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We are in a series looking at the New Testament book of Philippians and what it tells us about joy. The book is actually a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi while he was in prison. Paul was awaiting a trial and didn’t know what the outcome would be and he wanted to thank and encourage the church that he established about 10 years earlier. In the midst of his own adversity and uncertainty, Paul talked about joy 14 times. Paul not only talked about his joy in adversity, but his letter gives us insight on how we might be able to find joy in adversity.
In the first chapter, Paul says that joy comes from our relationships with one another and we know that relationships bring joy. Family, friends, and our church family brings great joy so we need to invest in these relationships. Today we are thankful for the students who have said that they not only want a relationship with God but that they want to build relationships with one another and with the rest of us in the life of the church. We are also thankful for the Prayer Quilt Ministry and the relationships they have with one another and the ways they work together to bless and bring joy to all of us.
While joy comes with relationships, so does conflict. There was conflict in the church at Philippi, so Paul encouraged the people to be of one heart and spirit because joy comes in unity. In our divided and conflicted world, we can experience joy if we can remain united in heart and spirit. Paul tells us this kind of unity only comes with God’s love that helps us love one another.
Today, we are looking at the third chapter of the book and this is where Paul tells us that his greatest source of joy was the relationship he had with God. Paul makes clear, however, that this relationship didn’t come from Paul doing all the right things or living the right way, it came from being accepted by God through Jesus Christ.
Paul grew up as a very devout Jew and early on he believed that what made him right with God was being born into the right family, being trained under the right teacher and following the Jewish law.
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; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. Philippians 3:5-6
This was Paul’s way of saying that he had done everything required to be loved and accepted by God. For many years, that was enough for Paul, but then he came to understand that it wasn’t following the law or living a righteous life that brought him into a relationship with God at all, it was that God accepted him through Jesus Christ.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 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 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. Philippians 3:7-9
All the things that Paul once thought would bring him closer to God he now realizes didn’t do anything for him. They didn’t make him more acceptable to God. All Paul could do, and all any of us can do, is accept that we have been accepted by God. When Paul said that he did not have a righteousness of his own that came from the law, he was saying that he could never be accepted by God by living the right way or following all the law. Paul says his righteousness, or being in a right relationship with God, comes by accepting that God has accepted him and loves him. What makes us right with God, the only way we can be in a relationship with God, and what brings us joy is accepting that God accepts us.
It is my prayer that not only those who were confirmed today, but that their parents and families, and that all of us, can find joy in knowing that we are accepted by God through Jesus Christ just the way we are. Confirmation is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate that we are accepted and loved and forgiven by God.
But confirmation is also a time for us to think about what kind of response we need to make because of God’s love. Accepting that we are loved and accepted by God needs some kind of response from us. It needs to make some kind of difference in our lives.
In Paul’s day, there were many who believed that following Jesus was just an add on to their lives and that nothing in their lives had to change. They believed that freedom in Christ meant they were free to keep living life the way they had been and for many of them that meant living for themselves first.
For many Greeks and Romans at this time, the greatest pursuit in life was pleasure over pain. Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, and this was what many people in the first century made their priority. Let’s be honest, it is still the priority and lifestyle of many people today. Paul wanted to be clear that while following Jesus doesn’t mean we have to be slaves to traditions and laws, it does mean that we need to start prioritizing Christ over our own personal pleasure. Paul makes this invitation:
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. 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. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 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. Philippians 3:17-21
Paul speaks passionately with those who have accepted the acceptance of God and he invites them to no longer live for worldly pleasure but to seek a greater joy that comes when we live for Christ Jesus. The greatest joy we will experience will not be found in the pleasures of the world but in the purpose God has for us when we accept His love.
When I went to college, I thought I wanted to be a hotel manager. Actually, I wanted to work at a resort because I wanted to live in a resort area where I could enjoy beaches, mountains, or any other exciting place where people might travel for vacation. I was prioritizing pleasure and looking for it in this world. What I learned my first few years in college was that worldly pleasure was empty and that the most joyful people around me were people living for Jesus. Their priority was Christ and their citizenship was in heaven.
As I started to meet faithful followers of Jesus, I realized they had a sense of purpose in their lives that set them apart from others. They were pursuing all kinds of different majors and careers, they all had different gifts, talents, hopes and dreams, but what they all had in common was a priority of living for Jesus Christ first. That’s what I was missing. That’s what I wanted. I wanted that joy - not a happiness that was connected to where I might be living, but a joy that came from a relationship with God and knowing I was loved and accepted by Him.
The more I accepted that I was accepted by God, the more I wanted to live in a grateful response to God by putting Jesus first. As Paul might say, I wanted to know Christ more. I wanted to follow Christ more, and this isn’t something we do once, but it is an ongoing way of life. Paul said, I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11
When I hear this, I hear Paul saying, I not only want to know all there is to know about Jesus, but I want to be one with Him and live for Him and have my life’s purpose centered on Him. Paul was clear that he hadn’t gotten there yet, but that he was going to press on to make that his way of life.
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. 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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14
Paul stopped trying to make himself acceptable to God and pressed on to know Christ more and spend his living into the purpose God had for him. My hope is that those who were confirmed today will do the same thing - press on to know Christ more. Don’t make confirmation the end of the journey but the beginning of a new journey. Press on to always know that you are accepted by God not because of what you have done or how you are living but because of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. You are loved by God unconditionally and all you need to do is accept that and allow God’s acceptance of you to give meaning to your life.
My prayer is that you find the purpose God has for you and that you will press on to experience the joy that comes from living fully in that purpose.
My prayer is that all of us will press on to know Christ more and that we will allow God’s unconditional love to fill our lives with a sense of meaning and purpose that will bring great joy. There is joy that comes in knowing Christ and there is joy that comes in finding our purpose when we put Christ first. There is joy that comes when we press on and persevere and find our purpose in Jesus Christ.
So let us forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, let us press on toward the goal and win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Next Steps
Pressing ahead with Joy
Read Philippians 3
What is Paul’s greatest source of joy?
What kind of things did Paul trust in to make him acceptable to God?
What things do we think will make us more acceptable to God?
What is the ONLY way we are accepted by God?
How does accepting that we are accepted by God bring joy?
How has your life changed because of your acceptance by God?
What response do you need to make to God because of His love and acceptance of you?
The goal that gave Paul’s life joy was sharing the good news of Jesus and he pursued this with all he had.
What is your God-given, God-centered goal for life?
Press on to take hold of the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.
