12.31.21 Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Paul’s Progressive Pilgrimage for 2022
Dear Friends in Christ,
If I remember correctly, my aunt sets a goal for every ten years of her life. She might make it her goal to get a degree or to learn an instrument or a language. It’s kind of inspirational to see her do what she does. People like that make us take a look at ourselves. We say, “I wish I had that kind of drive.” And there are times in our lives where we want to set new goals and turn over a new leaf, get started on the right foot. New Year’s is a typical time for this.
It’s good to have goals and purpose in life. As Agent Smith said to Neo in the Matrix Reloaded, “Without purpose we would not exist. It is purpose that created us, purpose that connects us, purpose that pulls us, that guides us, that drives us; it is purpose that defines us, purpose that binds us.” That seems pretty true to life. That’s why I honestly think that if or when I decide to retire or I can’t work anymore it’s going to kill me if I don’t have a good plan for something to DO.
Dr. Jordan Peterson is a somewhat famous or infamous psychologist from Canada who gets a lot of airtime nowadays for better or for worse. He talked about some of the common weaknesses that create problems for people in this life, and it echoes what I’m talking about -
Being aimless
Sacrificing meaning for expediency (In other words - taking the easy route instead of doing the difficult thing that matches with your goals)
Not thinking through what you’re doing tomorrow
When you don’t have purpose it just doesn’t work well. It’s not how we’re built as humans.
The Apostle Paul definitely didn’t wander through life aimlessly. He was DRIVEN. Paul says we should learn from him and try to mimic him. Just after this text Paul says -
15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.
17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
What is Paul's pattern of living? One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Thinking about our goals for 2022, it’s a good text for us to use as we head into the new year.
The word in the Greek for “pursue” or “strain” is diwkw. One of my dictionaries says, “to follow with haste, and presumably with intensity of effort, in order to catch up with, for friendly or hostile purpose—‘to run after, to chase after, to pursue.’ (Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1, p. 201). So Paul was in hot pursuit of the goal, to make it to heaven and be with Jesus.
If I were to ask you a list of what you planned for in 2022, how many of you would have had that as your number one goal? Your only goal? All other steps revolve around THAT one?
It’s interesting how Paul describes this, what started him on his journey, if we read it slowly and think about it. I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. It’s a physical picture, someone TAKING HOLD of something. I want to get my hands around it. Tackle it. Get a firm grip on it. Don’t let go of it. It’s kind of a neat picture when you think of what Jesus did with Paul, on the way to Damascus. He thought he was doing God a favor by hunting down the Christians. Jesus confronted him on the way. Shook him to his core. Grabbed hold of his soul, and turned Paul around, 180 degree turn! He grabbed Paul with grace, mercy and forgiveness, wrapping him with the cross of Christ. From that point on, Paul had a new goal. He wanted to know Christ. He wanted to spread Christ. He wanted to die with Christ. He went from hunting Christians to seeking Christ with zeal. Paul wouldn’t quit until he reached the goal.
It kind of reminds me of when we go on vacation. On the way to our destination, we might take our time a little more. Perhaps stop at this sight or that, enjoy the trip. But once we finish with what we came to do, on the way back, we usually want to get home ASAP. Make as few stops as possible. Let’s just get there. When the Celtics were in a clutch situation and needed a basket, Larry Bird said, “Give me the ball and get out of my way.” He had a zeal to score the ball. That’s the kind of zeal we’re talking about here.
You may not think like this, but God grabbed hold of you in your baptism. He did something powerful to you and in you. He gave you His Holy Spirit and united you with Jesus. He washed your sins away. He put you to death with Jesus and raised you with Jesus. He gave you worth. He gave you meaning. Think of Noah and his family in the Ark, how that would have changed their lives forever. The earth looked like a whole new world. So that’s what is meant to happen to YOU and ME in this life. God grabs hold of us. He puts us to death and brings us to life. He changes our focus. He points our eyes heavenward. We realize our world is passing away. When we grab hold of this in faith, we have a great zeal to take part in the resurrection to eternal LIFE.
I think of those poor Afghanies who desperately tried to hold onto a plane that was flying out of Afghanistan. They did everything they could to get out of there. We are on the plane of salvation through faith in Christ. We’ve been put in the plane. It is our goal to stay in the plane until we reach heaven.
I just recently read from Hebrews 11:35 that talked about people who were tortured and refused to be released in hope of a better resurrection. Think of the disciples who were constantly talking about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Misguided as they may have been on what greatness is, they still had their sights on the prize, and Jesus didn’t fault them for that. Jesus even commended those who left father and mother because of Him, in hopes of the life to come. Even while we live and breathe and fulfill our purposes here on earth, we do it with our eyes on the prize. That’s where we want to be, in heaven with Jesus. Now that we are in God’s hands, we want to learn every nook and cranny of the beauty of those hands. We want to dive in all the more.
How do we get there? This involved a two part process with Paul. The first process was in what he did with his past. In order to move forward he couldn’t get stuck in his past. His whole name and reputation had revolved around his zeal and his knowledge when it came to the Old Testament laws and regulations. He was a faithful Jew. He knew his word well, but he didn’t have the key to understanding it. He missed Jesus in it. So everything he was, everything he built his whole worth around, had to die. He had to forget about the friends he had made and the teachers who had taught him. He couldn’t go forward until he put that stuff behind him. Forgetting what is behind. . . It wasn’t that Paul ever really forgot who he was or where he came from. It was HOW he remembered it that changed. Instead of taking pride in it and finding his identity from it, he no longer did so. Now he was going to take his pride in what Jesus did for him and who he was through faith in Christ.
Think back on the past year, on your past life. There are things that maybe used to make you happy, made you proud, that you are now ashamed of. There’s plenty of things that might fill you with regret that happened even years ago. Maybe your face still flushes at the memory. Maybe you say to yourself, “Shut up! Shut up! Go away!” What can you do with those shameful sins and mistakes that haunt your past? See Jesus dying on the cross for them. Envision God putting a blanket of Jesus’ blood and righteousness over that incident. Envision Him nailing you to the cross and burying your words and actions in the grave. See that sin forgiven and paid for. Say to yourself, “Paid for. Finished. Done in God’s sight.” God has put it behind Him. He has chosen to forget about it in Christ. So don’t try to crucify yourself over your sins. Don’t be your own Jesus. You don’t need to whip your mind or your soul. Jesus went through the guilt and the whipping already. Put it in the past, 2000 years ago past. He already paid for it. If you don’t, you can’t really move forward.
It’s ok to also ask, “What can I learn from my past sin? What was it that led me into that temptation? Why did I think that way? Why did I do what I did?” There’s often a temptation behind the temptation that we can learn from with some self reflection. The bad relationship you got into was maybe because you were seeking attention and approval that you didn’t believe you had in Jesus already. The anger that caused you to lash out at your family member may have been from your own frustration at not getting what you wanted. Did you forget to pray about it? Forget to leave it in Jesus’ hands? Perhaps you fell into temptation because you lost sight of your goal, because you stopped listening to Jesus. Dig in there, but don’t stay there. Today is a new day. 2022 is a new year.
Maybe your past has been pretty blessed. Maybe you’ve done well for yourself. That’s great. But don’t dwell too much on that either. You’ve seen videos of football players who had a clear pathway to the end zone, only to prematurely let the ball go before they crossed the line. The video review is clear. They embarrassingly let go. Don’t spike the ball until you’ve crossed the line. Think of what God said to the Israelites as they headed into the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 8:17–18, “You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” You couldn’t have any success in 2021 or any of your past were it not for the grace of God.
Success or failure, remember also that God doesn’t give heaven based on either. Successful Christians who stay strong in the faith and resist temptations are no more saved than those Christians who have many more failures throughout their lives. Successful Christians and failures for Christians are saved by the same grace and blood of Christ, through the same past death and resurrection.
If you live with someone who is constantly bringing up his past trophies, past victories, past life, you ultimately say they are “stuck in the past.” It reminds me of the one hit wonders who end up on tour and have to keep playing the same song on repeat in city after city after city. They get botox injections and try to wear sexy outfits when they’re far too old and worn out to act like they’re 20 again. What a nightmare! When you live in the past like that you ultimately can’t enjoy the future or the present even. You become a joke in some ways. That’s not how God wants us to live, revolving our lives around our past successes. The only past He wants us to live in is in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that is because His history affects our present and our future. When Jesus is in your past and the source of your worth, you then have purpose. You have reason to live. You don’t base your life on your successes or failures. You live to the glory of God, by the grace of God. You live for the future, not the past.
With a clear view of heaven, God gave Paul something to do while on the way - be a missionary to the Gentiles. He gave him purpose for the here and now. While growing in his faith, he could also GO with that faith. He could do both at the same time! It wouldn’t be easy! Most vocations aren’t easy! One of the first things God said about Paul after he was converted was, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16) When Jesus grabbed hold of Paul’s heart, he was willing to do it. Through three or more missionary journeys, Paul never lost his zeal. If you’ve ever met someone with a zeal for what they do, you can’t help but admire it, especially when they’re good at what they do.
Have you lost your zeal for life? Is it because you’ve gotten sidetracked? Lost your purpose? What if you simplified your life - that your goal was to be in heaven with Jesus? How would your life change? What would be different in 2022? Would you come to church more? Read the Bible more? Come to more Bible studies? What would your children and grandchildren, friends and neighbors see in you as a result? More happiness? More contentment? Would you invite your family members and friends to church with you?
There is a mindset of people in America who call themselves “progressives.” From what I know, they want to get rid of America’s tradition and foundational principles. They want to throw the Judeo-Christian ethic out the window. They seem to want chaos and immorality too. The thing is, they’re zealous about it. They’re more zealous than those who would rather just keep what we have, and so they seem to be winning the social war.
As we face another year in Christ, we can be progressive in a better way, a God pleasing way. We look back to the past. We respect it. We cherish it. We see the God who created us, redeemed, us, and called us to be His own. We look to His word for guidance and strength. It never changes, and God never changes. In Christ, we have a clean past and we have a clear purpose. Our purpose is to grow in grace and to go with God’s grace into the future. We do not fear the future. We know that the future is in God’s hands, and that He has plans for us in it, big or small. We live for it. We prepare for it by staying in the Word and sacrament. We pray for it. We ready ourselves for it with Jesus and His grace and His mercy and strength. We progress forward, asking God for the same zeal as Paul in 2022. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, WE press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called US heavenward in Christ Jesus. Amen.
