Where Is Your Crown?

Philippians 3:12–4:1 ESV

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Scripture: Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon Title: Where is your Crown?

The Philippian church is one that Paul had close ties to, we read in Acts 16, it’s where Lydia was converted and Paul and Silas had been imprisoned when the doors flew open and they end up baptizing the jailer because of his belief. Whereas in many of Paul’s letters we see confrontation due to heresies and disagreements, this letter is in the minority where Paul sings the praises of this church for much throughout much of his writing .

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I don’t know how many of you watch the Olympics, though I heard there was much rejoicing and even the hold up of an evening church service back in 2010 when your country beat mine in hockey.  I imagine that most of us know how the medals work there like in many other competitive events. Out of the field of competitors, whatever individuals or teams take first, second, and third receive gold, silver, and bronze medals. What we might not know is this practice is relatively young, first recognized in the late 1800s, and only became the Olympic standard during the 1904 Summer Games. When Paul wrote this letter to the church in Philippi along with the other churches, he occasionally threw in athletic metaphors because the Ancient Olympic Games going on were the religious and cultural icons of the day. With the greatest focus on running, those Games required hard training, focus, and youth, and unlike the contemporary system of three medals, only the winner of each event received the kind of visible recognition and that in the form of an olive branch, often placed as a crown on the head. Much like our athletes step up onto podiums to receive their medals, the victor had to step up to a platform to receive this honor. 

Like our favorite athletes or whoever is the best in a field that you’re interested in, Paul and other faithful people in Scripture, become heroes for us, role models, there’s something about them that we look up to for how we can live lives closer to how God calls us. I think the churches 2,000 years ago looked up to people like Paul, Timothy, Peter, Barnabas, and others who were taking the seed of the gospel out from Jerusalem and preaching it over hundreds of miles away and traveling over thousands of miles in those first decades. These people risking their lives on the Mediterranean Sea to travel the shoreline, walking to new towns and dealing with persecution whether getting run out of town or ending up like Paul did regularly in prison. When a letter comes to one of these communities from someone they were connected to, it was a big deal to find out how they were doing, what instruction the letter held, and yes, even motivation. So we have this letter, which I mentioned is unusually positive, but then this hero who if anyone deserves the early Christian form of the Olympic crown it’s him tells them that not even he has taken it.

If we return to the text and strengthen the metaphor we might hear this, “Notice I haven’t won, I haven’t reached my full potential, thus I don’t get to wear the crown, but I’ll press on, I pursue it, I am striving to have what it takes, not just in a longshot hope of winning, but because Jesus Christ has promised to reward it to me.  I haven’t won yet, but I can’t dwell on the failings, the false starts, my previous attempts which were too slow, I have to train harder, go harder, strive toward that crown. I’m doing this to win, that’s what we are called to do, brothers and sisters, but our winning is not the fame and fortune and crown that comes with an Olympic win, it’s that higher prize which God has for us because of his redemption, a prize in heaven.” Well, if Paul can’t do it, then what hope does a church like the one in Philippi that seems to be so healthy and peaceful have with this message, and this morning we add our church to the list of recipients? 

I think we here in the West, in Southern Ontario can identify to be similar to the church this is written to. We have the luxury to worship freely, in safety and comfort, when we go out during the week, our interactions with society and popular culture and our own behavior reveal to us that sin is quite a problem in the world, but at the end of the day, most of us would probably say that we’re doing alright and the spiritual end of our lives is pretty constant and stress-free. As different as our context may be from this community of churches on the other side of the world separated by two-thousand years, I believe we share their strong belief and knowledge of God, their sincere worship and faithful giving, their emphasis fellowship. I want to propose this message functions as a pep talk for a team that’s winning, a team that needs the reminder that it’s not over, though we’re the favorite, we haven’t won yet. We can’t let our guard down and rest upon the victories that have been accomplished; the skills we have proven are meaningless unless we get the prize. Christ Jesus has won the greatest prize for us, but that doesn’t mean we live on cruise control. And so this morning, we receive the question, Where is your crown? We receive the command Don’t claim it before it’s truly reached.  

In it’s in the environment of safe Christianity, people of God, that we beckoned call to stand firm so much so that we’re still on the offensive. What we are talking about, if we look back to the verses just before our passage, is Paul saying that for him to give up all things in order to gain Christ has a life-changing effect right now and our desire should be to truly share in the suffering that Jesus went through. The truth which these believers stand firmly on, the fundamentals of their faith are like a contract, a regiment that the church is called to be a team upon; the fundamentals of faith are the enduring truth which God makes clear. Then we receive the rally cry in chapter 4, rejoice, rejoice! The Lord is near, but put every good virtue into practice, the race we’ve entered and which we are becoming fit for is not done.

The race isn’t won yet for Paul or the Philippian church, or us, I pray. The question of where is your crown is a question that we can flippantly answer well of course it’s held by Christ, of course we’re still striving for it, but do we really believe that or do we like the crowns that the world is giving us? In verse 18, Paul warns the church that there are many enemies of the cross of Christ, and how unfortunate it is that love of God and neighbor isn’t what everyone is striving for. Nevertheless, the enemies of the cross are our opponents and the obstacles that must be managed as we go about the course of life. Paul’s goal, his crown is the real eternal life in the presence of Jesus Christ, but the goal of his enemies, their destiny is destruction. Paul’s desire is to push on, pursue, strain, elements that speak to the intensity which he’s bringing to the race of life, but the enemies “god” is their stomach. Their reason, their motivation in anything is their wants and their desires, pleasure they can get right now. Their glory is nothing higher than themselves and in fact against the humility of a believer, their glory is shame. The enemy’s focus on earthly things, but ours is a heavenly citizenship; literally Paul is talking about us being part of a completely different political sovereignty. Everything for him is for Christ, in Christ, and the power which God has. 

 What does that mean for us though and how is God a part of all of this because we don’t want to see him sitting on a throne idly while we struggle? First, no matter our age, the length of time we consider ourselves to have been Christian, whether we’re in leadership or not, we don’t succumb to the idea that we have passed all the growing pains and that our growth is done. There may be an opportunity that comes up which asks us to consider something new, to wrestle with a doctrine that we’ve held all our lives, God is big enough for our struggles, verse 15 tells us if there’s an issue of differing thought, God will make it clear, but there’s a time of opportunity to question, to doubt. Don’t neglect tradition, and definitely do not neglect Scripture, but do remember that we need God and we cannot fathom all of his ways, sitting with some mystery is not a bad thing, and I pray that when we receive our crowns, we can ask God about how everything works. In the meantime, if we can testify to how irrational it is that our Savior died and resurrected, his breathing and brain functioning shut down, his blood poured out, and yet 3 days later, he came back to life, taking that by faith, well then I’m guessing there’s more things which we say with Paul, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on....”

It also means that we don’t shy from persecution, from tests, from struggle. For some, maybe even some of you here, that’s being called to a country that faces real persecution for professing Christ and being caught worshipping. But I think ahead to Kidz Connect coming up in a couple weeks, and our invitation to the City Kids, and there’s another type of struggle. I’ve partnered with organizations that work with inner city youth in that States and sat at a table in a soup kitchen, looked over at 2 year old with his mom that are caught in a cycle of poverty, and I’m nearly brought to tears. I don’t get how the grace of God can save me from my wretchedness, don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful, but how can my eternal destiny look beautiful when in this life, this 2 year old hardly has a shot at getting the resources he needs when it comes to school and getting a job. The body of Christ is called to address the struggle of those caught in poverty and identified as at-risk, but when we reach out to them in a couple weeks, may we not settle on just being babysitters, but let’s labor in love to show hope, to point to the one who gives us the ultimate blessing.

Paul has no problem with identifying two types of runners, those striving for the prize, both immature and mature, but then the enemies of the cross of Christ, those impeding the progress of believers and proving to be better as obstacles than people we’re running against. To run know the prize ahead, to know where our crown is at is something we can take as a promise, but then we, too, need to identify which of the people, practices, and societal norms in our race are strivers and which are enemies. We ask for God to help us do that, and when we find the enemies, we put our faith and trust on the line that he listens and is willing to bring change. God is at work both in the safe Christianity that we get to practice as well as in the burdened life of inner cities around the world where many have lost all hope and desire to race. We don’t get to pick and choose what he does, but we need to be reminded that our God is in the heavens, he does as he pleases, his will is perfect, in a way beyond our understanding of what’s fair and what’s not. He provides us support, the spiritual bread and water we need, the vocal encouragement of his promises, the indwelling of the Spirit which gives us drive.    

Brothers and sisters, where is your crown? I pray it’s not here, that you don’t feel like you’ve walked up some type of podium and received it from a power that is not God. It’s on hold for you, but in the meantime, while God gives you opportunity, to run the race, to serve him and others, to reach out, to struggle whether it be physically, emotionally, or intellectually. We have received the grace of Christ, but his mission isn’t finished. If your crown is stuck on some earthly tree branch which is sure to wither away, remember the race isn’t done yet, there’s still time. Whatever danger becomes you, he will transform and perfect us to be like his glorious self.   So press on and strive, until we all, who will be made mature stand before his throne, listening for God to reward us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” May we persevere and strain onward for the greater heavenly crown. 

It is our bounden duty to search the Scriptures, to think, to meditate, to pray for the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. He will guide us into all truth (all that is necessary for our salvation), if we seek his help with a single heart, in earnestness, and in humility. But he does not force all good men to think alike; he leaves room for the play of the individual character, for the manifold influences of temperament and training. The truth is one, the faith is one; but we look upon that one truth from various points of view. Hence there will be differences even among those who sincerely seek the truth. Truth is of momentous importance. Truth of doctrine and holiness of life together make up the saintly character; imperfections in either so far mar the beauty of the whole. But if the two cannot always coexist, holiness is far closer than doctrine to our soul’s salvation. –The Pulpit Commentary, 119