The Sermon I Didn't Give (Snow Storm)

“Formed in Christ”

March 21, 2010

Philippians 3:4-14 (New International Version)

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

It sounds like Paul is bragging here, doesn’t it? But then he goes on to say:

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more; I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and 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. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

This scripture has a couple of lessons. The primary lesson is “do not look back”. God has initiated a change in our lives or we wouldn’t be here and we are challenged to be “formed in Christ”. Our Isaiah passage which I did not read is a challenge to the people of Israel to “not look back” but to move forward into new life.

Here Paul enumerates all his accomplishments but he doesn’t look back on them…he is challenged to instead look forward, losing what he considered his “righteousness of the past”. What Paul barely mentions here is his steadfast persecution of the Christians…those he caused to be persecuted and sometimes even put to death. It’s no wonder Paul does not want to look back.

And neither should we. All of us, at some time in our lives have done things for which we are now deeply ashamed. But this instruction here “to not look back” is wise. Nothing can be done about our past sins and looking back can hold us back from any growth and make us self absorbed and keep us from seeing the need all around us. Looking to the future and being aware of God’s Spirit, can lead us into a happier and more fulfilled life. Feelings of guilt are a terrible thing.

I will always remember my mom, who was a recovering alcoholic, saying she had wasted her life. She was 64 years old when she came to herself and decided not to drink anymore. She had been drinking for almost thirty years. Her health was ruined. But with God’s help, she was able to do something few are able to do. She stopped drinking completely on her own, without the help of a treatment center or any medication. Her only help was the support she received from her family and God. Furthermore she recognized that and she came back to church every time the doors were open and she brought her sister, Mildred, who had not come to church in years. Then she became an inspiration to another friend who had tried several times but couldn’t quit drinking. So, no, her life was not wasted. But the important thing was that since the past could not be changed, she did not look back.

And if we look back on the past sins of our loved ones, that will keep us from appreciating what they have managed to overcome.

As Paul says, we should not put our trust in ourselves but instead have confidence that God’s Spirit will attempt to lead us into right ways…ways that will make us happy and open to spiritual growth. We should now be “formed in Christ”.

As an international faith community we will continually engage in extended conversation with one another and, most especially, with the Holy Spirit to figure out just what God is calling us to be and do. There are many choices, many seemingly “right” answers. The key question, as posed in paragraph 10b, of Section 163 is to “discern and pursue what matters most for the journey ahead.”

This challenge of discovering or discerning what God wants rather than what we want for the church as well as ourselves is a real dilemma for us.

Our situation is daunting. We are trying to be an international church in increasingly pluralistic societies and cultures. We are called to be accepting, diverse, multilingual, and generous. We have begun to be more comfortable with our name, but we do not yet fully understand what a blessing it can be and what God has in store for us. To top all this off, we still do not fit easily in any other religious tradition. We face what Rich Brown calls a collection of “yets”:

• We are called to proclaim the “peace of Jesus Christ,” yet we are not a traditional peace church like the Quakers or Brethren.

• We are a deeply sacramental people who celebrate eight holy sacraments, yet we are not within the traditions of other Christian churches (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican) that also observe so many.

• We value the outward characteristics of a spiritual life, yet we are not within the broad stream of traditional holiness churches (such as those within historic Wesleyan movements).

• We have deep, lasting roots in the Latter Day Saint tradition, yet we do not self-identify as a “Mormon” church—and cringe when others make that connection.

• We uphold the congregation as the primary unit of the church, yet we are not a Congregationalist church.

• We can agree in principle with many of our Protestant sisters and brothers on the “priesthood of all believers,” yet at the same time we affirm our system of governance as a theocratic democracy led by the Holy Spirit through priesthood.

• We see ourselves as a Spirit-led community, yet we are not a Pentecostal church like the Assembly of God.

Most of us in the Community of Christ try our best to balance multiple roles and responsibilities. We have God, family, church, career, and community all mixed up in our identities.

Recently the Community Elementary School here in Coffeyville contacted me about a fire that wiped out a home and all the belongings of a family of six. Perhaps they knew I had a huge database of contacts from the days of the flood. Anyhow, I put out the word and the donations flooded in. That family is now settled into another rental house with lots of donated furniture and clothing. But I did nothing really to get in touch with them and check their progress.

Section 163 called us to stop, to listen to “the Voice,” and engage in an extended conversation about the future church God beckons us to become. We will not know until we engage honestly, prayerfully, and humbly in this conversation. I am so glad paragraph one ends with the counsel: Do not be afraid.

The more recent Words of Council are an even larger challenge for us. We ask your prayerful support as the upcoming conference decides issues like conditions of membership and the issues surrounding equality and justice for homosexuals in the church.

Since we are called to make and be signal communities, we should renounce, like Paul, excessive nationalism, exaggerated flag loyalty and imperialism, unjustified oppression and domination of others, and all privileges that keep us from accepting the gifts that are offered to us by God. We renounce those privileges, like Paul, not because they are wrong in themselves, but because they are rooted in the old life and have now been replaced by something far better – a new relationship with God, freely offered to all and not confined to those who were able to claim to be righteous according to the old law.

As Paul so aptly said:
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We are challenged to recognize God’s presence in the past but not to live in the past. We are challenged not to pride ourselves on our accomplishments or to measure ourselves by how much we have attained, but instead to strive to be better Christians who see and serve the needs of others less fortunate. We share with others what God has done in our life.

Have we moved on from our past? We are “formed in Christ” and as such, we look forward to a new life. One thing we know or sense is that Jesus followers are called to be in community. Let's pray about how to go about building a robust, life giving community that encourages us to serve our churches, the people in our community and all of God's creation. In order to do that, we ask ourselves, “What has God done in my life?” What are the goals we are trying to attain in our life? Here we have a vision of a faith filled community that is vital, living and dynamic. We invite each of you to join with us as we look toward the future and build on the past. Let us be “formed in Christ”.