Fifth Sunday in Lent

What a crazy, hectic, and stressful week the past seven days has been!

It was filled with extra meetings and planning that isn’t normally in my routine. Add to this was a deadline for a monthly newsletter that was not met, then trying to get ready for the busiest season of the year. When I look at my accomplishments for this past week—some were met, and others were sadly not.

We tend to put a lot of stock in our accomplishments. A few years ago I heard a speech from a United States Navy 4-Star Admiral delivered to a group of college graduates. I don’t recall why he was asked to deliver the commencement address, but I do remember one line in the speech. “Make your bed everyday! Each day will be filled with ups and downs, accomplishments and failures. Making your bed everyday will ensure that no matter what happens, you did accomplish something that day.”

This world seems to be obsessed with personal accomplishments. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with those things, but they do not define the Christian. The root of personal accomplishments is self-righteousness, which is the opposite of the righteousness that God gives through faith in Christ.

Have you ever thought about what your obituary would say? I find them quite informative and interesting. They typically list the persons accomplishments in life, including hobbies, along with things they enjoyed about life. But what is most interesting is how seldom an obituary mentions the persons faith in Christ.

St Paul shocks his readers, including you and me, by bringing Christians back to reality. For the Christian, personal achievements and accomplishments mean nothing compared to know Christ Jesus our Lord. In fact, Paul could truly brag about his own personal achievements in life, but instead calls them rubbish—animal excrement—compared to knowing Christ Jesus the Lord.

Our accomplishments and self-righteousness are really the same before God, and neither gives Him glory, but they do brings into focus a paradox of the Christian faith. In Christ, we have perfect righteousness. All the perfection of Jesus Christ is imputed to the believer by faith. Yet this reality is never an occasion for complacency or indifference; instead, it spurs us on to an ever greater conformity of life to our confession. To put it another way, although we are perfect in Christ, we strive for perfection more and more each day.

So, Treasure what God Prizes, which is Knowing Christ Jesus and Being Found in Him, because the world will not; in fact, the world deems all this as foolishness.

Philippians 3:4–14 (EHV)

4b If anyone else thinks that he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 in regard to zeal, persecuting the church; in regard to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

7 But, whatever things were a profit for me, these things I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. 8 But even more than that, I consider everything to be a loss because of what is worth far more: knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have lost all things and consider them rubbish, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, which comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God by faith. 10 I do this so that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 in the hope that in some way I may arrive at the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus also took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it yet, but there is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Situation

As was the case in many of the cities where St. Paul proclaimed the gospel of Jesus, there were Jewish religious leaders in Philippi who proclaimed the opposite (3:1-3).

If those religious leaders were correct in what produced worth before God, Paul had more worth than any of them. If worth before God was based on ones lineage or their adherence to the law, Paul could stack his resume up against anyone’s.

When Paul came to faith in Christ , however, he realized that what he thought was treasure, was in reality, trash.

A righteousness that has its source in the law is worthless. A righteousness that comes through faith in Christ is what counts (v. 9).

In the same way, he came to realize that what he though was trash was in reality treasure.

The prize he pursued (vs. 12, 14) was a life that mirrored Christ’s, including his suffering and death.

Only one event can cause that kind of reversal. Only one event can still convince people.that what most would consider treasure is actually trash and what most would consider trash is actually treasure. It was the event that stopped Paul dead in his tracks as he zealously pursued (v. 6) what he used to consider worthwhile. That kind of power is found only in Christ’s resurrection from the dead (v. 10).

Righteousness that We Possess Perfectly

We receive righteousness apart from the Law.

We are tempted to glory in our own accomplishments, our pedigree, or because we are members of a grand congregation that stood firm when our home synod was straying away from the truth of Holy Scripture.

These things can never make or give perfect righteousness (v. 9).

They are counted as loss for the sake of Christ (v. 8).

Righteousness comes from God alone.

It is founded in God’s actions, not in our efforts (v. 9)

It comes for the sake of Christ by grace through faith (v. 9)

Although righteous in Christ, we strive for righteousness (v. 13)

Righteousness for Which We Strive

The righteous are aware of their own imperfection—lack of righteousness.

We are not perfect (vs. 12-13).

We have comfort and assurance, but we are not complacent or indifferent (v 12).

We press on, reaching for what lies ahead in Christ

We use the means by which God sustains us (vs. 10-11).

We fulfill the purpose for which Christ has called us (v 14).

Resolution or Means

This is all about how the Gospel resolves the situation and the Grace of God supplies the means to empower us to live a Christian life.

Examples and Biblical support.

What this means in our lives . . .

Transition to the Conclusion

Conclusion

Therefore . . . (Jesus meets our every need)

Restatement of the Situation/Goal, Complication/Malady, Resolution/Means.

Doxological Statement — Amen.