Text: Philippians 3:4-14

Title: Move Forward In Faith

Thesis: Forget past failures and successes, much better is to press forward towards the goal.

Time: World Communion Sunday, A



The lectionary texts from Exodus the past few weeks has been about the Hebrew people’s 40 year trek across the desert on their way to the promised land.  They fled from slavery in Egypt and took with them nothing but the promise that some day God would lead them to the Promised Land.  The apostle Paul also talks about the life of faith as a journey, leading us to the Promised Land.  He calls it the goal, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus,” Paul says in Philippians 3:14.  It is for some people that they take off towards the Promised Land, toward the goal, taking nothing with them but the promise they will some day get there.  But for others, Paul included, there are things that have to be left behind in order to reach the goal.

Let me explain what I mean, Paul says about himself that there are things about him, things the world would consider the marks of a successful person, that are a deterrent for him in making the journey towards the goal.  Listen to what he says about himself in Philippians 3:4-6, “Even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.  as to righteousness under the law, blameless. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church.” 

A good pedigree, a very religious person, smart, respected –but these things Paul will inform us, are all left behind so that he can pursue the goal.

We live in a success-oriented society.  Our heroes are rock stars, sports players, politicians, and other people who excel and rise to the top of their careers.  But success, defined in this way, does not mean people are happy or have inner peace.  Nor does being famous, getting big paychecks, having respect and power mean that people have it all together.

In 1993 the alternative-rock group Pearl Jam enjoyed huge success with its second album, entitled, “Vs.” It sold 950,000 copies in its first five days, setting a new record.  The previous record was 770,000 copies by Guns N’ Roses 1991 album “Use Your Illusion II.”  You would assume that all this success would make Eddie Vedder feel great about himself.  Not so.  “I’m being honest,” said Eddie, “when I say that sometimes when I see a picture of the band or a picture of my face taking up a whole page of a magazine, I hate that guy.”  Success does not guarantee a feeling of worth.

People are looking for inner satisfaction.  In our culture today the word religion isn’t used, instead people are using the word spirituality.  Often it means an individualistic pursuit that puffs up our own ego.   With new age teachings mixed with eastern philosophy people promote themselves as being gods, or that each person determines what is right for themselves.  But the sense of inner satisfaction is still missing.  

For Paul, inner satisfaction, the kind of inner satisfaction which allows him to leave behind anything the world calls success in order to achieve inner satisfaction, is found in Philippians 3:13-14, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

He is pressing on.  That word “press” means, to pursue without hostility, to follow, to run after someone, to ride as in a chariot, to set in rapid motion.  It means to move forward without any hesitation, without getting sidetracked, without any doubts.  The Christian call of discipleship means we can give up what the world promotes as the marks of a successful person and we can move forward receiving along the way the blessings God has to offer.

It can be a scary thing when we give up the worldly things that make us feel secure.

It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4, 1952, when a young woman named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island.  She intended to swim the channel from the island to the California coast.  Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.  The water was numbing cold that day.  The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party.  Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire.  She swam more than fifteen hours before she asked to be taken out of the water.  Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog.  So she quit . . . only one-half mile from her goal.  Later she said, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land, I might have made it.”  It wasn’t the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence Chadwick to fail.  It was the fog.  Many times we too fail, not because we’re afraid or because of the peer pressure or because of anything other than the fact that we lose sight of the goal.  Maybe that’s why Paul said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).  Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into the same channel and swam the distance, setting anew speed record, because she could see the land.

We are called to become long-distance swimmers, braving the dangers that lie ahead, trusting that the goal is before us even on days when all we can see is fog.  We are called to become long-distance swimmers, taking nothing with us but the promise that God will be with us along the way. 

So may we have faith, may we press forward