Moving Forward
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Introduction: As a father of daughters, I think I’ve seen the movie Frozen a few million times. And I’m not afraid to admit that it’s not the worst movie that’s ever been made. And I’ll probably go see the sequel in the theaters.
But at the core, it actually has a decent message about identity.
Out of fear, Elsa’s parents tried to get her to stop being who she was meant to be. She had to conceal who identity and it actually made for a pretty terrible childhood.
But as she grew up, she got so tired of living in the fear of the past that she broke free and ran away to live who she really was.
And at this point, standing on the side of a mountain comes the song that was sung over and over and over in our house. “Let it go.”
Now as followers of Jesus, we are told to keep inside our religion and our Jesus. Out of fear that we might offend people. Or out of fear of rejection. But we were never meant to keep it all inside. We were called to live in the power of our identity in Jesus.
Today, we learn from Paul that we must let go of everything that gets in the way of following Jesus. We have to let go of expectation, past successes and failures, and even poor examples. We need to let go and press on toward Jesus.
Transition to Text: Paul was writing in a time when Christianity was brand new especially to the gentiles who had very little interaction with the Jewish faith. This following Jesus thing wasn’t a cultural norm or expectation. It was brand new to them. So to follow Jesus meant leaving a lot, if not everything, behind. It mean leaving your family’s religion. It meant risking losing your influence and status in society. It meant possibly losing your family and inheritance (if you had one).
So Paul writes to say, yes, in the words of Elsa of Arendale, “Let it go.”
Let’s read what Paul had to say to the church at Philippi and to us here today:
Phil
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
Transition to big idea: For anyone, there is always the temptation to get stalled. You can feel stuck where you are and not quite sure how to get out of this rut. What’s the answer? It’s rather simple, yet incredibly difficult. Ready?
Big Idea: Keep Moving Forward
Big Idea: Keep Moving Forward
Transition to Point #1: Now if we want to keep moving forward, we have to let go of some things that keep us from that goal. Our goal is to keep moving forward until we reach eternity.
Main Point #1 - Let Go of your Expectations (12-13a)
Main Point #1 - Let Go of your Expectations (12-13a)
Explanation: If there is anyone in Christian church history who might boast of being close to perfection, it would likely be Paul. He seemed to have it all together and his conduct with respect to Christ seems only to verify this. In fact, from a wordly perspective, he had made it; he had arrived. Vs. 4-11 give us his biography. Many of us would look at Paul and think this is the model of the perfect Christian.
Yet, here, even Paul is not willing to claim anything near perfection. In fact he runs from the thought. But this brings us to Paul’s all consuming purpose:
I press on to make it my own. He’s talking about the resurrection of the dead. And what is his means of resurrection? Because Jesus Christ has made me His own.
Not because of who I am, but because of what you’ve done, not because of what I’ve done, but because of who you are.
The point Paul is trying to make is that in this life, perfection is not the goal. Jesus is the goal. To be raised in glory with Jesus. Nothing else truly matters.
In the past, Paul, as a Pharisee, was all about perfection even if it was just the outwards signs of perfection. But not any longer. It’s all about Jesus.
This is what Paul is talking about in vs. 14. The prize isn’t a teddy bear at the carnival. It’s not a promotion at work or children that eat their broccoli (or eat at all). The prize is not God’s obligation to us. The prize is knowing Jesus in eternity.
Now this is a huge encouragement, because it levels the playing field to allow for anyone to achieve the resurrection of the dead. Everyone can be saved because it no longer matters how well you are able to follow the law. All that matters is what Jesus did on the cross.
And He said, “Don’t misunderstand me, you are absolutely saved by works.” And he paused for dramatic effect. And then continued. “Just not your works. You’re saved by Jesus’ works on the cross.”
Illustration: I heard a very influential pastor get asked the question about the connection between faith and works. Can you be saved without works?
And He said, “Don’t misunderstand me, you are absolutely saved by works.” And he paused for dramatic effect. And then continued. “Just not your works. You’re saved by Jesus’ works on the cross.”
Application: Now expectations can be placed on us by others or we can place them on ourselves. It doesn’t matter which. We need to move on from any expectations that don’t have us pushing further into knowing Jesus and making Him known to the world around us.
Question: What expectations do you need to let go of? What pictures of your preferred life do not fit with the life Jesus has prepared for you? How will you go about letting them go?
While expectations often live in our present mind, they are usually the result of our past.
Transition: Now like I said 2 weeks ago, your past doesn’t disqualify you, it prepares you for your future. But please don’t live there.
Main Point #2 - Let Go of your Past (13b-14)
Main Point #2 - Let Go of your Past (13b-14)
Explanation: Now 3 times in these verses Paul talks about the future and how we get there. vs. 12: I press on; vs. 13: straining forward; 14 I press on toward the goal. Now what does moving forward have to do with this? In order to move forward you have to let go of what lies behind.
Illustration: I think I’ve talked in here the most dangerous part of a car is not necessarily the engine of the front end or the accelerator. The most dangerous part of a car is the rear view mirror. Because we can get so fixed on the past that we don’t see what happening right in from of us. Always keep looking forward. Only glance in the rearview…but don’t stay there.
You can’t change the world by worrying about the past…especially if you are trying to make up for it. We can’t move forward by living in the past either. We change the future by living fully in the present.
Some of us live with past regret of things we wish we could change.
How many of us have regrets of things that if we could go back and change we would?
Others keep living in our past accomplishments and successes.
How many of us have a golden age of our lives when things were going really well and it’s hard to move on. Maybe it was that promotion for a job well done, but it’s been a long time since you’ve gotten a promotion. Maybe it’s graduating top of your class, but now you’re just like everyone else trying to make it. Maybe it’s that time when your wife said yes to a very important question, but now your realize that marriage is harder than you thought. Don’t just think about the days that you were happy. Bring it into the present.
Now for Paul, when he talks about letting go of his past, there is a specific way that he is talking about.
If you look early in chapter 3, Paul gives us his resume:
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 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
phil 3:4-
Paul was previously the kind of guy that gets bad service at McDonald’s and complains leading with, “Do you know who I am?” But now that is in the past. All that matters now is to gain Christ and to attain eternal life. And not just any eternal life. You see even Hell is eternal life. The eternal life is the eternal life that Jesus spoke up in
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
3
Application: Are you living forward to eternal life? Are you looking forward to Jesus? Obviously we can’t be so heavenly minded that we’re of no earthly good. But looking forward to heaven changes our perspective of how we live now.
We can let go of things that get in the way.
We don’t have to be stressed about things that don’t truly matter.
We don’t have to live up to expectations when Jesus already met them for us.
Live today in light of eternity.
Main Point #3 - Let go of your poor examples (15-17)
Main Point #3 - Let go of your poor examples (15-17)
Explanation: In the world of Christianity, there are good examples and there are bad examples. And there has always been this kind of subculture of Christianity that stresses the using of Jesus and the church for worldly gain and influence.
But Paul says don’t follow them. Don’t be distracted by them.
Paul says, “Imitate me.” Now for many of us this seems to be an incredibly arrogant thing to say. Shouldn’t we imitating Jesus. Shouldn’t we ask, “What would Jesus do?” Well not exactly.
You see Jesus was perfect. Without sin. He never had to let go of a sinful past or a time when he was wrong. He never had to worry about whether the sacrifice was worth it.
Yes, Jesus left behind heaven to become a human, but that was only temporary.
I don’t say this as though there is something wrong with Jesus. There is something wrong with us.
Paul on the other hand, we can truly relate to. Paul had it all, as we’ve already seen. And Paul was willing to let it all go. To endure persecution and trials for the sake of knowing Jesus and making him known. For us, we long for Jesus, but we can truly relate to Paul.
Paul was willing to let go of worldly wealth to follow Jesus.
Paul was willing to let go of a sinful career in order to follow Jesus.
Paul was willing to let go of his family in order to follow Jesus.
Paul was willing to let go of safety in order to follow Jesus.
Paul was willing to give up his very life in order to follow Jesus.
Paul was willing to follow Jesus wherever that led him
Paul actually wrote the letter to the Phillippians while he was in prison. Paul was expecting to die and he welcomed it.
This should bring new meaning to the words, “Imitate me.” How does that make you feel?
Paul was eventually killed for following Jesus. Yet after all of this he was able to say....
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Illustration:
Application: Who is your role model? What makes someone a good role model? Is it worldly success? Money? The perfect family?
Is there anyone in your life after which you model your relationship with Jesus? How can you spend more time with them?
Ok, now the really thought provoking questions:
Would someone want to imitate you?
Remember Paul said, “I’m not perfect. I haven’t attained it. I’m pushing forward, but I may never get there. I mess up. I doubt. I get discouraged. I have a past you would not believe. Imitate me.”
You don’t have to be perfect to be an example. You just have to be moving forward toward Jesus.
Let go of everything that keeps you from moving toward Jesus.
Illustration:
Application:n Point #4 - Keep you eyes on the Prize (17b)
Explanation:
Illustration:
Application:
Reflection Question: 1.What have you left behind in order to follow Jesus? 2.Is there anything else you might need to let go of?
Reflection Question: 1.What have you left behind in order to follow Jesus? 2.Is there anything else you might need to let go of?
Conclusion: It’s really hard to know who we can imitate. As a pastor particularly. There are big name pastors that many of you probably listen to to supplement my awesome sermons.
They have big churches. Big budgets. They have 100,000 followers of Instagram. They are verified.
It’s easy to want to imitate them. But I shouldn’t. The pastor I should imitate is the pastor of the country church living and dying for his small congregation. 50 years of faithfulness to preaching the word and loving his people. That’s who I want to be.
A quote that has become especially meaningful to me is by the Nikolaus Zinzendorf.
Preach the Gospel, die and be forgotten.
May we all have a singularly ambitious goal to press on to Jesus.
Lord’s Supper.