David Bahn – Reflections

I was led to this hymn today. It forms a prayer deep from my heart. Martin Luther – 500 years ago – said that one who sings prays twice. So let’s sing it!

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be,
Armored with all Christ-like graces,
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee.

Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee whom we adore,
Serving Thee whom we adore.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

² I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. ³ Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and  received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:1-9

I call Psalm 133 the Watermelon Psalm. It says that it is good and pleasant when brothers dwell together in harmony. After an extensive search for food that is both good and pleasant I decided to choose watermelon as the food that is both good and pleasant. For example, Bacon: Pleasant-YES; Good (for you)-NO; Kale: Pleasant-NO; Good (for you)-YES. Watermelon (according to the internet authorities): Pleasant-YES; Good (for you)-YES. Good and pleasant.

When brothers or sisters fight it is neither good nor pleasant. When our sons fought it  was a distressing thing to me. I thought they were actually going to hurt one another. NOT GOOD. NOT PLEASANT.

Apparently Euodia and Syntyche were not in a good or a pleasant place. They were in a public disagreement of some sort. A domestic squabble (one taking the servant of the other)? A financial issue: She owes me 5 denarii! No! She owes me 10 denarii!!! A personal affront: She embarrassed me! I did nothing of the sort; I just told the truth. It might even have risen to a higher level of conflict.

Paul does not tell them how to solve their problem directly. But he does give a great insight: They are to agree in the Lord. The unity they have in Jesus held a greater power than the frustrations and tensions that held them apart. There are some things people of good character and good will can agree to disagree on. Apparently this was one of those issues.

Think Democrat or Republican. Liberal or conservative. Aggie or Longhorn. Yankee or Johnny Reb. Go deeper: White or black. Hispanic or Asian. Korean or Japanese. Let all these pale in comparison to our unity in Christ.

Paul will not yield one moment to the circumcision party. Their teachings contradicted the gospel. But he would become as one under the Old Testament Law or one completely free from it in order to win people to Jesus.

Is there an allegiance that is improperly superseding your allegiance to Jesus? If so, remember watermelon and put your allegiances behind your allegiance to Jesus. Agreeing in the Lord is both good and pleasant!

Psalm 7:1-2

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
² lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

Psalm 37:1-4

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. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

¹⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:12-21

We have moved 13 times in our nearly 45 years of marriage. Every time (except maybe for the very first time) we have wondered how we managed to collect so many unnecessary things! Mostly we agree about what is unnecessary. We have given away bags and boxes of clothing and household items. We’ve donated furniture. We’ve thrown out bunches of junk. And I’m not talking about “junque” either. This last move, I actually bought(!) a Bagster® bag. Check it out: it amounts to a heavy-duty bag the size of a small dumpster! Sadly, I nearly filled it before it was hauled to the dump.

Paul speaks of ridding himself of things that he no longer needs. He speaks of forgetting what is past and pressing on toward the goal of the resurrection and the life of the world to come.

In the verses immediately before these, he speaks of jettisoning the things that some might use to recommend themselves to God. He will have none of it. He has no righteousness of his own. He will rely on the power of Jesus to bring him to his eternal home.

We will move one day from this earthly home to our eternal home in heaven. We will experience the miraculous, gracious and good makeover power of God. We will be changed and glorified. The things of this earth will be left behind. We won’t need a Bagster® in order to rid ourselves of them. They will be left to someone else or completely destroyed in favor of the Father’s mansion and the place that Jesus is preparing for us, a place of life, bliss and joyful celebration.

A helpful image perhaps…A very wealthy man dies, but prior to his death he manages to make a deal with an angel to take his wealth with him to heaven. He puts gold ingots into his briefcase and lugs it to the pearly gates. St. Peter asks, “What’s in the briefcase?” The man opens it and proudly shows off his gold bullion. St. Peter asks, “Why did you bring pavement?!?” (cf. Revelation 21:21). Another one for the Bagster® to receive.

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. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

¹⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:12-21

A young pastor died on Wednesday. Chris Nietubicz served as associate pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Giddings, Texas. He was young, a father of two delightful children, son-in-law to members of the church I serve in Cypress, Texas, and one of the members of the PLI Leadership Essentials group I coach. I shake my head in disbelief as I type this. It is so very sad.

Elsewhere (1 Thessalonians 4:13), Paul reminds us that we grieve when someone dies, but we do not grieve as others do who have no hope. So, first of all, let us grieve. We will miss Chris’ to-the-point, unapologetic, and clear confession of the faith. We will miss hearing the expression of his sincere desire to serve faithfully. We will miss his willingness to share himself with us. We will miss learning of his afternoon road trip to see Texas wildflowers. We will miss his understated (but very real and present) sense of humor. I can see him now, chuckling and finding humor in the appropriate moments of life.

We will miss his friendship. We will miss his desire to see things move forward at his church, and learning of his work to that end with the leaders there. We will miss his serious engagement in learning about leadership and mission, faithfulness and family.

His family will miss their husband and dad. They will miss their son and son-in-law. His church will miss their pastor. The school will miss their advocate. The community will miss their model citizen.

We are sad. We have experienced a loss. Lord, help us!

We are grieving. But we are not without hope, for we believe that Jesus will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control (Philippians 3:21).

So we carry on. We learn to number our days (cf. Psalm 90:12), and recognize that to live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). God will win. He has won. He is victorious. Chris no longer suffers. Hope for him is realized. Ours, too, will one day be realized. Jesus died for our sins. He rose for our justification. Jesus reigns at the right hand of God. He will come again and take us to be with himself on the Great Last Day. Until then, we call out to God. Until then we do what we can to love and support people who have lost loved ones.

Until then we look to God for help, comfort, peace, and an abiding purpose. And we have that purpose, for we live on. God has things to do in and through us. And we wait…grieving in hope. Our bodies are weak to be sure. But we will be transformed, and in that we hope.

Addenda

One of the members of our PLI Leadership Essentials coaching huddle of which Chris was a member offered the prayer of Psalm 77 (below). It is most appropriate. Another offered this eloquent prayer:

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

How my heart hurts for this family. Dear Jesus, please wrap these kiddos up in your arms. Draw them in close like their daddy would. Hold them tight. Speak words of hope to Lauren and comfort her as her husband did. Spirit, envelop this family, as they are part of Your own, and surround them with the family of Christ, who in hope look to the resurrection. Support them in all their needs, and forsake them not. They need you, Jesus, to be the rock of their lives. Christ is risen! You are risen! Proclaim your victory! Death is defeated. You are alive, and so to shall we live. Amen

Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done.

Pastor Mark Anderson, Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Omaha, NE

Psalm 77 

I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
² In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
³ When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

⁴ You hold my eyelids open;

    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
⁶ I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷ “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
⁸ Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

¹⁰ Then I said, “I will appeal to this,

    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶ When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
¹⁸ The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹ Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
²⁰ You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

¹⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:12-21

I’ve done my share of hard work. I’ve previously chronicled my days in the brickyard. I’ve also leveled basement floors with rock prior to pouring concrete. And then there is the job of pushing wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of concrete from the truck to the basement floor. I’ve carried shingles up the ladder to the roof, and then nailed down the shingles. I’ve carried creosote-infused railroad ties from one place to another. Hard work!

I’d like to think that living the Christian life in the context of the church, and relationships within the church would be easy. Not so. Sadly not so. Paul’s mention of “those who are mature” reminds me that the challenges of living with other fallen human beings are real, and that some are more mature in their faith than others.

Some people are easier to love than others. Some people require more grace. And before we catalog our friends into lists of greater or lesser grace required categories, we had better remember that we may find ourselves on several people’s lists in various degrees of grace needed: Some may find it more difficult to love us than others.

Jesus says, “Love one another, even as I have loved you.” Jesus loves us as we are – warts and all. That’s how we are to love one another – warts and all. Sometimes that is hard work. Sometimes we have to go the extra mile. Sometimes we have to hold our tongue. Sometimes we have to suffer for another. Sometimes we have to sacrifice our time, or change our priorities, or even our money for someone we love.

Sometimes we may even have to be overly-patient with others – at least in our own minds. But that’s a good reminder of God’s patience with us: The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent (2 Peter 3:9).

God may be calling you to repent of your impatience, lack of love, or failure to act on the level of maturity we have attained. Thankfully, he forgives and restores. We must do the same.

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. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

¹⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:12-21

Oscar Wilde said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I guess that’s a good thing if you think flattery is good. But flattery is not a good thing according to Proverbs 29:5: “To flatter friends is to lay a trap for their feet.”

By contrast, imitation is the best form of discipleship. There is much to learn in this passage about this, not the least of which is that discipleship is best caught, not just taught. 

I am so very thankful for the theological education I received at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I learned there to think critically about God, truth, Jesus, grace, and the Lutheran Confessions. The truths I learned there are profoundly important.

When I began actual ministry, however, I discovered that there were other questions I had not known to ask until I was on the job. Some of them I dismissed as unimportant when certain professors taught us about pastoral practice and parish administration. Thankfully, I did not have to unlearn any fundamental theology. Perhaps I did have to unlearn an “I need to know all the answers” mentality. I needed a dose of humility, and some real-life opportunities to learn how to apply the truths I had learned.

This is why information is not sufficient for our Christian growth. We need to know about God to be sure. We need to know God without a doubt. But we need to learn how to take that knowledge and apply it to our daily lives, our relationships, and our everyday decisions.

That is best learned by walking beside someone who is mature in the faith, willing to listen to us, to ask questions of us, and to show us how this precious truth of God gets lived out.

If you think of the Christian faith as ascent to a corpus of theological truths, you will likely not consider the need for a mentor to be important. If you realize, however, that the corpus of theological truths is meant to be lived out in real time with real people, then you’ll understand just how important it is to learn by watching someone put the faith into practice.

Here is the good news in all of this: There are no perfect disciples. Even Paul had his flaws and foibles. But the greatest example we can provide to another – and the most important thing we can do is simply to walk beside someone in humble faith. Giving and taking, iron sharpening iron, and leading the way in acknowledging our sin and failures as well as rejoicing in Jesus’ love and sharing that love with others.

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. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

¹⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:12-21

If it ain’t broke… Pardon the English, but how do you complete that saying? A friend suggested this: If it ain’t broke…tinker! That’s not how most complete the thought. We are encouraged to leave well-enough alone. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! This is decidedly not the spirit of the acknowledgement in these verses. Paul realizes that he is a work in progress.

If you know much about Paul – St. Paul, if you will – you’ll know that he was a stellar missionary. He is considered to be the best missionary since Jesus Christ. He was constantly on the move with the gospel message, bringing people to faith in Jesus, establishing new churches, and training and equipping people to serve as leaders of those churches.

As good as he was, however, he lays it out there: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on…” We may not shrink from the idea of imitating Paul (v. 17, “Pattern your lives after mine”). But if we take seriously his assertion that he is a work in progress, however, we might wonder whether he is a good role model, overly-humble, or neither. 

Paul is not overly-humble. He is a good role model. And those two facts work together to encourage us to set a good example for others to follow without being overly worried about being the perfect example.

Just because you’re not perfect doesn’t mean you can exempt yourself from offering yourself as an example to others. It may be of humility. It may be of relying on God’s grace and love. It may be of confessing your sins. It may be of “tinkering” with your spiritual health to become more fully devoted and faithful.

After all, our faith is not in ourselves, or our righteousness, or even our own faith. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, our Savior and king. And he’s working on us all, shaping us for his glory and for the blessing and benefit of others.

Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

² Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. ³ For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, ⁴ though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. ⁸ 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 ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ¹¹ so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! – Philippians 3:1-11

I’ve never really had to give up anything of real significance in order to know or follow Christ. I left the church of my youth, but not the faith of my childhood. I left my home state and families, but not in order to embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord, but to serve him in his kingdom.

I’m not sure I have much basis to compare myself to Paul. I don’t have a strong religious pedigree. I don’t have a litany of suffering. I don’t have a wake of losses to disavow in order to know Christ.

But I do have one thing very much in common with Paul. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and I even want to suffer like him (in unwavering faith) and to experience the resurrection of the dead. 

Suffering like Christ may mean a harsh and unjust experience of martyrdom – like missionaries or Christians in Libya or China. But it can also mean any suffering that presses us against a belief that God is good and faithful. When we face suffering while holding to God’s goodness, love, and promises, and seeking his mercy, strength, and vindication we are suffering like Jesus. 

We don’t earn God’s favor by doing this. We express the gift of God’s righteousness to us in such an attitude of suffering. I want to know that and experience the salvation of God…just like Paul.

Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

² Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. ³ For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, ⁴ though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. ⁸ 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 ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ¹¹ so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! – Philippians 3:1-11

I remember my first experience of a national church convention. I knew it would not be anything like the conventions my parents attended years ago as motel owners, or the gatherings of doctors, mechanics, or restaurateurs. But I did not expect that it would be an experience of what I thought to be ungracious and manipulative behavior. I never want to think that Jesus words are actually true, that “the members of our own household will be our enemies” (Matthew 10:36).

I don’t want to believe that people actually do not want the mission of God to move forward – especially those who are in the church! But there are those who come from within who want to undercut the message of the Gospel and the mission of God. Whether from selfish motives (loss of control or influence) or ignorance (do we really need to grow?), people will oppose what God has commissioned us to do.

This is what Paul is facing as he writes to the Philippian believers. He is concerned that a group was having an ever-greater impact in the church, requiring people to be circumcised in order to be a fully-devoted and faithful worshiper of God.

The issue, however is deeper than mere circumcision. The issue is Jesus. His message is a two-edged sword as the One crucified for our sins, and the Risen One, having been raised from the dead. This is foolish to the world: You actually believe Jesus of Nazareth came back from the dead? It is a stumbling block to the religious: Did Jesus really have to die? Was his death really a sacrificial atonement for my sins?

But this is what is always at stake. We need a Savior. That Savior is Jesus. He was wounded for our transgressions and raised from the dead for our justification. I wish it were not so that people resist this truth for themselves and others. I am thankful, however, that our dismissal or failure to fully comprehend his gift and his mission does not set it aside. We have a Savior. He is risen from the dead. He reigns above all powers. We are his. I thank God that that is so.