Eyes on the Prize

Scriptures:       Exodus 20:1-20;   Philippians 2:1-13; 3:4b-14, 

Matthew 21:33-46

Eyes on the Prize

You may have noticed from the note in the bulletin that today is World Communion Sunday.  This observance, which takes place each year on the first Sunday of October, began in the 1930’s within the Presbyterian church as a way to promote Christian unity, and became an important witness for Christian unity during World War II, demonstrating that despite divisions caused by national loyalties, Christians around the world could still unite at the table of the Lord.  And so while Protestant churches vary widely on how often communion is celebrated – some celebrate monthly as we do, while others celebrate quarterly and others weekly – on the first Sunday of October each year, we join with churches of many traditions all around the world in experiencing Christ’s presence through the broken bread and poured wine of the Eucharist.  I have to say, though, that in explaining World Communion Sunday to a Roman Catholic friend, I experienced a bit of a come-down – he reminded me that Roman Catholics around the world celebrate communion every Sunday – and in fact, those who attend mass daily celebrate communion every day - and so, for Roman Catholics, every Sunday is World Communion Sunday.  He did say, though, that for independent-minded Protestants to get their act together enough to celebrate communion together once a year was quite a remarkable accomplishment, much to be commended.   My response:  “Thanks…..I think…”.

Our reading from Philippians reminds us that differences of opinion and even divisions within the church, while regrettable, are nothing new.  Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, written when Paul was in prison, was written to a church in the middle of a good old fashioned church squabble.  As we’ll learn from next week’s reading from Philippians, Paul specifically addresses two church leaders, Euodia and Syntyche.  Both of these leaders were women, a powerful testimony that, despite the policies of some faith communities, women held leadership roles from the earliest days of the Christian church.  And, unfortunately, when Paul wrote his letter, these two leaders were not on the same page – and, of course, Euodia and Syntyche would each have had her own boosters lined up behind them, each defending their leader and pointing fingers and detracting from the other leader and her camp.

In trying to resolve this church fight from a distance – from jail, remember – Paul doesn’t get into the specifics of whose position was right and whose was wrong, nor does Paul try to sort out who offended whom first.  Rather, Paul reminds these leaders, and all the believers in Philippi, who they are, and more especially whose they are.  Paul writes, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  And then he goes on to describe what that means – that Christ did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped or exploited, but that he emptied himself, becoming human, becoming a servant, becoming subject even to death on a cross – and, because of his humble obedience, being most highly exalted by God.  Paul then goes on to offer himself as an example, as one who had every reason to trust in himself – his lineage, his rigorous observance of the law – but set all that aside, he said, because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.  Actually, to say Paul set all that aside is an understatement.  The New Revised Standard Version translates Paul as writing, “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish” – but that’s a polite translation – the actual Greek word means excrement, as in “I regard all the things I lost as doggie diamonds, as crap”.  Paul’s not mincing words, even if our English translators do. Paul was willing, literally, to flush everything else in his life that he valued down the toilet in exchange for following Christ.  He says all of this in order to encourage or perhaps shame his readers, especially the two quarrelling church leaders, to be willing to let go of their prerogatives and set aside their differences.

“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…..”  These words are for us here at Emanuel as well.  Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus – a mind concerned with others, not with self.  A heart that feels pain when the least of God’s creatures is hurt.  Feet willing to line up alongside the last, the least, and the lost.  Hands willing to reach out to serve and to embrace those whom the rest of society will not touch with a ten foot pole.  As Paul describes both Jesus and himself, to follow Jesus is to be open to a life of downward mobility, to life on the margins, at least in the eyes of the world. 

Paul then goes on to write, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Now, my track and field days are long behind me, and even at my best with my asthma and my ever-present inhaler I was never any great runner, but I do remember that, when I ran back in high school gym class, there was only one thing on my mind…..the finish line.  Had I been thinking about other things – wondering where my algebra book was that I’d misplaced or skeeving out at the thought of the gross pizza the school cafeteria had served for lunch earlier that day or dreading the thought of working the 4- to midnight shift at my afterschool restaurant job later that day – it would have slowed me down, would have weighed me down.  And it’s the same way for us as disciples of Christ.  There are no end of things that can distract us – regrets or bitterness about the past, anxiety about the future – but Paul is asking us to keep our eyes on the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 

There is one difference between a track meet and Christian discipleship – in a track meet, we’re running in competition with others.  But Christian discipleship is about cooperation – we can think of it perhaps as a relay race, in which each of us runs our lap or two as well as possible, but we run as part of a team.  Last week, when we were celebrating Emanuel’s 153^rd anniversary, we remembered that our 153 year history was but a few laps in the relay race of salvation that went back to Jesus, to Moses, to Adam even, and would continue long after our time on earth had passed and we had passed the baton to future generations.  Today, on World Communion Sunday, we remember that we run the race not only with those around us here at Emanuel, not only with those in other churches in Bridesburg and Philadelphia, but with sisters and brothers around the globe – sisters and brothers in Liberia struggling with Ebola, sisters and brothers in Latin America trying to cross borders to flee from  oppressive governments and drug-related violence, sisters and brothers in Palestine and Iraq and Syria fleeing religiously-motivated violence, sisters and brothers in Asia where Christians are a small minority of the population.

Paul writes from jail, regarding his life of discipleship, “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”  May we at Emanuel Church always remember who we are and whose we are, and in our individual lives and in our lives together, may we keep our eyes on the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.  Amen.