Rejoice - for the Lord is at hand!
I like to think of myself as saying this in a kind of John the Baptist voice (a la “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”), only with joy instead of penitence.
Now that the light of Christmas has passed to Epiphany and December has turned to January and soon February, it is easy to forget the lessons of Christmas. Do you remember the joy of Christmas? If we can’t even sustain it until the season of Epiphany (beginning January 6th) in some cases, what a pitiable people! Christmas is a season of joy because God is now with us, and therefore our lives are to be a perpetual season of joy.
Throughout his letters, St. Paul refers to the fact that the Lord is at hand. Now he might have meant it in an eschatological (“end things”) sense, but it’s obviously true in a here and now sense too. I like to think, therefore, that verses 4 and 5 ought to be connected in our minds. “Rejoice in the Lord always” of verse 4 is directly related to “The Lord is at hand” of verse 5.
Why should we always rejoice? Because the Lord is at hand. Because God has sent His Son to be with us, and where Jesus is there is joy.
The fact that the Lord is at hand, with us right here and now, should govern all our thoughts and behaviors. It should, in fact, produce joy in us. We all take joy in many small things in this life: children singing, opening Christmas presents . . . the perfect parking space. How much more should we have joy in God coming to us, to take away our sins, and the penalty for them, and to equip us for heaven?
Jesus Christ, God Himself made one of us so He can be with us, is the perfect Christmas gift – and the only one that keeps on giving, day after day. How many of the Christmas gifts you received (not just this year but from others as well) are still actively giving you joy? But Paul commands us to rejoice in the Lord always.
The joy of Jesus is like that of Christmas, only infinitely better. The birth of Christ has a way of making us remember to rejoice, in spite of our circumstances. The light of Christ is so bright, that it puts our troubles in perspective and makes us rejoice. One of my favorite paintings is the Nativity by Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1490.) In this painting the Christ baby is intensely bright in a scene and a world that is very dark otherwise. Mary’s face is light because it reflects the glory of her son. Advent is the serious and somewhat somber season that precedes the joy of Christmas, just like the Cross precedes the Resurrection. Advent, Lent, and Good Friday are the black background of the world, the black background of Geertgen’s painting, that makes the glory of Jesus Christ that much greater.
Here, let me show you what I mean: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng4081
(Click once on the image to get a larger image, or try the incredible Zoom feature! Paul Erlandson: try it on Holbein’s Ambassadors.)
Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is often based on mere human feeling; but joy is sterner stuff. It is delight in God and His presence and work among us. Joy is more eternal and steadier than happiness. While happiness can be like a roller coaster, based on emotions or situations, we are commanded to have joy always. Regardless of circumstances, Paul found joy because joy is based on what God has done, is doing, and can do, and not on what we do or cannot or do not do.
In spite of the litany of suffering in St. Paul’s life (read 2 Cor. 11:23-29), he was the most joyful man in the Bible. Paul wrote Philippians while in prison, and yet He uses the word “joy” or some form of the word 15 times! Paul’s joy is not a begrudging or calculating one, in which he says, “Let’s see: God commands me to be joyful, so I guess I’ll have to muster some up. But I don’t have to like it!”
Paul’s joy is superlative and almost uncontainable. He says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” It is like the superlative joy of the wise men who “rejoiced with exceedingly great joy” (Matthew 2:10.) For both, joy came from being in the presence of Jesus Christ.
Paul commands you to rejoice, regardless of your circumstances, for God is near you. Paul himself has learned to be content, to be joyful, in all circumstances. Whatever state he is in, he is content (verse 11.) Whether Paul lives in heaven or on earth, whether he lives or dies (Philippians 1:20-26), whether he is full or hungry, and whether he abounds or suffers (verse 12,) he is content. No, he’s more than content: he’s joyful!
What a fanatic! How can Paul have joy in suffering and prison? Verse 13. “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.” How can Paul be content and even joyful in all things? Because Jesus Christ is in Him, working in him through all of his circumstances.
This all sounds good in theory, but how can we practically make it happen? Where is the Joy Button that I can push and make it happen?
Paul shows us two ways to find joy in Jesus. First, we attain and maintain joy in Jesus through prayer. Prayer is what draws us towards a God who has already come near to us. People are always looking for greater treasure in this world: a nicer car, a larger stock portfolio, a bigger house, or more power. But the most under-used, most overlooked, and most accessible treasure in the world is prayer.
Aladdin found himself enriched because he had access to 3 wishes from a powerful genie. But we have access to God Himself and His goodness, if only we would remember how close God is. How close? He’s only a prayer away.
When you are anxious because of the cares of this world, which are many, remember that God has allowed that circumstance so that you might more eagerly and quickly turn to Him. St. Paul found joy even, sometimes especially, in his suffering. And you can too, if you look for God and His joy through prayer in all your circumstances.
The second place Paul shows us where the treasure of joy may be found is in other Christians. What makes Paul joyful in this passage? In verse 10 it is because the Philippians have shown their love and care for Paul. All throughout the book of Philippians, Paul’s joy comes from Jesus through His Church. The way Jesus is often, if not primarily, present among us is through the Church, His house, His people. The way Jesus mediates His joy to us is therefore also often through the Church. Paul has joy in the presence and ministry of the Philippians, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. And all of these people have joy in Christ because of Paul’s loving ministry to them.
The next time you feel a lack of joy, consider what you have been doing to bring true joy, Jesus Christ, to others. We have this incredible ability to create joy in others because, as Christians, we are Christ-bearers. We are to bring Jesus to others. And where Jesus is there is joy.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
For the Lord is at hand!
Prayer: Father, help me to find joy today by finding Your Son, Jesus Christ. Give me Your grace to be joyful in all circumstances and to bring Your joy to others by serving them in love. Remind me to pray and make all my requests known to You, and make my service to You a sweet-smelling aroma to You. To You, our God and Father, be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. How strong is your prayer life? Have you found a way to remember to pray every day, and even throughout the day? If not, how might you work toward this goal?
2. Reflect on the difficult circumstances in your life. How might you allow God to turn them to joy by praying to God and seeking His joy in others?
3. Practice the presence of God throughout the day that you might better realize that He is at hand, offering you joy.
Resolution: I resolve to find joy today by turning to Jesus in every care of today.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 3:17-4:3
St. Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that we are to set our mind on things in heaven, because our citizenship is in heaven. But what happens when we forget where our citizenship is?
What if the U.S. soldiers in Iraq forgot who they are and whom they served?
What if they forgot about their U.S. citizenship and became citizens there?
What if they chose never to come back home to their families?
What if they forgot which side they were on?
Too often we forget who we are: our minds are set on earthly things, and not the things of heaven. Too often, this is because we love the things of this world more than we love the things of heaven. Sometimes we are not very loyal to Jesus Christ but are more loyal to the world than to Him. And sometimes, we just find it hard it hard to see heaven or heavenly things.
I love the idea that I will get a new body and that I will live forever (verse 21.) I especially love the idea that one day I will be more closely in the presence of the Lord. But I find that for someone who grew up wanting to write stories and has tried his hand at novels, my imagination is dull. It’s hard for me to think for very long about heaven when I think of it in this way.
But there’s another way to keep our mind on things in heaven: and that is to spend time living with the things of heaven as they are already here on earth.
There are at least 3 things of heaven that are already here: God Himself, His Word, and His house, which is His people.
Though God is already here with us, sometimes we think and act as if He is only in heaven above. We wake up without reference to God. We do the things we want to do and live the life we want to live. God is not in our thoughts throughout the day. Some Christians even go to bed, and not a single thing that day has been consciously done for the love of God and so that He may be glorified.
I’ve discovered a little secret about myself (and you too!) I have a little default-mode button in my mind. Unfortunately, it has come with a factory preset that is set for self. And when, by the grace of God, I have managed to switch my thoughts to God and stay tuned to the God station all day long, the day comes to an end. Every night as I sleep, a little gremlin goes about resetting me to my factory setting, and the battle for the default mode in my mind continues. At least I know what the goal is: to have God be the default mode of my mind so that whenever there is an empty or silent moment, it is thoughts of Him and His kingdom that I naturally turn to.
We are to set our mind on heavenly things, which means that we must set our minds on God.
We must seek to spend time with Him each day. We should spontaneously thank Him for the many good things we experience each day: for His creation, for the day, for my life, for the people in my life, for the abundance I have, for helping me with my problems, for the salvation of my soul, and on and on. You should constantly be asking Him for help; praising Him because you love to be with Him; and thinking about what He wants you to do and then doing it.
God allows us to remember where our citizenship is and to keep our mind on Him because He has given us not only Himself but also His Word. We often hear about how much time children spend watching TV and listening to things that aren’t even real. And almost three-fourths of adults aged 66 years or older watched more than 2 hours of television per day. We find time to shoot the breeze with our neighbors and friends, and we even study to find out how to get better at golf or other sports, or at gardening, or at video games . . . and then complain that we don’t have time to read the Bible!
I used to do an activity in an economics class in which I asked the high school seniors at the Christian school I taught at to keep a record of how much time (a very scarce economic resource) they spent on various activities each week. Granted they were busy high school seniors, but they spend virtually no time at all reading Bible or praying. Of course school took up most of their time, but they found time for sports, the arts, hanging out with friends, etc. But they found no time for God’s Word.
God’s Word potentially comes to you in many ways: the weekly sermon, the worship service (depending on how your church worships), Sunday school, Bible studies, daily reading and meditation, and sharing God’s Word with others. If you want to keep your mind in heaven, then fill it with God’s Word.
A third way to live in heaven even now is to live in God’s house. David says in Psalm 24:1
that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. But too often we are like the Soviet cosmonauts who went up to space and when they didn’t see God they said, “See – we told you He wasn’t real!”
We look for just the right earthly house and carefully consider how much house we can buy; we look carefully at the neighborhood and environment we want to live in; we lovingly furnish our homes with things that please us; and we rearrange and permutate until we get it just right.
But how much time do we spend thinking about and building the house of God? We should be like David in Psalm 69:9 when he says that, “zeal for Your house has eaten me up.” Of course, this was just what Jesus said in John 2:17 when He cleansed the house of God. If you want to make heaven more real in your life, then spend more time in heaven on earth, which is God’s house, which is His Church, His people.
In seeking heaven on earth, our worship of God is essential, for this is the closest we’ll be to heaven in this life. In the Holy Communion service of the Book of Common Prayer the priest says, “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name . . . “ because when we worship as God’s people and His house, He inhabits us.
Our worship of God in His house should make us seek God so much that we seek to build His house, His people. Both David and Solomon made it their purpose to build the house of God. Ezra devoted himself to rebuilding the temple. St. Paul spent his life building God’s house, the Church, the people of God.
And God has called each of you to devote yourself to His house, that is, to His people, at your local church. If you don’t see enough of God and heaven in this life, then maybe we aren’t spending enough time among His people, in whom He dwells.
When we seek God Himself, especially through His Word and through His house, His people, amazing things happen. With the technologies available to us, this can happen to us in ways approaching the miraculous. When I started Daily Bread, my Dad told one of his friends about it, a man my Dad has been friends with for 40 years. So close was the fellowship of their small group at that church that 3 men from that group still keep in touch regularly. The amazing thing is that my father’s friend (whom I actually knew growing up) has been reading Daily Bread and even corresponding with me about it. And now we have a bond in Christ because we are seeking God, reading His Word together, and having heavenly fellowship, though separated by hundreds of miles.
You are a citizen of heaven. You belong to God. And while you are here on earth, you are to live in His presence. Set your mind on things in heaven, by seeking God each day, by hearing and living by His Word, and by building His Church, His people.
If you set your mind to do these things, I guarantee you will see more of God and heaven, and so will others around you.
Prayer: Thanks be to You, Father, that You have made me a citizen of heaven, which is where You live. Thank You that You have given me ways to see You and be with You even here on earth. Thank You for the promise of the resurrection of my body and my transformation into the likeness of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Point for Meditation: Meditate more completely on one way that you can practice setting your mind on heavenly things by seeking God as He may be found here and now.
Resolution: I resolve to find one practical way to be more heavenly minded today, by seeking God, by meditating on His Word, or by building His people. If possible, try to relate this resolution to previous resolutions.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
What if the U.S. soldiers in Iraq forgot who they are and whom they served?
What if they forgot about their U.S. citizenship and became citizens there?
What if they chose never to come back home to their families?
What if they forgot which side they were on?
Too often we forget who we are: our minds are set on earthly things, and not the things of heaven. Too often, this is because we love the things of this world more than we love the things of heaven. Sometimes we are not very loyal to Jesus Christ but are more loyal to the world than to Him. And sometimes, we just find it hard it hard to see heaven or heavenly things.
I love the idea that I will get a new body and that I will live forever (verse 21.) I especially love the idea that one day I will be more closely in the presence of the Lord. But I find that for someone who grew up wanting to write stories and has tried his hand at novels, my imagination is dull. It’s hard for me to think for very long about heaven when I think of it in this way.
But there’s another way to keep our mind on things in heaven: and that is to spend time living with the things of heaven as they are already here on earth.
There are at least 3 things of heaven that are already here: God Himself, His Word, and His house, which is His people.
Though God is already here with us, sometimes we think and act as if He is only in heaven above. We wake up without reference to God. We do the things we want to do and live the life we want to live. God is not in our thoughts throughout the day. Some Christians even go to bed, and not a single thing that day has been consciously done for the love of God and so that He may be glorified.
I’ve discovered a little secret about myself (and you too!) I have a little default-mode button in my mind. Unfortunately, it has come with a factory preset that is set for self. And when, by the grace of God, I have managed to switch my thoughts to God and stay tuned to the God station all day long, the day comes to an end. Every night as I sleep, a little gremlin goes about resetting me to my factory setting, and the battle for the default mode in my mind continues. At least I know what the goal is: to have God be the default mode of my mind so that whenever there is an empty or silent moment, it is thoughts of Him and His kingdom that I naturally turn to.
We are to set our mind on heavenly things, which means that we must set our minds on God.
We must seek to spend time with Him each day. We should spontaneously thank Him for the many good things we experience each day: for His creation, for the day, for my life, for the people in my life, for the abundance I have, for helping me with my problems, for the salvation of my soul, and on and on. You should constantly be asking Him for help; praising Him because you love to be with Him; and thinking about what He wants you to do and then doing it.
God allows us to remember where our citizenship is and to keep our mind on Him because He has given us not only Himself but also His Word. We often hear about how much time children spend watching TV and listening to things that aren’t even real. And almost three-fourths of adults aged 66 years or older watched more than 2 hours of television per day. We find time to shoot the breeze with our neighbors and friends, and we even study to find out how to get better at golf or other sports, or at gardening, or at video games . . . and then complain that we don’t have time to read the Bible!
I used to do an activity in an economics class in which I asked the high school seniors at the Christian school I taught at to keep a record of how much time (a very scarce economic resource) they spent on various activities each week. Granted they were busy high school seniors, but they spend virtually no time at all reading Bible or praying. Of course school took up most of their time, but they found time for sports, the arts, hanging out with friends, etc. But they found no time for God’s Word.
God’s Word potentially comes to you in many ways: the weekly sermon, the worship service (depending on how your church worships), Sunday school, Bible studies, daily reading and meditation, and sharing God’s Word with others. If you want to keep your mind in heaven, then fill it with God’s Word.
A third way to live in heaven even now is to live in God’s house. David says in Psalm 24:1
that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. But too often we are like the Soviet cosmonauts who went up to space and when they didn’t see God they said, “See – we told you He wasn’t real!”
We look for just the right earthly house and carefully consider how much house we can buy; we look carefully at the neighborhood and environment we want to live in; we lovingly furnish our homes with things that please us; and we rearrange and permutate until we get it just right.
But how much time do we spend thinking about and building the house of God? We should be like David in Psalm 69:9 when he says that, “zeal for Your house has eaten me up.” Of course, this was just what Jesus said in John 2:17 when He cleansed the house of God. If you want to make heaven more real in your life, then spend more time in heaven on earth, which is God’s house, which is His Church, His people.
In seeking heaven on earth, our worship of God is essential, for this is the closest we’ll be to heaven in this life. In the Holy Communion service of the Book of Common Prayer the priest says, “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name . . . “ because when we worship as God’s people and His house, He inhabits us.
Our worship of God in His house should make us seek God so much that we seek to build His house, His people. Both David and Solomon made it their purpose to build the house of God. Ezra devoted himself to rebuilding the temple. St. Paul spent his life building God’s house, the Church, the people of God.
And God has called each of you to devote yourself to His house, that is, to His people, at your local church. If you don’t see enough of God and heaven in this life, then maybe we aren’t spending enough time among His people, in whom He dwells.
When we seek God Himself, especially through His Word and through His house, His people, amazing things happen. With the technologies available to us, this can happen to us in ways approaching the miraculous. When I started Daily Bread, my Dad told one of his friends about it, a man my Dad has been friends with for 40 years. So close was the fellowship of their small group at that church that 3 men from that group still keep in touch regularly. The amazing thing is that my father’s friend (whom I actually knew growing up) has been reading Daily Bread and even corresponding with me about it. And now we have a bond in Christ because we are seeking God, reading His Word together, and having heavenly fellowship, though separated by hundreds of miles.
You are a citizen of heaven. You belong to God. And while you are here on earth, you are to live in His presence. Set your mind on things in heaven, by seeking God each day, by hearing and living by His Word, and by building His Church, His people.
If you set your mind to do these things, I guarantee you will see more of God and heaven, and so will others around you.
Prayer: Thanks be to You, Father, that You have made me a citizen of heaven, which is where You live. Thank You that You have given me ways to see You and be with You even here on earth. Thank You for the promise of the resurrection of my body and my transformation into the likeness of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Point for Meditation: Meditate more completely on one way that you can practice setting your mind on heavenly things by seeking God as He may be found here and now.
Resolution: I resolve to find one practical way to be more heavenly minded today, by seeking God, by meditating on His Word, or by building His people. If possible, try to relate this resolution to previous resolutions.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 3:1-16
What is it about St. Paul that makes him so radical, so hardcore?
What has possessed him so that he seems like a fanatic even to Christians?
Some, such as Communists, become fanatics for the sake of an idea or an ideology. Some become fanatics out of fear. But St. Paul has shown us a more excellent reason to become a fanatic: so that we might know and live for Jesus Christ.
Actually, as every Christian should be aware, Jesus Christ was the original fanatic. He is the one who called Paul and calls you and me to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves, and follow Him; He is the one who resolutely set out to Jerusalem, knowing that He would be crucified; and He is the one who took upon Him all the sins of the world when He didn’t have to. That’s just, well, fanatical!
All St. Paul is doing is following Jesus in His fanaticism.
But fanaticism for Jesus Christ is not very fashionable or comfortable. If you take this Christianity thing too far you’ll make a lot of people mad, perhaps most of all other Christians. If you live out the radical call to discipleship, then you might make some of us Christians look bad. You’ll be called a bigot and worse, people will feel uncomfortable around you, and your motives will be questioned.
In some places, you might even lose your life.
So what could possibly compel St. Paul to be a fanatic?
It is simply this: Paul wants to know Jesus Christ by living in Him and for Him. Every one of us, even those who are not fanatics, have an ultimate goal. Often, we haven’t even expressed this ultimate goal or thought much about it, but it’s there. Some people live for leisure. Their minds are on what they will do when they don’t have anything else that they have to do. They often begrudge their work and complain about it because for them that isn’t their real life: they act (and sometimes) think as if the playtime they have earned is what’s most important. For others, the work is the most important thing because it is the only thing that gives them meaning. Others have money or possessions or power or prestige as their highest goals.
But for Paul it is to know Jesus Christ and live in Him and for Him. Why does Paul give up all else for Jesus Christ? He says it’s so that he “may gain Christ and be found in Him” (verses 8-9). He says that he is a fanatic so that he “may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (verses 10-11.)
When Paul explains his ultimate goal of knowing Christ, he reveals himself to be even more of a fanatic than we’d imagined! He doesn’t say that he wants to know Jesus Christ so that he’ll get good things in this life, such as health and wealth. He wants to know Jesus Christ because he wants to know Jesus Christ and have Christ live in him. Paul’s fanaticism in following Jesus Christ transformed him into a Christ-like person who is not pursuing himself at all but Jesus Christ, for the sake of Christ. More than this, Paul seeks Christ even though he knows that to seek Christ is to seek not only the power of the resurrection that we all crave but also the fellowship of His sufferings.
Uggggh! Hey, Paul, did you have to bring that in? Couldn’t you just have stopped at the part about the resurrection and then go on the other good part about the prize we might get? But for Paul to follow Christ and be with Him is to be with Him in all parts of Him. Paul understands that as Christ suffered for us, we must suffer for and in Him. This is actually a part of our redemption, and therefore Paul wants to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. He wants all of Christ.
But where does such fanaticism lead? Even if I were to theoretically accept in my head that I should make Christ my ultimate goal in life, what’s in it for me? Where will it lead me? I demand to know!
What Paul says his fanaticism has gotten him is the loss of all things. What a sweet deal! Whatever else Paul had gained in life, he counts it as loss for the sake of Jesus Christ (verse 7.)
He counts all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ (verse 8), in case we missed it the first time. Paul considers that all of the vain things that charmed him most are like garbage before the excellence of Jesus Christ (verse 8.) All of Paul’s attempts to save himself by his works, his zealousness for the Law, his persecution of Christians, and his great knowledge – he considers to be “rubbish.” But “rubbish” is much too English and gentlemanly. Paul is really saying he considers the things of his former life without Christ to be “refuse” (still too refined) or better yet: “dung,” “manure,” “excrement” or perhaps some more vulgar term for human waste.
Not only does Paul consider his life without Christ to be a loss, but he himself has apparently suffered the loss of many things for Christ (verse 8.) We have only to look back at 2 Corinthians 11 and Paul’s litany of sufferings to see what he might mean. Knowing that to choose Christ is to choose to suffer with and for Him, Paul still chooses Him. Of course, Paul is no fool. He also knows that to choose the fellowship of Christ’s suffering is to choose to attain to the resurrection from the dead (and to choose Christ’s resurrection is to choose His sufferings as well.) After Christ had humbled himself to be born a human and to die on the cross, the Father exalted Him above all else. Paul sees this clearly, and so should we.
How does Paul act as a result of his fanatic pursuit of Christ? He could, perhaps, retreat to mystic contemplation and seek Him that way. He could seek Him in his individual, personal, private life and make sure that he wasn’t obnoxious about his fanaticism. He could think that because he had found Jesus Christ and received His grace that the race was over and he could now coast.
Or, he could realize that he has not yet been perfected in Christ and therefore relentlessly press on toward his goal (verse 12.) Realizing once again the sovereign grace of Jesus Christ and also his own responsibility to respond faithfully, Paul says that he lays hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of him (verse 12.)
St. Paul is relentless. He is an Olympic athlete, training and exercising and racing so that he might be able to win the race he has been called to race. With every thing he has, St. Paul the Fanatic presses toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (verse 14.) Even though he surely already had a measure of the presence and power of Jesus Christ, Paul is not satisfied but seeks more of Jesus Christ.
So, do you still want to be a fanatic?
I do!
I want to so desire Jesus Christ – all of Him, including His sufferings – that I will be with Him and live in and for Him more and more throughout my life. I want to be a fanatic and subordinate every other desire I have to my desire to follow Him, wherever He leads me. I want to be a fanatic and sacrifice my life and all the stuff I want for myself so that His desires become my desires, and His will becomes my will.
I want to be able to say not only with my lips but also with my life that for me to live is Jesus Christ.
If this is what it means to be a fanatic and a Jesus freak, then sign me up!
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly gave up all things for me and for the salvation of the world, give me a fervent desire to seek You above everything else in my life. Help me to be willing to give up the things that lead me away from You and the things that are not good for my soul that I might know the fellowship of Your sufferings and the power and joy of Your resurrection. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Honestly consider what is your highest goal in life. Judging by your thoughts and actions, what is that you pursue to a higher degree than anything else in life? Ask God to make Him your greatest desire.
2. What things are you unwilling to give up if God were to ask you to? Meditate on your response, and spend some time asking God to lead you away from any idolatry and toward Him through His Son.
Resolution: I resolve to set my heart to give up one of my things today for the sake of Jesus Christ and to use this as a means of remembering my ultimate goal in life.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
What has possessed him so that he seems like a fanatic even to Christians?
Some, such as Communists, become fanatics for the sake of an idea or an ideology. Some become fanatics out of fear. But St. Paul has shown us a more excellent reason to become a fanatic: so that we might know and live for Jesus Christ.
Actually, as every Christian should be aware, Jesus Christ was the original fanatic. He is the one who called Paul and calls you and me to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves, and follow Him; He is the one who resolutely set out to Jerusalem, knowing that He would be crucified; and He is the one who took upon Him all the sins of the world when He didn’t have to. That’s just, well, fanatical!
All St. Paul is doing is following Jesus in His fanaticism.
But fanaticism for Jesus Christ is not very fashionable or comfortable. If you take this Christianity thing too far you’ll make a lot of people mad, perhaps most of all other Christians. If you live out the radical call to discipleship, then you might make some of us Christians look bad. You’ll be called a bigot and worse, people will feel uncomfortable around you, and your motives will be questioned.
In some places, you might even lose your life.
So what could possibly compel St. Paul to be a fanatic?
It is simply this: Paul wants to know Jesus Christ by living in Him and for Him. Every one of us, even those who are not fanatics, have an ultimate goal. Often, we haven’t even expressed this ultimate goal or thought much about it, but it’s there. Some people live for leisure. Their minds are on what they will do when they don’t have anything else that they have to do. They often begrudge their work and complain about it because for them that isn’t their real life: they act (and sometimes) think as if the playtime they have earned is what’s most important. For others, the work is the most important thing because it is the only thing that gives them meaning. Others have money or possessions or power or prestige as their highest goals.
But for Paul it is to know Jesus Christ and live in Him and for Him. Why does Paul give up all else for Jesus Christ? He says it’s so that he “may gain Christ and be found in Him” (verses 8-9). He says that he is a fanatic so that he “may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (verses 10-11.)
When Paul explains his ultimate goal of knowing Christ, he reveals himself to be even more of a fanatic than we’d imagined! He doesn’t say that he wants to know Jesus Christ so that he’ll get good things in this life, such as health and wealth. He wants to know Jesus Christ because he wants to know Jesus Christ and have Christ live in him. Paul’s fanaticism in following Jesus Christ transformed him into a Christ-like person who is not pursuing himself at all but Jesus Christ, for the sake of Christ. More than this, Paul seeks Christ even though he knows that to seek Christ is to seek not only the power of the resurrection that we all crave but also the fellowship of His sufferings.
Uggggh! Hey, Paul, did you have to bring that in? Couldn’t you just have stopped at the part about the resurrection and then go on the other good part about the prize we might get? But for Paul to follow Christ and be with Him is to be with Him in all parts of Him. Paul understands that as Christ suffered for us, we must suffer for and in Him. This is actually a part of our redemption, and therefore Paul wants to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. He wants all of Christ.
But where does such fanaticism lead? Even if I were to theoretically accept in my head that I should make Christ my ultimate goal in life, what’s in it for me? Where will it lead me? I demand to know!
What Paul says his fanaticism has gotten him is the loss of all things. What a sweet deal! Whatever else Paul had gained in life, he counts it as loss for the sake of Jesus Christ (verse 7.)
He counts all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ (verse 8), in case we missed it the first time. Paul considers that all of the vain things that charmed him most are like garbage before the excellence of Jesus Christ (verse 8.) All of Paul’s attempts to save himself by his works, his zealousness for the Law, his persecution of Christians, and his great knowledge – he considers to be “rubbish.” But “rubbish” is much too English and gentlemanly. Paul is really saying he considers the things of his former life without Christ to be “refuse” (still too refined) or better yet: “dung,” “manure,” “excrement” or perhaps some more vulgar term for human waste.
Not only does Paul consider his life without Christ to be a loss, but he himself has apparently suffered the loss of many things for Christ (verse 8.) We have only to look back at 2 Corinthians 11 and Paul’s litany of sufferings to see what he might mean. Knowing that to choose Christ is to choose to suffer with and for Him, Paul still chooses Him. Of course, Paul is no fool. He also knows that to choose the fellowship of Christ’s suffering is to choose to attain to the resurrection from the dead (and to choose Christ’s resurrection is to choose His sufferings as well.) After Christ had humbled himself to be born a human and to die on the cross, the Father exalted Him above all else. Paul sees this clearly, and so should we.
How does Paul act as a result of his fanatic pursuit of Christ? He could, perhaps, retreat to mystic contemplation and seek Him that way. He could seek Him in his individual, personal, private life and make sure that he wasn’t obnoxious about his fanaticism. He could think that because he had found Jesus Christ and received His grace that the race was over and he could now coast.
Or, he could realize that he has not yet been perfected in Christ and therefore relentlessly press on toward his goal (verse 12.) Realizing once again the sovereign grace of Jesus Christ and also his own responsibility to respond faithfully, Paul says that he lays hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of him (verse 12.)
St. Paul is relentless. He is an Olympic athlete, training and exercising and racing so that he might be able to win the race he has been called to race. With every thing he has, St. Paul the Fanatic presses toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (verse 14.) Even though he surely already had a measure of the presence and power of Jesus Christ, Paul is not satisfied but seeks more of Jesus Christ.
So, do you still want to be a fanatic?
I do!
I want to so desire Jesus Christ – all of Him, including His sufferings – that I will be with Him and live in and for Him more and more throughout my life. I want to be a fanatic and subordinate every other desire I have to my desire to follow Him, wherever He leads me. I want to be a fanatic and sacrifice my life and all the stuff I want for myself so that His desires become my desires, and His will becomes my will.
I want to be able to say not only with my lips but also with my life that for me to live is Jesus Christ.
If this is what it means to be a fanatic and a Jesus freak, then sign me up!
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly gave up all things for me and for the salvation of the world, give me a fervent desire to seek You above everything else in my life. Help me to be willing to give up the things that lead me away from You and the things that are not good for my soul that I might know the fellowship of Your sufferings and the power and joy of Your resurrection. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Honestly consider what is your highest goal in life. Judging by your thoughts and actions, what is that you pursue to a higher degree than anything else in life? Ask God to make Him your greatest desire.
2. What things are you unwilling to give up if God were to ask you to? Meditate on your response, and spend some time asking God to lead you away from any idolatry and toward Him through His Son.
Resolution: I resolve to set my heart to give up one of my things today for the sake of Jesus Christ and to use this as a means of remembering my ultimate goal in life.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 2:19-30
I want to be in one of St. Paul’s churches! I want to be in a church where joy in Christ is found. I want to be in a church where members consider themselves ministers of the mysteries of God and who boldly assert that, “For me to live is Christ!” I want to be in a church where members lay down their lives for the good of others and make the choice to sacrifice their own good for the good of their brothers and sisters. I want to be in a church where members sincerely care for the state of each member and who minister to each other’s needs on a daily basis.
But to be in such a church, I have to be such a member of the local church where God is calling me. I cannot hope to be part of such a church if I myself am not such a member. And so I want all of these things for myself: joy in Christ, a serious sense of my high calling in Christ, bowels of compassion, a life of sacrifice, a love that spontaneously and zealously seeks out the good of others, and an intimate sense of Jesus Christ dwelling in me as I see Him working in His body.
Since it is no longer possible to be a part of St. Paul’s church, I want to press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort Worth. As much as is possible within me, I want to labor diligently to pastor a church that lives the way that St. Paul and his churches seemed to live. I want to be able to say at St. Andrew's that this is a church that lives for Jesus Christ and works out its salvation together with fear and trembling so that even the angels are instructed.
On the one hand, I don’t want any of you to be discouraged and think only of how great the pastors and the Christians were back in St. Paul’s day compared to our own. Whenever you feel the temptation to think that you are more unworthy and unprofitable as a servant than any Christian of the first century, go back and read I Corinthians and see the sins in the church that Paul had to deal with.
On the other hand, I do want all of you to be encouraged by the godly examples of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. The same Jesus Christ who lived in them, and for whom they lived, is the one who lives in you. The same Holy Spirit that inspired them to love one another with the love of Christ and to sacrifice their lives for Christ is at work in each of you. The difference, therefore, may be not so much in the degree of God’s grace that we receive but in how we have received it.
If I had to summarize the secret of God’s blessings on Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians as contained in this passage, I would say that it was this: that these godly examples sought not their own things but the things of Jesus Christ (verse 21.) In fact, verse 21 is a good reminder of how imperfect some Christians were in Paul’s day, that “golden age” of Christianity that every one is looking for. What Paul says is not that he is surrounded with Timothys and Epaphrodituses (or is the plural “Epaphroditi”?), but that, “all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”
But I want to be in a church, I want to help create a church, where the members seek not their own things but the things of Christ Jesus and do this by seeking the things of the people Jesus Christ has given them. I want to create such a church by first being such a person. I want to follow St. Timothy in his ministry.
Paul wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians. But he didn’t want to send him because he was such a great preacher, because he was such an outgoing and charismatic personality, or because he was a capable administrator and had experience in running a large church. Paul wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians because he will sincerely care for the state of the Philippians (verse 20.) Paul eagerly desired to know the state, the spiritual condition (by which I mean all of life), of the Philippians. And so he wanted to send Timothy who would not only report back to Paul but would care for the state of the Philippians.
Timothy is one who Paul could trust to not seek his own things but the things of Christ by seeking the good of the Philippians. As Paul wanted to remain on the earth because it was needful for the good of the Philippians, so Timothy sought the things of Christ by seeking the good of the Philippians.
If you want to seek the things of Christ, then seek to serve Him in the people He has put in your life – especially those in your local church.
I want to be in a church with St. Epaphroditus as well. It’s easy to neglect Epaphroditus when Paul and Timothy are around, but here is an “ordinary” Christian who Paul found to be extraordinary. Epaphroditus is another example of the love and zealous longing for one another that I hope is at St. Andrew's and which I am often privileged to see there. Epaphroditus longed to see the Philippians (26), just as Paul did in chapter 1, verse 8. Epaphroditus loved them so much that even though he was the one who was sick, he was distressed because the Philippians had heard he was sick, and he didn’t want to be a burden to them!
Epaphroditus is another saint who did not seek his own things but the things of Christ by seeking the good of others. For the work of Christ, he “came close to death, not regarding his life” (30.)
Hmmmm. Didn’t I just hear somewhere something like, “This is love: to lay down your life for another”? This is exactly what Epaphroditus did for the sake of Jesus Christ, by serving the saints. And it is exactly what God is calling you to do this morning.
It would be easy to read what Paul says and what I have just written, to finish the dregs of your morning coffee and get on with the rest of the day and immediately forget what Jesus Christ has just called you to do. But He is calling you, at the very moment of your reading this, to lay down your life for Him as He laid it down for you. He is calling you to sincerely care for the state of the brothers and sisters in Christ that He Himself has given to you. He is calling you to not regard your own life too highly, so that you may minister to Him by ministering to His Church.
But don’t think of this life of love and service as one of drudgery and the extinction of joy. Who was more joyful than Jesus, Paul, and Epaphroditus, the very people who gave up their lives for others?
What joy Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians must have had whenever they got together! I want to be at their reunions and celebrate with them (I guess I’ll get that chance in heaven!) I want to be in a church where the people continue daily with one accord in the temple and break bread from house to house, eating their food with gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:46.)
Don’t look to the 1st century church or some other age as the golden age of Christianity which is lost and shall never be found again. We are in the golden age of Christianity because Jesus Christ is with us, if we are with Him. And Jesus Christ has offered to us all of His things which He offered to Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians: joy in Christ, a serious sense of the high calling in Christ, bowels of compassion, a life of sacrifice, a love that spontaneously and zealously seeks out the good of others, and an intimate sense of Jesus Christ dwelling in us as we see Him working in His body.
Guess what? I’m in Paul’s church, after all, because I’m in the Church of Jesus Christ, his Lord and mine. And so are you.
Prayer: Father, thank You for giving to Your Church many faithful sons and daughters to follow the godly examples of Sts. Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. Make me such a saint by giving to me the mind which was in Your Son and the Spirit of humility and love. Increase my joy as I learn to serve You more perfectly by serving those You have given to me, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. If your local church were filled with members like you, what kind of church would it be?
2. What is the one thing that you know God is asking you to do to more faithfully serve Him by caring about someone around you?
3. Meditate on one godly example of a saint you know who has sincerely cared for the state of others. Hold this person in esteem. How can you labor to follow his or her godly example?
Resolution: I resolve to find one way today to sincerely care for the state of a brother or sister in Christ by giving up myself for his or her good.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
But to be in such a church, I have to be such a member of the local church where God is calling me. I cannot hope to be part of such a church if I myself am not such a member. And so I want all of these things for myself: joy in Christ, a serious sense of my high calling in Christ, bowels of compassion, a life of sacrifice, a love that spontaneously and zealously seeks out the good of others, and an intimate sense of Jesus Christ dwelling in me as I see Him working in His body.
Since it is no longer possible to be a part of St. Paul’s church, I want to press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort Worth. As much as is possible within me, I want to labor diligently to pastor a church that lives the way that St. Paul and his churches seemed to live. I want to be able to say at St. Andrew's that this is a church that lives for Jesus Christ and works out its salvation together with fear and trembling so that even the angels are instructed.
On the one hand, I don’t want any of you to be discouraged and think only of how great the pastors and the Christians were back in St. Paul’s day compared to our own. Whenever you feel the temptation to think that you are more unworthy and unprofitable as a servant than any Christian of the first century, go back and read I Corinthians and see the sins in the church that Paul had to deal with.
On the other hand, I do want all of you to be encouraged by the godly examples of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. The same Jesus Christ who lived in them, and for whom they lived, is the one who lives in you. The same Holy Spirit that inspired them to love one another with the love of Christ and to sacrifice their lives for Christ is at work in each of you. The difference, therefore, may be not so much in the degree of God’s grace that we receive but in how we have received it.
If I had to summarize the secret of God’s blessings on Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians as contained in this passage, I would say that it was this: that these godly examples sought not their own things but the things of Jesus Christ (verse 21.) In fact, verse 21 is a good reminder of how imperfect some Christians were in Paul’s day, that “golden age” of Christianity that every one is looking for. What Paul says is not that he is surrounded with Timothys and Epaphrodituses (or is the plural “Epaphroditi”?), but that, “all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”
But I want to be in a church, I want to help create a church, where the members seek not their own things but the things of Christ Jesus and do this by seeking the things of the people Jesus Christ has given them. I want to create such a church by first being such a person. I want to follow St. Timothy in his ministry.
Paul wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians. But he didn’t want to send him because he was such a great preacher, because he was such an outgoing and charismatic personality, or because he was a capable administrator and had experience in running a large church. Paul wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians because he will sincerely care for the state of the Philippians (verse 20.) Paul eagerly desired to know the state, the spiritual condition (by which I mean all of life), of the Philippians. And so he wanted to send Timothy who would not only report back to Paul but would care for the state of the Philippians.
Timothy is one who Paul could trust to not seek his own things but the things of Christ by seeking the good of the Philippians. As Paul wanted to remain on the earth because it was needful for the good of the Philippians, so Timothy sought the things of Christ by seeking the good of the Philippians.
If you want to seek the things of Christ, then seek to serve Him in the people He has put in your life – especially those in your local church.
I want to be in a church with St. Epaphroditus as well. It’s easy to neglect Epaphroditus when Paul and Timothy are around, but here is an “ordinary” Christian who Paul found to be extraordinary. Epaphroditus is another example of the love and zealous longing for one another that I hope is at St. Andrew's and which I am often privileged to see there. Epaphroditus longed to see the Philippians (26), just as Paul did in chapter 1, verse 8. Epaphroditus loved them so much that even though he was the one who was sick, he was distressed because the Philippians had heard he was sick, and he didn’t want to be a burden to them!
Epaphroditus is another saint who did not seek his own things but the things of Christ by seeking the good of others. For the work of Christ, he “came close to death, not regarding his life” (30.)
Hmmmm. Didn’t I just hear somewhere something like, “This is love: to lay down your life for another”? This is exactly what Epaphroditus did for the sake of Jesus Christ, by serving the saints. And it is exactly what God is calling you to do this morning.
It would be easy to read what Paul says and what I have just written, to finish the dregs of your morning coffee and get on with the rest of the day and immediately forget what Jesus Christ has just called you to do. But He is calling you, at the very moment of your reading this, to lay down your life for Him as He laid it down for you. He is calling you to sincerely care for the state of the brothers and sisters in Christ that He Himself has given to you. He is calling you to not regard your own life too highly, so that you may minister to Him by ministering to His Church.
But don’t think of this life of love and service as one of drudgery and the extinction of joy. Who was more joyful than Jesus, Paul, and Epaphroditus, the very people who gave up their lives for others?
What joy Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians must have had whenever they got together! I want to be at their reunions and celebrate with them (I guess I’ll get that chance in heaven!) I want to be in a church where the people continue daily with one accord in the temple and break bread from house to house, eating their food with gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:46.)
Don’t look to the 1st century church or some other age as the golden age of Christianity which is lost and shall never be found again. We are in the golden age of Christianity because Jesus Christ is with us, if we are with Him. And Jesus Christ has offered to us all of His things which He offered to Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians: joy in Christ, a serious sense of the high calling in Christ, bowels of compassion, a life of sacrifice, a love that spontaneously and zealously seeks out the good of others, and an intimate sense of Jesus Christ dwelling in us as we see Him working in His body.
Guess what? I’m in Paul’s church, after all, because I’m in the Church of Jesus Christ, his Lord and mine. And so are you.
Prayer: Father, thank You for giving to Your Church many faithful sons and daughters to follow the godly examples of Sts. Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. Make me such a saint by giving to me the mind which was in Your Son and the Spirit of humility and love. Increase my joy as I learn to serve You more perfectly by serving those You have given to me, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. If your local church were filled with members like you, what kind of church would it be?
2. What is the one thing that you know God is asking you to do to more faithfully serve Him by caring about someone around you?
3. Meditate on one godly example of a saint you know who has sincerely cared for the state of others. Hold this person in esteem. How can you labor to follow his or her godly example?
Resolution: I resolve to find one way today to sincerely care for the state of a brother or sister in Christ by giving up myself for his or her good.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday of 3rd Sunday after Epiphany - Philippians 1:27-2:11
“For me to live is Christ,” St. Paul says in Philippians 1:21. How many of you are willing to say this and live this, regardless of what it might involve?
I thought I’d get that out of the way because God is about to put you to the test. I was just talking 2 days ago in WalMart (of all places) with a young man who is spiritually seeking, currently on his way out of materialistic Wiccanism to more of an all-religions-are-the-same-Buddhist-spiritual belief. Actually, it was his girlfriend who suggested a test to sniff out true Christians. Her test was to ask Christians if they would be willing to die for their beliefs.
It’s a good test, and one that is related to what St. Paul is about to say.
Paul begins this passage by saying that we must let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Once again, our behavior (and not just our belief) is an essential part of our faith. Paul warns the Philippians (verse 29) that they have been granted on behalf of Jesus Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for His sake.
Here is where the test of our faith comes in. When suffering comes into your life, how does it affect your faith and life in Christ? For some, it will drive them away, as if to say, “I can’t believe in a God who would allow suffering – especially mine!” For others, suffering will discourage them, and they will slowly grow distracted and weaker in their faith. Some will treat suffering with a kind of Roman stoicism, attempting to bravely endure it while trying to wish it away. Others still will attempt human means of dulling the pain.
But the Christian response to suffering is to accept it as a means of participating in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we want to be able to say with St. Paul that, “For me, to live is Christ,” then we must be willing to accept all of Him. Some Christians and churches give us the idea that the Christian life will be all health and wealth and sunshine. When, naturally, this isn’t the case, then discouragement and a sense of betrayal set in.
But God has never promised those things in this life. What He does promise is that for those who are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, His Son will live in and through them. This life in Christ, however, includes all of Christ. It includes being raised to new life with Him, but only if a dying to self is also included. It includes the promise of glory and the resurrection, but only after we have persevered with Christ in His sufferings as well.
Even, especially, the Son of God was not given a life of ease: instead, He suffered for us. And He expects that we will suffer with, for, and through Him.
But how will we be able to bear such a difficult teaching, one that sees all suffering as potentially redemptive, and one that requires that we rejoice in our sufferings because they are uniting us to Christ?
It requires humility. It requires that you pick up your Cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus Christ wherever He leads you. If you want to be able to say that for you to live is Christ, then you must mean it, and you must mean that you are willing to give up your own life for Him, as He gave up His for you.
The pattern that Jesus gave us and that Paul presents is that the Cross precedes the Resurrection: Good Friday first, and then Easter.
Paul says that to be united to Jesus Christ, to live for Him, you must have the mind of Christ. And what was this mind? It was a single-minded devotion to do the will of the Father – whatever the cost. The Christian way, the Christian life, is the Way of the Cross, and like Jesus we must set ourselves resolutely to be willing to go up to Jerusalem to meet the Cross.
Consider the humility that the Son has given to you as an example for how you should live. First, though He was God Almighty and the Son of God from eternity past, He “made Himself of no reputation.” This is something a lot of us are not willing to do: to make ourselves of no reputation. The King James doesn’t do justice to the word kenosis, translating it as “reputation.” What it really means is that Christ emptied Himself. And this is what you must do every day before Almighty God if you want to say that for you to live is Christ.
The Son of God humbled Himself, or emptied Himself, first by born a human being. What it must have felt like for God to become a mere human is beyond my imagination, but I do know that it took humility. The Creator became a part of the creation; He who was infinite became finite and limited.
The humility of Christ is even greater than this, for when He came, He didn’t start life as a full-grown human being but was born a helpless baby. He was not born into the family of a king but of a carpenter. When He began His public ministry and most people expected He would rule like a human king, He took the form of a servant (verse 7.) He spent 3 years not being served but serving. He lived out a life of love, giving Himself for others, even though He had every right to command complete obedience and servitude to Him.
The humility of Christ grew even greater because when it came time for Him to save the world, He humbled Himself and obeyed the Father to the point of death (verse 8.) He who was the Giver of Life gave up His life that we might live with Him. He chose not the death we might choose, a quick and quiet death by old age in our bed, but chose instead the death of the Cross, the most vicious and painful death the Romans could devise.
This is the Christ that you just said you wanted to be your life. This is way of Christ that you as a Christian must take upon yourself, if you desire to live in Christ.
It’s not likely that Jesus will require you to die the death of a martyr for Him, and yet He still commands you to surrender your life to Him completely. There are many Christians who, if asked if they would die for Christ, would raise their hands. But Jesus Christ hasn’t asked you to die physically for Him, only to die to yourself in a hundred ways each day.
He’s not asking you for one single heroic and spectacular moment of faith but for a daily life of faithfulness that often seems unheroic and dull. In fact, only those who have been quietly practicing a life of sacrificing themselves daily to God are likely to be in a position to do something heroic for Christ if and when the time comes. After all, even Jesus had to spend a lifetime of perfectly obeying the Father before He was ready for the Cross – and even then it wasn’t easy for Him.
Our hope, in this life of humble sacrifice, is that as Christ was highly exalted by the Father (verse 9), we will be exalted with Him. If we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him. “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11-12; see also Romans 8:17.)
Yes, I want to be able to say that for me to live is Christ - not because I want to suffer, but because I know that if I suffer with Him I shall reign with Him in glory. And I know that if I give Him my suffering He will share it with me and transform it into glory by His gracious love and presence.
For me, to live is Christ – every bit of Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I humbly ask that You would give me Your mind of humility and love. Give me the grace of Your Spirit to obey the Father and submit to His loving will. Give me the grace to follow You in Your suffering so that I might participate in Your resurrection and glory. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Practice submitting the disappointments of the day to Christ as a means of humbling yourself. When there are daily frustrations or disappointments, use them as reminders to turn to Jesus.
2. Meditate more on the deepest suffering in your life. Pray that you might be able to see it as a means of participating in the sufferings of your Lord. Pray that God will use this as a means of your calling on Him more frequently and passionately.
Resolution: I resolve to examine the suffering in my life today and receive it as a means of humbling me and bringing me to God. It may be useful to choose one source of suffering or disappointment in particular.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
I thought I’d get that out of the way because God is about to put you to the test. I was just talking 2 days ago in WalMart (of all places) with a young man who is spiritually seeking, currently on his way out of materialistic Wiccanism to more of an all-religions-are-the-same-Buddhist-spiritual belief. Actually, it was his girlfriend who suggested a test to sniff out true Christians. Her test was to ask Christians if they would be willing to die for their beliefs.
It’s a good test, and one that is related to what St. Paul is about to say.
Paul begins this passage by saying that we must let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Once again, our behavior (and not just our belief) is an essential part of our faith. Paul warns the Philippians (verse 29) that they have been granted on behalf of Jesus Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for His sake.
Here is where the test of our faith comes in. When suffering comes into your life, how does it affect your faith and life in Christ? For some, it will drive them away, as if to say, “I can’t believe in a God who would allow suffering – especially mine!” For others, suffering will discourage them, and they will slowly grow distracted and weaker in their faith. Some will treat suffering with a kind of Roman stoicism, attempting to bravely endure it while trying to wish it away. Others still will attempt human means of dulling the pain.
But the Christian response to suffering is to accept it as a means of participating in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we want to be able to say with St. Paul that, “For me, to live is Christ,” then we must be willing to accept all of Him. Some Christians and churches give us the idea that the Christian life will be all health and wealth and sunshine. When, naturally, this isn’t the case, then discouragement and a sense of betrayal set in.
But God has never promised those things in this life. What He does promise is that for those who are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, His Son will live in and through them. This life in Christ, however, includes all of Christ. It includes being raised to new life with Him, but only if a dying to self is also included. It includes the promise of glory and the resurrection, but only after we have persevered with Christ in His sufferings as well.
Even, especially, the Son of God was not given a life of ease: instead, He suffered for us. And He expects that we will suffer with, for, and through Him.
But how will we be able to bear such a difficult teaching, one that sees all suffering as potentially redemptive, and one that requires that we rejoice in our sufferings because they are uniting us to Christ?
It requires humility. It requires that you pick up your Cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus Christ wherever He leads you. If you want to be able to say that for you to live is Christ, then you must mean it, and you must mean that you are willing to give up your own life for Him, as He gave up His for you.
The pattern that Jesus gave us and that Paul presents is that the Cross precedes the Resurrection: Good Friday first, and then Easter.
Paul says that to be united to Jesus Christ, to live for Him, you must have the mind of Christ. And what was this mind? It was a single-minded devotion to do the will of the Father – whatever the cost. The Christian way, the Christian life, is the Way of the Cross, and like Jesus we must set ourselves resolutely to be willing to go up to Jerusalem to meet the Cross.
Consider the humility that the Son has given to you as an example for how you should live. First, though He was God Almighty and the Son of God from eternity past, He “made Himself of no reputation.” This is something a lot of us are not willing to do: to make ourselves of no reputation. The King James doesn’t do justice to the word kenosis, translating it as “reputation.” What it really means is that Christ emptied Himself. And this is what you must do every day before Almighty God if you want to say that for you to live is Christ.
The Son of God humbled Himself, or emptied Himself, first by born a human being. What it must have felt like for God to become a mere human is beyond my imagination, but I do know that it took humility. The Creator became a part of the creation; He who was infinite became finite and limited.
The humility of Christ is even greater than this, for when He came, He didn’t start life as a full-grown human being but was born a helpless baby. He was not born into the family of a king but of a carpenter. When He began His public ministry and most people expected He would rule like a human king, He took the form of a servant (verse 7.) He spent 3 years not being served but serving. He lived out a life of love, giving Himself for others, even though He had every right to command complete obedience and servitude to Him.
The humility of Christ grew even greater because when it came time for Him to save the world, He humbled Himself and obeyed the Father to the point of death (verse 8.) He who was the Giver of Life gave up His life that we might live with Him. He chose not the death we might choose, a quick and quiet death by old age in our bed, but chose instead the death of the Cross, the most vicious and painful death the Romans could devise.
This is the Christ that you just said you wanted to be your life. This is way of Christ that you as a Christian must take upon yourself, if you desire to live in Christ.
It’s not likely that Jesus will require you to die the death of a martyr for Him, and yet He still commands you to surrender your life to Him completely. There are many Christians who, if asked if they would die for Christ, would raise their hands. But Jesus Christ hasn’t asked you to die physically for Him, only to die to yourself in a hundred ways each day.
He’s not asking you for one single heroic and spectacular moment of faith but for a daily life of faithfulness that often seems unheroic and dull. In fact, only those who have been quietly practicing a life of sacrificing themselves daily to God are likely to be in a position to do something heroic for Christ if and when the time comes. After all, even Jesus had to spend a lifetime of perfectly obeying the Father before He was ready for the Cross – and even then it wasn’t easy for Him.
Our hope, in this life of humble sacrifice, is that as Christ was highly exalted by the Father (verse 9), we will be exalted with Him. If we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him. “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11-12; see also Romans 8:17.)
Yes, I want to be able to say that for me to live is Christ - not because I want to suffer, but because I know that if I suffer with Him I shall reign with Him in glory. And I know that if I give Him my suffering He will share it with me and transform it into glory by His gracious love and presence.
For me, to live is Christ – every bit of Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I humbly ask that You would give me Your mind of humility and love. Give me the grace of Your Spirit to obey the Father and submit to His loving will. Give me the grace to follow You in Your suffering so that I might participate in Your resurrection and glory. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Practice submitting the disappointments of the day to Christ as a means of humbling yourself. When there are daily frustrations or disappointments, use them as reminders to turn to Jesus.
2. Meditate more on the deepest suffering in your life. Pray that you might be able to see it as a means of participating in the sufferings of your Lord. Pray that God will use this as a means of your calling on Him more frequently and passionately.
Resolution: I resolve to examine the suffering in my life today and receive it as a means of humbling me and bringing me to God. It may be useful to choose one source of suffering or disappointment in particular.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
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