Philippians 3:4b: 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. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake
of Christ. 8 What is more, I
consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage,
that I may gain Christ 9 and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but
that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God on
the basis of faith. 10 I want to
know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in
his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 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.
As with most of the passages that
appear on the lectionary cycle for Lent, this passage from St. Paul's letter to
the church at Philippi is one that most Christians are familiar with and have
heard before. In it, Paul uses the language of *exchange, or even the language
of accounting-- credits and debits. It's also the language of before/after.
Before, he had been piling credits
into a certain column. He was not just Jewish, but he was a natural-born Jew
(his parents were not converts). He was confident about which tribe his family
was from--something that not all 1st century Jews could say. In addition to
that he was zealous for the Torah, so much so that he joined the party of the
Pharisees. For a person who CARED MOST about the 'righteousness' that came
through practicing the system, Paul had it down.
I suppose that it's at this point
that one should insert a question as to the relevance of St. Paul's personal
experience to our day. In other words, the success that Paul was striving for
was entirely a religious success. Paul
wanted to be on the 'right side' of things as defined by God. It's a laudable
goal, but probably one that only the occasional few of our day even thinks
about. Most people in our culture define success in entirely material terms.
And if there's a God, it is assumed that he hands out high marks for good
intentions, worldly success, and "being true to ourselves." Yet even
in saying that, my hunch is that most people willingly put all thoughts of God
out of their mind unless they're absolutely cornered.... say, at a funeral or
something, where they're forced to confront their mortality.
The crisis for Paul came when he
realized that ALL of the credits he had piled up in the credit column of his
balance sheet didn't add up to anything that mattered past this life. What's more, he shows that if what's *really important
is the lasting stuff, the stuff that makes it into the resurrection, then that
in turn redefines what life lived in the
here & now is all about.
And that provides a wonderful Lenten
focus. Like Paul we're encouraged to forget what is behind. Like Paul,
we're encouraged in Lent to strain toward what is ahead and press on toward
the goal.
Cheers,
TM
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