Nothing but Christ

Philippians 3:4b-14

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

Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched. Don’t put the cart before the horse. Don’t jump the gun. These expressions all speak of the importance to not getting ahead of yourself. Don’t presume that you have everything under control. So often, that kind of presumption is something that you are an expert at. You tell yourself that everything is good, even when it isn’t. You pretend that things are okay, when it’s obvious that something is wrong. You forecast how everything will work out for your good all the time, and the truth is that you don’t know how things will work out.

Paul challenges your presumptions, not be evaluating your life, but his own. He invites you to look at him. He had every reason to think that everything was okay, especially with his righteousness and his standing with God. He had all the credentials. An Isrealite of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised according to God’s command, a Pharisee who kept God’s Law, zealous and enthusiastic enough to persecute those who believed in Jesus, and blameless. He had it made, with nothing to worry about. He could be proud of where he stood as a righteous, upstanding member of God’s people. But he goes on to say that none of that matters. All those good things that he had counted as nothing, and he gave them up for the “surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ as [his] Lord.” None of those good things mattered for Paul. The only thing that mattered was faith in Jesus Christ, and the righteousness that Jesus gave to him.

At first, this looks like something that we can agree with. We might even think, “That’s right, Paul! You and me both! We’re in this together!” But before you presume that, look again at Paul’s single mindedness about faith in Jesus. He compares himself to an athlete, pressing on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ. If you’ve ever trained for an athletic event or competition, you know that it can take over your life. Not only is the time of the game or event important, but so is the time you spend in practice. And for your practice to be good, you need to eat well, sleep well, re-prioritize your schedule, and judge everything that you do around your training regimen. Even though you wouldn’t assume it by looking at my body, I ran a half marathon of 13 miles about 12 years ago. When I look back at the 6 months that I spent training for that 3-ish hour run, it was a lot of time, energy, and priority that went into that. If it’s running or basketball or dance or hockey or soccer or another athletic pursuit, you know how it can become the primary priority in your life.

That’s not just true of athletics, though. Maybe it’s education - working toward learning those things that will be helpful for your future career. Not only are you working on your next math test or the end of your next course, but the path of what you will do with your life. It could be an internship or apprenticeship or your work in your field, getting better at what you do so you can keep your job or gain a promotion. Outside education and the workforce, maybe your family is your chief priority. Keeping the family calendar in order so that everyone gets where they need to be on time, fed and clothed and somewhat happy seems to be the reason you exist. Yet, there are times in life when simply making sure that you are healthy is the main thing. You go from doctor to doctor to physical therapy to keep your health. You pay attention to what you eat and how you move so that you are well. Simply trying not to let old age catch up with you becomes it’s own struggle. Like some of you tell me, “getting old isn’t for the weak or the faint of heart.” All those things can become the main priority in your life, not because you chose it, but because it is what you’re doing now and it defines you.

Our roles and our places in life become vital in how we think of ourselves and how others think of us. Those are important things! Our interests and hobbies and goals and professional lives and health are important things. But Paul says that they are all loss compared to faith in Jesus Christ. Ouch! That doesn’t sound like it lines up, does it? It can be easy to think about our Christian faith as a part of who we are. It is important to us, along with all the other things that we do. But Paul’s words to the Church don’t encourage you to keep your faith as one more thing about you, but as the defining thing about you. Your faith in the Jesus is, according to Paul, the very central aspect of your life. But you don’t live that way, at least not always. Sometimes, or even oftentimes, you slot in your Church attendance and Bible study around the other priorities in your life. Recently, online, I saw the quote, “Make Church services the thing you miss other things for” and I was surprised to see Christians push back that the quote set the bar too high - but then I realized that I act the same way. We assume and presume that we can live our lives as Christians and that we can choose all the other priorities we want.

That’s what those tenant-farmers in Jesus’ parable were doing, right? They were in the vineyard, raising the grapes. And when the first servant came with the rent bill, they prioritized their income a different way and beat him up and sent him home without the rent. When the second servant came with the “past due” notice, they treated him the same way, and then they wounded the third servant. They had made an agreement with the vineyard owner, but now they didn’t want to keep their word. When the vineyard owner sent his own son, they did something ridiculous! They presumed that if they killed the son, the heir, then they could just keep the vineyard under the rule of “finder’s keepers” or “squatters rights.” That’s not how the world works, but they presumed to claim the vineyard they were renting as their own. Of course, this is a pointed parable against the priests and leaders of God’s people who presumed to lead God’s people their way, disregarding God’s prophets and even God’s Son, Jesus. They were upset by the parable, and planned to arrest Jesus.

But this parable isn’t only against them. It’s against all who would tell God how God should act and rule and preserve the world. Truth be told, you and I are very good at trying to tell God how to be God, and we try to presumptuously boss God around. Instead of counting our lives as loss except for the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we want God to get behind our priorities and our goals. We want to determine how the world should work, and we want God to support our us.

Jesus has come into the world in order to suffer and die for you. That doesn’t line up with human expectations of God. Nonetheless, Jesus goes to the cross to suffer and die for your presumptuous sin. Even when you think you should determine how the world works, Jesus goes to the cross for you. There is no changing God’s priority of love for you, and there is no high-jacking His Kingdom. Jesus died and rose to keep His Kingdom in His family, and He even includes you in that family.

And that is all that matters to you. Your priorities, your calendar, your career ambitions and athletic events and efforts at your health all pale in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord. Everything else is loss, even rubbish, when compared to faith in Jesus Christ. What’s important in your life? What’s important for you? You are loved by Jesus, you are forgiven by Jesus, and you believe in Jesus your Lord. That’s what matters. Press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. He is the One who loves you and gives you eternal life. Amen.