Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
October 5, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“Fuhgeddaboudit! It’s Who You Know. Press On” (Philippians 3:4b-14)
OK, let’s get this out of the way first. That part in today’s Epistle where it
says, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss. . . . Indeed, I count
everything as loss. . . .” No, St. Paul was not a Cubs fan! Just wanted to
clear that up right off the bat.
But now to more serious matters. . . . We just said, when we confessed the
Nicene Creed, “And I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the
world to come.” OK, so if that’s the goal--heaven, eternal life, the
resurrection, the life everlasting--if that’s the goal, what’s going to get us
there? Interesting question. Important question. I can’t think of any that
are more important. What’s going to get you to heaven? Will it be your
religious accomplishments? Your excellent pedigree? Your zeal for God? Your
personal righteousness? Will those things get you in? And what would keep you
out? Could it be your religious failures? Will they keep you out?
What will get us into heaven, and what won’t--knowing the answers to these
questions is obviously very highly important for each one of us. And if we can
know those answers, and once we do know them, what difference does that make
then in how we live our lives?
God gives us a case study in precisely those questions in the person of the
Apostle Paul. What Paul writes in our Epistle lesson, from Philippians 3,
addresses just these concerns. This little autobiographical account Paul
writes here tells us three things: First, what won’t get you into heaven. If
you’re counting on those things, “Fuhgeddaboudit!” Second, what will get you
into heaven. Clue: “It’s Who You Know.” And third, what difference this
makes now in how you live your life, and that is, “Press On.” Let’s take those
points one at a time, as we see them reflected in the autobiography of St. Paul.
First, what won’t get you into heaven. If ever anybody had a reason to boast
about the things you might think would get a person into heaven, it was St.
Paul. His resume is pretty impressive. And he trots it out here in
Philippians 3. He starts by saying, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for
confidence in the flesh, I have more.” In other words, “You wanna play ‘Earn
Your Way to Heaven’? Alright, let’s go. See if you can match this.” And then
he gives us a list of religious accomplishments that are, really, very hard to
match. There is Paul’s excellent pedigree: “circumcised on the eighth day, of
the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.” This is
all very much in order, just what you would want to see. “Circumcised on the
eighth day”: His parents followed the law of Moses very carefully and had
their little baby boy done up right, right from the get-go. “Of the people of
Israel”:
Yes, Paul belonged to God’s own covenant people, the descendants of the
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the children of Israel. “Of the tribe
of Benjamin”: Benjamin, one of the favored sons of Jacob, and thus one of the
more prominent of the twelve tribes of Israel. Benjamin was the tribe that
Israel’s first king came from, King Saul, and Paul--or to use his actual name,
Saul--Saul of Tarsus was named in his honor. And so, looking at all that, Paul
calls himself, “a Hebrew of Hebrews.” If having the right genealogy and coming
from a good religious family counts for anything, then Paul had it. He had a
pedigree to be proud of.
Then there were his own religious accomplishments. Paul lists those, too: “as
to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to
righteousness under the law, blameless.” Try to match this when it comes to
effort. “As to the law, a Pharisee.” The Pharisees were scrupulous in keeping
the law. They studied the law of Moses assiduously and even added on it their
own regulations, so as not to even come close to breaking it. The Pharisees
were as religious and devout as they come, and Paul was one of them. As a
young man, Saul of Tarsus studied in Jerusalem under the esteemed rabbi
Gamaliel. And Saul was an excellent student, advancing in Judaism beyond his
contemporaries. Saul of Tarsus was at the head of his class, very sharp, very
diligent. He knew the law of Moses inside out and was determined to keep it.
His determination was so strong that when another sect came along that
threatened to undermine Judaism, Saul of Tarsus went to work to stamp it out.
“As to zeal, a persecutor of the church.” Those followers of the crucified
heretic, Jesus the Nazarene--they were preaching blasphemy, and therefore Saul
was zealous to get rid of them. Young Saul assisted in the stoning of Stephen.
And he was dispatched to Damascus, to go there and find more of these people
and arrest them and drag them back to court. Of course, something strange
happened on the road to Damascus that got Paul sidetracked, but the point he’s
making here is the extreme zeal he had to do whatever it takes to do the will
of God, as he saw it.
So Paul sums up this part of the list by saying: “as to righteousness under
the law, blameless.” You could look at Paul’s life, you could scrutinize it
very closely, and he would pass the test with flying colors. His devotion, his
zeal, his effort to try to do the will of God was as good as you could find.
Points for effort, Paul would have them, in spades, if that’s what it takes to
work your way to heaven.
But now that Paul has pulled out his resume and, looking back, has listed all
his religious accomplishments, what does he conclude all that adds up to when
it comes to gaining heaven. You could put it in one New York-ized word:
Fuhgeddaboudit! All the things I used to count on as counting for something
with God? Fuhgeddaboudit! My excellent pedigree, my zeal, my devotion, my
effort, my personal righteousness? Fuhgeddaboudit! It ain’t worth a hill of
beans. That stuff won’t get you into heaven.
Here’s how Paul actually puts it in Philippians 3, when he talks about what
won’t get you into heaven and what will: “But whatever gain I had, I counted
as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of
the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. . . .” Rubbish!
Garbage! A stinking dunghill--that’s what all my religious accomplishments
amount to in the sight of God, because they’re all tainted with sin. I am
tainted with sin, shot through with pride and self-justification. You and I,
we can’t fool God. We can impress a lot of people--we may even fool ourselves
into thinking we’re pretty good people who deserve a place in heaven--but we
can’t fool God. You may have an excellent pedigree, a pedigree to be proud of:
a lifelong Lutheran, born in Perry County, your ancestors came over with
Walther. You may have an
impressive list of religious accomplishments: Held congregational office for
many years, member of the Ladies Guild or Men’s Club, big contributor to the
church, hard worker in the church, lots of volunteer hours. All those things
are well and good, but not when it comes to gaining heaven. If you’re counting
on any of that, “Fuhgeddaboutit!” It’s all a pile of rubbish in that case. If
Paul couldn’t make it on his merits, nobody can. So we better look somewhere
else to find a righteousness that does count with God.
And that’s what Paul found in Christ. Or to put it another way, the
righteousness that does count with God--that’s what Paul gained when Christ
found him and forgave his sins, and Christ’s perfect righteousness was
accounted for him. Any notion of self-righteousness Paul put behind him and
said, “Fuhgeddaboudit!” once he knew where real righteousness was to be found,
namely, in Christ.
He writes: “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 that which comes through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” My
friends, this is the same righteousness that you need and that you have in
Christ. Christ Jesus kept the law perfectly, in your place, loving God and
loving the neighbor with all his heart. Jesus, as a man, actually did earn his
way to heaven--he’s the only one who ever has. And because he is the eternal
and holy Son of God come in the flesh, his keeping of the law has infinite
merit, enough to cover and atone for all your sins. That forgiveness is what
Christ won for you when he shed his holy precious blood and died on the
cross--again, in your place, taking the punishment that you and I deserve under
the law. Christ’s keeping of the law on your behalf--his perfect obedience and
his suffering the punishment for sin
that the law demands--this is the only righteousness that counts, and this is
what God gives you freely for Christ’s sake.
You have the same Savior and the same faith Paul had when he says about Christ:
“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may
attain the resurrection from the dead.” You see, when it comes to gaining
heaven, “It’s who you know.” You know Christ, and he is the one who has gained
heaven for you. He got there ahead of you, to lead the way and prepare a place
for you. The power of Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning guarantees your
own resurrection from the dead. You know Christ, and so you will share in his
victory and in his life.
You share in his life even now, you know him now, and you want to know him even
better. To know Christ, that’s what this life is all about, as we press on
toward the heaven that Christ has already won for us. That’s what this life,
this Christian life, is: a permanent press, if you will, pressing on toward
the goal. Paul puts it like this: “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.”
“Press on.” Christ Jesus has already won the gold medal for you, so now press
on toward the finish line. There will be obstacles along the way. Press on.
There will be hardships from the outside and doubts and defeats on the inside.
Press on. You know Christ and are found in him. He forgives your sins along
the way and gives you new strength to endure. So press on. Forget about what
lies behind, know Christ your Savior and Helper in the here and now, and press
on toward the goal, keeping your eyes on the prize that Christ has already won
for you.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul’s autobiography is your story, too:
“Fuhgeddaboudit! It’s Who You Know. Press On.”
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
