CALL TO WORSHIP
OPENING COMMENTS
- We continue our contemplation and reflection on this Second Sunday of Easter Preparation as we move toward Easter.
- We’re learning about being in relationship with a God who chose to become vulnerable in the human Person of Jesus, and we’re being reminded about our own vulnerability, especially when it comes to being comfortable with half-truths and easy answers that benefit us while others are deprived.
- Our theme for this week is God’s holy timeline.
- As we noted in last week’s sermon, personal and collective transformation takes a while and is rarely easy, smooth, or even linear. There are periods of stability, followed by times of stress, which are ultimately resolved, and we find ourselves to be changed, hopefully to be more expansive in the way we perceive the world than we were originally.
- For example, King David is believed to have authored Psalm 27 while he was running away from King Saul. It was a difficult time for David, facing unjust persecution, and the psalm affirms his belief that God was looking out for him. David’s fear turns to hope for the future, regardless of the difficulties he faced in the short term.
- Genesis 15 features Abraham’s vision when God established a covenant with him to bless him with numerous descendants despite his lack of an heir at the moment.
- The Gospel reading from Luke 13 takes place after the Transfiguration when some friendly Pharisees warn Jesus about Herod’s intent to kill him. Jesus tells them he has to be on his way to Jerusalem anyway, and then he laments over those in Jerusalem, longing to gather them under his wings like a mother hen.
- Our sermon text in Philippians explores our tendency to look for easy shortcuts to spiritual transformation outside the context of relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
OPENING SONGS
OPENING PRAYER
FIRST READING
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7 Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates ….
FIRST MESSAGE
- The Integrity of God’s Covenant
- Michelle Fleming
Program Transcript …
A research study published in the Journal of Business Ethics in 2000 found that promise-keeping was not a high priority in the American workplace. In fact, only 30 percent of the 700 study participants kept their word in business, and if they were faced with legal action, even then only 57 percent would keep their word. News like this can be discouraging, but let me share the story of one CEO who kept his promise to his employees.
Josh James, the co-founder and former CEO of the web analytics company Omniture, was faced with a tough choice in December of 2000 when he had to lay off 48 employees—without severance—to save the company. James told the laid-off employees that if he ever found a way to pay them the severance they should have had, he would do it. Almost five years later, James was able to send those employees the severance money they were due. He demonstrated integrity in business, and as a result, some of those former employees came back to work for him when he started another company.
Integrity matters. Our God is a God of integrity, though, admittedly, we don’t always act like we believe it. A good example is Abram, who later was renamed, Abraham. He struggled to believe God’s promise to provide Abram with descendants. Note his conversation with God in Genesis 15.
Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” Genesis 15:1-3 (NLT)
Notice that Abram is already trying to take control of the problem and come up with a solution.
He’s doubting that God is going to keep his promise. Does God get angry with Abram when he doubts? Let’s see what happened next.
Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Genesis 15:4-5 (NLT)
God reminds Abram of the original promise made. He doesn’t give Abram a list of things to do to help the process along. In fact, God shows Abram through a sacred ritual, that the promise coming true would have nothing to do with Abram’s efforts at all. God’s promise was a covenant he made that depends on God alone – proving his integrity.
And later, Abram had a son with his wife Sarah. God’s word is true.
The example of Josh James keeping his promise to his laid-off employees, even though he wasn’t legally obligated, illustrates the integrity of character we find in the story of Abram’s interaction and covenant with God. We can count on God to patiently remind us of his promises when we get discouraged and start thinking we need to do something to make those promises happen.
May you rest in the knowledge that the Father, Son, and Spirit will always keep their promises.
I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.
SECOND READING
SPECIAL MUSIC
MAIN MESSAGE
What Kind of Example?
From Home Office Lectionary Notes …
Context of Philippians 3
Paul begins the third chapter of Philippians with a warning against those who were trying to persuade others that circumcision was necessary to follow Christ (see Philippians 3:2–3). The “shortcut” of circumcision meant nothing in the environment of grace through Jesus Christ.
In Philippians 3:17–4:1, we notice that Paul encourages believers to consider his own example (v.17). However, previously in Philippians 3:1–6, Paul admits that he is far from perfect. He reminds readers that he was a “a persecutor of the church.” Despite his Jewish pedigree and education, he tells readers in Philippians 3:7–8 that what he thought mattered really didn’t.
Paul can criticize those who are trying to enforce the Law upon new believers because he was “a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees” (Acts 23:6). Barclay’s Commentary says this:
So Paul proves to these Jews that he has the right to speak. He is not condemning Judaism from the outside. He had experienced it at its highest point; and he knew that it was nothing compared with the joy which Christ had given. He knew that the only way to peace was to abandon the way of human achievement and accept the way of grace.
We can see in Philippians 3 that Paul is addressing those who were trying to create unnecessary requirements for following Jesus. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Paul wrote about it in the letter to the Romans, too ( See Romans 10:3)
We, too, can sometimes lay burdens on people based on our personal opinions of what we think God is asking of us. [Examples may be helpful.]
We want tangible shortcuts for the transformation that takes place over a lifetime of living, loving, and following Jesus. This is a problem, according to Paul, as the Philippians could be led astray by others offering an easier or programmatic way. So could we.
From the GCI Lectionary Notes …
Rather than interpreting these phrases as encouragement to view the body and its needs or desires as inherently sinful, Professor Emerita of Homiletics Susan Hedahl notes that Philippians 3:18–19 conveys a pattern of living, not individual shortcomings. She writes:
In other words, their mindset, actions, and orientation war against everything Paul considers Christian … Paul is asking, in this passage, for believers not simply to “behave” but to look at the meaning of all they do in relationship to a much larger power and reality.
Destruction, shame, and an earthly (rather than kingdom of heaven) orientation — these describe the pervasive state of sin from which we’re all in need of rescue. And the good news is Jesus Christ “transforms the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory.”
The preoccupation with “earthly things” also hints at viewing success and what constitutes a good life through the lens of culture. [Examples may be helpful.]
This is often connected to systems of power within a society, and unfortunately, it is far from living the life of love Jesus lived in caring for the poor and sick. When we buy into worldly systems of power and support leaders who use fear and scarcity, we are taking our eyes off the example of Jesus and substituting the antithesis of what He lived on earth.
From the GCI Lectionary Notes …
Citizenship in heaven
Philippi was a Roman colony, and as such, citizenship was an important concept. Roman citizenship offered legal and political privileges as Paul wrote about in Acts 16:37–38, Acts 22:25–28, and Acts 25. Earlier in Philippians 1:27, Paul implies that believers should consider how they live:
Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27 NRSVUE
While most translations render it as “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel,” New Testament Studies lecturer Elizabeth Shively writes that the literal translation is “live as citizens worthy of the gospel.” As “citizens worthy of the gospel,” this way of life is not a solitary path. Rather, it is a communal activity. Notice Philippians 3:17 begins with, “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me,” and Paul encourages the church to imitate his example of humble care for others.
This way of humble living, caring for “the least of these,” is the way we follow Christ because “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).
Though this was part of a parable Jesus told, the message of humble care for others, especially those most vulnerable, was conveyed throughout his life and demonstrated by his actions. While we can’t save the world like Jesus did, we can “stand firm in the Lord in this way” (Philippians 4:1 NRSVUE). In this way, we show non-Christians that our lives reflect the One we profess to follow.
CONCLUSION
What can we take away from the passage … from the messages?
From the GCI Lectionary Notes …
Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When we live as if our citizenship is in heaven, not as part of this world’s corrupt power systems, we offer an example worth imitating.
There are no shortcuts to spiritual transformation and relationship. It requires high effort but offers high returns, and Paul provides a testimonial worthy of imitation as well as a call for urgency in Philippians 3:17–4:1. It’s a process that takes a lifetime and one that we walk in community with each other and with our Beloved.
Call to Action: During the Easter Preparation season,
- think about what you believe makes life meaningful.
- consider how much space worldly success takes up in that mental list and …
- consider how living a life of transformation looks in terms of body, mind, and spirit.
CLOSING SONG
CLOSING PRAYER
Lectionary Notes
There Are No Shortcuts
Philippians 3:17–4:1 NRSVUE
Forbes magazine ponders this question. In its May 16, 2024, issue, “Do Get Rich Quick Schemes Really Work?” Journalist Melissa Houston dissects the anatomy of a get rich quick scheme, identifying three main components:
- High returns with low effort.
- Strong sense of urgency.
- Anecdotal success stories.
The reason these schemes fail, she writes, is that they lack a sustainable or long-term strategy, often bypassing ongoing effort and proven principles. These schemes also are riskier, and many people end up losing money rather than making it. Lastly, get rich quick schemes often involve deception or outright illegal activity.
You probably have heard about get rich quick scams and know enough to stay away from them. [Examples may be helpful.] But our sermon text today shows how we try to figure out an easier way to achieve just about anything. This inclination to make our lives easier has led to some great inventions. However, when it comes to our relationships with God or with each other, there are no shortcuts. Anything that appears to provide the same “return” with minimal effort, despite the examples we might see, is not the spiritual transformation we are looking for. We can be easily enticed by those who seem spiritual or who profess to have “special knowledge.” However, as a “priesthood of believers” (1 Peter 2:9), we don’t need to rely on those who try to convince us they have a direct line to the Divine. In truth, God’s holy timeline requires sustainable investment in relationship with the Divine as we seek to be transformed by Christ. Let’s read our sermon text.
Philippians 3:17-4:1
17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.
18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 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.
4 1 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.
Context of Philippians 3
Paul begins the third chapter of Philippians with a warning against those who were trying to persuade others that circumcision was necessary to follow Christ (see Philippians 3:2–3). The “shortcut” of circumcision meant nothing in the environment of grace through Jesus Christ.
In Philippians 3:17–4:1, we notice that Paul encourages believers to consider his own example (v.17). However, previously in Philippians 3:1–6, Paul admits that he is far from perfect. He reminds readers that he was a “a persecutor of the church.” Despite his Jewish pedigree and education, he tells readers in Philippians 3:7–8 that what he thought mattered really didn’t.
Paul can criticize those who are trying to enforce the Law upon new believers because he was “a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees” (Acts 23:6). Barclay’s Commentary says this:
So Paul proves to these Jews that he has the right to speak. He is not condemning Judaism from the outside. He had experienced it at its highest point; and he knew that it was nothing compared with the joy which Christ had given. He knew that the only way to peace was to abandon the way of human achievement and accept the way of grace.
We can see in Philippians 3 that Paul is addressing those who were trying to create unnecessary requirements for following Jesus. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Paul wrote about it in the letter to the Romans, too ( See Romans 10:3)
We, too, can sometimes lay burdens on people based on our personal opinions of what we think God is asking of us. [Examples may be helpful.]
We want tangible shortcuts for the transformation that takes place over a lifetime of living, loving, and following Jesus. This is a problem, according to Paul, as the Philippians could be led astray by others offering an easier or programmatic way. So could we.
Enemies of the cross of Christ
Let’s consider how “enemies of the cross” live their lives, and what a life reflecting our citizenship in heaven might look like.
Paul says in Philippians 3:18–19 that the enemies of the cross of Christ have these characteristic behaviors:
- Their end is destruction.
- Their god is the belly.
- Their glory is in their shame.
- Their minds are set on earthly things.
Rather than interpreting these phrases as encouragement to view the body and its needs or desires as inherently sinful, Professor Emerita of Homiletics Susan Hedahl notes that Philippians 3:18–19 conveys a pattern of living, not individual shortcomings. She writes:
In other words, their mindset, actions, and orientation war against everything Paul considers Christian … Paul is asking, in this passage, for believers not simply to “behave” but to look at the meaning of all they do in relationship to a much larger power and reality.
Destruction, shame, and an earthly (rather than kingdom of heaven) orientation — these describe the pervasive state of sin from which we’re all in need of rescue. And the good news is Jesus Christ “transforms the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory.”
The preoccupation with “earthly things” also hints at viewing success and what constitutes a good life through the lens of culture. [Examples may be helpful.]
This is often connected to systems of power within a society, and unfortunately, it is far from living the life of love Jesus lived in caring for the poor and sick. When we buy into worldly systems of power and support leaders who use fear and scarcity, we are taking our eyes off the example of Jesus and substituting the antithesis of what He lived on earth.
Citizenship in heaven
Philippi was a Roman colony, and as such, citizenship was an important concept. Roman citizenship offered legal and political privileges as Paul wrote about in Acts 16:37–38, Acts 22:25–28, and Acts 25. Earlier in Philippians 1:27, Paul implies that believers should consider how they live:
Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27 NRSVUE
While most translations render it as “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel,” New Testament Studies lecturer Elizabeth Shively writes that the literal translation is “live as citizens worthy of the gospel.” As “citizens worthy of the gospel,” this way of life is not a solitary path. Rather, it is a communal activity. Notice Philippians 3:17 begins with, “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me,” and Paul encourages the church to imitate his example of humble care for others.
This way of humble living, caring for “the least of these,” is the way we follow Christ because “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Though this was part of a parable Jesus told, the message of humble care for others, especially those most vulnerable, was conveyed throughout his life and demonstrated by his actions. While we can’t save the world like Jesus did, we can “stand firm in the Lord in this way” (Philippians 4:1 NRSVUE). In this way, we show non-Christians that our lives reflect the One we profess to follow. Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When we live as if our citizenship is in heaven, not as part of this world’s corrupt power systems, we offer an example worth imitating.
There are no shortcuts to spiritual transformation and relationship. It requires high effort but offers high returns, and Paul provides a testimonial worthy of imitation as well as a call for urgency in Philippians 3:17–4:1. It’s a process that takes a lifetime and one that we walk in community with each other and with our Beloved.
Call to Action: During the Easter Preparation season, think about what you believe makes life meaningful. Consider how much space worldly success takes up in that mental list and how living a life of transformation looks in terms of body, mind, and spirit.