Many of you have probably already heard of ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder. However, many of you might not yet have heard of a new disorder that is being diagnosised. A serious illness of which I fear many of us may be suffering. It is called AAADD (Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder). A friend of mine was recently diagnosised with this serious aliment.
In his own words, this is how it manifests. He writes: "I decide to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I spot the mail on the hall table. I should go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay the car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the trash can is full. So, I put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first. But, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I might as well pay the bills first. I see my checkbook on the table, but there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk, where I find the bottle of juice that I had been drinking.
I’m going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the juice aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over. But the juice is getting warm, and should be put in the refrigerator to keep it cold. Heading toward the kitchen with the juice, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye. They need to be watered. I set the juice down on the counter, and find my reading glasses, for which I’ve been searching all morning. I had better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water, and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. Tonight when we sit down to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it’s on the kitchen table. I should put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers. I splash some water on the flowers but most of it spills on the floor. So, I put the remote back down on the table and get some towels to wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day: the car isn’t washed, the bills aren’t paid, there is a warm bottle of juice sitting on the counter, the flowers aren’t watered, there is still only one check in my check-book, I can’t find the remote, I can’t find my glasses, and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys. I’m try to figure out why nothing got done today; it’s quite baffling because I know I was busy all day long, and I’m really tired. I know this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail.
Far too often the Christians suffer with Age Activated Attention Deficient Disorder. We become distracted by past sins, or accomplishments, the activities of our lives demands our attention, our wives or husbands need us, our children need our attention, work calls, school work must be done, laundry, dishes, there is a great show on television and so we move in a frenzied pace through life and before you know it the end of the day has come, the end of life, and our faith, the source of our joy, is not complete.
Joy comes in choosing and living it but it also comes to us needing to be made complete. The joy of knowing Jesus Christ is not a one time event, a one time experience. It isn’t just what God does for us. We have a responsibility to make joy complete in him. It takes work, effort. It is a growing experience. Christ comes to us and gives us the joy but he expects us to work out our salvation in his glory.
Paul in the midst of his suffering and chains wants the Philippian church and you and I to understand what that means. In verse 4 he tells us if anyone has reason to boast, if anyone has reason to think they have made it in faith – he did. Read along with me VS 4 If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Phil 3:4-6 (NRSV). Talk about religious, Paul was a jews jew. And then He came to know the messiah. He heard the voice of the resurrection Christ, he studied for four years, he sought out the disciples, he traveled throughout the land proclaiming Christ, and starting churches. He had sought to know Christ, to know the power of the resurrection, he had sacrificed and suffered for his Lord and yet he joyously proclaimed he was not yet perfect in Christ, had not yet obtained it or took hold of it yet. He is saying he is not yet perfect in Christ.
Paul is not saying perfect in the sense of without any flaws, without sin, free from ignorance, free from any mistakes. The word perfection in the Greek, teleios means to be ideally suited or adapted for a specific function. In this case Paul is saying to be ideally suited to or adapted to the life and mind of Christ, to be all that Christ has in mind for us to be, growing as close to Christ as possible in love and holiness.
Perfection is an important tenet of the Methodist faith. Our founder, John Wesley, defined perfection as “having the mind of Christ, being inwardly and outwardly devoted to God, walking uniformly as Christ walked.” Jesus himself said “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Christian perfection is being mature and complete in knowledge and relationship with Christ.
Paul wasn’t satisfied with n his relationship with Jesus. He didn’t felt that he had done all he could do to know and be like Christ. In fact he is proclaiming one of the joys of being in Christ is the process of growing to perfection. As one writer observed about the Christian life, the more one knows of Christ the more one wishes to know.
So Paul says this is what I am going to do. This is how I am going to work out my salvation toward perfection. I am going to forget what is behind. Forget? Didn’t he just tell us back in chapter one to remember the positive parts of our past? Paul is not implying here that we should erase our past but that we should not let our past impede our progress to the future. I believe that it is speaking to the kind of forgetting that occurs when we cease to let things that are in the past over shadow the present, that lets the past be the past, both the good and the bad and that constantly looks forward to the work that God still has for us. (Boice)
Many people rest on their past accomplishments or wallow in their past failures. Shame and guilt immobilizes their faith. They keep remembering their past sins wondering if God really has forgiven them or not. They have not yet grasped the absolute unchangeable forgiveness that God has already given them.
Or they spend their time looking at their check book and patting themselves on the back for their gracious giving. They remember the days when they were in church, they remember when they helped with vacation bible school, when they attended Sunday school, when they cut the grass and helped build the building. They start looking around comparing themselves to other Christians and they become self satisfied. And they decide they have already done enough. Paul is saying we need to let go of anything that is distracting us from being effective, mature Christians today, right now and in the future by Focus on the Goal of our Faith.
Straining toward what is ahead VS 14 …How thrilling of a race do you think the Olympics would be if the running events consisted of all the runners running in place. “Straining toward what is ahead: describes the runner going hard for the tape. His eyes are focused on the finish line, he head is forward, his body bent and angled toward the goal. His arms and legs are constantly pumping, straining, pulling toward the goal, giving his all to try and win the race. The race isn’t over. It is in motion, the full energy and resources of the runner is focused on the goal. The runner knows where he is going, he knows where the finish line is, and he knows what he needs to do to get there., and he is doing everything he can think of to do to get there. He is pressing on!
The goal of the Christian life is joyous perfection that gives way to eternal life in the kingdom of God. What are you doing to help yourself get there? What are you working on to become more like Christ? How much are you straining to follow Jesus? What are you willing to do, what must you do because you profess Jesus Christ as your Lord? What evil are charging against for Christ’s sake? It is time you got in the race. It’s time to set mile markers along the way and start moving toward the goal of perfection. You don’t need to wait until you know a little bit more, until you know scripture better, until you figure out what God wants you to do.
Paul says VS 15-16. “Christian maturity involves acting on the guidance that you have already received. We can always make excuses that we still have so much to learn.” Paul isn’t saying when you know enough, when you are ready, when you think it is time run the race. His instructions for us is to live up to what we already know and live out what we have already learned. We do not have to be sidetracked by an unending search for truth. We already know it. We already know what we need to do to become more like Christ.
We need to love one another. We need stand for justice. We need to care for the sick, orphaned, and widowed. We need to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked and visit the imprisoned. We need to pray more than we ever have. We need to unite more. We need to risk more. We need plan more than we ever. We need to observe more than we ever have, we need to sacrifice.
We need to speak out against partial birth abortions. We need to right letters to sponsors of TV programs that inappropriate and immoral. We need to refuse to listen to or tell demeaning jokes. We need to fight pornography. We need to fix our tax forms so that we would be pleased to show it to Jesus. We need to tutor disadvantaged children. We need to help our neighbor.
Paul says with confidence vs 17. Paul was challenging the Philippians to pursue Christlikeness by following his example, his life. This did not mean, of course, that he wanted them to do everything he has done- remember he has just stated he wasn’t perfect. But he knew and he was self-assured that he had focused his life on being like Christ. Before you begin to think Paul was being egotistical. Remember that at this time the scripture was not yet in print. He was the only example they had – we have said it before sometimes the only Bible your neighbor or the lost will ever read will be the one they observe in your life. Paul was secure in telling them to follow his example, his testimony as contained and seen in his life. What kind of follower would a new Christian become if he or she imitated you?
On March 6, 1987, Eamon Coughlan, the Irish world record holder of the 1500 meters, was running in a qualifying heat at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis. With two and a half laps left, he was tripped. He fell, but he got up and with great effort managed to catch the leaders. With only 20 yards left in the race, he was in third place-good enough to qualify for the finals when he looked over his shoulder to the inside. Seeing no one, he let up. But another runner, charging hard on the outside, passed Coughlan a yard before the finish line, thus eliminating him from the finals. Coughlan’s great comeback effort was rendered worthless because he took his eyes off the finish line. He quit running the race and tried to just coast on in.
As Paul approached the end of his life he said in 2TI 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith I hope and pray that you and I will be able to say that when are days on earth are done! May we complete the joy that God has begun in us by forgetting the past, focusing on the goal and living a life that is example of completeness in Christ.
