"Stand Firm"

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March 4, 2007 Lent 2C

Sermon Title: “Stand Firm”

Series: The Path of Discipleship

Text: Gen. 15:1-12,17-18; Psalm 27; Phil. 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35

Dr. Steve Jackson

NewSong Community Church

Delivered on March 4, 2007

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.” Phil. 4:1

Stand Firm

Years ago, I attended a retreat at a Methodist retreat center in Biloxi Mississippi (Seashore Assembly). Each day we had speakers who would teach us the Bible and what it meant to be a Christian. Each night we’d have a bonfire out on the beach where we’d gather around the fire with a group of youth pastors and we’d sing. One of the songs we often sang is called “I Have Decided.” You may know it, the song goes like this:

I have decided to follow Jesus,

No turning back, no turning back.

When my friends and I sang that song on the beach, we sang it sincerely, often with tears running down our cheeks, as we sat on the sand staring at a cross, illuminated by the bonfire in front of us. The beach sessions usually ended with a call to give your life to Christ or to renew your walk with him, and then we’d share Holy Communion together. I recall in those emotional moments imagining myself to be standing firm in the Lord just as Paul urged the Philippians to do in today’s epistle. In those moments, I was determined to set my face toward Jesus and to follow him all the way to the cross. But my single-mindedness never lasted.

Back then it was the typical teen things that pulled me off the path. Things like peer pressure to do things I knew were wrong, the desire to experience all that life had to offer, and the rebelliousness of youth. Later on as I grew into adulthood the things that divided my heart involved tamer, but no less deadly activities such as the pursuit of power, possessions and prestige.

To be honest with you though, more often than not, the things that pulled me away from a single-minded pursuit of God weren’t spectacular things, they were simply the gentle erosion of my faith; the kind of slippage that comes from living your everyday life. You know how it is. A friend moves, and you say you’re going to keep in touch, and you do for awhile, but then the phone calls and e-mails become less frequent; there’s always a sermon to write, errands to run, or something else “important” to do. After a while you’re just sending a Christmas card with a generic “family update letter” enclosed with the words, “let’s get together soon” scribbled on a corner of the letter.

I’ve had many distractions and detours along the way, but thanks to his grace I’ve never gotten so distracted that I’ve totally stopped following the Lord or completely lost my way. Occasional flashbacks to times when I was closer to God and remembrances of words to songs like “I Have Decided” have returned my attention to him. But like many of you, I would suspect, I have mostly moved in fits and starts sometimes toward, and often away from singleness of purpose when it comes to moving down the path of discipleship.

Lent has been, for me, a time each year to remember the journey of discipleship I’m on. That’s actually the main reason we’re in a sermon series right now called “The Path of Discipleship.” Every so often in our walk of faith we need to be reminded that as we journey towards God we’ve got to stand firm because so many things “out there” and “in here” (within us) are vying for our attention, doing their best to distract us—and we’re so easily distracted.

What I want to say to you this morning is the exact same thing Paul said to the church in Philippi—“stand firm in the Lord!” Apparently the Philippians struggled with the same problem we face every day: how to live as disciples of Jesus in a world in which many of our neighbors and friends don’t share our beliefs, values or goals. Harder still, what do we do when even those we attend church with each week don’t seem to be single-mindedly pursuing Christ? What if they put comfort ahead of commitment, and value self-indulgence more than self-sacrifice, and possessions more than people? How then shall we live? How then shall we stand? These are the things Paul is teaching about in this passage.

We can exegete the passage easily enough. After enjoining the Philippians to imitate him and to “observe” those who are actually “walking the walk,” Paul goes on to explain that there are two kinds of people in the world: those whose lives are oriented toward this world, with their eyes set on worldly pleasures, whose “god is their belly.” And those whose eyes are set on eternity, those who are kingdom-minded, whose lives are oriented around Christ and his teachings (that’s what he means by their “citizenship in heaven”). He concludes with encouragement to “stand firm in the Lord.”

I think it’s important to realize that Paul is speaking to believers here. He’s speaking to those who “have decided” to use a phrase from the song I mentioned earlier. He’s not urging them to decide “for” or “against” Christ. He’s urging them to stand firm.

Last week as we began our journey on the path of discipleship I mentioned that these kinds of questions—questions of identity—must be settled in the wilderness before the journey begins. Paul is talking to people who have already settled the “is there a God” question. What he’s saying is, now that you’ve decided to follow Jesus, how are you going to live the rest of your life when it’s clear you’re going to be surrounded by distractions, temptations, Satan, and your own human weaknesses, all vying to pull you off the path or to at the very least to cause you to drift?

Unfortunately Paul doesn’t give us a clear cut answer or a “cut-and-dried” list of things to do or not do here when it comes to standing firm in the Lord. He does say there is a way. Look again with me at the last verse of the passage, “Therefore…stand firm in the Lord (how?) in this way, my beloved.” What is “the way” Paul is referring to here? He never comes right out and says. Quite frankly I wish he had. Returning to our “path” metaphor, perhaps Paul didn’t spell it out because he wants us to really keep our eyes on the path and so by making us “dig” he thinks we’ll be more likely to stick to the path.

Those of you who hike know that when hiking on the Appalachian trail or other trails, they don’t mark every tree along the trail. Apart from the fact that such marks would destroy the beauty of the hike, the trail markings are interspersed every so often so you have to pay attention—the fact that you have to keep a lookout for where the trail actually goes serves to make the journey more interesting—you take in more. Perhaps something like that is the reason Paul didn’t give us one of his typical “do’s and don’ts” lists.

This morning as I encourage you to stand firm I want us to look a little closer at what Paul has written to see if he’s given us any trail markings to guide us so we can know how to stand firm in the Lord. What is “the way” he alludes to? I confess don’t have the whole answer, but I’m confident three things are important clues:

· It Has To Do With the Mind

· It Has To Do With Focus

· It Has To Do With the Resurrection

It Has To Do With The Mind

The first thing I believe we can say with confidence is that the way to “stand firm in the Lord” has to do with the MIND. Notice, if you will, that the hinge point between the “good life” and the “bad life” as Paul describes it here, is one’s mindset. They (the “bad” guys) have their mind set on “earthly things” while “we” (those on the path) have our minds set on the fact that our “citizenship is in heaven.”

Now again, I could back all the way up into last week’s message to point out that getting your mind set is “wilderness work” just as Jesus settled his own issues of identity there while he was being tempted by the devil. I won’t go all through that again, but like I said last week, Jesus’ journey to the cross could never have been completed had he not done the hard work of setting his mind in the wilderness at the very beginning of his ministry.

I remember when I played high school football. Every game the last thing we’d do before we took the field was the team would recite a poem together—I can still say it today:

If you think you are beaten, you are:

If you think you dare not, you won't

If you like to win, but don't think you can

It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost;

For out in the world you'll find

success begins in a person’s will;

It's all in a state of mind.

Think big and your deeds will grow,

Think small and you'll fall behind;

Think that you CAN and you WILL;

It's all in a state of mind.

For many a game is lost

And many a game is won

And many a coward fails

Before his work is begun.

If you think you are beaten, you are;

You've got to think high to rise;

You've got to be sure of yourself

Before you can win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later, the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

This morning in our Sunday School class the chapter we covered talked about the power of the mind. John Ortberg referred to what he called the law of cognition which says that we are what we think. This is not pop psychology, this is biblical truth, Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Jesus knew this, he said what goes into a man’s mouth is not nearly as important as what comes from inside (Matt. 15:10-20). Research has confirmed the importance of our minds, showing time and again that our thought life influences every aspect of our life, in fact, everything about us flows out of the way we think. Our character, who we are, is nothing more than the sum of our thoughts.

So, again to repeat this first point, I believe we can say with confidence is that the way to “stand firm in the Lord” has to do, first of all with the MIND that is the hinge point.

It Has To Do With FOCUS

The second point is related, and that is that standing firm has to do with FOCUS. This also involves the mind, but it has to do with your external focus versus your internal mind set. Paul teaches here that one way to make sure you stay on the path is to focus on those who are already walking the path successfully. If you will, circle the word “observe” in verse 17 of this passage on your Scripture hand-outs. The word translated observe there is the Greek word skopeo, from which we get our English word “scope.” The word means to “focus in on,” or “to contemplate.”

What Paul says here is, “Want to stay on the path? Then focus on those who are walking on the path like they should be.” A more modern way of saying this would be to say we should “scope out” those who are actually doing what it is we want to do.

The purpose of a scope on a rifle is two-fold. First it brings whatever it is you are aiming at into a closer view, and second, by its design, it filters out the target’s surroundings. Both are beneficial as we “scope out” those we know who are “walking the walk.” Not only will we have a good example of what to do, it will also keep our focus from drifting to those people and things around us who are “earthly” instead of “heavenly” minded. And again, note that the power of focus is related to the idea that this is all about a mindset.

In that same chapter of Ortberg’s book he mentions another law of the mind that applies here. This second law is called the law of exposure. The law of exposure says that your mind will think about what it is exposed to the most. What repeatedly enters your mind occupies your mind, eventually shapes your mind, and will ultimately express itself in what you do and who you become.

That is why observing—scoping out—those who are successfully walking down the path of discipleship, will help us stand firm.

And allow me to make two brief observations here as regards the importance of what our minds are exposed to. One is the importance of what we allow to enter our minds. Ortberg points out that while many of us watch what we eat and are meticulous about who our kids hang out with, etc… we are ridiculously lax about what we allow to enter our minds. We’ve got to be more careful there if we want to stand firm in the Lord.

Second, we need to watch what enters our fellowship. Before you get angry with me or think I’m being exclusive here, let me explain. It’s clear that we tend to take on the characteristics and habits of those around us. What’s going to happen if we have a bunch of people in our church who are “earthly minded” who catch our eye until before long we’re focusing on them instead of focusing on the few who are walking down the path of discipleship? Do you see what I’m saying?

That’s point two: standing firm has a lot to do with what we’re focusing on, what we’re “scoping out.” The best way to stay on the path is to keep our eyes focused on those who are walking it.

It Has To Do With the Resurrection

The third thing to notice from the passage occurs in verse 21 and that is that standing firm clearly has something to do with the RESURRECTION. Paul writes, “He 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.”

Actually there are two things we can learn about standing firm that come from this passage referring to the resurrection.

The first is that something has to die for things to change. If you’re going to have a resurrection, something has to die first. I think that is something we often forget when journeying along the path of discipleship and things get difficult for us and we find ourselves wavering instead of standing firm. The reason we’re wavering so much is because we’re trying to “keep the old” and simply add the new thing God is doing alongside or on top of the old and that’s not how God does things.

Jesus died on the cross. We affirm that in the Apostle’s Creed, “He was crucified, dead, and buried.” For some reason however, we think we don’t have to die to ourselves, but in reality, we do. This dying to self is symbolized by our baptism (dying and rising to new life). Only then are we are born from above and God can do with us what he would like. Am I making sense here?

I remember we built a house once and we tried planting grass seed in the yard and it did okay, but it was patchy and had lots of weeds in it. So we called a landscaping company and told them to help us. They suggested we try sod. We agreed, but what they did next stunned me. They came out and poisoned (“Round-up”) my entire yard. All the pretty grass we had dried up and was dead in a matter of days. Then they came out with a tiller and tilled the soil to expose the roots of the old grass and they hit it with poison again. A few days later they came out and tilled the ground again and then they let it sit for a couple of weeks for the poison to lose its punch. Then, finally, they came out and prepped the yard one more time before they laid the new sod. I would have probably just raked up the ground and put the sod down on top of the old grass. If I had it would’ve been no time at all before the old grass would have been growing through the new sod.

The resurrection teaches us that something has to die before something new can grow. Remember Jesus’ words? “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

The second thing we can learn about standing firm from Paul’s mention of the resurrection is that The POWER To Stand Firm Comes From God. Again, verse 21 shows us where the power comes from, it’s from “the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.”

The power necessary to stand cannot be found within yourself—you can’t work it up on your own, the power is found in God alone. This, for me is frustrating and freeing at the same time.

It’s frustrating because it means that I’m at the mercy of God to have the power and because it means I’ve got to do what it takes to remain close to my power source—through prayer, Bible reading, the Sacrament of Communion, and all the other means of grace God offers me.

It’s freeing because it means that staying on the path isn’t an issue of my personal willpower so that as soon as I let my breath out and stop trying so hard I’m going to take a serious tumble.

That’s really what this season (Lent) is about for us. The goal of discipleship is not to overcome the bad stuff in our lives by our own willpower. Rather, the goal is to be transformed by Christ from within so that being loving, joyful, patient and kind is a natural expression of who we actually are. In Romans 8:5-6, Paul says, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." We’ve got to act—we’ve got to set our mind on the right things and we’ve got to arrange our lives around the appropriate kinds of practices and relationships and experiences and as we do so our minds are renewed by God and we have the power to carry on.

Traveling the path of discipleship is all about the transformation of the inner person by the power of God. It is God’s work. Of course it also calls for us to act.[i]—that’s why we call it a “path” – we’ve got to walk as his Spirit energizes us to move forward.

Conclusion

Whatever your need today in order to stand firm, ask Christ to help you—I believe he will. Why? Because of the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) where he was arrested and condemned. He remained steadfast to his mission. He traveled with single-minded purpose. No turning back, no turning back. But along the way, Jesus stopped to teach, to heal or to sit with or eat with those he loved. Not only did he accomplish for us what he did, he’ll stop and help you today. He’s the same Jesus yesterday, today and forever.

The truth is, try as we might, most of us will not walk the single-minded path. We’re to remember the final verse of that old song:

The world behind me, the cross before me,

No turning back, no turning back.

I admit it, I know that even in Lent I won’t be able to walk straight toward the cross. I’ve tried before. Only Christ could do that. But just as he gathered so many on his journey toward Jerusalem that first time, maybe he’ll grab me up along the way, too: to heal, to teach or just to sit with me for a while. That hope strengthens my resolve to set my mind on things above, to focus on those successfully walking the path, and to remember the resurrection of Jesus, and thus to keep on moving forward. Let’s move up the path together, shall we?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.