Captive And Transformed

Captive Series

Faithful

Grateful

Encouraged

United in Christ

Shining brightly

Nearing the end of our captivity series this is the piece where Paul is making the shift that knowing Jesus is the most important thing ever, more than freedom, more than captivity, more than healing, more than good relationships, more than recovery, more than grief and loss, more than anything.

As P. Angie said "did we absolutely think we had to have/be before this pandemic? Now we see much of that as worthless. What is important is knowing Christ – and so we press on to that goal."

He is sort of shifting I guess in some ways from a letter of gratitude to a testimony where he is sharing about his own life change. He is talking reflecting on the new insights that he has gained and trying to pass this knowledge on to his friends in Philippai

(Now Captive and Transformed)

Transformation

We are drawn to transformation

Weight loss, Mental Health journey, Seeing plants grow, Hair cut, Home repair project

These are the sorts of things that when I am scrolling through Social media the sort of things that I stop and read every once in a while

Transformation in my life

the little adult things that I learned in college - how to do the laundry, schedule my time to have enough time for classwork, how to control myself when every meal is at an all you can eat buffet

Practical things - learning to do research, finding the support systems that are encouraging and life-giving to me, learning how to be a good friend, learning the discipline of writing a good paper even if that means that you have to stay up to unspeakable hours of the night to do so

Transitions and graduations are particularly difficult right now and I pray for and with those graduating from high school and colleges. I hope that you are able to celebrate the transformations that you have had

Memorial Day Piece - transitioning to living without someone we loved

Another way that we celebrate transformation in our world is by celebrating those that have brought transformation in our own lives

Those names that we read just a minute a go

The stories that accompany them that so many of us were able to witness to

The ways that we were different after having met them

The ways that we might have been a part of their story

The fact is that we are about Transformation as a church

The of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the of the world.

The mission of the (United Methodist) church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world

Unlike those other transformations that may be more external that make us look good, become smarter, or learn a new skill, or enable us to make more money

The object of the church is to help ourselves and others be better followers of Jesus because we believe that following Jesus brings about transformation of our selves. We believe that it is following Jesus that brings healing to our communities, and that a lot of people faithfully and fruitful following Jesus might just be able to transform the world

The goal of a church is not self-help The church doesn’t exist to

restore relationships

build better families

overcome addictions

overcome obstacles to health

We believe that we ought to be followers and disciples of Jesus Christ

And that would be enough to be transformational in all those ways

That when we love the ways Jesus loves our relationships would be restored

That when we confess our shortcomings to God and to each other we would realize just how powerless we are to so many temptations in our world and much like Jesus we would go to God in prayer and say God would you remove this cup of suffering from me.

And that transformation was something that was deeply a part of the Apostle Paul’s journey

Paul

Paul had experienced some transformation

he used to persecute Christians and now he is a missionary

In fact Paul is really intelligent and he knows the law super well

In the letter Paul is bragging about this

What converts Paul is a personal experience

Scripture context

Just before this passage Paul is hinting at his extreme Judaism listing off all of the things that make him a "Jew of the Jews"

Philippians 3:4b–6 NRSV

even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. 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; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Paul has all of these outward signs demonstrations of his achievements

“Graduations” - if you will

some awards that he has received

Philippians 3:7–11 NRSV

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 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, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The things that I may think are important might not be

Philippians 3:7–8b NRSV

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Some of these transformations that we experience are external

Paul at one time put a lot of faith in the things that he had done

Paul becomes captive and when he does he is realizing that the things that he cared a lot about the things he spent probably a lot of time and money on were nothing in comparison to knowing Christ

It was in a time maybe similar to the way some of us are feeling where life seems to be moving pretty slow, Paul stops and you know those things I cared about before captivity yeah those don’t really matter to me as much as I thought they did

Making goals

Every couple of months I will sit down and try to write out some goals for myself in various roles that I hold in my life

this week I sat down to write out those goals and I felt so convicted that the things that I was spending my time on weren’t what I actually wanted.

In quarantine I have been spending time trying to hone my skills in kitchen

Trying to get better at leatherwork

to be more organized

To get outside to exercise more

Those are all good things but I felt convicted because when I sat down to reflect on the trajectory of my life and to ask the big questions I tell you I was not interested in making goals at all the related to leatherwork or cooking or anything else.

As I was reflecting on this passage I remember thinking all of this is not bad stuff, but yet it is rubbish

When my name is one of the names that gets read and a candle gets lit in my honor

Paul is not just becoming indifferent to his past

He is actively pushing back against it saying that it is a liability

That if he rests too much in his victories he might miss out on the ultimate victory

He Calls them rubbish which is probably a pretty polite translation of that greek work

Faith in Christ is a bigger gain than anyone else can offer

Philippians 3:8–9 NRSV

More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 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, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Nothing belonged in the profit column except Christ

Paul lays out his entire theology in this portion

God has done everything: created, disciplined, had grace, given his Son Jesus on the cross for our sin, raised Jesus, declared us righteous and justified, adopted us as his children, and promised us resurrection and eternal life. The only human part in all this, in faith, is to accept what God has done.

we are not to understand a dead speculative faith, a faith in the head; but a living principle wrought in the heart by the powerful operations of the Holy Ghost, a faith that will enable us to overcome the world, and forsake all the affection for Jesus Christ. - George Whitfield sermon

This walk of Christian discipleship is not about our abilities, gifts or graces it is about the grace of God through Christ Jesus and through the power of Christ's ressurection that reminds us of the ways that we are individually resurrected.

We are Transformed by Christ

Philippians 3:10–11 NRSV

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Resurrection from the dead

Paul raised Eutychus (Acts 20:9–12)

Paul like literally raised Eutychus from the dead so that might reframe his understanding of using the words “resurrection from the dead”

Transformation

metamorphomai - meta-mor-pho-oh - a change of nature

metascematizo - mete-scay-ma-tizo- just a surface level change

The idea of a genuine resurrection from the dead to an immortal state, whether for persons in general or a specific person like Jesus, was foreign to Greek philosophy.

“The power of his ressurection”

This mean that this is a lived experience that is constant and consistant. We are dying to things right now, and there are new things being raise in us right now. Let us be transformed not by the newness or the end product, let us be in awe of the process of resurrection. The power of the resurrection not just in the power of the resurrected. That process of transformation is scary, and transformative.

The ending of every gospel is the resurrection

And without the resurrection it might even be a stretch to call it the good news

Backtrack to Holy Week

Explain what we did this Holy Week

Are there things that are deep within your spirit not just those shallow surface level things that are calling to you?

What in your life needs to die in order to be resurrected?

Maybe this is a perfect time to let something die within you

What direction was my life going before this happened?

What can I rebuild what was not possible to do while this happened?

Ending

Benediction

Remember that we are being transformed by God’s grace Christs resurrection here and now. That in the face of the surpassing value of knowing Christ everything pails in comparison. Go now in peace to love and serve. Amen.