Title: TAKE STOCK—IN CHRIST
Focus: In this season of Lent, take stock in Christ, for knowing Jesus is worth living and dying for.
Function: To encourage the people to prioritize the things we value and to see them in the light of knowing Christ Jesus.
Text: Philippians 3:1-16
When I grew up as a teenager, I worked part-time in a supermarket. Once a year, my boss would close the store for a whole day, and during that day all his employees—full-time and part-time—had to come in and take inventory. This, of course, was done for bookkeeping and tax purposes. We had to go through the entire store and the storage area and count every item and product sold by the store. It was a tedious and unpleasant job. Yet it needed to be done. Most of us disliked taking stock or inventory of the store.
In 1974, I came to America with a 6 cylinder Chevrolet, loaded with just about all my belongings. It did not take much time to take stock of what I owned. In 1982, Rosanne and I moved to Dearborn; by that time our “stock” had grown to a small truckload. In 1987, we moved to Des Moines, IA with four children. By that time, all our stuff filled a large truck. In 1995 we moved to Beamsville, Canada with 4 young teenagers. Our stock filled up a huge moving truck. In 2005, Rosanne and I came back to the States; we ended up in Bloomington, yes with a large truck, but our inventory had peaked and was coming down. And I think it is safe to say that we are still in the process of downsizing. Taking stock is getting a lot easier now in the Van Marion household. I know. We have a ways to go yet.
But for today, I want to echo the message from scriptures that we must take stock of our lives. In this season of Lent, then, I urge each one of us to take stock—in Christ, for knowing Jesus is worth living and dying for. Taking inventory of our lives may not be easy or a pleasant exercise; yet today I encourage you to prioritize the things we value and to see those things as a loss in light of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Take stock—in Christ!
THE PASSAGE
· Paul’s Situation
The apostle Paul is writing to the church in Philippi. The Philippians are mostly Roman citizens, living as a colony at the frontier of the Roman empire. Proud citizens of Rome, these Christians in Philippi have much to boast about. Paul himself is writing from the City of Rome, where he is held as a prisoner in a house, waiting for an audience with Caesar, the emperor of Rome.
It’s clear from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi that Paul has a number of things in mind. He wants to thank the Philippian church for their charity and kindness in sending him a gift; Paul reports his own circumstances as a prisoner; he encourages the church to stand firm in the face of persecution, and he exhorts us to live a life of humility and unity.
· Paul’s Warning
Then Paul warns the church about certain people who are leading Christians astray by their teachings. Listen: (vs.2) “Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.” Strong language indeed! Paul has in mind Christians with a Jewish background who insist that salvation comes by turning to Christ and keeping the practice of circumcision. In other words, these people said, in essence, salvation is by faith and works: faith in Christ + submission to the rite of circumcision.
Such teaching takes the heart out of the good news of Jesus Christ. Salvation cannot be earned; it’s God’s free gift all bundled up in Jesus Christ, and to be received by faith. Anyone who takes stock in his/her own works--such as the strict keeping of God’s law and the rite of circumcision—is putting confidence in him or herself. Paul warns against such self-confidence, saying: “…it is we (Christians) who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” It is not what we do, but what God does in us and through us with his Holy Spirit that matters. Salvation is wrought by God and only to be received by us. Do not put stock in yourself!
· Paul’s self-inventory
Having a good name for ourselves is important. Having ringing endorsements and outstanding credentials of achievements are valuable for many today. Well, think again.
Listen to the apostle Paul taking stock of himself—stock of items that would be of great value to his peers: “If anyone else thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day (he fits the prescription of the Law), of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin (truly a son of Abraham), a Hebrew of Hebrews (truly a Jew in origin), in regard to the law, a Pharisee ( a stellar religious party affiliation), as for zeal, persecuting the church (passionate about my faith in the law of God), and as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (You could not get a better law keeper than Paul). From a human, religious standpoint, Paul’s credentials are priceless and highly valued among his peers.
· Paul’s Pearl of Value
But here’s the funny thing. All
these stellar credentials mean nothing to him. Paul takes inventory and considers them a loss. There is something else worth far more. Listen: “…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord….” In other words, do not take stock in worldly credentials; rather, take stock—in Christ!
When Paul thinks of his pearl of great value—knowing Christ Jesus—Paul is thinking especially about what is yet ahead of him and us. In vs. 12-16 Paul reminds us that he is “pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of Paul.” Paul is thinking about what is as yet to come: the renewal of all things; living with Christ on the restored creation; living eternally with resurrection, glorified bodies. Paul always has in mind the big picture of the Christian faith; he stakes his life on that big picture. And he does so by investing himself in Christ Jesus, that is, by “knowing Christ.”
KNOWING CHRIST
What does Paul mean by “knowing Christ”? Two things:
1. He means a spiritual bond or union with Christ—a bond that requires making space for Christ, that requires taking inventory of your life and rearranging everything of worldly value in such a way that Christ takes center in our lives. Listen: “I consider them (all things) rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” Knowing Christ Jesus means to be connected with him, to be united to him, to be found in him. That’s what it means to take stock in Christ.
Well, why is such union so precious for us? Listen: (to be found in Christ) means that I do not have “a righteousness of my own that comes from the law.” It means that I do not have to produce flawless credentials in order to be rescued by Jesus. Rather, it means that God’s righteousness (God’s way of making things right—the way of the cross and the empty tomb—it means that God’s righteousness comes to me through faith. Listen to the text: “…that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” To know Christ is to be united with him through faith. Secondly,
2. To know Christ is to have an experiential relationship with the Lord Jesus—a relationship where we experience the “power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.” “I’ve seen that power of Christ’s resurrection in the lives of fellow believers who faced their own death with courage and deep hope. I’ve seen that power of Christ’s resurrection in funeral homes and at gravesites where family members mourned the death of their loved ones, but their grieving was not “without hope.” They found comfort in Christ’s resurrection and in the promise of the day of resurrection as yet to come.
To know Christ is to have an experiential relationship with the Lord Jesus, where we also enter into the fellowship of sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Just as Jesus showed us the way to the cross and resurrection life by submitting to suffering and dying, so we are called to know Christ today by dying to sin, to self, to the world, and by rising to a conversion life of love, service and obedience.
Such conversion life also includes suffering the consequences and miseries of sin—even today. Our sufferings, however, lead to the ultimate price of full restoration when Christ comes again.
What am I saying? I’m saying that Christians must walk the crossroad. The life of faith in Christ is marked with crosses. But these signs of suffering will lead to an open tomb—the resurrection life that is to come. How shall we know Christ Jesus? We shall know him by walking the crossroad that leads to the open tomb.
Let me be as practical as I can. I want to tell you how to take stock in Christ, and thus how to consider all things we value as a loss.
· Go to Golgotha: In this season of Lent, be sure to walk Jesus’ crossroad. Next week is Palm/Passion Sunday. Then follows Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. Then Easter Sunday. Be sure to attend and participate in worship.
Enter and ponder Jesus’ suffering and death: he died for you and me; he took our place; he took our sins upon his shoulders; he shed his blood that we may be covered and washed clean in the sight of God the Father. Reflect upon the significance of Jesus death, and then consider the open tomb and Jesus’ resurrection. He arose—so that you and I may live. He arose—so that the world may be restored; He arose—so that all of creation shall be brought again into perfect harmony with its Creator.
· Go to a cemetery: If you need some additional help in taking stock in Christ Jesus, then let me recommend to you a trip to the cemetery. Take a walk, read the words written on tombstones, listen to the deafening silence of the dead, and ask yourself some critical, sobering questions: What am I living for? What is worth living and dying for? What is the purpose and value of my “credentials,” the things I value so much today?
Trips to cemeteries for personal reflection and pondering help us to take inventory. I pray that it will also help you to invest, to take stock in Christ Jesus today.
· Go to the Scriptures: Go to Golgotha, walk the road of Christ’s cross and open tomb. Yes. Go to a cemetery and re-evaluate everything in your life. And by all means, always turn to God’s Word, the Scriptures. For there we find the way of life and hope. There we hear the wonderful, astonishing story of God as Creator and Redeemer. And there we enter the story of humanity in relationship to God. And there, in the scriptures, we learn to live our own story, by plugging in our lives with the life of God in Jesus Christ.
Apart from Jesus, everything is a loss. Knowing Christ, however, is worth living and dying for. Take stock—in Christ!
Glory be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and always shall be: world without end. Amen.