Our Call to Follow
Philippians 3:4-14
NO 3/25/07 EW

The Scene

Paul is in prison writing to those in the church at Philippi.  This group of new Christians had been very supportive of Paul in spirit as well as financially.  In fact, in this instance they have sent him money and someone to care for him until the final result of his trail. 

The book of Philippians is not written nearly as neatly as the other letters of Paul.  One might think he is having a much more difficult time than at other times of turmoil.  Or, and I suspect it is more likely, that Paul’s feathers have gotten ruffled to the max with the behavior of some of those in that young church.

            The Know-It-All Group

In every church there are those who know how things have to be and if they aren’t that way then all is lost.  There is the Know-It-All Group that will exercise tremendous power over who belongs to what and who gets in or out of the doors of the church.  Well, the church in Philippi had such a group and wouldn’t you know it was made of a number of Jews who have converted to this new way. 

The problem that developed was that they were claiming Jesus was a Jew and that to be like Jesus and to be a real Christian one had to follow the Jewish laws.  There were apparently two great concerns:  1) Circumcism and 2) Obedience to the Torah.  No doubt when this was brought to the attention of Paul he had a fit and wanted to send a message that hopefully would unify that young church. 

If It’s All About Credentials

Paul makes it clear that if anyone wants to compare Jewish credentials with him he’s ready!  He then gives us this account of himself:

• Born a Jew – Circumcised on the 8th day.  That is much like what we do with infant baptism.  It is the mark, the sign that this child is a member of the Chosen People.
• A Member of the People of Israel – He followed the religious teaching and upbringing of the Torah.  He is a citizen of those God brought out of Egypt.
• He is of the tribe of Benjamin – this was the smallest tribe but one of the most important.  For example, Saul, the first King of Israel came from his tribe.  Paul is making it clear that one cannot be more Jewish than he.
• A Pharisee – a leader of the Pharisees as a matter of fact.  One who blamelessly followed the law. 
• A man of Zeal – he not only followed the Torah but he defended the church, so to speak, by persecuting those who had become identified as followers of the Crucified and Resurrected Jesus.

Paul was ready to put his call up against that of anyone.  And he was going to speak out about who he is in relation to Jesus.

My Call to Ministry

I too have credentials that speak to my call into ministry even though there are those along the way who question my authenticity.  Let me share again with you what my process has been:

• Born American in the South – Alabama.  I’m sure that has some meaning to some folks.
• Raised in the Methodist Church by Methodist parents – my parents were very active in the church and insisted on us kids being active.  They were tithers and believed it very important to financially support the church and its ministry.
• Called at age 14 – I attended camp most summers and when I was fourteen we had the Lord’s Supper on Friday night and then all silently walked to the softball field and formed a huge circle around the field holding hands.  I had experienced a stirring within during the Lord’s Supper but didn’t say anything.  In the circle around the softball field I looked up and was facing the lighted cross that’s on top of the mountain.  I clearly experienced God calling me into ministry.
• What I had not even considered for one moment when I shared with Nina Reeves and others of the camp staff about my call was that ministry might involve preaching.  I was so bashful at that time that I could not even allow the thought of talking in front of any size group.  When I shared my experience no one said anything about preaching.
• Arriving home on Saturday, my pastor Opie Gamble, was waiting for me.  He called me aside and told me how proud of me he was and how he would let me preach the very next day at First Methodist Church of Cullman.
• I declined his offer and was mostly absent from church activities for the next ten years.  I returned to the church as a result of dating a preacher’s daughter.  Bob Coleman was preaching a revival and his topic was to be either cold or hot but not lukewarm.  I once again heard my call to ministry and that was the beginning of the path that has led me here today.
• God has had to continue to call me over the years.  I’ve resisted God’s call in many different ways and have suffered the consequences of my behaviors and decisions throughout my adult life.  I can list numbers of calls from God.  Some of them I’m discovering late in my ministry.

Your Call to Ministry

Let me tell you that I’m interested in your call to ministry.  How has God called you to be an ambassador?  Did you think that you came to be in this church because you made some wonderful decision about how you enjoyed New Oregon?  Or perhaps you think you’re here because your family grew up in this church.

I hope that you will think about those times in your life when God has been so close that you could hear, even if not with words, you’re being gathered into God’s fold.  If you will allow yourself to be silent and listen carefully you will begin to recall those times.  I believe they are important.

Paul Provides a Path for Us

Paul writes to those new Christians who are bickering with one another about what it means to be a Christian and he gives them a way of unity that the church might need to pay attention to at the present time.

            “I Want to Know Christ”

Notice, that Paul does not say that he wants to know about Christ.  It seems to me that Paul clearly understands that having knowledge does not necessarily lead to faithfulness and loyalty to our Lord.

Paul wants to know Christ!  He wants to have Christ as his friend in life – “I want to know Christ so I can live like Christ,” is his message.

            “I Want to Know the Power of His Resurrection”

It is not wanting to argue about whether there is a resurrection or not.  That has nothing to do with what Paul is seeking.  He wants to know, to experience, to trust, to live that God’s power is greater than death itself.  The power of resurrection is beyond my comprehension.  I don’t understand it and I suspect that neither did Paul.  So, it’s not whether it is true and it’s not he’s interested in knowing or not knowing.  The resurrection is the experience of God’s power over death and that is what Paul wants to experience.

            “I Want to Share in His Suffering”

Now, up to this point most folks are with me but here we tend to take other paths than the one Paul is on.  What we want is to know about Christ, know about his resurrection, know about his suffering but we don’t want to share his suffering.  What we want is to wake up in heaven with as little suffering as possible – none if we can avoid it.

Paul realizes that he will have to suffer if he is to live the life Jesus has called him to.  He knows that suffering goes along with being Christ-like.  People don’t want to hear of their sins.  People don’t even like to hear that the story is about God rather than themselves.  People don’t want to hear about grace sufficient for salvation being free.  Back in Paul’s day when folks got tired of hearing the Good News they crucified you or got rid of you somehow.  Today, they close the door or hang up the phone and still we are so afraid of being different from those around us we keep quiet about the Good News of salvation.

            “I Want to Become Like Him in Death”

Not just suffering, Paul wants to experience the death of Christ.  I’m not even sure what that means except that it means that Paul is seriously committed to being like Christ.  It is a call for us to hear additional calls from our Lord to renew our relationship with God and neighbor.

Conclusion

One would quickly assume that Paul desires all of this in order to get to heaven.  Well, he does mention heaven but he brings it into the present rather than a place to go when one dies.  He seeks the “…prize of the heavenly – call of God in Christ Jesus.  It is receiving the call of God today that is heavenly!   This is the reason that Paul can say that physical circumcism is not what we are looking for but spiritual circumcism.  This is the basis Paul can use to let us know that it is not obedience to the law that is most important but instead it is a relationship with Jesus.

You are called by God.  I am called by God.  Let me challenge us all to respond to our call with our focus on the life of Jesus.  We are called to be in God’s world while living in this world.  We are called to live like Jesus while told that to do so is foolish.  We are called to love the unlovable.  We are called to be foolish in a world that demands orderliness even if it can’t provide it.

We are a called people!