“All Lost to Gain More!”

Scripture: Philippians 3:4b-16

Dr. James Dobson says he keeps a particular photograph in his files to remind him of what parents [and I might add, all people!] go through today. It is of an elegantly dressed woman who is holding a cup of coffee. Her little finger is cocked ever so daintily, and her face reveals complete self-assurance. Unfortunately, this woman does not yet know that her slip has collapsed around her feet. The caption reads: “Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation.”
- Homiletics On Line

Have you been there? Been so sure of what you have done, that there is no doubt whatsoever that you are right? – or at least until someone else notices some minor detail that you have overlooked, and which makes a world of difference to your prestige? Humbling, isn’t it?
Confidence in faith is no different. If we are confident that we are righteous and completely faithful, we had better understand that we have made an error in our assumptions! But if we have confidence in the one whom we have faith in, we will then discover that we are at least on the right track.

Read Philippians 3:4b-7

Paul had every reason to boast in his worldly position – prestige in his heritage, high regard and respect as a Pharisee, zealous in the living out of his faith, and legalistic to perfection in his morality. He had everything going for him, and every reason to believe that he was living a holy and worthwhile life. But that was before he understood the situation!
And then he decides to go to Damascus to root out some more of those Christian agitators. He sets out on the journey, with some colleagues in attendance, never realizing that his life would soon be changed forever. (See Acts 9:1-19a) Saul the perfect Jew would become Paul the humble Christian, and he would set all of his worldly esteem behind him and never pick it up again. Paul would discover that his interpretation of holiness couldn’t even begin to come close to that of God, and he came to understand that for years, he hadn’t been attacking the perversion of faith, but rather the Holy Faith itself.

First, Paul hears the voice of the Almighty, not in a condemning way, but as a simple question – “Why do you persecute me?”, and he is told that God, indeed, has a plan, but that it is totally different from the one he had been following. The next voice he would hear is that of a humble man – a mere man, a man who would have been on the tormenter’s list of the faithless, a man who he fully intended to arrest and very possibly to torture. And he didn’t condemn Paul, either. Instead, Ananias offers a prayer for healing, and Paul’s sight is restored, and he is baptized into the faith.
A life time of rigidly following all of the rules, and it only took 3 days to discover that they are all completely meaningless in the light of eternity!

Read Philippians 3:8-11

All of the honors and glory of his previous life are now seen as worthless. We read the word “rubbish” in our text – it is nothing more than trash, it has no value whatsoever, it is good only for the garbage heap! The attributes that he once saw as infinitely valuable are now to be discarded as readily and deliberately as a broken lamp might be.

How did this drastic change come over this otherwise unyielding life? Was it because he had been confronted by Jesus Christ Himself? Could it have been his encounter with a true Christian man who seemed to have no fear of him? These certainly had an impact, but I think that there is more, that there is a symbolism in the Acts account that we sometimes overlook. The Acts passage tells us that “something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again.” (v. 18), and this may be symbolic of a spiritual healing that came into his life, and not just a physical one. Ananias had told Paul that he had been sent to him “so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Paul didn’t ask the Spirit to come over him, and he probably didn’t even understand what Ananias was telling him, but he certainly did know it when it happened!
Paul would come to know the glory of Christ in his life, and it would never leave him. He would realize that the prized life that he had been living was worthless without Jesus, and that with Jesus, he had gained far more than the glory of earth could ever give him. Did you notice that Paul repeats this theme of “gain” three times in a row? (vs. 7 & 8) He doesn’t want us to miss this point - that by letting go of the short-lived things that earth would have us cherish, we can then receive the things of heaven that have an eternal and infinite worth.

And we also need to consider his words regarding the power of Christ’s resurrection. For the vast majority of people, death is something to be feared and avoided as long as possible. Have you noticed that there is a growing trend toward plastic surgery, with all of those procedures that are intended to make us appear more youthful, for Botox and all of those other medical innovations that are intended to make us look “years younger”? After all, from a psychological point of view, if we look younger, then we feel younger and we think that we have a longer time before we become old! And “getting older” is seen as being synonymous with “death”! And no one wants to die!
But Paul is able to see beyond the limitations of this earthly life, and he claims the power of eternal life in Jesus Christ. He sees the “gain of Christ” as being able to participate, not only in Christ’s suffering on earth, not only in the sharing of physical death, but more so in the resurrection power of the Easter Christ. When the scales fell from Paul’s eyes, he suddenly could see beyond the earthliness that had been his lot for years. He had thought that he could earn eternity though his rigid faithfulness in “doing” right things, but he came to know that it is only through Christ that we can gain true life.

Read Philippians 3:12-16

He readily admits, and rightly so, that he has yet to grasp that prize that he has seen, but is still pressing on toward the goal. And the closing words for today’s reading must be the Christian’s charge for these times – “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (v. 16) None of us are perfect in this life, but whether we are vastly imperfect, or approaching the edge of a righteous existence, we can’t sit back and claim “Oh well – Jesus will take us regardless.” Paul tells that we can’t sit back in complacency and expect that God’s merciful nature will welcome us. While we are here, we need to live as Christian a life as we possibly can. It’s true that we have received salvation through the gift of new birth in Christ, but now we have an obligation to live as thought we appreciate that gift! Is Sunday the only day we give to God, while the other 6 days go to the world? Are we content in our own salvation, and willing to let others find their own way to the Lord? Have we truly denounced the things of earth as “rubbish”, as trash, as worthless, or do we still like to keep a tight grasp on all that we have gained? Do we have enough respect for all that the Lord has won for us to give our all to him? Our time, our resources, our finances, our life?

“Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” (v. 7) Do you truly believe that all that this life has brought to you is “loss”? Not just worthless, but as a negative? It is, you know.
Let go of the worthless, and claim the fullness, the glory, the power of Jesus Christ today.