ Greg Asimakoupoulos, Preaching Today)
We too hope to one day soar into the record books, so to speak. We hope to leave all the nasty stuff that sticks to our shoes behind. Our ultimate goal as followers of Jesus Christ is to experience the same resurrection power that Christ experienced… and in our own resurrection enter into eternal life in heaven.
Meanwhile… the focus of our energies is forward. Our focus is to become all that Christ saved us for and wants us to be.
