Who Do We Strive After? - Sermon For Proper 22 - Year A

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I wonder if you have ever set out to do something and whatever distractions and obstacles has been thrown into your path, you have not been dissuaded, and have carried on with an absolute belief that you could accomplish whatever needed to be done?

Determination, was what was needed, and through it you are able to find the strength to face each and every challenge head on, overcome it and move on towards your goal.

I’m sure we’ve all had these times in our lives, and whilst there may be some who see what we are doing as foolhardy, or a lost cause, there are also a number of other people who will be there and help us by giving us the strength and encouragement to continue, perhaps our family, friends, or others who want to help us achieve our goal. However, as people of faith, we don't just rely on those around us, we also seek strength and wisdom from God, through prayer, and the faith that we have in Him.

Paul today in the letter to the people of Philippi is giving us a glimpse of this determination. He sets the scene by telling them of his lineage, a member of the house of Israel, and a man of learning, a Hebrew by birth and defender of Jewish law and traditions.

But whilst this may seem to be a boast, which before his Damascus experience it likely would have been, it was now about setting the scene for the road that he had travelled, he was now showing how his determination had shifted to from the destruction of any who follow Christ, to something much more worthy and much more important than he would have ever previously thought possible.

Pauls focus is no longer upon himself anymore, he is driven by his need and passion to follow Christ. Note in the middle of our epistle where he says, 'For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him'

The things that had driven Paul in the past, his position as a Pharisee, schooled in Jewish law, and one who persecuted those who followed Christ, none of that was any longer important or relevant to him.

Through his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, he was changed irrevocably, then as soon as he was healed of his blindness and received his baptism, he immediately proclaimed Christ as messiah, and began to preach the same. His goal now was to follow Christ and in essence be transformed so that he may emulate him and become more Christlike in his actions and attitude.

Paul is sharing his own very personal experiences of the way that he turned his back on and sacrificed his old Pharisaic self, not as a boast, or to gain the adoration of those who he ministered to, and this is made very clear through many of his letters, rather in order to learn how to belong to Christ, because his epiphany in Damascus and everything that he had learnt since had taught him that this was a far more important and valuable gift to receive.

But what we see even more so is that Paul isn’t satisfied with just being known as Christ’s, here on earth, he is striving to follow him all the way into glory in the eternal kingdom that is promised for all who believe in and follow him.

The message that Paul is giving to the young church in Philippi is full of hope and encouragement as they come to know Christ for themselves, but this then begs the question, why did the lectionary writers join this epistle with our Gospel today? They could not be more diametrically opposed to each other, for the Gospel talks of death and destruction.

Two weeks ago we had the parable of the owner of another vineyard, and the way that he showed grace to many who didn’t deserve it by paying all of his workers the same wage regardless of how much work they had done during the day.

However, this vineyard owner had spent time creating a vineyard where the crops were protected and then entrusted it to tenants, what should have happened was the tenants would have paid the vineyard owner a percentage of the profits from the annual yield, whilst keeping the rest for themselves.

Of course, this didn’t happen, and they methodically killed everyone who he sent to collect what was rightfully his, no doubt hoping that they would eventually be able to take the vineyard for themselves.

The parable has a twofold meaning, first it talks of the corruption rife in Israel through its officials, and how they would destroy anything and anyone who got in their way, but it also speaks of the way in which Christ is prophesying his own death. Again, the vineyard is God, the slaves are the ancient prophets who spoke wisdom and the Son is Christ, but the tenants are the officials of Israel.