Philippians 1: 19-30

I would encourage everyone to read Philippians 1: 19-30 this week. We will not be looking at it on Sunday morning but I feel that it's an important section of scripture that continues the theme of suffering which we addressed yesterday. In this section, Paul is torn between his desire to die and go to be with Jesus and to remain on the earth continuing to proclaiming the gospel. He says that it would be 'far better' to be with Christ (which seems to be a bit of an understatement). But Paul recognizes that it's necessary for him to remain on the earth for a little longer so that he could continue to encourage the believers and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Paul is a man who has his sights fixed on heaven, which compels him to live life to the fullest on planet earth.

And I have to wonder if we, as followers of Jesus, sometimes become so fixated on the glory of heaven and our desire to evacuate earth, that we miss out on the call of Jesus upon our lives in the 'here and now'. For some of us, we are so discouraged by the condition of our culture and we're so jaded by the hurt and the pain and the failure that we have experienced in our lives that we just want to be done here on earth and go to be with Jesus. I don't believe this is a totally bad desire. Life in heaven will be far better than life on the earth. Human words cannot even properly describe the beauty and majesty of heaven. But when our desire to leave earth becomes so strong that we neglect the needs of the people in our lives or we neglect to take care of the earth which God has called us to 'steward' or when we neglect to become socially involved in our culture and care for the 'orphans and widows' then our motives for being with Jesus become selfish and self-centered and far from the heart of God.

Others of us go to the other extreme and we become so attached to this world and our toys and gadgets and relationships and possessions that we don't ever want to leave. When we embrace this kind of attitude we are essentially saying that our joy is in our stuff and not in Christ and that our treasure is here on earth and not in Jesus.

If we look at Hebrews 12, a great passage of scripture that I've mentioned a lot over the past couple of weeks, the writer calls us to 'look to Jesus'. Our sights should be set on Jesus. He should be our focus, He should be our compass, He should be our hope. The writer goes on to offer these words of encouragement 'Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.'

Returning to Philippians, Paul closes chapter one with these words to the Philippian believers: "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."

My hope for us as a faith community is that as we live our lives here on earth, our sights would be set upon Jesus and that because of our love and commitment to Jesus we would be motivated to live lives that are worthy of the gospel of Christ.