My Morning Meal

Ever been involved in a “one way hug”? . . . either as the hugger or the huggee? You know . . . when you’re so glad to see someone that you rush up to them and wrap your arms around them and they just stand there with their arms at their side . . . not returning even a little squeeze. Or, on the other end, someone’s wrapped their arms around you . . . giving you a bear hug that squeezes the air out of you . . . burying their head in your shoulder . . . and you just stand there like a mannequin . . . and kind of turn your head away . . . asking yourself, “Who is this person? And, why are they doing this to me?” . . . not an ounce of compulsion in you to hug back. Well, that’s what came to mind this morning as I continue to read of, and meditate on, Paul’s determination to pursue Christ . . .

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” — Philippians 3:12

Paul was determined and driven to hug back. Christ had laid hold of him . . . reached out and grabbed him . . . determined to make Paul His own. Literally, the Risen Savior apprehended Paul . . . he took possession of this Hebrew of the Hebrews . . . but him in a death grip (death to the old man) . . . and squeezed the breath of heaven into him. While Paul was yet without strength to save himself . . . still in his sin . . . still an enemy . . . Christ died for the zealous Pharisee. And not only did He die for this misguided sinner, He then sought him . . . and met him on the road . . . and revealed Himself to him . . . and gave him a new heart . . . and claimed him for His own. Christ laid hold of Paul . . . apprehended him . . . gave him a big, heavenly bear hug. The question remaining then, would Paul hug back?

You can’t help but be inspired as you read this section of Holy Scripture. Paul’s heart comes gushing forth as he determines to have no confidence in his own abilities or accomplishments (3:3b) . . . as he counts all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ and seeks to “gain Christ” (3:8) . . . and be found in Christ (3:9) . . . and know Him who had become Paul’s righteousness (3:10) . . . to press on, and lay hold, of that for which Christ had laid hold of him . . . to hug back! Christ gave His all for Paul? Paul wanted to give His all for Christ. Christ had blessed Paul with every spiritual blessings in the heavenlies? Paul wanted to know, experientially, each and every one of them. Christ had called Paul to lay up treasure in heaven? Paul was determined to deposit the max amount in his eternal bank account. You get the idea . . . you can go on and on . . . Paul did.

How awkward is to think of Christ loving me . . . laying hold of me . . . apprehending me . . . wrapping His arms around me . . . and I just stand there . . . limp . . . my arms at my side . . . not returning the embrace in the slightest or, just half-heartedly. Christ pulls me to Himself, longing to get deep and personal, to gaze deeply into my eyes, and soul, and heart . . . and I just kind of look away . . . distracted by the world . . . or worse yet, longing instead to return the world’s embrace.

Rather, I should hug back . . . I should lay hold of . . . I should apprehend . . . I should wrap my arms around that which is mine in Christ. I should be giving, as it were, the Great Shepherd a great bear hug . . . drawing near to Him, knowing that He will draw near in return. “Word of God speak,” should be my cry. “Spirit of God lead and sanctify,” should be my plea. “Son of God, I press on to lay hold of You and all that You have called me to,” should be my bottom-line driving desire.

Oh, by God’s grace, I don’t want to be a limp, passive, laid hold of soul of Christ who doesn’t lay hold in return. I want to hug back . . . that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and yes, (takes a deep breath) . . . even the fellowship of His suffering, if it is required to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (3:10,11,14). For His glory . . . amen.

My first car was a ’55 Chevy. Beauty. My parents gave it to me. For free! They said it was mine . . . and that I could drive it as soon as I could pay for putting a new engine in it. That was the first investment in what soon became my “pride and joy.” There would be a few more investments in it over the next couple of years. Nothing too extravagant . . . but where it needed it . . . and I could afford it . . . I’d put a few dollars into “my pride and joy.” At one point, after someone had rear-ended me, the insurance company deemed it a “write-off”. I took the money . . . kept the car . . . and got ‘er fixed up. Within the next year or so, though, I would write-off the car again . . . I was driving it at the time . . . but I wasn’t awake . . . no fixing ‘er up this time. The car was gone . . . my “pride and joy” had become pummeled and junk . . . time to move on . . . in more ways than one.

Write-offs tend to be difficult. When you write something off you essentially walk away from something you invested in or valued. For whatever reason that something becomes nothing . . . the value’s no longer there . . . the investment no longer makes sense. This morning I’m thinking on the write-off that Paul took.

His folks and he had invested a lot into his pedigree. Circumcised, just as a good Jewish boy should be, on the eighth day . . . a proud, nationalistic Israelite, able to trace his heritage back to the tribe of Benjamin. Reared in the things of being Hebrew and soon determining for himself to pursue being as Hebrew as he could be . . . sticking with, and excelling in the rabbinical school system, he climbed the ladder of religious accomplishment . . . eventually his investment paying off — declared a Pharisee. But not just any Pharisee, he was a Pharisee’s Pharisee . . . not content with the title and position . . . driven by a sincere (though misguided) zealousness, he pursued righteousness according to the law to the nth degree . . . to such an extent that he persecuted any Jew who said that there was another way to favor with God. A life long investment . . . a focused pursuit . . . his pride and joy . . .

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” — Paul (Philippians 3:7-8)

A life’s work . . . written off. A significant investment . . . scrapped. A “pride and joy” . . . counted loss for Christ. Paul came to a point (aided by a little visit from the Lord Himself on the road to Damascus) where he realized that it was time to write it off and move on. The things he valued, didn’t line up with the value system of heaven. The things he pursued, he realized would eventually only lead to a dead-end road. The things that he felt defined his worth, he realized had displaced the One who was worthy. Sometimes, you gotta’ write it off . . . and that’s when it starts to get pretty exciting!

It wasn’t that Paul stopped investing . . . stopped pursuing . . . stopped being driven . . . but now it was directed toward “gaining Christ.” The goal became to know and be known by the Risen Lord of Heaven. The prize shifted from terrestrial achievement and recognition to celestial glory and riches. He exchanged the pursuit of a religion of works for a righteousness by faith. He moved from making a name for himself, to making known the Name above all names! He dumped it all in the trash, that he might embrace Christ (MSG).

It probably makes sense, from time to time, for me to look at what I’m investing in . . . and for what reasons. Might be time to write some things off and renew my focus toward seeking first the kingdom of God. Oh, that the pursuit of Christ . . . the desire to gain Him . . . might not fade or be choked out by other “investments”. That I might know, more and more, the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord . . . for my eternal blessings . . . for His eternal glory . . . amen.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” – Jim Elliot

There is something about considering unsung heroes that’s kind of refreshing. Time spent noodling on those lesser known, hardly mentioned, every day Christians who are called out by the Spirit of God in the word of God for a bit of recognition. They aren’t the Elishas or the Pauls or the Peters . . . they’re not the preachers or the miracle workers . . . they don’t stand before kings and rulers . . . they are pretty much the nobodies . . . who faithfully and sacrificially serve Christ . . . and Paul says, “Hold such men in esteem” (Philippians 2:29b).

The unsung hero I’m reflecting upon this morning is Epaphroditus. Pretty Greek sounding name . . . a believer from Philippi . . . and, says Paul, “my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier.” To those at Philippi, he was their “messenger” the one they had sent to Rome to deliver a “care package” to Paul and to minister to the imprisoned apostle. (Php. 2:25, 4:18)

That he was loved by Paul and by those in his home church is evident. It seems that at some point after delivering the gift, while he was remaining in Rome to serve Paul, that he became “sick almost unto death” (2:27). The illness being serious enough and lasting long enough that news of it made its way back to the believers at his home church. But by God’s mercy he recovered . . . and longed for his church family, distressed because of the worry he had caused those back home. And so, Paul sent him back to Philippi . . . that they might “see him again and rejoice.” (2:28)

And Paul says of this everyday guy, who determined to serve Christ in a kind of low-key, practical way, “Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking (i.e. doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away) in your service toward me.” (2:29-30)

Such men . . . they are to be esteemed . . . honored . . . held in high regard. Such men . . . are those who see a need and sense a call and step up to meet it. Such men . . . are servants who become brothers . . . fellow workers . . . fellow soldiers. They are loved by their brothers and sisters in Christ, they are valued by those “on the front lines.” Such men . . . seek to do the “work of Christ” . . . sometimes at great personal material and physical expense. Such men . . . are to be received . . . welcomed as models for what nobodies can do, when Somebody calls them to a work — even a low-profile, backstage, out of the limelight, type of work.

Epaphroditus didn’t wake up one morning and determine to be “such men” . . . wasn’t looking for honor or esteem. Instead, each day he woke up, I imagine, determined to faithfully serve God . . . whether that be another day of “normal routine” Christ’s ambassador at large or meeting a particular need to get a gift from the body of believers to one in chains for Christ at Rome.

Praise God for such men . . .

Before this morning, I don’t think it’s ever occurred to me that I have literally grown up with the opening phrase of Philippians 2:16. Grown up, not in the physical sense . . . but in the spiritual sense . . . this phrase being an integral part of my Christian experience pretty much from the earliest days of my Christian walk . . . from the start of that time when God graciously infused me with a desire to live for Christ. Not that I memorized it . . . or that it was constantly preached at me . . . actually, it hung on a wall . . . in a humble little chapel . . . at a well-used Bible Camp.

” . . . holding fast the word of life . . . ” (Philippians 2:16)

As I read those words this morning, I see the text hanging on the wall in the chapel at Morning Star Bible Camp. That camp, that little chapel, and that faded text, have been anchors for my Christian walk for over 30 years. From the first time I walked into that camp to work as a “junior counselor” at a teens camp (had no idea what that was) . . . through experiencing some of the sweetest weeks of fellowship I’ve ever known as we “escaped from the world” for the week to serve and to sing and to soar in the glories of His love . . . to seeing each of my girls, from the time they were infants, grow up with an annual trek to Morning Star as part of normal life . . . that camp . . . that little chapel . . . and that magnificent text, it occurs to me, have been foundational.

And as I read it in different translations, I see it’s translated in two slightly different ways. Most translations says “holding fast” the word of life while the Authorized Version and the NIV exhort believers with “holding forth” the word of life. Both are true . . .

It starts with the word of life . . . the gospel of new things . . . the good news of rebirth leading to life abundant. It is the word of God . . . living, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. It is the word of power . . . power to redeem . . . power to restore . . . power to renew. God breathed . . . Spirit taught . . . life transforming through the renewing of our minds. It is the word of life . . . and it is our responsibility to hold fast the word of life . . . and our responsibility to hold forth the word of life. And, if I’m read Paul correctly, we do the latter when we do the former.

I am to hold fast to the word of life . . . clinging to the truths graciously revealed through the Scriptures . . . determining, as much as lies in me, and by the power of the Spirit, to walk in accord with God’s revealed way . . . trusting, as I continually feed on the word, that the work of being transformed and conformed to the image of Christ is being accomplished . . . desiring never to stray from the way God has called me to. That’s holding fast . . . that’s working out my salvation . . . that’s responding to God’s work in me “both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (2:12-13).

And when I hold fast, then I hold forth. Through pursuing the things of God, almost by default, we become “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you shine as lights in the world” (2:15). And I don’t have to manufacture my light . . . as I pursue the Light of the World who saved me for His glory, I’ll start to glow like Him . . . as I seek first the kingdom of God, I’ll become an ambassador in a foreign land . . . as I strengthen my grip on the truth revealed, I’ll become a beacon shining forth the grace revealed.

Huh . . . and to think . . . God’s been reminding me of that consistently for years and years . . . through a well-used Bible camp . . . a worn down little chapel . . . a faded text on the wall . . . and a foundational truth that continues to change my life. Oh, that I might continue to hold fast by His grace . . . and hold forth for His glory . . . amen.

It probably is one of the most inspiring yet most convicting declarations of Scripture. Just twelve simple words strung together . . . every word just a single syllable . . . in fact the longest word in this “mission statement” is only five characters long. Not a complicated sentence structure . . . but a combination of words that strikes you as deeply profound. A “life motto” that cries out for adoption . . . yet carries with it implications that give you pause as you consider what it would mean to seek to live up to such a declaration.

Paul writes to a group of people who are concerned about his Roman imprisonment. They worry about his safety . . . they worry about his health. Paul’s been through a lot . . . he’s aged, perhaps faster than most men, because of what he’s endured for the gospel . . . and now, he awaits a hearing before Caesar . . . his accusers determined to see him destroyed. And so, to this people Paul writes a letter of encouragement . . . a treatise under-girded by a sense of abiding joy . . . “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” he says. Where does that come from? What makes Paul tick? How can he be going through what he’s going through and still find it in Himself to write these letters of care and encouragement? Twelve simple words . . . one bottom line view of life . . .

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

Simple, huh? Life was all about Christ . . . Paul didn’t see any “no win” scenario in front of him. Yes he was in prison, but it “actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel” (1:12). The palace guard were getting schooled in “Good News 101” (1:13) . . . the local Christians were inspired by Paul’s life witness such that they were becoming much more bold to speak the gospel without fear (1:14). Paul may have been in chains, but the gospel was being preached! “And in this I rejoice,” writes Paul, “yes, and will rejoice.” For to me, to live is Christ . . .

Death was all about Christ, too! Paul didn’t fear death . . . in fact, there was a certain “appeal” to passing on. Not that death was about what he could escape and leave behind. No, instead it was about the One he would go to see . . . “having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (1:23). For Paul, there was a continual “there and then” perspective which drove his “here and now” priorities and actions. To die would be gain . . . it would be advantage . . . it would lead to the ultimate “win scenario”. To exit this world and be with Christ . . . that was the grand prize. To see again, face to face, the One he had met on the Damascus road . . . that would exceed any pleasure, joy, or accomplishment that might be achieved in this life. But, until that day of the Lord’s calling, and though dying would mean seeing Christ . . . while he remained in time and space, for Paul, living meant serving Christ.

And so you hover over these twelve simple words . . . and you whisper them to yourself . . . and you reflect on the degree to which they reflect your inner heart. And to the degree that they ring true for you, you thank God for His work of grace in your life. And to the degree that they have yet to own every aspect of your life, you ask God to continue His work of grace in you . . . that Christ might truly be life’s all-in-all . . . that the gain of departing and being with Christ would become so real . . . that in all things there might be a deep, abiding joy.

Twelve simple words . . . for His glory . . . amen!