If you have participated in any joint services with our sister congregations in Alberta, you probably know who Pastor Schultz is. Pastor Schultz served Mountain View Lutheran Church on the west side of Calgary for many years before taking a call to a large congregation in Wisconsin. Last summer he returned to Mountain View and upon his arrival many members eagerly asked: “Are you glad to be home, Pastor Schultz?” He gave an answer that would have delighted the Apostle Paul. “Well, I’m not in heaven yet,” laughed Pastor Schultz as he looked around just to be sure, “so I’m not home. But yes, I am happy to be back in Calgary to serve you.”
After church you will eventually return to a residence you call your home, but it isn’t really home. Our forever-home is in heaven because through faith in Christ Jesus our citizenship is in heaven. Because of that the Apostle Paul has these words of encouragement for us today: don’t follow the ways of this world; live instead for blessings that are out of this world.
When I meet new people they’re often surprised to learn that I’m not from Canada. Sure, I’m a Canadian citizen but I didn’t grow up in this country. Apparently I speak and act enough like everyone else around here that no one immediately pegs me as an outsider. But as the Apostle Paul points out in our text, blending in with the world around us is not necessarily something to be proud of. Paul wrote: “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 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, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:17-20a).
“You should be more like me.” Such a statement doesn’t usually go over very well but that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul said without any apologies. And we’re willing to listen to him because Paul once called himself the “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). This was no braggart. This was a humble follower of Jesus who knew that every Christian should strive to live in such a way that he or she can say to others: “Follow my example!” Is that a statement you feel comfortable making or are you more apt to mutter, “Do as I say, not as I do”? “Stop bad-mouthing your teachers, even though that’s how I speak about my co-workers. Don’t be so touchy, even though I overreact when I’ve been slighted. Be more helpful - though I don’t like to be bothered with other people’s problems.”
The reason we’re often not very good examples to others is because we forget that we are citizens of heaven. We live in a sinful, selfish world and have unconsciously adapted ourselves to it – the way a child who moves to the U.K. will quickly imitate the distinct accent of his new classmates so he doesn’t stick out. It’s not the end of the world if you start speaking like the Queen, but you’re in deep trouble if you start speaking and acting like those who think that this life on earth is the only one they’ll have. Listen again to Paul describe such people’s attitude and point out the danger they’re in. “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, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things” (Philippians 1:18, 19).
People who think that this is the only life they have to live will naturally do whatever makes them feel good without concern for the consequences. They’re often not even embarrassed by lewd and crude behavior but actually brag about it. If you tune into the Oscars tonight, you’ll see obvious examples of this. Women will parade down the red carpet in dresses that don’t conceal very much. Men will march in with women to whom they are not married but with whom they share a bed and want everyone to know it. But friends, my message is not for them; it’s for us who can readily identify such celebrities by name and list off the movies they’ve been in but struggle to name the twelve disciples of Jesus or know where in the Bible we can find the book of Haggai or Galatians. If so, it’s time to stop following celebrities on Twitter and spend that time instead pouring over God’s tweets to you. Shouldn’t a citizen of heaven know the psalms better than he knows the lyrics of the current top ten songs? Look at what’s at stake. Those who keep their mind on earthly matters will eventually lose their faith in Jesus and if that happens, they will find their destiny to be destruction (Philippians 1:19).
God speaks frankly to us this morning because he loves us and he wants us to live for blessings that are out of this world instead of getting caught up in matters of this world. What would you think of friends who missed their flight to the warm beaches of the Caribbean because they lost track of time shopping at the Edmonton airport gift shop? You’d be sure to give them a good ribbing the next time you saw them. When we get caught up in the things of this world we put our heavenly citizenship in jeopardy and that’s foolish when you consider the blessings that await faithful citizens. Paul described those blessings like this: “But 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, 21).
Many wish they had the body of a model or a movie star. They want this so badly that they are willing to pay good money for personal trainers and plastic surgeons to get such a body. But no matter how good your personal trainer or plastic surgeon is, one thing they cannot do is stave off the inevitable: death. It doesn’t matter how wonderful you look in life because in death we’ll all look pretty rotten. But for citizens of heaven there is hope. Paul says that when the end of the world comes, our Savior Jesus will return, raise the dead, and give believers bodies like his own glorified body - a body that can never grow old, become sick, or die!
So how do you know whether or not you’re a citizen of heaven and will one day enjoy these awesome blessings? Well to become citizens of Canada, Sarah and I had to swear loyalty to the Crown. But to make us citizens of heaven God is the one who swore allegiance to us. He did that already in the Garden of Eden when he promised to send the Savior to crush the head of Satan. He personalized that vow of allegiance at your baptism when he called you by name and adopted you as his child.
To become citizens of Canada it also took some money. There was also a payment that needed to happen before we could become citizens of heaven: a payment for the poor example we have set for others. God took care of this too when he sent Jesus to die on the cross. So how do we become citizens of heaven? By doing nothing! God has done it all through Jesus. Put your trust in him for he holds a heavenly passport with your name on it, signed in his blood.
Now how do we ensure that we remain citizens of heaven? I’ve already spoken about spending more time in God’s Word than investigating what current celebrities are up to. But there’s something else that we can do to remain heavenly citizens: eat heaven’s food. Like immigrant families who will cook the foods they ate in their birth-country so that they and their children don’t lose their cultural connection, citizens of heaven have been given a meal by Jesus that connects them to the home they haven’t seen yet. I’m of course speaking about Holy Communion. In this sacrament Jesus gives us his body and blood with the bread and wine to remind us that we belong to him and he to us. The great thing about this sacrament is that it actually creates a heavenly culture within us (J. P. Kretzmann). Through his body and blood Jesus forgives sin and increases in us the desire to live as citizens of heaven and empowers us to do so. Take advantage of every opportunity the Lord’s Supper is offered so that your ties to heaven are strengthened.
They say that the best part of a trip is coming home. That will be especially true for citizens of heaven. So don’t forget that this chaotic and sin-ravaged world is not your home. Set your mind instead on heavenly matters and look forward to blessings that are out of this world, blessings that Jesus has promised and won for you. Amen.
Daniel Habben Our Citizenship Is In Heaven
Philippians 3:17-4:1 1) Don’t follow the ways of this world
February 27, 2013 2) Live for blessings that are out of this world
SERMON NOTES
“You should be more like me.” That’s what the Apostle Paul said in our text. Far from being arrogant, why is this something every humble Christian should strive to be able to say with a good conscience?
Christians are not to follow the ways of this world. What are some things in your life that, unfortunately, encourage you to follow the world? What can you do to change these habits?
Instead of following this world we are to live for blessings that are out of this world. What blessing(s) did the Apostle Paul mention in our text?
How exactly did we become citizens of heaven?
What tools does God give us to help us remain citizens of heaven? How will you make use of those tools this week?
