"Are We There Yet?"
Living a life of direction, determination and destination
Sermon Preached by
The Reverend Dr. Bill Fritz
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Text: Philippians 3:8-20
Don't you enjoy those letters and comments that children write about their holiday or vacation experiences?
For example, Crystal, age 10, writes:
Mom and Dad got mad when I asked, 'Are we there yet?' And they really got mad when I asked, 'Will I still be 10 years old when we get there?'
Kevin, age 11, writes:
We had a rental car that got gum stuck all over the seats and floor. (My sister likes to chew gum). So Dad said no more gum. We saw lots of animals. One was a goat that looked a lot like my sister. I recommend that you do not travel with a pesky little sister and make sure you have good cable T.V.
Monique, age 10, writes:
My Mom, my younger sister, my grandparents and my cousin Allison went on vacation. We were unloading our stuff at the hotel when Mom realized she had locked herself out of the car with it running. What a dumb thing to do! One night I had to sleep in my grandparents' room. They both snore so it was like two bears sleeping in their cave! I spent most of the night in the bathroom reading.
And Kimberly, age nine, writes:
Travelling with grandparents is good because grandparents have money. But it is bad because when they see something they remember from their childhood they talk about it for two hours. If your grandparents talk a lot, pack a bag of fun things to do. The best thing about travelling with your grandparents is that you love them and they love you!
This summer in spite of SARS, mad cow disease and power blackouts, most of us travelled to vacation. Some of us are travelling still.
Travel or journeys are very much a part of the Bible. In the Bible someone is always travelling somewhere. Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden. Noah and his family float to safety in a huge ark. Abraham and Sarah journey to the Promised Land. Jacob journeys in flights from his brother Esau. Joseph as a captive slave journeys to Egypt. Moses leads the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. David flees from his homeland to the land of the Philistines. The wise men journey to see the Baby Jesus. The Prodigal Son journeys to the far country. Paul travels on his three famous great missionary journeys. Jesus and his disciples travelled often around Palestine and the Good News of Jesus tells us that the Son of God came from Heaven to dwell with us and after his resurrection ascended to heaven.
In all these travels, each journey represents a profound spiritual pilgrimage. People leave home and they come home to God. That is really the essence of Paul's words in Philippians: “Forgetting what lies behind and straining to what lies ahead, I press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
But wait! Isn't Paul in jail? He's not going anywhere except to the chopping block where he will be executed. Yet this is what Paul writes: He compares his life to a daily spiritual journey. It's like a race - a long-distance race. It's not a 100-metre dash. It's not even the Terry Fox Run. He says that as long as he lives, he's running a race. It's his journey from all that is past to all that is ahead. Paul compares his life to an intense journey, and in that journey he has direction, determination and destination. “Forgetting what lies behind and straining to what lies ahead, I press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”
I. Paul Sets the Direction
He says, “Forgetting what lies behind.” Paul had lived a comfortable, secure, prestigious and ambitious life. But he lost everything. All his past was wiped out. He likely never ever saw his family again. You see, Paul had made a colossal mistake. He had been commander of one of the death squads that hunted down and executed Christians. Now he realized that this was a big mistake. He was travelling in the wrong direction. What could he do about his shameful past? Should he dwell on it, wring his hands, be racked with guilt? He had to be forgiven, he had to forget. “Forgetting what lies behind.”
Too often in our life's journey we don't forget. We look back. A Sunday School teacher introduced the lesson by saying, “Today, boys and girls, we are going to read about Lot's wife, who looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.”
A little girl responded, “Something like that happened to my mom this past week.”
“Oh,” said the teacher “How could that happen?”
And the little girl replied, “Well, my mom was driving the car and she looked back and turned into a telephone pole.”
Tony Campolo, a sociologist at Northeastern University in Pennsylvania, tells of flying to New York City seated next to a very attractive lady. This was her seventh trip in two months. She was travelling to get away from it all. She was divorced five years ago, but she just couldn't forget. As she told of her former husband, her face contorted: “He left me for a younger woman. I gave him the best years of my life. How could he do this to me?” Lady, your best years are still ahead of you! People so often live in the past because they choose to live in the past.
In our counselling we ministers often talk with people who are stuck in their past. They walk and worry through their past again and again: If only I hadn't quit school. If only I hadn't made that investment. If only I had done what they told me. If only I had taken that job. If only, if only, if only.
I do not belittle the burden of past mistakes, troubles or heartache. But listen: The greatest verse in the Bible for daily living is this: “And it came to pass.”
Friends, is there a grief or a bitterness in your life and you are looking back? Perhaps a death, a failure, a job loss, a friendship fractured, an unforgiveness, a sin. So you've made a mistake. So you've fallen flat on your face. So you've failed. So you've sinned. So what?
“Forgetting what lies behind.”
“As far as the East is from the West so far does God remove our transgressions from us.”
“If we confess our sins God is faithful and fast to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Seek forgiveness. Make restitution. Work for reconciliation. And then, get on with it. “Forgetting what lies behind.”
II. Secondly, Paul Expresses Determination
Paul writes, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining to what lies ahead.” He doesn't use the verb “going” or “facing” or “journeying.” The verb is “straining.” The word is charged with determination and zeal. He's straining forward in his Christian life. He has work to do. He has people to help. He's not dilatory about these things. He's dogged in his efforts. But he is focused in his determination. He's straining in his work. Paul is determined to leave this world a better place than he found it. Paul reminds us that the Christian life is a happy, exhilarating journey, but it does involve hard work. The Christian life is like that of an athlete. One is always in training and perfecting his or her condition.
“Straining to what lies ahead.” Do you strain in your Christian life? Some people strain and struggle and maintain the disciplines of Christian living. Others become careless. They may start out well. They engage in all the Christian disciplines. They worship. They study their Bible. They pray. They participate in works of Christian charity. But then they relax. They become careless. They shift their focus. They cruise and glide. And they give up.
It reminds me of the man who perfected what he thought was a great soft drink. He marketed it and he called his drink “4-up.” But it did not sell. So he went back to his recipes. He refined his formula and he again marketed his drink and he called it “5-up.” But still, the sales were woeful. Again he went back to the drawing board. He worked, he struggled, he strained, again he thought he had a winner. He named his drink “6-up” and placed it on the market. But it didn't sell. And the man gave up. Just think of the fortune he would have made if he had tried just one more time!
Dr. Samuel P. Langley was a name respected world-wide. In the 1890s he was professor of mathematics, astronomy and the director of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. He was among the first to think that human flight was possible. He experimented with model planes and achieved great success. In 1898 he was awarded $50,000 by the U.S. War Department - and enormous sum of money in those days. Langley went right to work. In 1901, he successfully tested an unmanned, gasoline powered, heavier-than-air craft. It flew and it made history. Next, he and his associates built their new, powerful, lightweight engine and aeroplane. On October 8, 1903, Langley and his team launched their craft. But it snagged. A few days later they tried again. It fails again and this time the pilot was almost killed. By this time the news media were so scathing and critical of Langley that he just couldn't endure the blistering remarks and so quietly gave up. Demoralized and defeated, he gave up.
In the meantime, two brothers - uneducated, unknown, unfunded - worked, tinkered and experimented. They, too, had setbacks and failure. But they tried and tried again. And then one day - December 17, 1903 - Flyer One lifted off over the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. “Straining to what lies ahead.”
What struggle are you facing right now?
When things go wrong as they sometimes will
And the road you are travelling seems all uphill
When the funds are low, and the bills are high,
And you'd like to laugh but you have to cry.
When care is pressing you into a pit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit!
Are you struggling right now? Are there problems in the workplace? Difficulties at school? Is there turbulence in your marriage and family life? Are you barely coping? Are you facing a difficult decision? Never give up. “Straining to what lies ahead.”
III. Paul Focuses on the Destination
Thirdly, Paul focuses on his destination. “Forgetting what lies behind and straining to what lies ahead, I press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I press on to the goal. Paul is completely focused on his destination. In spite of setbacks, troubles, problems and turbulence in his life, he presses on, living his life close to Christ. “All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to him,” he writes. Always, always in attitude, in faith, in dealing with other people, he wants to be like Christ. He wants to have the mind of Christ. In another passage he exhorts all of us:
Have this mind yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. For although he was God he took on the form of a servant. He became like one of us. He humbled himself and became obedient in death. Even death on a Cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and Jesus has the name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
What Paul is saying is that he wants to be like Christ, to think like Christ, to act like Christ in all things in his daily life.
In 1992 Bill Kock and his team won the Americas' Cup Race in sailing. He was asked, “How did you do it?”
Mr. Kock said, “Practise, practise, practise and focus, focus, focus until you are one with the wind and the water.”
Similarly for our daily Christian living, practise, practise, practise, focus, focus, focus until we are one with Christ.
We the people who call ourselves Christians are called to do Christ's encouraging work and we are called to be on Christ's wavelength. Let me illustrate:
Joseph Lahey recalls a pivotal point in his life. It was an encounter with a Christian doctor that completely changed his outlook and life. Joseph was in Grade Five, enrolled in a private school. Because of a disability he was always sheltered and shielded from embarrassment by his parents. Joseph was born with a hump of flesh in the middle of his back that he concealed well by his clothing. But he could never conceal his defect from himself and often he looked into the mirror wishing that he could rid himself of this abnormality. He carried the burden of feeling physically inferior and it hurt him deeply.
Now, he sat with other boys from his class in the doctor's office. All the boys were laughing and teasing about the physical examination that the doctor would give them. Joseph dreaded this exam. For although his family doctor knew about his condition, here another physician was going to view and probe at his hump, for in an ugly way Joseph knew he was deformed.
At last it was his turn. A tall, grey-haired man greeted him. The doctor was reading the chart in his hand, “Joseph, how are you?” asked the doctor. “Slip off you clothes and hop on the scale and we'll weigh you.”
Joseph, hands shaking, fumbled with his clothing. He felt awful as the doctor examined him. But this doctor did not poke nor prod. At last, the doctor asked this startling question: “Joseph, do you believe in God?”
Astounded, Joseph answered truthfully, “Yes, sir, I do.”
“That's good,” said the doctor “because the more faith you have in God, the greater the faith you will have in yourself.”
The doctor's words, his touch, his intensity and his belief in God registered profoundly in Joseph in that room. Before he knew it he was back in his classroom. But the great weight that he had carried about his deformity was no longer the insurmountable problem that it had been. For the truth that Joseph had learned from that great man was to focus on the best and not the worst. To believe in God and in himself. He learned how to live with his handicap. He learned that he could face any difficulty. Joseph as an adult, is ever thankful for his doctor's words of encouragement. Joseph has always lived his life seeking to be in harmony with God and those around him. He became prominent in his community, serving others and he was even elected mayor of his city.
Dear friends, as people who believe in God: Just for this week, what are your goals in Christ? What are you going to do to be a better Christian? What are you going to do to make your home happier? What will you do to be a better parent, a better grandparent, a better son or daughter? What will you do to make your school, your place of work more harmonious? What are you going to do to help this church? What are you going to do to make your neighbourhood better?
Paul writes: “My goal in life is Christ. I want to live for him. I want to live with him, I want to live in him. Right here. Right now. And in the age to come. Forgetting what lies behind, and straining to what lies ahead, I press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” May that be your prayer and mine daily.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.