Freedom 55. For over 25 years now this has been the motto of a financial company headed by Canadian billionaire, Paul Desmarais. Many Canadians have adopted this motto as the model for their lives. They are working hard and making shrewd investments so that by the time they turn 55, they can quit their 9-5 jobs if they want. Not many reach this goal however, as the average retirement age in Canada is 62. And even those who can retire at 55 often don’t. Paul Desmarais himself is 84 and is still at the helm of his financial empire. It turns out that those who do retire at 55 often become bored with life as they don’t seem to have a purpose anymore.
So there must be a better motto than Freedom 55. There is. Another Paul, the Apostle Paul, gives us this two-part motto on which to model our lives: “I want to live with Christ!” and “I want to live for Christ!” If this is not your motto, your life now and your life in the hereafter will be a big disappointment. Let me explain why.
The Apostle Paul, an early follower of Jesus, wrote the words of our text when he was under house arrest in Rome for preaching about Jesus. He wrote them as part of a thank you letter to the congregation in the Greek city of Philippi. That congregation had sent Paul one of its members to deliver financial support and personal encouragement. Still, life wasn’t easy. Paul was tired of being chained up like a common criminal and was ready to be done with everything. He wrote: “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:22, 23).
It wasn’t unusual for those serving prison sentences in ancient times to desire death rather than go on living. That’s how bad conditions were in prisons where wardens had never heard of rights for inmates. But that wasn’t exactly Paul’s sentiment, was it? He saw the value in continuing to live because he could be of service to his fellow man. But he also knew that death would bring him in contact with Christ, which was “better by far.” Paul even wrote, “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21b).
Don’t we usually think of dying as losing? When someone dies of cancer we often say: “Gene lost the battle.” That’s what the disciples thought when Jesus died on the cross. They thought that he had lost the battle against his jealous enemies and that all their hopes that he was the promised savior had passed away just as Jesus had. But Jesus’ death was actually a great victory for mankind. Like the soldier who gets shot with the last arrow the enemy has in his arsenal to fire, Jesus took the full brunt of God’s anger over the world’s sins. All of God’s fury for the times you thought your kids were a hassle or treated your parents like dirt was spent on Jesus at Mt. Calvary. Jesus died, yes, but in so doing he redirected God’s anger over your sins to himself and so secured forgiveness and opened the doors to an everlasting life of happiness for all people.
We know that this is true because Jesus rose from the dead to explain to his disciples what he had accomplished: not just victory over sin, but victory over death as well! Paul would describe later in his letter to the Philippians what this all has to do with us. “…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20).
Do you understand now why Paul would say that dying is gain? Just as a caterpillar must look forward to disappearing into his chrysalis where he will shed his ugly green exterior and take on the beautiful and freedom-giving wings of a butterfly, we too can look forward to being cocooned in the dust of the earth, for we know that Jesus will raise up our bodies and glorify them, that is, make them so that they will never grow old, get sick, or die again!
But this is only true for those whose motto is “I want to live with Christ!” For without Jesus we have no forgiveness, and death won’t bring gain but increased pain as we’ll have stand before a holy God without Jesus as our go-between. Just think of how it hurts when you inadvertently grab the cookie sheet out of the oven without oven mitts! That’s only slightly what it will be like on Judgment Day and for the rest of eternity if we think we can shake God’s hand without Jesus’ righteousness covering our filthy fingers like a white glove.
So what is your life’s motto? Is it Freedom 55? Are you most focused on making your life here easy in retirement so that you are now working hard to upgrade your education or work extra hours? How does Jesus fit into this schedule? Have you perhaps shoved him to the back of your life – like a novel you’re always meaning to read but never do? Listen to what Paul says is the result of such a Freedom 55 mentality: “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach… Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven…” (Philippians 3:18-20a).
Erin and Jeremy, thank you for reminding us that our minds are not to be on earthly but heavenly matters. You’ve made that clear by bringing your daughter Anabelle to be baptized. Through her baptism she has received heavenly citizenship. But now you have some serious work ahead of you. Your job as parents is to teach her this motto: “I want to be with Christ!” And why wouldn’t you want to teach her that? Being with Christ means one day living with him forever in a world free of violence and any kind of pain. Isn’t that what you want for all your children? Of course it is. That’s why you’re working hard to provide them with a nice home in which to live, decent clothes to wear, and good food to eat. But none of those things, no matter how expensive, can prepare them or you for death. Only faith in Jesus does that. In other words, wanting to live with Christ in heaven means wanting to live with him now. How do you do that? You live with Christ whenever you open the Bible and read what Jesus has done for you. That’s the purpose of our Tuesday Grow with Me playgroup and our Sunday worship services – to learn about Jesus. Continue to make these a regular part of your family routine.
But now perhaps some of you long-time Christians are thinking, “Yep. Live with Christ. That’s been my goal. I’m ready. So what’s taking so long for Jesus to bring me to his side?” Well Paul reminds us that there is a second part to a Christian’s motto. We don’t just want to live with Christ; we want to live for Christ. Listen again to our text: “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me” (Philippians 1:22b-26).
Paul knew that while it was his goal to be with Christ, it was also his goal to live for him. But how do you live for someone you can’t see? You live for Christ by serving the people around you that you can see. That’s why Paul was eager to remain alive so he could continue to encourage the Philippian Christians in their walk with Jesus. That’s every Christian’s goal…no matter how young or old we may be.
How well are we living that motto? For the most part I think we Christians treat life like it’s one big airport waiting lounge. Ever take a good look around you while waiting for your flight? What’s everyone doing? They’re checking texts, reading the paper, talking on their cell…they’re each doing their own thing while killing time and waiting for the plane to show up so they can go elsewhere, as if that departure lounge is just a place to be endured.
Isn’t it easy to see life that way as a Christian – like we’re just killing time here waiting for Jesus to take us to heaven? Sure, we’ve taught Sunday School. We’ve served on church committees. We’ve raised our children and our grandchildren. What’s there left to do but go to heaven? Well if you’re still here, it means that Christ has more for you to do. Paul explains what that is in the chapter after our text: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3, 4). Living for Christ means actively looking out for the interests of others and putting their needs first. That’s hardly the airport lounge mentality is it where you could care less what the person sitting next to you is doing? But that’s not the kind of attitude God wants you to have. He wants you to take notice of others. Are they down? Encourage them! Pray for them! Write them a card, even a quick email. It can mean so much – not just for the other person but for you too as it gives your life a purpose. This is the benefit of living for Christ.
Paul Desmarais wants you to believe that Freedom 55 is the way to happiness. But even if you succeed in retiring by 55, what then? No, the Apostle Paul offers us a better motto on which to model our lives: live with Christ, and live for Christ. This won’t make your life any easier now. Look at Paul. He ended up in prison for being a Christian. But someday life will be much better, for Jesus, the victorious Savior, will return to glorify those whose faith has remained in him. By God’s grace may we be those people as we continue to live with and for Christ. Amen.
