Measuring Up: Philippians 3:4b-14

I don't know what your home was like, but I have few specific memories of my childhood. I am the person I am today because of certain events that happened early in my life; and most of those events revolved around my father. An example: when I was a toddler, my sisters would come home from school, and set me in their lap while they read their homework out loud. Why? Because it kept me quiet, and my dad didn't like noise. Being read to constantly had an effect; I learned to read at three years old.

When I was three, my dad took me to a local hamburger joint, and I stunned him by reading the word “homogenized” off of the side of the milkshake machine. That action had an effect: my father got so excited that I could read that when we got home that day, he placed the entire encyclopedia down on the bottom shelf, so I could look things up. The long term result of that choice was that I developed a real love of learning -- all because of my father's reaction.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one with stories like that; we all are shaped, to one degree or another, by our own reactions to other people's opinions about us. Their opinions are not what shape us; our response to significant viewpoints held by crucial people are the shapers of our lives. We become who we are in response to life. A girl's self-image can be shaped by her response to comments made by her father; a boy may decide that it's not appropriate to show his emotions based on attitudes held by important male figures in his life. Some young women choose to be a certain kind of wife in response to how she sees her father treat her mother; perhaps an older man makes the choice to believe society's view that if he's not making “enough” money, he's essentially worthless. Can you think back to a crucial moment in your past where you made a choice based on your understanding of how other people viewed you? Are there instances in your past which have shaped your present reality that are traceable to how other people “measured” you?

Why do we love to measure things? What is it in us that drives us to compare, quantify, sift, and compete? Where does that drive come from? We know it's old; the Bible has lots of descriptive words for measurement like cubit, span, sheckel. We know it's all over the world; distances are measured in miles, kilometers, and furlongs. We measure everything; weight, length, height, volume, etc. When does this fascination for measurement go too far? I believe it goes to far when it tries to quantify how God loves us.

Here's a reminder: God loves us like nobody else.

We have a tendency to assign human motives and responses to God. We can process God's love for us through the lens of our fathers; or we could understand God's ability to forgive us based on how others in our past have forgiven (or not forgiven) us for our mistakes. Part of my hope this morning is to speak a reminding word to us all; God is not bound by our perspective. God does not treat us like people treat us; He does not base His grace on what we do, or who we are.

In Philippians, Paul points out that how God loves him isn't based on his background. “If anyone else thinks that he can trust in something physical, I can claim even more. I was circumcised on the eighth day. I'm a descendant of Israel. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a pure-blooded Hebrew.” (vs. 4b-5a) This conversation doesn't appear out of a vacuum; the Philippian church was struggling because Judaizers were upsetting people's faith. The Judiazers were confused Jewish people who thought that this new Christian faith was just another branch of Jewish faith -- and that the followers of the Way needed to also follow the Laws of Moses to be “right” with God. These attitudes of the Judaizers were affecting the faith of the new Christians; they were allowing themselves to be swayed by the judgmental attitudes of these infiltrators.

Paul doesn't stand for that. He destroys the argument by using the example of his own Jewish background; if anyone had a right to be judged as worthy by God based on sheer Jewishness, it was Paul. In fact, he takes it a step further; Paul not only points out his background (who he was), but brings up his past actions (what he did). "When it comes to living up to standards, I was a Pharisee. When it comes to being enthusiastic, I was a persecutor of the church. When it comes to winning God's approval by keeping Jewish laws, I was perfect." (vs. 5b-6)

Does Paul trust in his Jewish background, or his ability to do Jewish things? No. "These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ." (vs. 7) Paul calls us to leave behind the old understanding that our self-worth comes from other's attitudes which are built on our actions or background. Instead, it's all about Christ: "I consider everything else worthless because I'm much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It's because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn't receive God's approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God's approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith that knows Christ." (vs. 8-9)

Paul jettisons the idea that following God's laws makes us good in God's mind. That's a hard one to let go; we like to think that if we follow all of the rules, then we will be rewarded. And I suppose in many human instances, that's true. But it's not how it works in God's economy. Let me tell you an illustration that I shared with the Senior High last Thursday on this same point.

The first home I ever purchased was in Omaha, Nebraska; nice home, big yard, 3 car attached garage. We entered into a contract to purchase the house over time, and borrowed the money from the bank to do so, just like millions of other Americans. When we moved from Omaha, we sold the house for more than we paid for it; that means that we were able to pay off the loan, fulfill the terms of the contract, and still have money left over. That was in 1998.

So, in 2007, am I still obligated to pay on the mortgage contract that I entered in the 90's? After all, it was a 30 year loan, and it's not been 30 years yet... Of course I don't have to pay on that old contract. It's been Paid in Full! The terms were fulfilled, and once they were met, the contract is no longer binding on me today.

Jesus has paid our contract in full as well. His death in our place has paid the contract of sin on your life and mine. "For the wages of sin is death," Paul reminds us, "but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23) It's because of Jesus' obedience to God that the terms of the Old Covenant, the Law, are completed. Jesus himself said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn't come to destroy them, but to fulfill them." (Matt. 5:17) Jesus is the embodiment of the completed work of God for Israel, indeed, for all humankind. We no longer need to concern ourselves with following the Law. We follow Jesus Himself instead. God's Faithful love will lead us farther on!¹

The idea that we are to follow Jesus instead of the Law is what Paul is getting at when he writes, "Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I'm becoming like him in his death, with the confidence that I'll come back to life from the dead." (vs. 10-11) We are to become like Jesus in his death -- focused on the Father's love for us as the source of power which enables us to surrender to God's agenda. It's not about obedience per se; as soon as we hear the word "obedience", we're drawn to the Law. But again, the Law is gone. It's been fulfilled, so it no longer has any claim on our obedience. Instead we're living in a moment-by-moment surrendered relationship to the Spirit of Christ. We listen for the Word of God in our own lives, and live in response to that word. God's Faithful love will lead us farther on!

That leading is what Paul's talking about in verses 12-14. He knows he hasn't reached the end of his race; he's not perfect yet. But look at the focus in these verses, "But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God's heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus." Paul was determined to finish his race, no matter what, because of what the Father had done through the work of the Son.

Perhaps the name Derek Redmond rings a bell for some of you sports enthusiasts; maybe not. This young man's story captured my attention, and I'm not a huge sports fan. Let me tell you the story. Derek was a runner during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He was determined to win a medal, but he'd been plagued with injuries in previous meets. It didn't matter; he undergone numerous surgeries so that he could show the world how good he was. His father, Jim, came with him to Spain to watch him race.

During the last semifinal heat of the 400 meter race, Derek was racing well when he blew a hamstring, and slowed to a stop. As all the other runners went past, his dreams of Olympic glory faded away as he fell to the ground. But he was determined; no matter what, he was going to finish this race. He got up, and began hobbling on one foot toward the finish line. The crowd realizes that he's not going to get on the stretcher, and they begin to cheer -- 65,000 strong. But the pain becomes too much to bear. Derek realizes that no matter how much he wants to finish the race, he's just not going to make it under his own power...

Until his father arrives. Vaulting over the side railing, Jim Redmond ducks past security guards, and reaches his son about 120 meters from the finish line. He wraps his arm around his son's waist, and they head towards the finish line.

Isn't that a moving story? It would be a great story if it ended there, but it doesn't. A few steps away from the finish line, the father lets go of his son -- so that his son could cross the finish line by himself. And as soon as he does, the father once again throws his arms around his son and celebrates the completion of the race.²

Our worth isn't measured by how good we are. Our value isn't based on what great things we've done. We are measured by God. It is God who is doing the "measuring up", and that judgment is based solely on God's character and choice, not our own. Now that you know about God's "measuring up", what will your response be? The question for us now is not, "What will we do", but "How will we respond?" How will my life reflect the upward call of God in Jesus Christ this week? My challenge for us all is this: set a timer, and spend two minutes listening for your "upward call" each morning. One hundred and twenty seconds of quiet time for God to get your attention at the start of each day.

Imagine what God could do in us, through us, if we responded to His direction on a daily basis. God is wanting to measure us up; to hold us, sustain us, draw us to Him. In the same way that Derek's father held him up during his most painful moments and then let him go to finish the race alone, God's grace lifts up when we fall, encourages us when we grow weary, and calls for us to finish the race and fall into His arms. Let's listen for that call together.

Bibliography

1. This phrase comes from the Russ Taff song, "Farther On", from the The Way Home (Myrrh/Word, 1989).

2. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=moments/94