BE FOCUSED ON THE UPWARD WAY
Philippians 3: 4-14
There are some people in our world who have worked for
everything they have gotten; statistically we know that some are here
today. They are self-made men or women,
entrepreneurs of business or home or community.
Some of them are that way and hold on to what they have; some of those
success stories, however, include people with generous hearts who use their
success for others. In the world of
haves and have-nots- a gap that is growing at a troubling rate- some who have bless others by their means, their
service, and their care. Some in the world, however, who have tried to get by
doing as little as possible, statistics say are also with us today. They have
tried to trick their boss into thinking they were producing when they were
lounging; they rarely help neighbors and are unwilling to help their spouse or
children. They drain energy and
enthusiasm from those around them but do not make use of it; they just sap it by
their sloth. Finally, statistically we know that there are also hard working
people here today who are kind and generous but not wealthy, and there are
people who do less then their share in their family or community but get by
with it. If I were to ask not you,
but those who know you to grade you
on your generosity, your kindness, or your helpfulness, what grade would you
get? Parents would get to grade
children; husbands grade wives, wives grade husbands, teachers grade students,
employees grade employers, well, you get the picture. How would you come out?
Further if God were to judge you
(which God does, by the way) on generosity, kindness, and helpfulness, what
grade would God give you? Today we are
reminded by the Apostle Paul that before we can move our souls to the higher
ground of holiness, we will first learn
how to turn our faces to the ground in humbleness.
The first thing we can do is to aim
for higher standards.
The great Scottish preacher James S. Stewart once wrote these words in his book
THE LIFE AND TEACHING OF JESUS CHRIST: “The aim and end of all study of the
life and teaching of Jesus is that we should find God, or rather, as Paul would
say, be found by God.” [Festival Books 1978, p. ix] People in our world are
good at putting self first; how many have moved to the higher ground of putting
God first? Part of the subplot of the
award-winning movie “Chariots of Fire,” based on a true story, was that
So, as Paul learned, people who follow Jesus need higher
goals than human ones. People who step
on others to stand head and shoulders above them can, instead, aim for Godly goals and move their hearts to greater gratitude. Listen to how New Testament scholar Fred
Craddock describes this passage from Philippians: Paul has a “consuming desire to know Jesus Christ, to be in Jesus Christ, to have that
righteousness which is God’s gift to
the one who believes. He counts gain as loss. It is not the Law that is dead;
it is Paul that is dead to the Law. Paul does not toss away junk to gain Christ;
he tossed away that which was of tremendous value to him. There is absolutely
nothing here remotely akin to the popular types of testimony that catalogues
all the sins, soiled relationships, and foul habits that were tossed in the
garbage at conversion. Sincere as that’s may be, such accounts say in effect
that the worth of Christ is greater than the worst in one’s life.”
[INTERPRETATION, Philippians, John Knox Press, 1985, p. 58.] Even though
academic degrees are important, and income is important, and law is important,
and skills are important, Paul takes them all and says they are nothing compared to his devotion to Jesus Christ. Could you
say that? Christ has ransomed your soul so your
life today can be abundant and your life beyond this life can be eternal
and blessed. All earthly gains that are
important to you now will fall by the wayside in heaven. People who follow
Christ in unwavering devotion know that. They cannot pay for eternal life;
Christ did that. They can just live lives that demonstrate great gratitude.
Again how would your grade your spouse, your child, your parent, or your employer
on that? German Theologian Helmut Thielicke once said: “The longer we are
in the presence of Jesus, the more deeply we know our sin and the sharper our conscience.
This being so, we plunge even deeper in debt with God. Those who know the
Christian life only from the outside find it hard to understand that the longer
a Christian is with Christ, the deeper his indebtedness, so that he can never
leave the
Godly goals; greater gratitude; when those are put into place, then
and only then can we move to what has been called “higher ground.” Jesus moved
to higher ground as he was transfigured before his disciples: glory, but at a
price. Jesus moved to higher ground as
he went up to
Jeffrey A. Sumner