One Man’s Trash

Philippians 3:4-14

Not everyone goes to church in Sandwich, but nearly everyone goes to the dump. Although we don’t call it the dump any longer. We call it the Transfer Station now or the Recycling Center. But the phrase “the Dump” has so much more character.  I used to go to the dump by myself, or when my kids were young I used to take them. But ever since my wife found out about the Swap Shop at the dump, she insists on going with me. Now I just hope to leave more at the dump than I bring home from the dump. I have to admit that Jude has found a few nice things at the Swap Shop, but in my opinion most of the stuff brought to the dump should stay at the dump. We have two different philosophies of life. I try to get rid of junk, and she tries to collect it. Unfortunately she is winning. You have heard the old expression “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” In our household it is one man’s trash is another woman’s treasure.

In our epistle lesson for today the apostle Paul tells how he changed his mind about many of the things he valued in his life. Certain things about his life used to be his treasures. Now he considers them trash. He says in verses 7-8 “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.” The word he uses for rubbish is very strong. In fact the old KJV uses the word “dung.” But modern translators are very aware that preachers are going to be reading this from the pulpit, so instead of using words like dung, sewage or solid waste (which would be more accurate translation) they use spiritually correct language like rubbish, garbage or refuse. But you get the point. No one is going to be bringing back from the Swap Shop what Paul is talking about here in this verse. Paul is saying that when we are in Christ then our values are completely transformed. What we once thought was treasure is now considered trash, and vice versa.

I. Let’s take a look at exactly what Paul used to consider treasure, but now has changed his mind about.  He lists some things in verse 4-8 “If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 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….”

Look at what Paul considered of great value before he was in Christ. First it was his ethnic heritage. Verse 5: “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews.”  He was very proud of his ethnic heritage as a Jew. In his own words he was “a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” Lots of people today are very proud of their ethnic heritage. After all this is Saint Patrick’s Day! Everyone searches their ancestry to see if they have any drop of Irish blood in them. Even Obama jokes that his name actually has an apostrophe after the O and is really an Irish name. Personally I don’t celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. I celebrate Saint David’s Day on March 1 because of my Welsh heritage. David is the patron saint of Wales. We even had a few people over to our house this year to celebrate Saint David’s Day. Some people take their ethnic heritage too far. Extremism in this area has led to what we now call ethnic cleansing in recent decades in places like Bosnia and Rwanda. We know from WWII the horrors of Antisemitism. Racism is still with us. I was reading recently about Oberlin College in Ohio – one of the most politically correct liberal arts college you can think of – which is battling an outbreak of racist graffiti. Ethnic identity is fine when held in moderation, but can literally become deadly.

For Paul it became deadly. Paul speaks of his religious prejudice in verses 5-6 “concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” Ethnic and religious loyalties often go together, and too often they result in the persecution of other religious groups. America was founded by those who were seeking freedom from religious persecution in England and Europe. Often those who are doing the persecuting are those who are legalistic in their understanding of their religion. Paul describes himself in those days as “concerning the law, a Pharisee.” He was not just a Pharisee, he called himself in the Book of Acts “a Pharisee of Pharisees.” He says here “concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” He kept the law to a T and hated those who did not measure up to his standard of righteousness. We see the same type of religious legalism today in some religions. The most visible one these days is an extremist form of Islam which seeks to impose Sharia law on society. That is what happened in Afghanistan with the Taliban. Those are the folks who flew the airliners into the twin towers on September 11. That is why our troops are fighting in Afghanistan! 

The apostle Paul himself admits that he was an extremist -  a persecutor of Christians when he was younger: “concerning zeal, persecuting the church” he says. The persecution of the church continues today in Muslim lands and communist lands. The Arab Spring has only made things harder for Christians in Islamic lands. New studies have come out in the last few months that now Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world.

 “Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers,” wrote Rupert Shortt in a 54-page report for the London-based Civitas institute in December, which meticulously documented the persecution of Christians on a country-by-country basis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly called Christianity “the most persecuted religion in the world” in November. As one commentator put it, Christians have become the new Jews. Open Doors, an organization which documents cases of persecution of Christians, confirms this, basing its report on official studies, news reports and field reports and questionnaires filled out by its staff workers around the world. They list the top 10 countries that persecute Christians ruthlessly. On the list - North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Maldives, Mali, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea. Eight of these top ten are majority Muslim states threatened by what Open Doors called "Islamic extremism". I am not going to talk any further about this here, but it shows that what the apostle Paul is talking about is not dead. Paul says that in his religious zeal he persecuted the church, and this type of thing continues today.

Paul looks back on his days of religious zeal and persecution of others and says that from his new position in Christ he considers it all that to be rubbish. We have to realize what a transformation this was. That was his whole life and identity. We obviously do not identify with the same things as Paul did before he became an apostle. But we have our own strong identities and things that we are zealous about. Many people are zealous about their political or ideological identity. I think the partisan divisiveness in Washington testifies to the fact that political party identity seems to have eclipsed a common national identity in many American’s minds. Religious identity is still very strong in this country. Every religion really thinks they have a monopoly on truth. That is true of liberals and conservatives and even atheists, who are becoming increasingly militant and fundamentalist in thinking they alone have the truth. We Christians are part of it too. Some Christians think they have got it down better than other Christians. Liberals look down on evangelicals and vice versa. Even people who don’t consider themselves religious – who call themselves “spiritual but not religious” think they are right and those religious people who go to church are wrong.

II. Paul says here that he gave all that up for Christ. He found his treasure in Jesus Christ. Listen to what Paul says in verse 7-8 “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.” He says he counted all things loss! And he says it three times to make sure his readers get the point. Christ has become his new identity. Not Christianity. He did not exchange one religion for another. He did not exchange one set of religious rules or moral laws or theological doctrines for another set. He is talking about Christ. He counts them loss “for Christ” - “for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” He has lost everything and counts them as rubbish that he “may gain Christ.”

This is our treasure – knowing Christ. Much of the world thinks that what Christians have is trash, because all they see are the trappings of religion. But that is just the wrapping. And they throw Christ out with the wrapping. When we open a present you throw the wrapping in the trash where it belongs and keep the gift within. The gift within the Christianity gospel is Christ. The Christian’s treasure is knowing Christ. In Christ we something eternal value that is worth everything else we might have. I have to quote missionary Jim Elliot here: “"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Jesus says, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Or as the NLT puts it: “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” When we give our lives to God, we give it all. And in return we gain it all. It is a no-brainer, as they say. Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Paul says that he has given up his own righteousness and exchanged it for God’s righteousness. Verses 8-9: “I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” I want to focus on righteousness for a moment. It is mentioned by Jesus and Paul. It is an important part of what it means to gain Christ. Righteousness is an important concept in the Bible and especially in Paul’s theology. It is a word we don’t use much in everyday life. And for that reason I think it is badly misunderstood. It seems to mean the same as self-righteousness in many people’s minds, but it is not.

Righteousness means the state of being in right relationship. Theologically it means being in right relationship with God, right relationship to ourselves – our own hearts and souls producing an inner peace,  producing right thoughts, intentions, and actions, and right relationships toward others. It is really that simple. It is rightness. Righteousness is the state of all things being and feeling right. Paul is saying that in his former life he tried to fix things to make them right – to fix his relationship with God, to fix himself and his own behavior and to fix relationships. And he couldn’t do it. He always fell short – which is the literal meaning of the word sin. But through faith in Christ things were set right. He was given righteousness as a gift. In Christ all is right. Christ is in perfect relationship with God, with himself and with others. When by faith we identity with Christ, become one with Christ, we share his right relationship. We die to unright self, die to our own separate identity apart from God and become united with Christ, and we inherit all that is Christ’s. This is what the Cross is all about. The Cross is Jesus dying to self and sin and separation from God – and then resurrecting – living to God. When we are in Christ we share everything that is Christ’s. In Christ you and I die, and in him we live. We share his righteousness – his right relationship with God, and himself, and actions and other people.

That is what he says in the next verses: 10-11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” It is about knowing him. It is about knowing his power – the power of the resurrection. It is knowing the fellowship of his sufferings and being conformed to his death. That is why the cross is the symbol of our faith. It sums it all up. That is not just Jesus on the cross. That is us on the cross. That is all of humanity on the cross. We die to self to live to God. We die to our separate selves to live in Christ. We die to death to live to life. Our bodies can die but who we really are in Christ cannot die. Our bodies can suffer, just like Jesus’ body suffered. But our spirits we commend to God and find peace. We may even feel forsaken by God as Jesus felt forsaken by God on the Cross. But in a deeper spiritual sense in Christ we are the Beloved and we are received by God into his kingdom.

Paul finishes the passage saying: 12-14 “ 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. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

In other words this is a process. We are not perfect and will never be perfect in this life. Christians are not perfect people. Preachers aren’t perfect. But we press on, that we may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of us. We do not count ourselves to have already arrived. We cannot look down upon anyone or think ourselves superior to anyone. We just forge ahead. Forgetting those things which are behind – meaning our sins. Forgiveness of sins in Christ means leaving them in the past and not dragging them with us into the present like Marley’s chains in Dickens Christmas carol. Today has enough problems for itself, as Jesus said. Forget those things which are behind. Leave the past in the past. What happened in the past stays in the past; don’t drag the ghosts of the past into the present. 

And reach toward those things that are ahead – not your worries and fears about the future. But in Paul’s words: “reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Christ is what is ahead. He has gone ahead of us through the cross and through the suffering and through the grave and through the resurrection to eternal life in God. That is our future. Indeed that is our present in Christ. Let us press on, that we may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of us.