Five years ago, almost to the day, the pastors of Grace were on our annual strategic retreat, making plans for where our church would head for the next five years. We kept watching the news, though, because something called “Coronavirus disease 2019” was spreading rapidly across the country.
It got worse every day, and by the end of our retreat it was clear that this was a full-blown pandemic. We decided to shut down our building and move our services that weekend entirely online. As you can imagine, our 5-year plans that we had just drafted become entirely obsolete.
Now, the timing couldn’t have been crazier for me, because in June of 2020 (two months later), I was scheduled to take over my dad’s role as senior pastor of Grace Church.
All of a sudden we had to figure out how to make that transition in the middle of a global crisis.
To this day I am still shocked that my dad had enough confidence in me to say, in March of 2020, “Why don’t you lead us through this? And I’ll support you.” So in a way, this is the fifth anniversary of me stepping up to the helm of Grace for the first time.
It was also the first of many moments since that day that I have felt like an absolute imposter. “I’m not the right guy for this!” Leading through a pandemic, a massive ministry restructuring, multiple crises, big and small.
Not to mention that I was now supposed to be a pastor to this diverse congregation, shepherding people through divorce and grief and weddings and funerals and teaching them how to follow Jesus.
To be clear, I felt (and still feel) deeply called to this role by God, but I have often wondered what He was thinking in putting me here. Me? A pastor?
But over the last couple of years, I have to tell you that that feeling has begun to change.
Not because I now think I’m some kind of expert. No! I still feel totally unqualified most the time and anything I’ve done right has been entirely thanks to the Holy Spirit.
But the feeling of being a pastor - of being your pastor… It’s finally starting to sink in.
I so deeply love this family. I’m honored that you let me teach you the Bible. And I cherish the opportunities I have to care for you.
We’ve talked throughout this series about the fact that we’re a new generation at Grace, carrying the torch forward from what came before. Well, last weekend I felt the joy and honor of that responsibility like never before.
[images: Commitment 1-6] As everyone came forward to make their commitments to Reimagine, I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude. As I watched hundreds of you making a commitment to your “one,” I couldn’t shake the feeling that God is doing something here.
As you passed by me with hugs and handshakes and smiles and tears, I felt like your pastor. What a privilege to see what God is doing in and through you.
I want to start today by simply saying “thank you.” Thank you for giving me the privilege of leading this congregation.
I still often wonder what God was thinking in calling me here, but I’ve never been more grateful that he did.
REIMAGINE
With all of these emotions and memories running through me these days, I think I understand the Apostle Paul’s feelings for the church in Philippi better than ever before.
Which is a good thing, because that’s what we’re talking about today. This is week 6 of “Reimagine,” our exploration of the book of Philippians.
This is Paul’s most joyful letter, and - perhaps because of his love for them - it’s also one of his most fervent.
As he wallows in prison and considers the possible end of his life there, he wants to make sure that his beloved brothers and sisters in Philippi carry the torch forward when he’s gone. It’s why he says,
Philippians 1:6
I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
So, let’s keep our exploration of this letter going. Grab a Bible and turn with me to Philippians 3:7, Page ________.
While you’re turning there, just a brief comment about the commitments we made last week.
We’re still receiving some and counting them. Which means if you haven’t yet made a commitment, it is not too late to join in!
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just a quick reminder, these are two, two-year commitments we are making as a church:
#1) Relational commitment: To love and pray for and be intentional with our “ones” (people in our lives who are not currently walking with Jesus)
#2) Financial commitment: to reimagine our building as something more like a community center where our neighbors can come and meet Jesus in you.
Again, it’s not too late to commit. In fact, I strongly encourage you to do so. I would love it if every single Grace family committed to having a “one” and also to giving something financially to Reimagine. Again, not as an obligation, but as an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing here.
The amount doesn’t matter. Whether it’s $500 or $5000, if it’s a sacrifice for you, you’re honoring God by committing to it. I encourage you to consider it.
If you want to fill out a commitment card you can drop it in the offering bag after the message, or give it to someone at the Reimagine kiosk in the lobby. You can also do it online at gracechurch.us/reimagine. you can even mail your card to Grace or call our office during the week.
Regardless, we just want to have all commitments in by this Thursday so we can celebrate the total amounts next Sunday during our special service at 10am.
Yet again I want you to know how deeply grateful I am that you are a part of this church family. Ok. Let’s pray, and then we’ll get into the text.
[PRAY]
KNOWING CHRIST
Last week we talked about Paul’s single-minded devotion to being a lens that magnifies Jesus. A portal to New Creation. Well, in this section of the letter he is fleshing that out a bit more.
At the beginning of chapter 3 Paul tells a bit of his story: how he used to be a zealous, righteous, super-Pharisee. But then he says this:
Philippians 3:7-9
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.
So, Paul says the stuff he used to value he now thinks of as garbage. Although, if you were here for Easter a couple of years ago you may remember that the actual Greek word here is a bit more extreme. It’s the word,
skybalon - dung, refuse, rubbish
It’s the word for the nasty, filthy stuff that flows down the gutters. And remember, they didn’t have internal plumbing. This stuff is sewer water.
That’s how Paul thinks about what he used to value. Worse than nothing. So what does he value now? Well, look at the start of verse 8.
“Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Now, it may be tempting to think of this “knowing Christ” as a kind of head knowledge. Like, knowing facts about Jesus or theology or whatever.
But that’s not what he means. To Paul, knowing Christ is all about transformation. Knowing him at a soul level. It’s “sanctification,” as we talked about a few weeks ago. Following Jesus so closely that you become like him. Become one with him.
Again, it’s that idea that we are portals or lenses to heaven. When people look at us, they see Christ. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to go.
So Paul’s singled-minded devotion is for that to be true in his life. “Everything else is gutter filth compared to knowing - becoming like - Jesus in every way until one day I am resurrected to stand with him face to face and my transformation will be complete. That’s what matters to me.”
PRESSING ON
Paul goes on.
Philippians 3:12-17
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
Paul gives a few examples of those who are not doing this, and then he says this in v.20:
Philippians 3:20
We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
If you remember last week we talked about this idea of being “citizens of heaven.” It’s another way of describing that portal idea.
A reminder: Philippi was a colony of far-off Rome that was legally considered to be Roman soil. Being a citizen of Rome was a really big deal there.
But Paul wants the Philippian Church to remember that that is not their identity. They are citizens of God’s realm, not Rome, and everywhere they walk, the soil beneath their feet is New Creation.
As we saw last week, this comes with a responsibility to move into the broken world as representatives of Christ’s healing work. Bottom line,
You are citizens of heaven. Live like it.
Ok, so let’s go back to verse 12, where Paul adds in a new metaphor to describe his work in Jesus. That of running a race.
Athletic competitions - like the Olympics - were very common in Ancient Greece and Macedonia, [image: runners] so the imagery here would have been easy for his audience to grasp: a bunch of guys running flat out for glory.
Now, at first glance, it might seem like Paul is mixing metaphors here. We’re citizens of heaven and we’re running a race? It seems a bit disconnected, but I’m not entirely sure that it is.
You see, as a Roman colony, Philippi was active in what’s called the Roman Imperial Cult - basically the worship of the Emperor and his family as gods. In downtown Philippi there was a big imperial cult temple overlooking the main marketplace.
There were statues of the Caesars everywhere you looked. Their faces were on your coins. You couldn’t escape it and you were expected to bow the knee in worship.
Well, this may sound strange to us, but one of the ways people participated in the imperial cult was through athletic competitions in honor of the emperor’s divinity.
Basically, you’d compete with all your might - running or wrestling - as a way of glorifying Caesar. If you won, you’d get a crown made of leaves as a trophy, you’d get your name inscribed in stone, and the emperor might even learn your name.
Again, it seems weird, but they saw a supernatural component to these contests, and did them to magnify the emperor.
But let’s come back to Paul, because obviously he isn’t running for Caesar’s honor at all; he’s running to magnify Christ. We’re citizens of heaven, remember.
He’s not racing to win a crown of leaves; he’s racing for a “heavenly prize.”
He’s not running for earthly glory; as he says in verse 12, he’s running for, “perfection.” More literally in the Greek, for the completion or fulfillment of a goal.
What goal? The goal of “knowing Christ Jesus his Lord” - becoming like Christ in all things, even suffering and death. The goal of being with Christ forever in resurrection. (“To live is Christ, to die is gain.”)
That is Paul’s finish line. That is the “one thing” Paul is focused on with single-minded devotion. Everything else is skybalon.
Verse 13. “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on…” Press on, the Greek word,
diōkō - to pursue, follow eagerly, endeavor earnestly to acquire
Paul is relentlessly dedicated to being a portal to Christ, to introducing Jesus to this broken world through his life and ministry. This is the purpose for which Paul has given his life. That’s the race he’s running as a citizen of heaven.
But here’s the key: By talking about his passion and hard work Paul is not patting himself on the back here. He’s writing all of this because he wants the church in Philippi to do the same. Verse 17:
Philippians 3:17
Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine…
In other words, “As I pursue Christlikeness with every breath in my body, I want you to follow me and do the same. We are running this race together.
“As I pass you the baton, remember that there is nothing more important than joining Christ in his healing mission. Live like him. Love like him. Pursue the prize with everything you have. Run this race to win. Not for your glory, but for his.”
MY CROWN
There’s one final detail in this passage that I find so beautiful, especially when you remember that Paul writing this from a horrible prison cell where he thought he might die. In verse 1 of chapter 4, Paul says this:
Philippians 4:1
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.
Earlier I said that Paul isn’t running the race for a crown of leaves, like ancient athletes did. He is running for a far more important prize.
But here, he comes back to that racing metaphor one last time and says that his dear friends in Philippi are not just his joy, but his crown.
What I think he means by this is that yes, he is single-minded in his devotion. All the work he did in planting the church in Philippi, all his prayers over the years for their growth and protection, all his work on their behalf, was done in pursuit of Christ.
But seeing the fruit of his labor in their lives - seeing their deep love and generosity blossoming - watching them develop into citizens of heaven who represent Christ to a broken world - that is the trophy he wears like a badge of honor.
Think of it. The Apostle Paul, wallowing in a moldy prison cell, feels like he’s standing on the victor’s podium.
Why? Because he can see Christ at work in them - the one purpose to which he has dedicated his life.
“You are my joy and my crown.”
CONCLUSION
Well, Grace Church? I want you to know that I feel the exact same way watching you.
I started this message talking about my journey of self-doubt and insecurity as a pastor. And with all the obstacles we’ve faced over the last five years, there have been many times it’s felt like a very grueling race and I’m not exactly an Olympic sprinter.
I still often feel like I have no idea what I’m doing and other times I feel like I’m just gasping for breath.
But when I see the self-giving love and generosity you demonstrate, when I see you making room for people who are different than you, when I see you serving with humility and reflecting the love of Jesus to a broken and angry world, I know that I am not running this race in vain.
“You are my joy and my crown.”
That is why I so desperately want us, as Paul says, to pattern our lives on those who came before. The courageous founding generation of this church. Why? Because they patterned their lives on the ones who came before them. And the ones before them did the same.
Again and again. All the way back in an unbroken chain to the church in Philippi and to Paul himself, who patterned his life on Christ.
The torch has been passed to us, Grace Church. In this time, in this place, in this community.
Yes there are times when we don’t feel qualified for the task at hand. But we are running for the glory of Christ, we have His Spirit to guide us, and our spiritual ancestors - a great cloud of witnesses - is cheering us on.
As we commit to the Reimagine Initiative together - loving our “ones” in new ways and opening our building to the community - I want you to remember that this is our chance to show this hurting world that there is another way to live, because we don’t belong here.
We are citizens of heaven, so Run this race to win. Don’t sit on the sidelines. Because you were created for a moment just like this.
What a privilege it is for me - your pastor - to run this race by your side.
[PRAY]
[Set up offering.]