Scripture: Philippians 3:1-14
On the back of your bulletin, I’m including a QR code, which is a link to an article from Christianity Today, which, frankly, brought me to tears. It’s about Christian athletes at this year’s Olympics. So if you get bored in today’s sermon, you can read it instead!
But I want to make three points in this sermon: Point Number One, Rejoicing in Christ. Number Two: Knowing Christ. Number Three: Knowing Christ better through hardship and suffering.
Point Number One…
Paul says, in verse 1, “Finally, my brothers [and sisters], rejoice in the Lord.” And he says later in Philippians—perhaps more famously, in chapter 4, verse 4—“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”
Rejoice? Are you sensing a theme?
As many of you know, I missed the last two Sundays because I was in Orlando worshiping and praising God and celebrating the wedding of my daughter, Elisa. We had regular wedding festivities two weekends ago, and then we had a larger, more formal Indian wedding reception a week later… Some of you have met Brian and will recall that he is an Indian-American. Anyway, when I say that we “worshiped and praised God,” I mean that quite literally. I have never personally been part of wedding festivities that were more Christ-centered that these. All credit to Brian and Elisa for making it so—they wanted Christ to receive all the glory! So it was a remarkable couple of weekends. I’m sure I’ll have opportunities to say more about it in the future.
Suffice it to say that my family and I, along with our dearest friends, had much reason to “rejoice in the Lord.”
And while we were on vacation, we watched as the United States Olympic team had about a hundred and twenty-six reasons to rejoice—including 40 really, really good reasons to rejoice! I’m speaking of the U.S. team’s medal count. And they had 40 gold medals.
But one of many favorite Olympic moments happened last Saturday afternoon. The boys and I were in a hotel room in Tampa, putting on tuxedos for that night’s reception, and watching the U.S. men’s basketball team play their final gold-medal game against France. It was a tight game until the very end. France clearly had a home court advantage! But the main reason the U.S. finally put the game away was Steph Curry… who is himself a brother in Christ. With the game on the line, and France threatening to win, Curry went off! He drained four consecutive three-pointers. And for the fourth one, he was being double-teamed by French defenders—with both LeBron James and Kevin Durant open in the wings… But did he pass the ball to two of the best players ever? Nah… He just took a step back and shot. And made it. One of my sons said, “That was disgusting”—as in really, really good!
Our fellow guests at the Holiday Inn Express could hear us shouting down the hall and on the other three floors, believe me!
Were we rejoicing? You bet we were!
To rejoice simply means to find joy in something. And joy, of course, is just an especially deep kind of happiness… satisfaction… contentment; it goes beyond mere emotions; it is impervious to mere circumstances.
So of course it’s easy to find happiness when one’s daughter is being wed to a terrific Christian man. And it’s easy to find happiness when you win a gold medal—or when your favorite team does. But this joy that Paul describes goes much deeper than that.
It’s often said, for instance, that Paul’s letter to the Philippians is Paul’s most joyful or joyous or joy-filled letter—and you won’t hear me disagree! But what makes Paul’s joy even more amazing is when we consider that Paul wrote this letter in prison, with a death sentence hanging over his head. And Paul is not naively optimistic about his prospect: as he tells the Philippians in chapter 1, he thinks he might die. He’s well aware of that possibility. And in chapter 1, we can imagine him sort of shrugging and saying, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”1 “To depart and be with Christ is even better than continued life in this world.” 2
Paul’s joy in the face of these dire circumstances is nothing short of incredible… and inspiring… and infectious… That’s the kind of joy that I want… that any sane person would want.
So when Paul commands us to “rejoice in the Lord,” or to “rejoice in the Lord always,” he’s not saying these words glibly… cheaply… from the comfort of some opulent mansion somewhere… in the prime of his life… with the world as his oyster. On the contrary…
Yet Paul says, in so many words, “You can find joy… in Jesus Christ… even when the very worst thing you can imagine is happening to you.”
And if that’s true for Paul in Philippians—who will soon be beheaded by the Romas in this prison… If that’s true for Paul, how much more true should that be for us? Because for the vast majority of our lives, we’re not facing “the worst case scenario.”
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Paul says something even more startling about finding joy in Christ. In Ephesians 5:20, Paul tells us to give “thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Giving thanks always, of course, is perfectly consistent with what he says in today’s scripture. But notice in Ephesians 5 he says, “and for everything.” For everything?
This seems impossible to me. For one thing—as my family knows too well—when I’m facing the mildest inconvenience, I’m often too angry to “give thanks.” In fact, when things aren’t going my way, there are many more choice words that I’m tempted to use other than “Thank you, Jesus.” How about you?
So… what does Paul know about suffering and enduring difficult trials that we don’t know? Or maybe I should say, “What does Paul remember about suffering that we so often forget when suffering comes our way?”
Maybe Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”3 Or Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Or 1 Corinthians 3:21 to 23:
So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
If we are children of God through faith in Christ, if we treasure Christ above all, if we surrender more and more of our lives to him, if we trust in him no matter what, if we live in order to glorify him alone… God’s Word promises that we will not fail… at least in the long run! As Paul says in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
We won’t fail in the long run…
And Paul… knows this! And the crazy thing is—even in this letter to the Philippians—we get clues that Paul himself can perceive at least a few of the ways his imprisonment, including his impending capital punishment, is far from a failure… He can see at least a few of the ways that God is using these circumstances both for Paul’s good and, as always, for God’s glory!
For example, Paul mentions at the beginning of this letter, in Philippians 1:13, that elite Roman soldiers, known as the Imperial Guard, are guarding him 24/7. They are chained to him around the clock! And what’s he doing? Telling them about Jesus. And some of them are getting converted. And then… at the end of this letter, I invite you to turn to Philippians 4:21 and 22. Paul is sending his final greetings:
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you [now pay attention] especially those of Caesar’s household.
Especially those of Caesar’s household? You mean, there are now Christians inside the household of the most powerful and important man the world had ever seen? The gospel of Jesus Christ has penetrated even there? These saints in Caesar’s household will now have the power to bear witness for Christ at the highest echelon of power and influence in the world! How is that possible?
Only because Caesar himself made the “mistake” of putting Paul in prison, and chaining Paul to members of Rome’s most elite military force. These soldiers are getting saved and they are witnessing to members of Caesar’s own household, some of whom are also getting saved and witnessing to others!
Paul also says in chapter 1 that his imprisonment has inspired or motivated Christians to share the gospel with greater courage and boldness…
So, yes, it may look to the world as if Paul’s enemies have finally won, have finally put an end to Paul’s pesky missionary career, have finally put an end to this strange new religion about a resurrected Messiah, yet, if anything, the gospel is spreading even more quickly!
That’s often how God works! It’s as if God were showing off!
We always have reason to rejoice in Christ, no matter what! That’s Point Number One…
Point Number Two: Knowing Christ…
In verse 2, it almost seems like Paul is changing the subject: He warns his readers, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”
It’s easy enough to figure out who Paul is talking about: the Judaizers. You’ve already read about them recently in our church’s Bible-reading plan in Acts 15 and in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. These are Jewish Christians from Jerusalem—whether they’re authentic Christians at all is a matter of dispute—but they are teachers who come behind Paul and tell Paul’s churches that Paul is preaching a deficient gospel. Yes, in order to be saved you have to have faith in Christ, but you also have to have “good works”: specifically, you have to get circumcised—if you’re a man, at least… You have to obey the Old Testament’s dietary laws, and you have to observe Old Testament festivals and holy days… Basically, you have to also convert to Judaism alongside Christianity.
Paul warns that to do so, however, is to put one’s faith not in Christ alone for salvation, but in things that we humans must do in order to be saved. I talked about this a few weeks ago.
In Philippians, Paul refers to this false teaching as “confidence in the flesh.”
So that’s why Paul says, in verses 4 through 6,
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
In other words, it’s as if Paul were putting himself forward as a “hostile witness”: “If anyone ought to believe that we can be saved by being circumcised and obeying God’s law, it’s me. Because I did it as well as anyone.” By the way, when Paul says that he is “blameless” under the law, he doesn’t mean that he wasn’t a sinner. He means that like the most scrupulous Pharisee, he followed the letter of the law perfectly… not the spirit, the letter.But as Jesus warns Pharisees repeatedly in the gospels, what you really need is to have a transformation of the heart in order to be saved. And that comes through faith in Christ alone.
Paul’s point is, if anyone were in a position to argue that Christians should also obey the law and get circumcised in order to be saved, it’s Paul.
But unlike these Judaizers, Paul rejects that argument out of hand. Why?
Because Jesus… is enough…
Of course Paul makes this same argument more forcefully in his letter to the Galatians. It seems likely that the Judaizers don’t represent as big a threat to the Philippian church as they did in Galatia ten years earlier…. But…
In Philippians chapter 3, Paul is concerned about more than simply how to be saved by faith in Christ—which is, of course, an incredibly important question. But in Philippians chapter 3, he doesn’t merely argue that Christ alone is enough for salvation; he argues that Christ alone is enough for… life… for happiness… for joy… for satisfaction… for contentment… for peace… for anything that we could desire in this world. Jesus is enough! Being in a relationship with Christ—knowing Christ— is everything!
Keep in mind, in verses 4 through 6—as Paul shares his credentials, his pedigree, his résumé—he is describing what for him, in his particular culture—as a zealous young Jewish man living in the first century—represents the greatest treasure imaginable. We read about what Paul possessed in these verses, and these things don’t mean much to us today. Maybe we’d rather have wealth, fame, family, popularity, beauty, good health, romantic relationships, athletic success, business success… you name it… But from a first-century Jewish perspective, Paul had it all… Paul had everything someone like him could want in this world. This was the greatest treasure he thought he could possess when he was young!
Yet what does he say about that treasure now… in one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible… verse 8?
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
In comparison to the “surpassing worth” of knowing Christ… and this isn’t mere “head knowledge”—like learning facts about someone in a classroom… It’s the kind of knowing that comes from having an intimate personal relationship… As more than a few preachers and commentators have said, it’s like being in love, only more intense than that.
Paul says that literally everything else, in comparison to knowing Christ in this way, is utter garbage. Our English Standard Version politely translates it “rubbish,” but that feels too sanitized. Paul is saying that these things are trash that you literally throw out onto the streets and let mangy dogs scavenge through… It may even rightly be translated—as the King James famously calls it—“dung.”
In saying this, Paul is confirming from personal experience the truth that Jesus himself expresses, for example, in Matthew 13:44:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field…
My two favorite words there are “treasure” and “joy.”
That’s practically all I want in life: treasure and joy. Are you kidding me? If we have those things, what else does any of us need?
Paul says he doesn’t need anything else… because he has Christ.
What about us?
Paul now has nothing… He’s lost everything … except Christ.
And he couldn’t be happier… He couldn’t be more joyful… Because knowing Christ is everything… That’s Point Number Two…
Point Number Three: Knowing Christ better through hardship and suffering.
Paul emphasizes in verses 12 and 13 that God is not finished with him. Like the rest of us Christians, Paul says he is a work in progress. Verse 12: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect…” And then verse 13: “I do not consider that I have made it my own…” What he means is, he doesn’t yet know Christ and love Christ and emulate Christ as fully and completely as he wants to. He hasn’t completely overcome sin in his life or been sanctified. As joyful as he is, there’s more sanctifying work of the Spirit to be done in his life… There’s more fruit of the Spirit to be borne within him: more “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” 4 to experience.
Paul wants these things… so he does what? See verses 13 and 14: He forgets what lies behind and strains forward to what lies ahead. He says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
This imagery comes straight from track and field events, from the Olympic Games and other, similar sporting events. Paul uses sports imagery in several places. He was likely a fan of sports. But I like that: “he forgets what lies behind.” That’s like a runner who can’t afford to look back. They’ll lose time. You gotta keep your eyes focused on the finish line.
I mentioned the Olympics at the top of the sermon. The USA won gold in a memorable 4×100 women’s relay event a couple of weeks ago. The anchor for the race, Sha’carri Richardson, by the time she got the baton, was way behind. But she charged into the lead. She didn’t exactly look back, but she rather famously looked to the side to make sure she had the lead.
But Paul knows you can’t look back if you want to win. And Paul wants to win his race of faith. But he knows that in order to do that, it means suffering for him… Remember in 2 Corinthians 12 he describes how God allowed him to suffer from a “thorn in the flesh”—in spite of his prayers, the Lord didn’t take that thorn away. In chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, Paul gives practically a laundry list of some of the ways he suffered. And in today’s scripture he says he has lost everything… and he’ll soon lose his very life in terrifying way… And Paul has endured and will continue to endure all of this suffering and hardship for the sake of Christ.
But that’s okay with Paul, because Paul knows that he’s being sanctified through the suffering and hardship… which means, ultimately, knowing more joy, more fruit of the Spirit… finding more treasure in Christ…knowing Christ more intimately… falling more deeply in love with Christ.
And if suffering and hardship is what it takes to know Christ more fully, to know him better, to love him more deeply, he’ll take it… Every day of the week and twice on Sunday… Because remember, knowing Christ is worth everything to him. It’s far better than anything else to him.
What I’m about to say may be a hard truth… but it is nevertheless true: God intends to use suffering and hardship in our lives to bring us closer to him. God wants to, he chooses to, and he will use suffering and hardship to enable us to know his Son Jesus more… Just as he did with Paul.
And maybe when we hear this, we object: “But I’m not being persecuted for my faith like Paul. I mean, sure… I may get some awkward looks if I talk about Jesus to my coworkers tomorrow at lunch, but c’mon. That’s nothing compared to what Paul and these early Christians faced. So I’m not suffering or enduring any hardship to speak of on account of my faith!”
But you are, dear Christian!
Because whatever God gives you, or allows to happen to you, or puts in your life… he does so for the glory of his Son Jesus Christ. What does Paul say elsewhere? “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 5 Whatever you do… Even if… what you’re doing… is enduring suffering and hardship… That is also something God wants you to do for his glory… and for the sake of Christ.
Listen: Maybe at this moment you’re not enduring suffering and hardship. Just hold on a few minutes. You will be soon enough. And even when that suffering and hardship isn’t directly because of your faith—because you’re not being persecuted—it doesn’t matter: God wants you to endure it for his glory! It’s all for him. It’s all for his Son Jesus. We exist to glorify Christ at every moment of our lives.
For example, many of you are facing health challenges right now… Just look at our church prayer list…
When you have to go to the hospital, when you have to go to the emergency room, when you have to go to the doctor’s office, when you have to get scans for cancer, when you have get tests and treatments for any number of scary illnesses, even there you have an opportunity to glorify God… to make him and his Son Jesus look great… to show people the difference that faith in Christ is making in your life… to show people the peace, the love, the comfort, the strength that you have on account of your faith.
[Townshend at the beach when he cut his foot on Sanibel Island near Ft. Meyers, Florida…]
So we live our lives at every moment “for the sake of Christ.” And even if no one is watching us glorify Christ… God is watching. Angels are watching… and that’s glorious, too.
You know who understands this truth quite well? U.S. sprinter and hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone… who broke her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles. According to the article that I linked to as a QR code on back of your bulletin, it says, “Her time of 50.37 seconds won gold with 1.5 seconds to spare. Proportionally, that would be like winning a marathon by more than three minutes.” She is simply one of the greatest runners ever. Listen to what she says about her life:
I credit all that I do to God. He’s given me a gift, he’s given me a drive to just want to continue to improve upon myself, and I have a platform and I want to use it to glorify him. So whenever I step on the track, [my prayer is always,] “God, let me be the vessel in which you’re glorified, whatever the result is”—how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform. So it’s just freedom in knowing that regardless of what happens, he’s going to get the praise through me. That’s why I do what I do. 6
Regardless of what happens, he’s going to get the praise through me. That’s why I do what I do…
Dear Lord Jesus, sanctify us by the power of your Spirit that we may be able to say the exact same thing of ourselves. Amen.