Joy in Sacrifice

 

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." (Philippians 3:7-9, English Standard Version)

 

What are some of the things we hold dear?  Here's a partial list:  Our family; our children; our jobs; our homes; our reputations; our hobbies; money; power; prestige; etc.  If I were to ask you what is the one thing you hold most dear—the one thing that you would search "heaven and earth" for—what would it be?  This is a question we all need to ask ourselves—especially Christians.  There are two parables from the gospel of Matthew I want to draw on before launching into today's passage.  In Matthew 13, Jesus tells two short parables to illustrate a very important point:  The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:44-46).  In both parables, the kingdom of heaven (i.e., eternal salvation) is pictured as something of great value—something far above any earthly treasure.  So valuable is the kingdom of heaven that in each parable the person who finds it is willing to sell everything else he owns to obtain it.

 

Now, let’s look at today’s passage from Philippians 3.  The context of this passage is Paul’s warning to the Philippian believers to watch out for legalistic people who want to boast about their religious activity.  Paul then launches into a “religious inventory” of his own.  In verse 4, he says, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.”  In other words, Paul is in effect saying, “These legalistic people think they can boast about their accomplishments, I can boast more!”  And the amazing thing was, it was true.  Paul did have an impressive résumé, according to Jewish standards.  There were not many people who could top Paul in religious achievement.  BUT… (this is the most important word in the Bible).  Everything Paul had at one time counted in the “plus” column, he now placed in the “minus” column ("But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ”).  The word “counted” in this verse is an accounting term.  Prior to his conversion, Paul considered all his religious achievement as assets.  Now after his conversion, they were liabilities.  So much so that he calls all his pre-conversion religious activity “rubbish.”  In the original Greek, this is a nasty word which literally means “dung” or “manure.”

 

What Paul did was what the guy in Jesus’ parables did.  He gave up everything for “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  He saw Jesus as offering something far more valuable than anything he could achieve on his own, so he scrapped his self-righteousness program and got on to the righteousness of Christ program (“in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ”).

 

So, returning to the question posed earlier:  What is the one thing you hold most dear?  If you’re a Christian, and the answer is not Jesus Christ, then I challenge you to re-think your priorities!  Jesus said, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).  If you’re not a Christian, then think long and hard about the things you hold most dear.  Is there anything on earth that can offer lasting joy and satisfaction?  The thrill of obtaining new things ultimately fades, and every personal relationship disappoints from time to time.  This is not meant to knock owning things or having relationships.  The whole point is prioritizing your devotion to things and people.  Again, Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).  Being a Christian means putting Jesus first in everything; even to the point of counting everything else as a loss.

 

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