Intro
In all your reading of the New Testament, have you ever seen the Apostle Paul so emotional? Paul was in tears as he wrote his letter to the Christians at Philippi, because they were living as if they were pagans. They were living as if earth was their true home, not heaven.
Paul wrote, “I have often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.” He was saying, “Why are you living as citizens of this dying world instead of the citizens of heaven? Why is your mind fixated on things earthly?”
Main Body
Paul had noticed that the Christians there were tossing away their eternal citizenship. Think of someone who once couldn’t stay away from church to receive the gifts of Jesus, who now doesn’t even give a flip about church and what happens here. He may even be exchanging his destiny of life in heaven for a destiny of destruction in hell. It can happen so quickly to any of us. That’s why Paul was weeping.
What happens? To use Paul’s own words, our stomach becomes our god. He wasn’t just talking about overeating. He was using an expression. Having our stomachs as our god means that we live trying to satisfy our every whim and desire.
When we live based on what seems fun, what feels good, what turns us on, what our sinful flesh craves--even within Christ’s Church--then our god is our stomach. When you start thinking, “I’ll do whatever it takes to get what I want out of life, to do whatever I want,” then your god is your stomach. That’s having your mind on things earthly and not living like a citizen of heaven.
“All right,” you say, “so what’s the cure when we get apathetic about God and are on fire for ourselves?” Many Christians say, “You need to work harder at living like a citizen of heaven.” And our current-day, American Christianity always seems to offer some fad to help you do that. About 15 years ago, we had Promise Keepers to whip us men into shape. Then “What Would Jesus Do” came along.
With that you were supposed to ask, “What would Jesus do?” and then do it. But often we would have no idea what Jesus would do. And so that thinking resulted in such ridiculous ideas like, “What car would Jesus drive?” A few years ago, everybody was raving about The Purpose-Driven Life.
Promise Keepers says you need to keep your promises. “What Would Jesus Do” says you need to do what Jesus did. The Purpose-Driven Life says you need to take these steps to have a more-meaningful life. They all tell you what you need to do to change your life, to please God in some way, to make Him smile on you.
Do you see what’s wrong with all that? They all get you to take your eyes off Jesus. When that happens, when you no longer fix your eyes on Jesus, the founder and finisher of your faith, you go awry. You then try to please God by your behavior instead of recognizing that Jesus did and does it all.
Here’s the huge problem with all those Christian fads: nothing you do will change your life enough to please God. Nothing you do will change your life enough to please God! Promise Keepers, “What Would Jesus Do,” The Purpose-Driven Life, or whatever other Christian fad you can think of only changes people on the outside. But they don’t take away our sin on the inside. And that’s the problem.
If we’re going to remain heavenly citizens, what we need isn’t a better outside--we need a better inside. We need forgiveness. That’s why Jesus commissioned His Apostles to be in the forgiveness business--not the Pharisee business!
Jesus told His apostles before He ascended into heaven to focus on these four things: disciple by baptizing and teaching (Mt 28:19-20), forgive and retain sins (Jn 20:21-23), preach repentance into the forgiveness of sins (Lk 24:47), and the Lord’s Supper (Mt 26:28). And what do they all have in common? The forgiveness of sins! For even Christians still need Jesus to be their Savior from sin.
And that’s just what Jesus came to be--your Savior. Jesus came to die on a cross in your place and rise again. Jesus came to suffer on earth so He could buy your citizenship in heaven. And He comes to you today in Word and Sacrament, to distribute and continue to give you His cross-won forgiveness. [pause]
Paul begins our Epistle text by saying, “Join with others in following my example.” Doesn’t that even sound worse than, “What would Jesus do?” That sounds like we’re supposed to ask, “What would Paul do?”
Ah, but you see, Paul isn’t asking you to mimic his morality--or even Jesus’ morality. He’s telling you to do what he did. And what did he do? Paul threw in the trash heap every idea that we can do something to improve our standing with God.
Paul said just a few sentences before our Epistle reading: I count all that commandment-keeping as garbage, that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8). Paul is saying, “I don’t want any righteousness that comes from my own commandment-keeping. That’s no righteousness at all, because I can’t--and don’t--keep the commandments. My righteousness then isn’t mine at all; it’s Jesus’ righteousness that’s counted as my own.”
Back when Paul was alive, someone could buy himself Roman citizenship if he had enough money. But you can’t buy heavenly citizenship, no matter how much money you have! It costs the death of somebody perfect. You and I can’t pay that price, because we’re not perfect. Only Jesus could--and did! Jesus bought your citizenship in heaven, not with silver or gold, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death.
Jesus bought your citizenship 2,000 years ago on the cross. That’s one of the times He saved you. But your citizenship ceremony happened much more recently, when God formally claimed you as His own in the water and Word of holy baptism. Today, Mary Rippey became an official citizen of heaven. Praise be to God!
Because Jesus has claimed you as His own, you can now turn to Him. Because Jesus has claimed you as His own, you can repent to Him. You can trust in Him when you see that your belly is becoming your god, when you realize that you are fixating on things earthly.
When sin threatens to take away your heavenly citizenship and replace it with eternal doom, Jesus invites you to confess to Him. For Jesus reminds you--even right now in this sermon--that you are baptized, that His death was a death for you, that you are forgiven, and that your citizenship is still in heaven. Praise be to God!
Having a purpose-driven life tells you that your life needs to move, that it needs to be driven by a purpose to be somewhere other than where it is right now. But the Apostle Paul says just the opposite. He tells you to “stand firm.” He tells you to stay where you are--connected by baptism to your Lord Jesus, confessing your sins, receiving His forgiveness, feasting on His body and blood--doing what a citizen of heaven does who’s living here on earth.
But a big problem exists with free grace: we sinful people all so easily abuse it! And so many Christians say, “God’s free grace won’t change the way people live,” just like the Pharisees said. “If people ask, ‘What would Jesus do,’ and then do it, that’ll change behavior! If they follow The Purpose-Driven Life, they’ll see outward changes in how they live. But if you just ‘stand firm’ as a citizen of heaven, will your life really change?”
Yes. For when you are a citizen of heaven, it changes everything about your life. Even more, it changes where you’ll spend eternity. But it also changes how you live, right now, here on earth.
You are a citizen of heaven. And since you are a citizen of heaven, why in the world would you want to live like a citizen of hell? That’s why Paul was in tears. That’s why I, as your pastor, often cry for you. Why would the Christians at Philippi want to live as citizens of hell? Why would the Christians at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church want to live as citizens of hell?
When you know that heaven is waiting for you, it changes the way you live your life. It doesn’t change you because somebody tells you to act like Jesus. It doesn’t change you because the threat of hell is hanging over you if you don’t shape up. It changes you because you have the promise of heaven every moment of your life!
When you start to fixate on things earthly, Paul points you to things eternal. When you focus on what is temporary, Paul reminds you that your Lord has given you what lasts forever.
In our Old Testament reading, God told Jeremiah to point out his people’s sins. But the people didn’t want to hear that, and so they threatened to kill Jeremiah. It would’ve been easy for Jeremiah to think about things earthly, to water down God’s Word, or spin it in a way that would save his own skin. But Jeremiah didn’t do that. And neither do I. For just like you, I am a citizen of heaven!
Conclusion
That same certainty shapes your life and mine. Whatever might happen to you, whatever difficulties you might have to endure, you belong to God. Jesus has redeemed you. His home is waiting for you.
Yes, you and I now live here. But remember, we’re just visitors, because we’re just visiting. Thanks to Jesus, our citizenship is in heaven. Amen.
