“Living a Joy-Full Life: Know Your Profits and Losses”
Phil. 3:1-11
I recall a conversation that took place during a Consistory meeting of another church I served. It was about requirements for who should serve on Consistory. Some wanted to add guidelines to what the Scriptures have already laid out. One of the deacons, who was a tither, expressed that only tithers should serve on Consistory. Knowing this gentleman only attended morning worship services, I chimed in (somewhat facetiously) and said that only those who attended worship both morning and evening should serve. After a few more such requirements were suggested – most of which were offered tongue-in-cheek – the point became clear: we cannot pick and choose ‘laws’ to add to our faith. We either believe that Jesus Christ alone is sufficient or we do not.
That’s precisely the issue Paul dealt with in his letter to the Philippian Church. There was a persistent group that was trying to add required works to faith; they were trying to pile up profits by which they could then gain salvation and blessing. But with Paul as the leader and mentor of this young church, this group was barking up the wrong tree. Listen again to verses 2-4 (NLT): “For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!” Paul tells them they are wrong – he knows because he’s been there and done that.
To prove his point, Paul talks about his life of PERSONAL PROFITS. Paul had built a profit of RITUALS. (5) He said he was ‘…circumcised on the eighth day…” Circumcision had been established as the mark of belonging to the Jewish nation. So the devout Jew believed that PEOPLE HAD TO BECOME JEWISH before they could become Christian - that God’s approval could only be gained by being Jewish. Belief in Jesus Christ had to be supplemented with a Jewish rite in order to be accepted by God.
We tend to shake our heads and wonder how in the world these Christians could ever start adding requirements to faith. Yet OUR RITUALS TOO EASILY BECOME REQUIREMENTS. Baptism easily becomes more than something that’s just important to faith – it’s soon a requirement. We start to believe that someone must be baptized to be saved – and not only baptized but baptized in a certain way and perhaps even at a certain age. The Lord’s Supper quickly becomes more than just a meaningful celebration – it must be celebrated a certain number of times and in a certain way – and those who don’t follow suit are not as ‘Christian’ as they should be. For some it’s the order or content of worship - it must be a certain way to be acceptable. Our rituals too easily become requirements for faith. Paul said rituals are easy to pile up as profit.
Paul’s next profit was RANK. He said (5) he was “…of the people of Israel…” He was born and bred an Israelite, part of God’s special, chosen family. Paul had the RIGHT ANCESTRY, which was critically important – he was from the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had the right heritage, the right parents, the right family relationships. It’s not too different from those who claim profit because their family has been “part of such and such church for generations,” or “I’ve been part of this church for 50 years…” The implication is that it brings special benefits.
Paul adds that he was not just an Israelite, but he was “…of the tribe of Benjamin…” Paul was originally named Saul, after the first king of Israel – who was a Benjamite. Paul came from the best of the best. He had THE RIGHT PEDIGREE. He was AK registered. Benjamites were just a little better, a little higher, a little purer than the rest. It’s a little like “If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much” – or “If you’re not white, you’re not right.”
And Paul was not only a Benjamite, he said he was also “…a Hebrew of Hebrews…” He had THE RIGHT ORTHODOXY. He was a strict orthodox Jew, as opposed to the more liberal Jews. It’s a little like “Oh, you’re not reformed?” which means “Our denomination is the right and pure one.” It’s the attitude of “I don’t believe in denominations or doctrine – we just follow the Bible.” Paul said it’s easy to pile up rank as profit.
Another profit Paul claimed was RULES. (5-6) “…in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.” Paul followed the law strictly – even ADDED LAWS TO THE LAW. No one, he claimed, kept the Law better than he did; no one was more zealous in defending and promoting the law. When Barb and I went to the Holy Land years ago, we were on the plane for the return flight. Our take-off was delayed because there were strict, orthodox Jews who refused to sit down and get buckled-up for takeoff. It was the hour to face Jerusalem and pray and they insisted on doing so. It created quite a stir. But they would not
be deterred. I can imagine Paul, as a devout Jew, joining them. If ever anyone could work their way to God, if anyone could pile up enough profit to purchase an entrance ticket to heaven, it was Paul. He even admitted that his rituals, rank, and rules made him so zealous that he became not only a protector of the faith but a persecutor of those who failed measure up to his standards and way of thinking. He would keep the community of faith pure.
Paul had an impressive resume, filled with personal profits. But, Paul said, he now counted it all as PROFITABLE LOSSES. (7) “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss…” Paul’s profits were not bad in themselves. In fact, they uniquely qualified him to be mightily used by Jesus. But all those profits had driven Paul away from Jesus Christ. As Anne Lamott wrote, “God can’t clean the house of you when you’re still in it.” (i) Paul no longer rejoiced in what he had done for God, but now he rejoiced in what God had done for him in Jesus Christ.
Paul considered his profits as loss for the sake of Christ. His losses were profitable because first of all, because he could truly KNOW CHRIST. (7-9) “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” WE MAY KNOW JESUS IN OUR HEADS BUT NOT OUR HEARTS. The biblical word “to know” conveys deep intimacy; it is the word used when Genesis reports that Abraham knew his wife Sarah and she gave birth to a son. It means an intimacy of heart, soul, mind, body – and intertwining of whole beings. It is the same word used of the way God knows us – the godly knowledge of which the Psalmist speaks in Ps. 139: “Oh Lord you have searched me and known me.” It’s the difference between knowing the definition of a kiss – “a caress with the lips; a gentle touch or contact” – and experiencing a loving kiss.
Once Paul had been kissed by Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything changed. It was no longer what he did for God but what God has done for him in Jesus. Religion is our attempt to get to God. Jesus is God’s attempt to enter into a relationship with us. Paul had moved from a religion to a relationship. Paul had to lose his religion to gain the experience of salvation. Paul proved that is possible to be religious yet not know Jesus, and knowing Jesus was now his life’s aim.
Albert Pujols is a World Series champ, an All Star many times, the recipient of multiple National League MVP awards, and was once the most feared hitter in the sport. But even more impressive is his life off the field. The Pujols Family Foundation he started offers support and care to people with Down syndrome and their families, while also helping the poor in the Dominican Republic. He and his wife of 15 years provide a loving household for four little children. But most importantly, he is a passionate disciple of Christ. While speaking at an event at Lafayette Senior High School in Missouri, Pujols told the audience of men and young boys, "As a Christian, I am called to live a holy life. My standard for living is set by God, not by the world. I am responsible for growing and sharing the gospel." Then, after reading Paul's words in Philippians 2:3—"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves"—Pujols told the crowd, "One way for me to stay satisfied in Jesus is for me to stay humble. Humility is getting on your knees and staying in God's will—what he wants for me, not what the world wants…It would be easy to go out and do whatever I want, but those things only satisfy the flesh for a moment. Jesus satisfies my soul forever."(ii) Like Paul, Albert knows Christ.
Because Paul lost his profits he could also KNOW THE POWER OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION. (10) “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection…” A minister was in Italy, and there he saw the grave of a man who had died centuries before who was an unbeliever and completely against Christianity, but a little afraid of it too. So the man had a huge stone slab put over his grave so he would not have to be raised from the dead in case there is a resurrection from the dead. He had insignias put all over the slab saying, "I do not want to be raised from the dead. I don't believe in it." Evidently, when he was buried, an acorn must have fallen into the grave. So a hundred years later the acorn had grown up through the grave and split that slab. It was now a tall towering oak tree. The minister looked at it and asked, "If an acorn, which has power of biological life in it, can split a slab of that magnitude, what can the acorn of God's resurrection power do in a person's life?" Tim Keller comments: “The minute you decide to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit comes into your life. It's the power of the resurrection—the same thing that raised Jesus from the dead …. Think of the things you see as immovable slabs in your life—your bitterness, your insecurity, your fears, your self-doubts. Those things can be split and rolled off. The more you know him, the more you grow into the power of the resurrection.” (iii)
It’s no wonder Paul wrote to the Ephesians (1:18-19 & 3:20) “I pray also…that you may know… his incomparably great power for us who believe…Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
Paul’s loss of his profits allowed him also to KNOW THE FELLOWSHIP OF CHRIST’S SUFFERING. Paul considered all his suffering as a means of knowing Christ more intimately. Paul experienced a thorn in his flesh, shipwrecks, stonings, beatings, robberies, rejection, mockery, malicious gossip, and persecution. An interviewer ran the following story about the faith of talk show host and comedian Stephen Colbert: In 1974, when Colbert was 10, his father, a doctor, and his brothers Peter and Paul, the two closest to him in age, died in a plane crash while flying to a prep school in New England. "There's a common explanation that profound sadness leads to someone's becoming a comedian, but I'm not sure that's a proven equation in my case," he told me. "I'm not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so." He added, in a tone so humble and sincere that his character would never have used it: "She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that's directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain— it's that the pain is actually a gift. What's the option? God doesn't really give you another choice." (iv)
As David Wilkerson pointed out, “Suffering is an area of life over which we have no control. It’s the realm where we learn to surrender to God’s will…It’s a training place where, like Paul, we fall on our faces, and end up crying, ‘Lord, I can’t handle this.’ He responds, ‘Good. I’ll handle it. Surrender it all to me, your body, soul, mind, heart, everything. Trust me fully.” (v)
Paul’s loss made it possible as well for Paul to KNOW DYING: (10) “…becoming like him in his death…” Paul knew that dying to himself each day was always a gain. Here’s a question to ponder: Is there anything you will not lose for Jesus? Asian Access, a Christian mission agency in South Asia, reported that because the area is predominantly Hindu, believers must be aware there could be a price to pay for a commitment to Jesus Christ. So they have a series of questions (vi) that church planters must ask new believers who are considering baptism. (1) Are you willing to leave home and lose the blessing of your father? (2) Are you willing to lose your job? (3) Are you willing to go to the village and those who persecute you, forgive them, and share the love of Christ with them? (4) Are you willing to give an offering to the Lord? (5) Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith? (6) Are you willing to go to prison? (7) Are you willing to die for Jesus? What would your answers be? Understand that if the new convert answers yes to all of these questions, they are then asked to sign on the bottom of the paper that of their own free will they have decided to follow Jesus. But here’s the risk: if a new convert is caught by the government, it will be three years behind bars – and the one who did the evangelizing faces six years behind bars. Would you sign on the dotted line? Would you evangelize? Can you say, in the words of the hymn “You can have all this world, Give me Jesus?”
Paul knew, above all, that his great losses would enable him to KNOW RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. (11) He now knew that he was saved by grace. You may have heard the old story of the church leader who died and met Peter at the pearly gates. Peter asked him, “It takes a thousand points to get in, so tell me something about yourself.” The man replied, “Until I was twenty-one years old, I never missed Sunday School, unless I was sick in bed. I have a string of perfect attendance medals that almost reaches the floor. I was an acolyte, active in the youth group, and often worked around church, cutting grass and doing other odd jobs.” Peter responded, “That is extremely good. That gives you one point. Tell me something else about yourself.” “Well, I’m seventy years old. I attended church regularly, served on Consistory several times, sang on the choir, and was a speaker on layman’s Sunday. I always gave 10% of my income to church and was a lifelong church member.” Said Peter, “That is truly remarkable. That gives you another point. Tell me something else about yourself.” By this time the man was getting a little desperate and irritated. He blurted out, “Look, at this rate the only way I’ll get into heaven is by the grace of God.” Peter said, “That is worth 1,000 points, and with the two you earned, it makes one thousand two. Would you like to come in now?”
Paul began this section (3:1) by exhorting the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. Now we know why! He had discovered the truth of Jesus’ words (Mt. 16:26 NLT), “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matt Emmons had the gold medal in sight. He was one shot away from claiming victory in the 2004 Olympic 50-meter three-position rifle event. He didn't even need a bull's-eye to win. His final shot merely needed to be on target. Normally, the shot he made would have received a score of 8.1, more than enough for a gold medal. But in what was described as "an extremely rare mistake in elite competition," Emmons fired at the wrong target. Standing in lane two, he fired at the target in lane three. His score for a good shot at the wrong target? Zero. Instead of a medal, Emmons ended up in eighth place. It doesn't matter how accurate you are if you are aiming at the wrong goal. (vii)
Think about it. IF YOU GET TO WHERE YOU’RE GOING, WHERE WILL YOU BE? IF YOU ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS, WHAT WILL YOU HAVE? Are you willing this morning to let your personal profits become profitable losses? Aim your eyes at the cross of Jesus – and your riches and profits you’ll count but loss. And Jesus will satisfy your soul forever.
(i) Anne Lamott, Grace Eventually (Riverhead Trade, 2008), p. 235
(ii) Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky; source: Tim Ellsworth, "Holy Hitter," World magazine (2-27-10)
(iii) Nancy Guthrie, editor, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross (Crossway, 2009), p. 136
(iv) Charles McGrath, "How Many Stephen Colberts Are There?" The New York Times Magazine (1-4-12)
(v) David Wilkerson, The Surrendered Life, January 23, 2002
(vi) Leadership Journal, ‘Toolkit’, Spring 2012, p. 60
(vii) Alan Price, Chatsworth, Georgia; source: David Mordkoff, "American Emmons Misses Out on Gold by Firing at Wrong Target," www.Sports.Yahoo.com (8-22-04)
