Scripture Text (NRSV)
Philippians 3:17-4:1
3:17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those
who live according to the example you have in us.
3:18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often
told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.
3:19 Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their
glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.
3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we
are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
3:21 He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be
conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him
to make all things subject to himself.
4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for,
my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Comments:
Although Paul's devotion to Christ has caused him to be persecuted, he
does not regret the course he has taken. Writing from prison, he
expresses confidence in a glorious future and encourages other
Christians to follow in his footsteps.
Honestly? I have no idea what to make of this passage, and how to
preach it in my *very* liberal UCC church. The "body our our
humiliation" bit ... along w/ verses 18 and 19 ("many live as enemies
of the cross of Christ ... their end is destruction; their god is the
belly" .... these things are hard to hear from the pulpit, when we
consider God to be a God who loves all of the earth and all of GOd's
creatures.
Anybody?
~Squeeze
Squeeze, when I read this passage I was reminded of Paul Tillich's
description of God as our "Ultimate Concern." The question is, to whom
do we belong? To whom do we give our loyalty and faith? Who do we
worship? It has been awhile since I read Tillich, but as I recall his
position was that there is no real, meaningful "Ultimate Concern"
other than God - nothing else, nobody else, can truly make us whole. I
see this as Paul saying that if we worship false gods we court our own
destruction, because we have put our faith in that which cannot
ultimately give us life.
That's where I'm with the passage at the moment - wonder what others
think?
RevMary
Squeeze: of course God loves all He has created. But we can also turn
our backs on the grace that is offered and pursue our own goals. Those
who reject their citizenship in heaven could show this by confounding
faith with patriotism, grace with antinomianism, love with
license--anything that turns their hearts from God. Liberal or not,
God is not Santa Claus and His grace is not an excuse for doing
whatever we want. Gnosticism might be popular in secular America, but
it no more leads to an understanding of God today than it did 1900
years ago. Vicar in Maryland
Squeeze;
Do you have any kids? I love my daughter, but I do not like some of
the things that she does that I know (from my own experience) are
self-destructive. No, she's not into drugs or alcohol (thank God!),
but she has done a couple of things lately in relation to her school
work that I could just about kill her for (metaphorically speaking, of
course). I refused to rescue her, and have let her suffer the
consequences (which is tougher than I thought it would be)
To love someone is to desire the very best for them, and is not to
simply accept everything that they do as Ok. I keep telling my
daughter and myself that judgment is built inot creation.
If we chose one road, it will lead us one way, but not every raod will
take us home.
Also, if you can find the book "Why Preach? Why Listen?" by William
Muehl, I think you will find his discussion of judgment helpful.
In my conservative Presbyterian congregation, I have some of the same
questions as you.
Grace and Peace
revgilmer in texarkana
This seems like a difficult passage for some earlier posters; maybe I
have your sermon and you have mine. I serve a very conservative
church. IF I were serving a more social justice oriented congregation,
I'd focus on the NIV phrase "but our citizenship is in heaven." If you
have ever lived in an immigrant community, those who take the trouble
to become citizens are fiercely loyal to their adoptive country; often
much more so than the natives. Many who become citizens of the Kingdom
later in life have a thing to teach us about being citizens of God's
kingdom. I have a friend who is a naturalized citizen from Mexico;
although he speaks with a heavy accent, he has a thorough knowledge of
both Texas law and the U.S. Constitution. He just retired from being
volunteer law-enforcement. None of the paid Anglo officers could even
begin to quote the constitution: they'd just ask Felix. For 30 years
he has risked his life, and paid his own campaign expenses, for the
privilege of being on call 24/7, and all for the grandiose salary of
one U.S. dollar per year. Baptism makes us all citizens of the
Kingdom. Some of us take our citizenship more seriously than others
though. The OT continuously calls on Israel to be hospitable to the
alien and strangers in the land, because 'you yourselves were
sojourners.' That is why we must be welcoming to to immagrants, but in
our state and in our kingdom. See Charlotte Church's rendition of "I
pledge to thee, my country"
Joe in TX
This seems like a difficult passage for some earlier posters; maybe I
have your sermon and you have mine. I serve a very conservative
church. IF I were serving a more social justice oriented congregation,
I'd focus on the NIV phrase "but our citizenship is in heaven." If you
have ever lived in an immigrant community, those who take the trouble
to become citizens are fiercely loyal to their adoptive country; often
much more so than the natives. Many who become citizens of the Kingdom
later in life have a thing to teach us about being citizens of God's
kingdom. I have a friend who is a naturalized citizen from Mexico;
although he speaks with a heavy accent, he has a thorough knowledge of
both Texas law and the U.S. Constitution. He just retired from being
volunteer law-enforcement. None of the paid Anglo officers could even
begin to quote the constitution: they'd just ask Felix. For 30 years
he has risked his life, and paid his own campaign expenses, for the
privilege of being on call 24/7, and all for the grandiose salary of
one U.S. dollar per year. Baptism makes us all citizens of the
Kingdom. Some of us take our citizenship more seriously than others
though. The OT continuously calls on Israel to be hospitable to the
alien and strangers in the land, because 'you yourselves were
sojourners.' That is why we must be welcoming to to immagrants, but in
our state and in our kingdom. See Charlotte Church's rendition of "I
pledge to thee, my country"
Joe in TX
Homily Service has a helpful discussion of citizenship in connection
with our baptismal vows check your denomination's baptism service for
the vows and connect with becoming citizens of God's realm. We pledge
to see things differently from the popular culture that preaches "me
first" (also see the back page of the newest ed. of Newsweek for a
talk about how mainline Christian views influence the author to live
the way she lives. There is a museum in Berlin called the Checkpoint
Charlie museum. In it are artifacts from the East German times of the
wall. I found most poignant a wheeled laundry carrier--with a
drawstring top. An East German mother was determined to get to the
west and to take her 4 year old son with her. She has permission for a
day pass to the West, but her son would not be allowed to go. She gave
her some something to put him to sleep, hid him in the carrier, and
got on the train. He began to moan in his sleep, but fortunately the
people around her sat absolutely still and refused to acknowledge the
sounds emerging from the wheeled carrier. The two of them got to the
West in safety. Imagine the determination of a mother to take her
child into the place she wanted to live. Imagine the determination of
Christian parents trying to bring their children into the same
realm--the realm of God, the realm of Heaven--that they proleptically
inhabit. JMK in PA
In today culture, it's hard to find preachers willing to take the
stance of Paul. Most of us are so broken and defeated that we wouldn't
dare to say 'Look at me', alone 'imitate me'. And look around us, it's
so hard to 'observe those who live according to the example' we have
in scripture.
Some may object, 'Paul is not asking people to imitate him in perfect
living, but just in the desire to follow God'. Nah, the next verse
spoke clearly about life style of 'enemies of the cross' in church
which the stomach as the driving force and earthly things color our
outlooks. Perhaps Lent helping us getting back to imitation Godly
footsteps of people who went before us.
But we must remember that it must start from a heavenward mindset and
not just mere earthly practice. The interesting thing is that my
denomination and my church don't practice Lent at all. (We don't even
practice liturgy). So we preach a lot on scripture but don't have any
practicality to help people imitate the Godly examples in a structured
way. But perhaps that's an advantage, not disability.
Lord Jesus, help me in following you, to set example, and find
examples, to confront 'enemies of the cross' and also love them, to
hope in you with joy.
Coho, Midway City
3:19 "Their end is destruction" One of the most difficult things for
us as preachers is to reconcile God's love, grace, compassion and
mercy with all the Biblical passages declaring God's judgment upon sin
and evil.
I make sense of this simply from the perspective of "life." God is the
source of all life and provides the gift of everlasting life. To
choose to ignore that gift is to choose the opposite of life -- death.
"the wages of sin is death"
When we choose sin and evil we are choosing a path that leads to
destruction of our own making. --JC in IL
I think Joe in TX is on to something with the focus on the phrase "But
our citizenship is in heaven." As I recall, Philippi was one of those
places where Roman citizenship meant something. It was on the
east-west connector of Roman trade and culture. When established the
Philippian church was the most western Christian community of faith
from Jerusalem.
"Our citizzenship" is a point of departure for just what does it mean
to be a Christian? In prvious years I would approach it much like Joe
in Tx suggested. However in Georgia where I am there is the proverbial
"culture war" raging over the issue of marriage. As a Christian who
has always reacted against everything the Christian Coalition
proposes, I don't have sympathy for their desire to create another
constitutional amendment. But as a Christian who values the heritage
of marriage I am puzzled by the desire of gays and lesbians to get
married. After all, we heterosexuals have made a pretty good mess of
it after all these years. :)
Paul's description of his opponents is pretty harsh and I can see both
sides of the marriage debate applying the description to the other.
I don't plan on going near this as the substance of the message, but I
do wonder how the scripture will be heard in the midst of this debate.
Georgia Interim Pastor
Your God is your belly - Minds set on Earthly things - Enemies of the
Cross of Christ
I have been reading Bejamin Zander's The Art of Possibility. In the
book he talks about the difference between living in a world of
possibility and a world of measurement. We live in a world of
measurement this tends to lead us towards thinking in terms of
scarcity or "I've got to get mine before someone else does." That
which we put into our belly can be hoarded, controlled, limited by
those who have against those who have not.
The question I will pose is how can we move from this limited view of
a world that is controlled by "rulers" and move toward an orientation
of abundance. This will involve loss of control, it may invovle
short-term profits being given away in pursuit of a larger dream. It
certainly means taking a longer view without the ability to predict
the outcome.
We are enemies of the cross not because we deny the cross or that it
is unecessary or not needed. We are enemies of the cross because we
refuse to see betond the realities of the cross. Our stomachs are
queasy and our God becomes the the knot in the pit of our stomach. We
refuse to see that beyond the cross there is resurrection and new life
not only for Jesus but for us as well.
And in that world of possibility not do the rich get richer but
everyone has access to abundance of that creation offers us.
SunCityRev
Coho - thank you for your thoughts; I felt them to be from your heart
and they touched my own.
I have had a number of friends in the ministry whose denominations do
not practice the liturgy or Lent or, other than Christmas and Easter,
follow the liturgical calendar. (Heck, I had a circuit of 4 United
Methodist Churches that claimed they'd never heard of Palm Sunday!)
We've had this discussion back and forth many times over, and still
haven't reached a conclusion ;-) My thought, for what it's worth, is
that it's a both/and situation. Sometimes the liturgy helps, sometimes
it hinders. Sometimes the "from above" method helps and sometimes
that, too, hinders.
I agree that our practices must first come from above. My thought on
that is that they do - in the theology of John Wesley, it's called "prevenient
grace," God's action in our lives, guiding us to his path even when we
don't know it. It's the grace that says that it's not possible to walk
too far away from God where God won't want you back.
Therefore, there are times when the mere practice of liturgy or
something else does not feel "born from above" actually ends up
putting me in grace's very path. Though the liturgy is human's own
invention, sometimes it's what the Great Physician ordered! I agree
(and currently serve a church that tends to slip into this) that
liturgy can come to be a substitute for spiritual freedom and devotion
- and can mean holier than thou.
Still, there are times when I don't know that I'd recognize God's
tapping me on the shoulder unless there was a form of discipline in
place to make my eyes focus elsewhere!
The Spirit-led is highly subjective. That can be good and that can be
bad - we need something in place to let us know that our practice is
indeed born from above. We can delude ourselves.
Of course, ideally, we'd be living in the Spirit constantly.
Unfortunately, it's not usually the case. It's those "not usually the
case" times when liturgy and the liturgical calendar is helpful to me.
Yet, those Spirit-led times that you describe are awesome, arent't
they?
Sally in GA
Georgia Interim Pastor:
I hear ya! I suspect this came up at this time to further divide the
Democrats - because I, and many others, feel just like you. With
divided Democrats, you-know-who can get more votes.
This issue would have kept, but it was really an adroit move on the
right. Now there's no choice BUT to address it. It won't be abortion
this year, it'll be gay marriage.
ok - off the beaten path ...
Sally
continuing with the "citizen" theme, here's the lyrics of "I vow to
thee, my country," from www.cyberhymnal.com. Lyrics by Cecil
Spring-Rice, 1918. Music by Gustav Holst, 1921
I vow to thee, my country—all earthly things above— Entire and whole
and perfect, the service of my love; The love that asks no question,
the love that stands the test, That lays upon the altar the dearest
and the best; The love that never falters, the love that pays the
price, The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice. And there’s
another country, I’ve heard of long ago— Most dear to them that love
her, most great to them that know; We may not count her armies, we may
not see her King; Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is
suffering; And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
Joe, TX
Thanks for the words to "I Vow to Thee My Country." Interesting that
it came up this week, with the airing of "The Secret Tapes of Princess
Diana" on NBC ... I learned when we sang it in a concert of English
coronation anthems (plus a couple other British hymns) on the first
anniversary of Diana's death, that it was her favorite hymn.
Sally
Sally:
OT, certainly, but I feel compelled to address your comment: "This
issue would have kept, but it was really an adroit move on the right."
This issue would have kept, I suppose, but for the liberal courts that
are trying to write laws of their own and allowing for the possibility
of gay marriage, and but for various mayors (San Francisco's being the
worst offendor) who are performing and licensing gay marriage. But woe
to those who would try to stop this agenda. If we speak up, we're
'intolerant.' But if another mayor decided to padlock abortion clinics
because he felt Roe v. Wade was immoral, they'd send in the National
Guard to get the mayor to stop.
PLEASE don't blame President Bush and the Republicans for what is
clearly a reaction to a situation that has gotten WAY out of hand. If
folks truly desire to allow gay marriage, let them lobby for new
legislation; if they're opposed, let them support a constitutional
amendment. But let's not allow public officials to flout their duty to
uphold the law of their cities and states.
Sorry to all for this off-topic response; may God richly bless all of
you as you prepare for leading worship.
Will in NJ
