Introduction
I read
something very sad this week that came across my desk. A pregnant girl who went
by the initial “h” penned an open letter to the unborn child that she planned
on aborting. In the letter she spoke to her baby about not being prepared to
have a child and not bringing a child into the world unprepared in the same way
that she was brought into the world by a mother she seemed to think was unprepared
to bring a life into this world. The letter was very moving as “h” talked about
wanting only the best for her child that she believed she could not provide. She
called her baby “Little Thing.” Perhaps it was a term of endearment or perhaps
it was a coping mechanism to deal with the reality that she was preparing to
kill an innocent child. The purpose of this writing is not to debate the issue
of abortion. At this point, if you’re not convinced that mothers should not be
allowed to kill their own children then there’s probably nothing I will be able
to say that will convince you. No the purpose of this lesson is to address
something else “h” said in her letter that I believe is at the root of her
belief that killing her baby is her best option. She wrote, “It wouldn’t be
fair to bring a new life into a world where I am still haunted by ghosts of the
life I’ve lived.” I wept when I read those words. Whatever her past mistakes
may have been, they are haunting her and driving her to perpetuate the cycle of
making more mistakes. Sadly, I fear her mistakes will continue to haunt her and
drive her to even greater mistakes.
We all make
mistakes. It’s not possible to go through life without making mistakes—it’s
part and parcel of being sinful human beings. Some of those mistakes started
out well-intentioned and some evolved from far less noble intentions. I’ve made
more mistakes than I can even remember. Some of us have made some terribly,
awful mistakes—mistakes that have wounded others and ourselves. Some mistakes lead
to consequences that have a fairly short shelf-life. Some mistakes lead to a
lifetime of consequences. However, God can use all the mistakes of our lives to
fulfill his purposes. God has made it possible for us to move beyond our
mistakes, find forgiveness for our mistakes, and heal from our mistakes. We
don’t have to be driven by our mistakes to make more mistakes. The decisions we
make today don’t have to be in response to past mistakes. We don’t have to be
haunted by Ghosts Of The Past.
Subject Text
Philippians 3:12-16
12Not
that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what
is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15All
of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make
clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have
already attained.
Context
It’s
important to remember that Paul is writing this letter to the church in
Philippi while he was sitting in a Roman prison. Paul has endured much since he
first encountered the risen Christ. He endured multiple beatings with a rod,
death threats, shipwrecks, exposure, severe hunger and thirst, 39 lashes five
times, sleepless nights, repeated imprisonments, danger from rivers, robbers,
Jews, Gentiles, city, wilderness, and false believers. In short, Paul’s
conversion meant a one-way ticket to a life of hardship. But hardship was only
the journey not the final destination. Paul’s focus and goal was always beyond
the journey to the final destination of heaven when all his sufferings would be
over and the brokenness and decay of his physical body would be transformed
into a glorious body much like Christ’s resurrected body. What’s really amazing
is not the road Paul travelled after his conversion but the path Paul was on
before his conversion. Before Paul’s conversion, most of the people of Paul’s
day would have given their right arm to have what Paul had. Paul lived a
charmed life; He wasn’t just a Jew but a Jew’s Jew. He wasn’t just a Pharisee,
he was fanatical about observing the Law. He wasn’t just zealous about Judaism,
he was zealous to destroy those who might threaten Judaism. Paul had it all;
fame and fortune. The only thing Paul didn’t have was peace. He was chasing
peace with God through his own efforts of meticulously keeping the Law; of
being good and avoiding mistakes. The only problem—everyone makes mistakes and
Paul made some really bad ones. No matter how hard he tried and no matter how
diligent he was as a respected keeper of the Law, there would always be those
mistakes; mistakes that would drive him to make even more mistakes; mistakes
that would haunt him like Ghost Of The
Past.
Text Analysis
In the
verses leading up to v. 12, Paul itemized his credentials as a religious leader
prior to his conversion. His audience would have been well aware of the
benefits that accrued to those credentials. Paul didn’t need anything or want
anything until that fateful day on the road to Damascus. Once he encountered
Christ, he realized that all he had and all he was paled in comparison to what
he could have and what he could be. Once Paul made the choice to allow his
righteousness to come through Christ’s efforts instead of his own efforts, his
perspective on reality changed. Before his conversion, Paul assumed his
lineage, title, and power were a net gain—religious success. After his
conversion, he realized that they were actually a net loss because all those
things—the lineage, the title, the power, made him believe he could rely on
himself instead of God for his righteousness. What does that mean? Paul was
trying to save himself through self-achieved righteousness. The end result was
religion not relationship and God wanted relationship not religion when He sent
Jesus. After encountering Jesus, Paul gave up his pursuit of righteousness
through religion and began to trust God for his righteousness through his
relationship with Jesus. Any other perceived gain through religious activity,
or as Paul puts it, through the keeping of the Law, was ultimately determined
by Paul to be nothing more than garbage or literally in the Greek, nothing more
than a pile of shit. Consequently, after his conversion, Paul’s primary
objective was to be in an ever-growing relationship with Jesus and that put him
on a path of experiencing the same hardships as the Master with the hope that
he would experience the same glory as the Master at the resurrection. Paul knew
he was forgiven, not perfect. Nevertheless, Paul had no intention of allowing
his imperfections to be an obstacle to being in a growing relationship with
Jesus. Paul’s mistakes were not an obstacle for Jesus so Paul doesn’t allow
them to be an obstacle from moving forward; from fulfilling his mission; from
always growing closer to Jesus. Paul knew that his conversion experience didn’t
mean he had arrived at the pinnacle of the life of faith, he knew that it
inaugurated a faith journey that would reach its climax not in this life but in
the next at the resurrection. “There are certain things which the Christian
must strive after, such as hospitality (Rom 12:13), mutual peace (Rom 12:19; 1
Pet. 3:11; Heb. 12:14), holiness, love (1 Cor 14:1), doing good (1 Thess 5:15),
and righteousness (1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 2:22). These are lasting objectives in the
life of faith, which has as its goal the attaining of the resurrection from the
dead. Paul sees the Christian life as ultimately directed to this goal.”[1]
Again, Paul
is under no illusion that he has reached the goal of his faith according to vv.
13-14. He realizes that he’s made mistakes along the way, but he refuses to
allow those mistakes to paralyze him into quitting nor does he resign himself
to simply being a failure. Although Paul hadn’t achieved his final goal, it
appears that he has mastered living under God’s mercy and grace. Knowing that
God is infinitely merciful, Paul simply put his mistakes behind him and moved
on. Of his mistakes, Paul says he “forgot” about them and pressed forward.
Don’t get this wrong! Paul’s not saying he ignored his mistakes, he’s saying he
forgot about them—there’s a difference. Ignoring mistakes never serves to help
us grow up. Instead, ignoring mistakes leaves us immature and susceptible to
making the same mistakes. The trajectory of what Paul is saying is that he
faced his mistakes, acknowledged his mistakes, asked for forgiveness for his
mistakes when necessary, allowed the mistakes to force corrective action, then he
put the mistakes behind him and moved on. When you read this, you might be
saying to yourself, “Yeah but you don’t know what I’ve done. There’s no way I
could forget the awful things I’ve done. And even if I try to forget, too many
people know what I’ve done and they won’t ever let me forget.” You’re right. I
don’t know what you’ve done but I do know a little bit about what Paul did, and
his legacy, both good and bad, has been recorded in the most read book in all
of history. Paul might have been able to forget and move on but we remember
very well that before Paul met the risen Christ on his way to Damascus to
continue on his quest to persecute the Church, Paul filled the role of being
the complimentary coat-check boy as a crowd of religious leaders dragged
Stephen out into the street and stoned him to death for preaching the Gospel to
them. You can read about it in the Book of Acts and you’ll find Paul approving
of it all. That little episode along with other incidents of persecution were
part of Paul’s past. They were all events that could have crippled him from
being the Paul who authored much of our New Testament. Instead, Paul leaned
into the grace he received through the forgiveness of his sins and moved on to
do all God prepared for him to do. I’m pretty sure Paul didn’t literally forget
his past and I’m pretty sure people used his past to try and disqualify his
witness. Nevertheless, Paul refused to allow the Ghosts Of The Past to dictate his obedience, his faithfulness, or
his future decisions. Paul knew he had to keep his eye on the finish line which
was ahead of him instead of the events of his life that were now behind him if
he was going to succeed in achieving the goal of finishing strong and winning
the prize that awaited him. “He cannot look back. He cannot cloud his mind with
past memories. He strains every muscle in his body to achieve forward motion.
Eyes focus on the finish line. Paul forgets the guilt of persecuting the
church. He forgets the pain of prison and physical punishment. He forgets the
frustration of disobedient church members and false teachers. He looks ahead to
see the resurrection, where he will meet Jesus face-to-face.”[2]
It can be a
little confusing when we get to vv. 15-16 because they don’t appear to be
connected very well with the preceding verses or those that come after. Unfortunately,
that’s because the NIV (and a number of other translations) doesn’t translate
one of the original Greek words from the text to add the word “therefore” or
“so” at the beginning of v. 15. Nevertheless, it does belong in the final
translation which would then tie it directly to the previous verses. It’s a
minor detail I know but it serves to anchor the “view” or perspective Paul says
mature Christians should have—learn to forget what has past and focus on the task
before us. Additionally, we shouldn’t focus on our imperfections or where we
still fall short in our Christian journey to be faithful but to build on the
transformations that have already taken place in our lives. Just like you can’t
win a race at the starting line or during the middle of the race, we won’t be
all God intends us to be until we complete our Christian journey; until we are
fully transformed at the resurrection. “Paul defines the meaning of the word teleioi as mature. His definition of
maturity is contained in the encouragement that we should take such a view of things as he as just expressed in the
previous paragraph. Maturity is taking Paul’s view of things, having Paul’s
attitude, and adopting Paul’s way of thinking…When Paul decided to consider everything a loss because of the
surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ ([Phil] 3:7-8), his attitude
reflected that of the one who made
himself nothing,…humbled himself and was obedient unto death—even death on the
cross! ([Phil] 2:7-8).”[3]
Paul’s not saying that he’s better than anyone else only that they, and by
extension we, can use his life and attitude as a living model of how they
should live. He’s also not insisting on complete agreement as to all aspects of
what maturity looks like. “Paul emphasizes the importance of having the same
attitude on the major points of principle and recognizes the reality of a
difference of attitude on some minor points. The difference of attitude is not
radical, but only a difference on some
points…He recognizes that there will be differences on some points even
when members of the community sincerely desire to have the same attitude in the
pursuit of Christ as Paul has. Paul does not demand total uniformity or coerce
absolute agreement on every point. Without any sign of anxiety or resentment,
he allows his readers freedom to discover how to develop a mature attitude with
the assurance that God will make clear to them how to handle their
differences.”[4]
Application
I love
Paul’s attitude and ability to forget and press on but I know from personal
experience that it’s not as easy as Paul makes it sound. For some of us,
forgetting what is behind means relearning who we were created to be. Let me
try to explain: When I was growing up, my dad had little patience for my
mistakes. When he wasn’t in a position to crack me in the head for some mistake,
he would chastise me by calling me a “dumb jackass.” It sounded somewhat innocuous
in German, which is what we spoke around the house, but the effect on me was
the same. Eventually, he didn’t need to do or say anything whenever I did
something wrong—I just replayed the tape in my head that I was a “dumb
jackass.” You’d think that a person could outgrow such childish things but
something happens in the mind of a child when something is repeated enough
times by someone who has influence over them—they begin to believe it. Add to
that other harsh words, a few ill-timed beatings, and the way God intended us
to think about ourselves becomes rewired to be something God never intended.
God never intended for us to be defined or controlled by our mistakes. For me
personally, until my mid twenties, I allowed a life’s worth of mistakes to
define me and I spent most of my time being driven by the Ghosts Of The Past—one moment trying to prove they didn’t define me,
and the next, surrendering to their influence over me. It wasn’t until I
surrendered myself fully to the One who I claimed as my Savior that I began the
process of relearning who I was always created to be. It hasn’t been an easy or
smooth road. Sometimes I still hear the Ghosts
Of The Past howling at me and sometimes I still listen. But I also know
that over the last thirty years, their voices aren’t the only ones I hear and
more often than not, they aren’t the first voice I hear. More and more, I hear
the forgiving voice of Jesus talk me through my mistakes to help me grow,
forgive me and then help me move on. It’s a magnificent relationship of love
that drives me to strive to become more like Jesus every day. I am learning to
lean into God’s grace found in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. I don’t
ignore my mistakes but I’m learning that mistakes are sometimes what I do not who I am. I’m slowly learning how to put my mistakes behind me and
press on to becoming the person God created me to be and do the things God has
ordained for me to do.
After reading about “h”, the woman
I told you about at the beginning, I spent a good part of the next morning
praying for her. I prayed that she would somehow change her mind and not kill
her child. However, what I really prayed for was that she would encounter
Christ at some point. As awful as it is to kill her own child, I know how
hopeless it is to live in the shadow of past mistakes; to be driven by the Ghosts Of The Past. I can guarantee
that this mistake won’t solve any of her problems. In fact, this mistake will
only serve to add a dead baby to the ghosts that will haunt her into making still
other mistakes.
If your
story is similar to that of “h”, I want you to know that I’m praying for you
too. I’m praying that you don’t allow yourself to be defined and driven by your
past mistakes. I’m praying that you will instead take your mistakes to Jesus
and listen to His voice of grace, mercy, and love and not the voices that have
been driving you to go from one mistake to the next in your life. Most of you
have never met me and only know me through this ministry, but I’m asking you to
trust me when I tell you that you can pack up all your mistakes, as awful as
they might be, and drop them at the feet of Jesus without fear of being
condemned. There isn’t anything, anything,
you can do that Jesus can’t forgive. There are no events in your life, none, no matter how awful they might be,
that God can’t use to help you grow into the person God created you to be. I
promise you that if you will surrender the mistakes of your life to God, He
will begin to direct your steps toward an amazing life of relationship with Him
through Jesus Christ. Give your life fully to Jesus and you will be driven by
the hope of future glory and not by the Ghosts
Of The Past.
[1]
Colin Brown, Gen. Ed., New International
Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1986), pp. 806-807.
[2]
Max Anders, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians & Colossians—Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville,
TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1999), p. 245.
[3]
G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the
Philippians—The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009). p. 258.
[4]
Ibid., p. 259.
No comments:
Post a Comment