Pressing On Through Change*
Dr. Larry Thorson
November 25, 2007
Scripture: Philippians 3:12-4:1
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
4:1
1
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and
crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
Today’s New International Version Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
It
was a very warm afternoon this past August as I waited in the return line at
Lowes. You know how it is when you’re bored;
you see things that you normally would have ignored. But there it was, I could hardly believe it,
a whole row of decorated, artificial Christmas trees. Here it was, so hot outside that I couldn’t
imagine ever cooling off again let alone experiencing Christmas again.
The
sight of those Christmas trees in August awakened me to the fact that I go
along from day to day thinking that tomorrow will be just like this one. But it won’t be. As sure as the sun rises everyday change is
going to occur whether I agree to it and whether I’m ready for it.
Let
me give you another example of change. Thanksgiving
weekend in our country marks a huge turning point in our year. It’s the official Christmas shopping season
kickoff. From now on until the 25th
of December much of the music on the radio will be different. Commercials on television will feature a lot
of red. Stores and streets will be or
will seem to be more crowded not to mention that you’re going to get a lot more
mail. You see change is always, always
happening. If you want to skip Christmas,
it won’t skip you, it can’t be avoided.
This
is just an aside, but the Christmas season doesn’t actually begin for the
church until next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. That’s when the new church year around the
world starts. The church year always
starts with preparation for the coming of the Christ child and it ends on the
last Sunday before advent with Christ the King Sunday. That’s what today is. That’s important on the last Sunday before the Christmas
season to help us determine for ourselves who’s most important to us. Will we crown WalMart king or Jesus? It’s always our choice.
Now,
let’s get back to change. The number one
question I’ve been asked the most over the last month is how I am holding up
since Pastor Scott left. “Are you
keeping up?” I’d say this month I’ve
treated my schedule kind of like my favorite suitcase. When I pack I stack everything I want to take
on the bed and then I try to fit it all in my suitcase. But of course it doesn’t fit. So I put the packed suitcase on the floor and
stand on it. Of course it won’t close
all the way so I jump on it. Then after
jumping on it and while still standing on it I attempt to zip it shut. Then I do the same for my backpack, strap it
over my shoulders, tie my coat to my waste, strap my camera to my belt, pull my
suitcase and away I go. Carry on luggage
only.
I
can’t tell you how many suitcases I have gone through over the years because of
that method of packing. The suitcase
always survives but of course its zipper does not. It wasn’t made for the stress of that
squeeze.
A
better way to pack would be to simply take less stuff. Then the suitcase does better, the zipper
doesn’t break and my clothes inside don’t look like I slept in them when I take
them out.
But
everything I put in my suitcase is important to me. I’m going to need them on the trip. I’m going to wish I had it when I get
there. Everything and everyone on my
schedule is important to me. Just like
you, everything about the Christmas season and every invitation to a Christmas
event is important to you. It just
is.
Our
minds and our bodies are kind of like suitcases. They can handle a lot but they’ll snap at
some point if they’re over taxed. So we
have to decide what’s important to put in that suitcase and what can be left
out for later. As we’re about to change
into a new season we have to make a decision about what or who will be most
important to us? If we don’t make that
decision, it will be made for us.
Remember change is going to happen whether we like it or not.
This
is how the Apostle Paul prioritized his busy life according to Philippians 3:8
“…I consider everything a loss compared
to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I
have lost all things”.
Lost
all things? What did he lose when he
came to Christ? Let’s back up and read his
words starting at verse one…
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!
It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a
safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those
evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we
who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ
Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though
I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If others think they have reasons to
put 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 as for
zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
That
was about as opposite a testimony as you’re going to hear. Billy Graham’s crusades always have a
celebrity share how Christ turned their life around. Pat Summeral, John Madden’s former broadcast
partner for NFL games spoke at the crusade in Dallas that I attended a few
years back. He talked about his rise to
fame and fortune in the broadcasting world while hiding his growing dependence
on alcohol. One day he gave his life to
Christ and that along with a Christian rehab program helped put him back
together emotionally and spiritually.
Instead
of telling us how bad he was before he came to Christ, like Pat Summerall did, Paul
described how good he was before he
knew Jesus. He was a circumcised member of the people of
The
difference between typical testimonies and Paul here is extremely important.
Paul doesn’t think Jesus gave him a second chance to get his life together.
This is often the way we talk about Jesus, as if the cross and resurrection
were nothing more than an opportunity to atone for our own sins by living a
better life.
Paul
has already lived a good life, and his point is that no matter how good one
lives it’s rubbish compared to knowing Jesus. The reason for that is it doesn’t
matter how good you are, you’re never going to be good enough. It doesn’t
matter how much you achieve, you’ll never achieve enough. It doesn’t matter how
hard you work, you’ll never work hard enough.
But
if I just make one more phone call, or send one more email, or make one more
visit then I will have done enough. If
you pack just one more shirt and one more pair of pants you’ll have enough
clothes with you. But more is never
enough. Not more time, not more staff,
and not more stuff. What Paul is telling
us that matters is one thing-and that one thing for him was knowing Christ
Jesus on the cross and in the resurrection to a new life.
Listen
to Paul in v.13:
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The
heavenly call of God is to leave the past on the cross, and strain forward to
the new life Christ is giving you now.
Summer is behind us and winter is ahead.
Nothing is going to be the same whether you asked for the change or not.
That
means leaving behind the past, not regretting it. We regret things we have done and left
undone, things we wished we could do over. We regret choices we have made,
commitments we cannot break, and decisions about careers that we wish we had
never made. We regret not taking better care of our health. Parents regret
mistakes they made with their children. Spouses and friends regret the words
they said to each other in anger, words that cannot be taken back. We apologize
and try to make amends. Maybe we even try to forgive ourselves. But the regret
lingers.
It’s
like opening that suitcase 8,000 miles from home and regretting that you didn’t
pack any underwear. But regret doesn’t
bring you underwear. What I’m finding is
that it isn’t really the busyness of life that is our greatest threat. It’s the
regret that makes us try so hard to get it right this time. Maybe we nurture
these regrets because they make us feel virtuous. But guilt is not a virtue.
For virtue you have to look to the cross. Only the nailed, scared hands can
hold our past failures, and that is where we have to leave them. Then,
according to the Apostle, we have to forget them.
That’s
what Paul did. The Book of Acts tells us
of some awful things he did before he met Jesus, dragging men and women to jail
and participating in the stoning death of the first deacon, Stephen. He never
mentions that. Apparently he forgot what lies in his past. But interestingly he doesn’t forget the
wonderful things of his past: his pedigree, his good job as a Pharisee, and his
righteousness under the law. But that is also in the past, and it too like the
bad stuff lies behind him.
Paul
wanted his testimony to end as one who was straining everyday to receive the
new life that comes from knowing Jesus. That is the call of the resurrection on
your life.
This
new life may not look like the life you had planned. Remember that Paul was
probably in jail when he wrote these words about straining for what lies ahead,
so he understands waking up to a day that is not easy. Your new life may not be
as full or healthy as the life you used to have. Or if you are young, the new
life may be filled with questions and challenging demands. It doesn’t really
matter. The thing that makes the new life worth living is that it is Jesus
Christ’s gift to you. But you have to say yes to this call to live today.
Through
every interruption of your plans, every unwanted change, and every necessary
passage life
takes that
always involves loss, the question keeps returning—will you see God in it or
will you fight the change? Paul was straining at shackles to affirm this new
life, and you may have to strain at grief, heartbreak, sickness, confusion, or
exhaustion. But you have the opportunity to say yes to change, better or for
worse and see God in it.
I want to close with this story I
received in an email recently about a doctor in
I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5,
stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter
and die - I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only
that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to
wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the
call, I saw a woman walking out of the "quickie mart" building, and
it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a Gas pump, so I got out
to see if she was okay.
When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that
she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark
circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked
it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.
At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the
ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car
seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.
I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying "I
don't want my kids to see me crying," so we stood on the other side of the
pump from her car. She said she was driving to
I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she
could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next
door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more,
and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the
car, who attacked i t like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and
talking a little.
She told me her name, and that she lived in
So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were
going to
I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety
on the road As I was walking over to my car, she said, "So, are you like
an angel or something?"
This definitely made me cry. I said, "Sweetie, at this time of year angels
are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people."
It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you
guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no
problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic
won't find anything wrong.
Through all the changes in life
around you, decide to make Christ the King of your life everyday and don’t
regret not fulfilling all the other choices.
In the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:1…Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy
and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! Amen.
*This
sermon was adapted from a sermon written and delivered by Dr. Craig Barnes at
the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in