It came out yesterday afternoon. And, it felt like a birth. That is how I have been beginning to describe sermons and there are others who describe it similarly. During this week in particular it was as if I needed to live the message that I was going to give in order for it to be more authentic. Yet, oddly enough, I feel that I have plenty of living experience for this message. And, it's not a bad thing. It has been a growing and strengthening experience every time I find myself in a place where I need to press on.
I got to join with folks this morning at White Oak UMC for their coffee and donut time. I got to catch up with some folks I've met before and I met some new folks (not just during coffee time, but in SS and before and after church too). The glazed donuts from Donut Palace were still warm. I joined a young adult Sunday School class and we had a great discussion on wilderness, talking about Jesus' experience and relating it to our own.
Then it was time for church. One of the songs was "Shout to the Lord". That song takes me back to the Italy mission trip when I taught at Bryan College. It is a powerful worship song for me.
The songs, the choir's song ("Restore My Joy"), the sharing of the joys and concerns, the children's message.... it was a blessing to worship once again at White Oak UMC.
As for the sermon part, you can find it below. I added a few things here and there during the sermon, but you can get a strong idea of what was shared by reading it. I will add in some pictures of the visual that I used and some links to the songs that I shared.
Maybe there is something in these words for someone beyond White Oak UMC. I know that there was much in them for me as I prepared them and shared them.
It was a blessing to birth the message and then share it with others so that it can be carried forth.
[NOTE: It seems when I copy and paste, the text seems to have a mind of its own. Some of the text came out white; other parts came out dark. The spacing is a tad wacky too. But, I decided to let it be instead of spending too much time trying to perfect it (or re-type it all here). Hopefully it isn't overly distracting.]
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| The church secretary, Carol Opalinski contributed this picture to the bulletin. She took it 5/1/12 at the Zion Narrows Trail, along the Virgin River. It is one of the word's best canyon hikes and the most popular hike in Zion National Park. If you look closely at the picture, you can see two hikers beginning their journey. I am grateful to Carol's contribution as it added a wonderful visual to the message! |
PRESS ON
Philippians 3:14-4:1
White Oak UMC
February 24, 2013
Scripture:
(NRSV)
14I press on toward the
goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
15Let those of us then
who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about
anything, this too God will reveal to you.16Only let us hold fast
to what we have attained.
17Brothers and sisters,
join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you
have in us.18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ;
I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their
glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.20But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we
are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.21He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be
conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make
all things subject to himself.
4Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I
love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my
beloved.
LEADER:
THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
PEOPLE:
THANKS BE TO GOD.
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Today
is the 2nd Sunday in Lent.
Because it is Sunday, it isn’t counted as one of the 40 days of Lent;
instead it is considered a mini-resurrection day.
However,
our focus today isn’t on Lent, but rather on this passage from Paul which is
part of the overall challenge to the Philippians to mature discipleship. In this passage, Paul covers several topics
that might help us as we seek to “press on” in mature discipleship.
Paul
admonishes the believers in Philippi to first: “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in
Christ Jesus.” (v. 14)
What is this “prize”
and how can we obtain it?
Oh, look. This bag says “prize” on it. Maybe this will explain to us what Paul means
by “prize” here.
I Corinthians 9:24—“Do
you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
Hebrews
12:1—“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”
Though there is no “prize”
connected with this Scripture, we do learn that we are to throw off everything
that hinders us and run with perseverance. Those are important for us to remember, as is
the fact that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
What else is in here?
[TAKE OUT THE
APPLE] An apple?!? I think someone got the bags switched at
home. I guess this could represent one
of the fruits of the spirit. But that’s
in Galatians 5:22-23. Galatians 5:25 says:
“Since
we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” If we
are going to press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call, then keeping
in step with the Spirit and having the fruits of the spirit will be important.
[TAKE OUT THE
PASSPORT.] A passport. Ah, it says: “heaven”. I get it, “citizen of heaven.”
In verse 20, Paul
reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven.
What does that mean for us? One
thing that it means is that we are resident aliens here. As resident aliens here with our citizenship
in heaven, it is important for us to know who we are and whose we are. We need to know our identity. As Christians, we believe that we are made in
the image of God and that God became incarnate in Christ. For us to live well as resident aliens we will
imitate Christ’s sacrificial love, humility, servanthood, forgiveness of others
and acceptance.
As we imitate Christ,
as Paul imitated Christ, we will grow in our discipleship and become more
mature believers. Paul exhorts the
Philippians to “hold fast to what we have attained” in verse 16. Why does Paul exhort them to “hold fast”? Well, the path isn’t always easy. Just as Paul used the term earlier, “press on”,
we get the idea that this imitating Christ stuff and becoming mature isn’t
going to be too easy.
And,
if we are honest with ourselves, we will remember that it wasn’t easy for
Christ either. Christ suffered
humiliation, shame, rejection, insults, and death. Christ offered himself fully to those around
him and for those after him.
In
A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God,
Rueben Job writes: “In offering ourselves as fully as we can, we discover the
cost of discipleship. For to bind our
lives to Jesus Christ requires that we try to walk with him into the sorrows
and suffering of the world.” (136)
If
we are to imitate Christ, we will walk with him into the sorrows and sufferings
of the world.
Hear
these two quotes on suffering:
“It
must be realized that the true sign of spiritual endeavor and the price of
success in it is suffering. One who
proceeds without suffering will bear no fruit.”
“Every
struggle in the soul’s training, whether physical or mental, that is not
accompanied by suffering, that does not require the utmost effort, will bear no
fruit.”
Both
of these quotes come from Theopan the Recluse.
Theopan the Recluse was a Bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church in the
1800s and wrote extensively on the Christian life.
As
I sat with the Scriptures, two songs came to mind. One was “I’m Pressin’ On” and the other is
“Press On”. Bits and pieces of both these
songs were floating around in my head. I
knew I had heard both of them before, but couldn’t place them.
One
of them I will just share the lyrics with you. The second one, I will share the lyrics and then
the song (via recording).
The
first song is “I’m Pressin’ On”. It’s by
the group Harvest and was written and recorded in 1990.
I’m
lettin’ go of memories that hold me back
I’m
lookin’ for the good things up ahead
Confident
He’ll never lose His hold on me
It’s
time to start believin’ what he said
Because
He’s callin’ me to a higher pathway
A
call to leave my past behind
Chorus:
I’m
pressin’ on to know my Father
To
live each day more like His Son
To
let His Spirit live inside me
Forgettin’
all that lies behind, I’m pressin’ on
These
feet of mine may wander so I slip and fall
The
enemy reminds me how I’ve failed
But
every morning goodness comes from heaven’s throne
The
mercy of my Jesus will prevail
He
gives me strength I need to run the race before me
He
guarantees He’ll see me through
Chorus
Lookin’
for good things
I
know there’s good things up ahead
Trustin’
what my Father said
Lettin’
go of memories that bound me
I don’t
need ‘em anymore
‘Cause
I found freedom in the Lord
Walkin’
in freedom
Lookin’
for good things
My
God gives good things
Forgettin’
all that lies behind
I’m
pressin’ on
I
don’t know about you, but I see quite a bit of the faith journey here. We can relate it back to Paul’s letter to the Philippians
and bring it into the present. There is definitely freedom in the Lord when
we are able to recognize our identity--who we are and whose we are-- and live into
running the race before us.
The
second song “Press On” was recorded by the group Selah recorded in 2001. It is an older song than I remembered. As I listened to the words, the song spoke to
me of a life of discipleship—the ups and downs; the ins and outs.
Listen
to these lyrics:
Click here to listen and watch a YouTube video made to this song.
When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the choices are hard
When we’re battered and scarred
When we’ve spent our resources
When we’ve given our all
Chorus:
In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
To press on
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the choices are hard
When we’re battered and scarred
When we’ve spent our resources
When we’ve given our all
Chorus:
In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
To press on
Now that you’ve heard
the lyrics, I want you to listen to the song.
[SONG]
Where do you find
yourself in this song?
Is the valley deep? Is the mountain steep? Is your body weary?
Have you stumbled and
fallen? Are the choices hard? Are you battered and scarred? Are your resources gone? Have you given your all?
Can you, like the words
of the chorus, say: “In Jesus’ name, we press on”? [ASK THEM TO SAY IT.]
I like the first person
plural here because it shows community. It
shows that we are pressing on together. We
need each other as we seek to live here as resident aliens and grow into mature
believers, imitating Christ.
There will likely be
times when you and I struggle to find the strength to “press on”. They seem to be part of my journey. There
are many promises in the Scriptures that I turn to when I am struggling for whatever
reason to “press on”. One of them is found
in our reading today. In Philippians 4:1,
Paul admonishes the Philippians to “stand firm in the Lord.” When I find myself struggling in the faith journey,
I remind myself to “stand firm in the Lord”. I gain strength as I stand. I know that I don’t stand alone, but in community.
And, then, I am able to once again, “press
on”.
I pray that you, too, may
find the strength to press on.
Dismissal Blessing:
As you leave here today,
may you know your identity and where your citizenship resides. May you have the strength to press on through
whatever comes your way as you grow in maturity as an imitator and follower of
Christ. May you stand firm in the Lord and may your joy be restored. Amen.
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Blessings on your journey as you press on,
~Debra ☺
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