Scripture Introduction
Frank Sinatra sings with bravado:
And now the end is near,
and so I face the final curtain….
I’ve lived a life that’s full;
I traveled each and every highway;
And more, much more than this, I did it my way.
Regrets I’ve had a few, but then again too few to mention
That sounds confident, but at the real end most people feel more regrets than can be mentioned. Such need not be true for us, however, for God offers his people a life worth living. Paul found that and preached it in summary form in Philippians 1.21, which will be our focus this morning, though I will be reading verses 18-26 to set it in context.
[Read Read Philippians 1.18c-26. Pray.]
Introduction
In the book, Bleachers, John Grisham relates Neely Crenshaw’s efforts to come to terms with the failures and disappointments of his life. Raised in a small town, Crenshaw lived for football, and he dedicated his life to Coach Eddie Rake. But when a knee injury ended his career during the first year of college, he began hating Rake’s control of him as much as he had at one time idolized the Coach. Now, at his funeral, Crenshaw hopes to bury the ghost which has haunted him for so long.
John Grisham writes about Crenshaw’s relationship with Rake: “Rare is the Coach who can motivate players to spend their lives seeking his approval. From the time Neely first put on a uniform in the sixth grade, he wanted Rake’s attention. And in the next six years, with every pass he threw, every drill he ran, every play he memorized, every weight he lifted, every hour he spent sweating, every touchdown he scored, every game he won, every temptation he resisted, every honor roll he made, he coveted Eddie Rake’s approval…. And rare is the Coach who compounds every failure long after the playing days are over. When the doctors told Neely he would never play again, he felt as if he had fallen short of Rake’s ambitions for him. When his marriage dissolved, he could almost see Rake’s disapproving scowl. As his small-time real estate career drifted with no clear ambition, he knew Rake would have a lecture if he got close enough to hear it. Maybe his death would kill the demon that dogged him, but he had his doubts.”
For Christians, Paul’s goal that “to live is Christ,” resonates with our souls. We know that ideal is right and good, but we may not know what it looks like. That is why I like Grisham’s tale of Neely Crenshaw—for him “to live was Coach Rake.” Now as Neely found out, the flawed idol of a football coach let him down. Idols always do, because they cannot bear the weight of our hopes. Jeremiah explained this very thing to the people he preached to.
Jeremiah 2.11-13: Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Few of us even have seen a cistern, much less relied on one to provide water. So the illustration so useful in Jeremiah’s day may seem mostly irrelevant to us. But the application is clear, whether via the cistern or the football coach: false gods cannot satisfy. They leave us dry and parched, and our lives riddled through with regrets.
God’s challenge that we make Christ the center of our lives offers us much better: the approval of the one whose approval satisfies forever. At the end of life we can either be like Neely Crenshaw, chasing down demons who cannot restore even one wasted dream, or we can rest in the assurance that we will soon hear “well done,” and find out that the One who is pleased with us is the only One whose pleasure matters.
Charles Studd labored his life away on the mission field. He wrote a poem to remind himself that his life was worth living. The final verse reads:
“Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say 'twas worth it all”;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
The Bible asks us to believe God’s promises and live for Christ. Few people do so, because our eyes and ears and senses tell us that the cost is too great. Only at the end do many recognize that the acclaim and affirmations they so desired turn out to be all glitter and bauble—shine with no substance. God alone sees and controls the future, and he makes the rewards of living to Christ so great that we must say, “I never made a sacrifice.” The life of faith grabs that promise and reward.
What does it look like? Three things to consider this morning: faith, fellowship, and following. First faith…
1. We End Without Regret After We Live by Faith in Christ
Paul states the principle concisely in Philippians 1.21: “For to me to live is Christ….” (If Paul drove a car, I feel certain that would have been the bumper sticker.) Since this is so succinct, we benefit by comparing an expansion of that slogan in Galatians 2.20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
First, notice the put off: “It is no longer I who live.” Paul puts to death his desires, his preferences, his way of looking at the world. Then there is a put on: living by “faith in the Son of God.” Paul trusts Jesus’ love for him more than he trusts his own! Paul recognizes that Jesus makes better decisions for him than he can make for himself. Paul realizes that sin blinds him to the real world in which he lives, so he would rather see the world through the eyes of Christ. How does he do that?
I do not want to be irreverent, but I think Crenshaw’s relationship with Coach Rake provides a parallel. Listen to this description: “How can you not miss Rake once you’ve played for him? I see his face every day. I hear his voice. I can smell him sweating. I can imitate his growl, his grumbling, his [griping]. I remember his stories, his speeches, his lessons. I remember all forty plays and all thirty-eight games when I wore the jersey. My father died four years ago and I loved him dearly, but, and this is hard to say, he had less influence on me than Eddie Rake” (93).
Bleachers is a novel, but Grisham well describes living by faith in another. Those players trusted the methods of Coach Rake and did what he said. They accepted his definition of success and planned their future by what he told them. They sought his approval and believed his promise that persevering through the “light and momentary sufferings” of two-a-days in August would pay off with a greater reward. The life they lived, they lived by faith in their coach.
In a similar way, though of much greater import, Paul lived by faith in Christ. He “saw” the face of Jesus every day and heard his voice. He was conscious of Christ’s presence in his daily affairs. He sought to obey the words of Jesus, and to do the same works. Paul remembered the stories Jesus told, the parables he taught, the miracles he performed. He dedicated himself to learning everything the Bible taught about Jesus, in the Old and New Testaments. The approval of Christ was his sufficient reward, and the love of Christ was his powerful motivation. Paul lived by faith in Jesus.
Do we know the Jesus of the Bible well enough for his life and teaching to impact us? Are we devoted to his words, retelling his parables, remembering his miracles? Do we meditate on times when his teaching moved us and his smile motivated us? Are we reading the gospels regularly, if not daily, so that we know what pleases him? Of course the whole Bible is profitable, and testifies of Jesus, but the Gospels especially tell the story of the Messiah, and until we know him, we cannot know the Bible.
In the end, Coach Rake could not carry the burden of Neely’s life, and the result was regret. Not so for the apostle. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. He loses none who place their hope in him. The reward for a life lived by faith in Christ is so great as to guarantee no regrets at the end.
2. We End Without Regret After We Fellowship with Christ
Faith in Jesus is not impersonal; it involves intimate fellowship. The high school football players did not live for Eddie Rake by reading about him in a book or hearing about him from other players. They were with him: “I can still smell him sweating.” The image is not appealing on Sunday morning, but it certainly shows the intimacy of the players and their Coach. The Bible offers even closer relationship to the living Christ through his Spirit, with the reward of fullness of joy.
John 15.4-11: “Abide in me, and I in you…. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you…. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Brother Lawrence worked in the kitchen of his monastery. His description of “practicing the presence of God” is famous in church history because his fellowship with Christ was almost palpable, even during the most mundane kitchen chores. He notes that, “The time of business, does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.”
How did he do that? The book is short and well worth reading, but here is an excerpt:
“This made me resolve to give the all for the All: so after having given myself wholly to GOD, to make all the satisfaction I could for my sins, I renounced, for the love of him, everything that was not he; and I began to live as if there was none but he and I in the world. Sometimes I considered myself before him as a poor criminal at the feet of his judge; at other times I beheld him in my heart as my FATHER, as my GOD: I worshipped him as often as I could, keeping my mind in his holy Presence, and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from him. I found no small pain in this exercise, and yet I continued it, notwithstanding all the difficulties that occurred, without troubling or disquieting myself when my mind had wandered involuntarily. I made this my business, as much all the day long as at the appointed times of prayer; for at all times, every hour, every minute, even in the height of my business, I drove away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of GOD.”
I would make four observations from John 15 and the wisdom of Brother Lawrence.
1) True fellowship is hard. Experiencing God’s presence regularly does not come naturally. Galatians 2.20 tells us that a crucifixion is necessary. Lawrence said: “I found no small pain in this exercise and yet I continued it, notwithstanding all the difficulties that occurred….”
2) True fellowship offers great rewards. God is generous and lavish. John 15 promises fullness of joy as a result of fellowship with Christ. G. K. Chesterton was surely correct to note: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” Here is the answer our hearts hunger for.
3) True fellowship requires practice. Most people devote so little energy and passion to abiding with Christ that real fellowship is impossible. Think of the efforts of Olympic athletes to receive a prize which fades. Fellowship with Christ requires practice also, but the reward is both now and eternal. Lawrence: “I worshipped him as often as I could, keeping my mind in his holy Presence, and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from him.”
4) True fellowship necessitates putting off sin. John 3.20: “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” We will not enjoy fellowship unless and until the Spirit enables us to ruthlessly excise sin.
3. We End Without Regret After We Follow Christ
Faith in Christ and fellowship with Christ may appear to be completely internal, passive, and individualistic. This third point reminds us that a changed life is necessary for us to end without regret. Note, please, three things:
First, Jesus’ most simple and frequent call to faith was always, “Follow me.” James Boice correctly notes: “The Christ in whom we believe is a Christ on the move, and the fellowship we enjoy is not so much the fellowship of the living-room as it is the fellowship of a soldier marching under the eye of his commander.”
Second, following Christ always necessitates leaving things behind. It might be career, or comforts, wealth, or respect, time or talents. While some of the specifics differ depending on God’s call to you, we all must leave things to follow Jesus—certainly our sin, but also personal preferences and our powerful addiction to self-fulfillment. This is a great challenge to Americans—we tend to consider religion as something we add to all else we do. But listen to Luke 9.57-62: Someone said to [Jesus], “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” We have not believed the reward until we sell all else to obtain it.
Third, following Christ means engaging in ministry. I have noticed that some people like a church that expects little of them, but the church with Jesus as the head equips her people to serve. There is an old saying, “You can tell what people really think about Christian service when they are treated like servants.”
The other day at Whiz Kids one of the student’s did not show up and the tutor drove a long way to get there. I hated telling them that their student was not there. But when I did, she said she would be glad to tutor another student, “After all, isn’t that what we are here for?”
There are many reasons for ministry, but one is that it is only in those situations that we find what really motivates us. Is it service, or our plans? How humbly do you respond when you are treated like someone’s servant? Come, follow Jesus, and you will find the challenge to your character that changes your life for the better.
4. Conclusion
In October of 1967, the Soviet Union sent a space probe to Venus. It was designed to land and send back information about the surface temperature and other characteristics of this mysterious planet. The last data received from the probe was at a point 3774 miles from the center of the planet. The temperature was 520 ºF and the assumption was that the probe crashed on the surface of Venus and was destroyed.
Later we discovered that the probe quit working 14 miles above the planet. The actual radius of Venus is 3760 miles, not 3774. Those 14 miles meant all our answers about the surface of Venus were wrong.
In the same way, thousands of well meaning people stop receiving data miles from the heart of Christianity. They assume Christianity is a set of morals. They assume Christianity is the church organization. They assume Christianity is how a particular person lives.
Christianity is none of these. It is Jesus. Those who meet him find that living for him is a life worth living. Think about that. Amen.
