Paul’s Economy

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Don Merritt

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:7-11

We need to be mindful of our context as we begin this text.  Paul, in the preceding verses has been discussing his Jewish resume, his accomplishments, and his former position. Yes, he was an accomplished man, well-educated, influential and a member of the ruling elite of his day, and he has given all of that up to follow Christ.

Here, almost talking like an accountant, he is writing off losses and seeking gains.  What is it that he considers to be losses?  His former life, its accomplishments and position.  Now we need to recognize that he isn’t lamenting his loss of position and all the rest, he is considering these things, his training, his accomplishments and position as losses in and of themselves.  Those things he declares in verse 8 to be “garbage”.  His training is garbage, his accomplishments are garbage, his former position is garbage, not the fact that he has given them up.

Why did he give them up? Simple, he gave up everything he had for Christ. In all of those former things, Paul was trying to attain righteousness by his own power and effort; now he has obtained God’s righteousness through his faith in Jesus Christ.  It would seem that in Paul’s estimation, he has attained a very strong bottom line as a result. Check out verse 10:  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death… Interesting isn’t it, how he has tied together knowing Christ with “the power of his resurrection, and participation in his sufferings” and death. Then, notice in verse 11 how he links this with the attainment of His resurrection and eternal life.  It would seem that Paul’s whole point is that those attainments of this life, when compared to resurrection and eternal life, are just garbage; utterly worthless.

In light of all this, how should we look at our earthly life, its achievements, its positions, its ‘glories’?  If we dare to follow Paul’s example, then they must all be nothing more than garbage!

OK, so maybe we aren’t willing to follow Paul’s radical example.  Yet maybe we should rethink this, for Paul was following Jesus’ example, just like we are supposed to be doing.

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Bowing Down Before Him

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Don Merritt

Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice

Psalm 95:6-7

Abraham Lincoln once remarked that there were days when he found himself on his knees before God, for there was no other place for him to go during the dark days of Civil War; I think there are times like that for all of us.

We don’t need to be enduring hard times to fall on our knees before Him, for there are times for us to jump for joy in His presence, and times to fall on our knees in thanksgiving before Him as well. Let’s face it, there are also times when we come before Him in reverent prayer just to keep our priorities straight and to acknowledge His great love for us; the most important thing, whether we are living in good times or bad, is for us to remember that we need to be near to God.

God is my joy and my sustenance; my happiness and my comfort.

God is my life and my strength; my creator and my redeemer.

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Confidence… in what?

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Don Merritt

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

Philippians 3:1-4a

Chapter 3 starts out with Paul urging the people to rejoice in the Lord, and that seems simple enough, but then the subject seems to turn.  What follows is a denunciation of those who would teach the Philippians that they must first become Jews before they can be saved.

The word that jumps out at me in the second verse is the word “dogs”. So catch this spectacle: Paul the Jew is calling those Jews who insist that a Gentile been circumcised a Jew before they can become a Christian, “dogs”. That is amazing when you consider that “dogs” are what the Jews call Gentiles! Dogs, evil doers and mutilators of the flesh; hey Paul, tell us how your really feel!  As we saw in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he has no patience with this teaching, and there is little wonder why; the old ways are entirely over and done.

In verse 3, he points out who are the “circumcision”, the ones who serve in the Spirit and boast in Christ; and it isn’t the Jews.  Again, the old ways are done, gone, and irrelevant.  We as Christians have “no confidence” in the flesh, not even Paul, who might have a reason to claim some confidence in the flesh. This is an interesting little situation, for Paul has been writing from the end of the first chapter, and all through the second about being “worthy of the gospel” and through all that he described how we should be imitators of Christ, which is the sign of the New Covenant. Circumcision was the sign of a different covenant, and was required of Abraham and his descendants.  All of those old ways were merely illustrations of the reality to come in Christ, and now that the reality has come, those old physical things are over.  Thus, Paul dismisses confidence in the flesh (circumcision).

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Philippians 3:4b-6

Here, Paul seems to be issuing a challenge of sorts, as if to say that if anyone could claim salvation from being a Jew, it is Paul, but Paul claims salvation in Christ alone.  He gives a brief summary of his resume as a Jew; it is an impressive one.  Thus of all people, Paul the Jew among Jews, has no confidence in the old ways, for he knows that only Jesus Christ can take away sin and give the gift of eternal life.

If we were to extend his reasoning a little bit, we might ask a question like, “What of this world can possibly save you from destruction? Your fortune, your possessions, your education and accomplishments?”

No, none of these things can take away sin, and without that, there is only destruction.  It is no wonder, then, that Paul began this passage by encouraging the people to rejoice in the Lord always.

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Priorities

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Don Merritt

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-20

Leading up to these verses Paul gave a list of attributes that he attributed to Christ, and here, as a way of summing up he goes the next step and puts all of the fullness of Jesus Christ into perspective.  Notice that God was “pleased” to have His own fullness residing in Jesus, and to have Jesus reconcile all to Himself. If you think about it, if there was reconciliation, there must first be a conflict…

We know that there was indeed a conflict, a conflict that engulfed all Creation the moment that Adam entered into sin way back in Genesis 3. It’s a funny thing, but for most of us, we don’t really think of sin the way we should, for we tend to think of it as a violation of some sort of rule or ordinance. Yet sin is much more than a simple violation; it’s rebellion, rebellion against God. So here we are, God was pleased indeed to place all of His fullness in the Person of Jesus and to have Jesus establish reconciliation on the cross, for in doing so He paid the entire cost of the rebellion: There is now peace between Man and God.

Why should He do that?

Love.

His love was so great that He placed His fullness into His Son and sent His Son to make peace with humanity; that’s quite a thing to ponder wouldn’t you say? I realize that this statement doesn’t pay the bills, nor does it solve all of the problems we encounter in this life, but it does something much greater than simply taking away problems and circumstances. Instead it transcends the problems of the day-to-day and empowers us to see greater things, to set higher aspirations so that the complications of the here and now are put into their proper perspective.

When you come right down to it, what God has done for us through Jesus Christ puts the hassles of life where they belong… on the low priority list.

Wow!

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Photo of the Week: August 10, 2016

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Don Merritt

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Looking Out for Jesus

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Don Merritt

Philippians 2:19-30

In this section, Paul moves back into some personal comments.  He is talking about two other men who are with him, but who are not prisoners, Timothy and Epaphroditus.  In the first several verses, Paul is telling the Philippians that he is planning to send Timothy back to them so that he can bring more news back to Paul about how the Philippians are doing.  Then comes what is probably the most significant part of the passage from our point of view:

I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

Philippians 2:20-22

Isn’t it interesting that Paul says he has no one else like Timothy, because he will show “genuine concern” for the Philippians?  He explains what he means by that when he says that everyone “looks out for their own interests” and “not those of Jesus Christ.” Think about that for a moment: Wouldn’t you have expected Paul to say ‘not those of others’ instead? “Everyone looks out for their own interests, but not everyone looks out for the interests of others.” That’s what I would expect him to say here, since what came just before this was Paul’s observation that Timothy would have genuine concern for the Philippians. What’s going on here?

Let’s see if we can solve this little riddle.  Paul has been encouraging the Philippians to live lives “worthy of the gospel” and in the process he has discussed unity in the Body of believers, along with service, humility and putting others first.  Now, he cites Timothy as someone who will show the people genuine concern and who will look out for the interests of Christ.  We must conclude from this that showing genuine concern for one another is looking out for the interests of Jesus Christ. Why would we be concerned about others?  Because we want to serve Jesus by looking out for His people.

This is what Paul is doing by writing this loving letter.  This is what it means to put others first. This is what loving our brothers and sisters is all about, and it results from our love of God.  God loved us, we love Him. God loves our brothers and sisters, so we love them too. Thus, when we love one another and care for one another, we are putting not only the interests of others ahead of our own; we are putting the interests of Jesus Christ first in our lives. This then, is “making disciples”: Caring for others because they are loved by, and important to, our Lord.

Verses 25-30 are mostly about Epaphroditus. We gather from these verses, that he was sent to Paul with the most recent news from Philippi. Apparently, while he was with Paul, he became seriously ill, but has now recovered. You might notice the tender way in which Paul speaks of him, and about Paul’s relief that he has recovered. Now, he would like to send Epaphroditus back to Philippi with Timothy so that they can see how much better he is doing.

If we look carefully at these verses, what we will see is that Paul is showing genuine concern for both Epaphroditus and for the Philippians; he is looking out for the interests of Jesus Christ, and thus he is giving us another practical example of this teaching.  Pretty cool, don’t you think?

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God is My Help

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Don Merritt

Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.

Psalm 54:4-5

It doesn’t sound like David was having a good day when he wrote this; he was under attack from his enemies as it happens. Most of us aren’t on the run from assassins or cut-throats, but there are times in this life when it seems like we are under assault and feel overwhelmed by circumstances in our lives.

One thing we can take from these verses is that David knew where his help would come from, it would come from God. The only problem, was that David didn’t know when God would act or why God didn’t set things right immediately.

But he did know that God would have his back.

Like David, we don’t know God’s timing, nor do we know God’s reasoning for His timing. In fact, other than a bunch of theological abstractions, I can’t even tell you why God allows so much trouble in our lives…

Yet we do know that God has our backs.

In difficult times, God is our Rock, our strength, and in such circumstances our relationships with Him take on a whole new significance for most of us as a source of strength and hope, transcending the problems of this life.

Oh what an awesome God we have!

Oh yes, and He’s pretty awesome when things are going smoothly too.

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It’s Always About His Purpose

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Don Merritt

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Philippians 2:14-18

As we continue in this letter, Paul is still talking about being “worthy of the gospel” in a context of our need to find humility as Jesus did.  We shouldn’t be too surprised that he has found his way into grumbling and arguing.  Those two things probably don’t come out of humility very often, at least not in my experience.  He urges us to drop those kinds of things that we might become pure and blameless children of God.

It strikes me as interesting the direction he goes from there. Notice that he puts this right into focus by contrasting this “crooked generation” with the result of being blameless children of God who “shine like stars.” Think about the contrast, and the effect it would have if the followers of Christ shone like the stars while in this “crooked generation”.  Think about how that would look to the rest of the world around us; there would sure be a contrast.

Paul engages in a little personal reflection here as he points out that when he meets the Lord it would be obvious that he hadn’t labored in vain, when the Philippians are shining like stars. When he goes on to use the term “poured out like a drink offering” he is telling them that even if he is executed, he will be filled with joy for the work of Christ in them, and urges the Philippians to be filled with joy as well.

Obviously, Paul has brought us back to purpose in saying this.  For the followers of Christ to be pure and blameless children of God and to shine like stars in this dark world, is really not about star children, it’s about their testimony and God’s purpose.  Think again of that contrast: What would we look like to those who have not yet followed Christ?  Some will be irritated and full of criticism, but others will see the love of Christ and want to have some themselves, and it is for these that our testimony is so important. Yes, there is no way around the fact that God’s purpose must always be at the forefront of our thinking as we follow Jesus down the path of life.

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Why Carry Such a Load?

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Don Merritt

Have you ever had to carry a heavy load for a long distance?

I remember one time in high school when my journalism teacher gave me the keys to his car and sent me to the parking lot to get a bundle of newspapers to bring back to class.  It sounded like a great thing to me as I walked the ten or twelve minutes to the parking lot and opened his trunk.  Yikes!  50 Sunday LA Times papers!

I don’t know how many pounds were involved, but if you’ve ever seen the Sunday Times you were a pound or two each,  imagine how heavy 50 are; maybe not at first, but by the time I got back to class I was coolly and calmly doing my best to hide the fact that my arms and shoulders were about shot!

Have you ever tried to carry the load of not forgiving?

Carrying that around can be a lot more work then 50 Sunday papers.  It can sap your creativity, it can cloud your judgment and it can interfere with your relationships.  Most importantly it can sap your relationship with God.  Bear in mind that He forgave you of all of your sins; how does it look to Him when you can’t forgive?  Let it go: forgive those who have wronged you as Jesus has forgiven you, for all those grudges and all that resentment is just too heavy to carry.

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A Wonderful Message!

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Don Merritt

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Philippians 2:12-13

“Fear and trembling”?

Thank you for asking!

Over the centuries, there have been some preachers and some commentators that have a field day with these verses. What they often do is to quote them something like this: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, lest…”

Do you see a problem? When you read the verses and compare them with the “quote” is something missing? Was something added? By the way, don’t forget you must deal with the “therefore” that is the first word in verse 12.  What does it refer to?  It refers to 2:1-11; are these verses about going to hell?  No way! They are about humility, godliness and the example of Christ which results in salvation… but don’t forget that section also begins with “therefore” so we need to go all the way back to chapter 1, where Paul set the context, which is rejoicing in suffering because God’s purpose is being advanced. Dear reader, these verses are not a threat that God is waiting for an excuse to smite somebody and ship them off to hell, they are about His purpose.  As you will see shortly, this view is confirmed in the verses that follow, so fear not!

Let’s start over: verse 12…

Notice how Paul’s tone is one of encouragement; “…as you have always obeyed”, keep it up! Continue “to work out your salvation” yes, you’ve been doing fine, keep it up! Also, let’s not forget that he isn’t talking about earning salvation, for salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, even more remember that salvation isn’t the end of the story, it’s the beginning. Nobody is talking about going to hell here; Paul is encouraging the people to live lives “worthy of the Gospel”, “or it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

“Fear and trembling” is another way of saying “reverent awe” and in this context, the reverent awe isn’t about God’s wrath, and it is referring to God working out His purpose through you and me.  Think about that for a moment, let’s slow down; The God of all creation has a purpose. He is working at accomplishing this great purpose day and night, and He wants you to be involved so that He can work His purpose through you.  What is His purpose? It’s redemption, for His love for all people is so great that He wants to redeem them to Himself, and He wants you and I to be agents of His love. No sir, these verses are not scary threats, they are wonderful encouragement! That encouragement will continue in the verses that follow.

How very sad it is that so many have taken a phrase out of context to scare people!  May God have mercy…

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