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As we begin this morning, see if you can relate to this social commentary. [Plays “I Walked on The Moon” segment of comedian Brian Regan DVD]

 

Oh, man! Can you relate to that at all? Man! I’ve been guilty of that myself. I can relate to both sides of that conversation. Sometimes outwardly, but at least inwardly, I’ve thought to make myself big in the eyes of others.

 

Have you ever done that—made yourself seem important, seem intelligent, seem beautiful or successful? We do this, don’t we? And we’ve been with people who do: always sharing one more accolade or achievement or experience that makes their life seem more meaningful than everyone else’s. They just drone on and on about themselves. You…ME! You…ME! See the difference? I love that.

 

Why do we do that? Well, I think it has something to do with our longing for identity and it’s illusive for us!

 

Most of us wonder at some point, “Who am I really?” And we spend our lives trying to answer it!

 

For example, you know [a little history here] back in the 80’s and 90’s it wasn’t real chic to be a Colts fan: Jim Harbaugh, Jeff George—those are a distant memory right now, aren’t they?

 

You notice your language now? “We’re World Champions!” Feels pretty good, doesn’t it? Well, as a Cowboys fan, I haven’t felt that for a while! I just keep takin’ pride in the fact that we beat the World Champions last year. And last night, actually, it happened to me again. I mean these things are subtle, but it happened as I was watching my Buckeyes. Notice how we use the first person; it’s really sort of a silly thing: we’re Number 1. Right?

 

I didn’t even go to the school. I grew up in the state; I didn’t go to the school, but they’re my team and somehow I get a little life in my sails when they’re doing well—for my identity, you know?

 

Much of the human experience is this quest for identity. You hear it all the time. Someone says, “Well, I’m a Democrat,” or “You know she’s Catholic,” or “I’m a Windows guy myself.” “I only drink Starbucks.” “I don’t buy foreign-made cars.” “My daughter made the honor roll, again.” “My son made varsity.” “I’m a 2, but I feel fat.” “I’m a season ticket holder.” “Have you read my book?” “I’m a 4 handicap.” “I have a PhD too, from Harvard.”

 

You know, if you think about it, there are so many things that we look to for a sense of self, a sense of worth: characteristics that mark us out, that give our lives definition, things we take pride in.

 

To varying degrees we are all prone to living for the praise of men, aren’t we?

 

Because we long to be noticed. We long to be affirmed. And we go through life wondering if we’re OK. And we want to know that we’re OK—that we’re enough, that we’re valid, that we count, that we matter. I want to know these things. Don’t you?

 

I don’t think that longing in us is wrong. But what trips us up is when we begin to look for the satisfaction of this very real longing in all the wrong places. And we come up short.

 

It often falls pretty flat, doesn’t it? I mean we might get a boost in a moment, but the boost fades rather quickly and we’re left longing again. And so life becomes a journey moving from one boost to another.

 

C.S. Lewis is, I think, is right on the point when he says, “You know, what does not satisfy you when you find it wasn’t the thing you were looking for all along.”

 

And I think that’s true. In our text this morning the apostle Paul warns us that we’re always going to come up short when we pursue our sense of identity in anything short of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Let’s look at the text together this morning: Philippians Chapter 3. Philippians Chapter 3. We’ll look at the first two verses. Philippians 3:1:

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus….

 

He starts off here with the phrase, Rejoice in the Lord! As we’ve seen throughout our series, Paul is filled with this perspective of joy. And I don’t know about you, but I know for me sometimes I feel like Paul seems a bit disconnected from reality.

 

I mean here is; he’s experiencing the greatest of hardships in prison, mistreated, misunderstood and yet somehow rather than surrendering his heart to his suffering, Paul focuses on God and on what God is accomplishing in his life and through his life in the lives of those around him.

 

It’s a fascinating perspective and we keep running into it as we go through Philippians.

 

It’s not that life was grand or easy for Paul. Paul was not living the life of his dreams. But he had this uncanny knack—one I’m sure that stemmed from God being at work within him as he says in Chapter 2. He had this uncanny knack for surrendering the life of his dreams to the life that God was preparing for him.

 

And so his joy truly was “in the Lord,” and he invites our imitation.

 

So much of our lives are lived moving from one fleeting moment of satisfaction to another. For many of us, that is life: just trying to create as many enjoyable moments as possible and trying to avoid the uncomfortable ones or the opposite. Some of us even cross our fingers or knock on wood; don’t we? That’s a bit odd.

 

Paul didn’t do that. His contentment with life was rooted not in how many toys he could obtain or in how many accomplishments he could achieve or in how much praise he could garner from his own peers. No; Paul’s contentment—his satisfaction in life, his joy—was rooted in the Lord.

 

And Paul calls us to imitate him—not just to do as he says, but to do as he is doing. “I’m finding joy even in my chains,” Paul says. You too, my brothers and sisters, you grow in finding joy in Him as well no matter what it is that you’re facing.” Because it’s true that life is unpredictable and happiness is fleeting, the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever, and so finding joy in Him is always held out to us as a possibility.

 

Admittedly, it’s a challenging perspective to integrate, isn’t it? It’s hard to live. But it’s life-changing when we do and life-giving as well.

 

Just a few weekends ago my son lost a heartbreaker (actually, it may have been last week; I can’t remember); he lost a heartbreaker overtime game—lost by one goal, and yet within seconds of losing he comes running up to me and he goes, “It’s all right, Dad. I left it all on the field. It’s really okay.” It was as if he were trying to comfort me. He was content with the loss. And I tell ya that perspective is illusive; isn’t it?

 

Paul promotes it by living it and this leads us into a transition of sorts where Paul is eager to address a potential barrier to their experience and our experience of joy in the Lord. He is well aware that by now there are some individuals who have been kind of following him around as he has planted these churches. These individuals are unique because in addition to claiming to be Christians on the one hand, they are passionately reinforcing the rituals of Judaism on the other. They’re actually following up Paul as he leaves trying to correct what he’s taught.

 

They’re known as Judaizers seeking to make Jews out of Gentile Christians. And their essential claim is this: Paul is right on the one hand that Jesus is the way to salvation—he is the Messiah, but Paul is not right as he jettisons the rituals of Judaism. In other words, to be truly saved you need both to believe in Jesus and to become Jewish. You need to obey the Sabbath; you need to follow the festivals; you need to follow the food laws, you need to become circumcised if you’re male.

 

From Paul’s point of view, this is actually a very dangerous perspective. He’s obviously told them before, but he’s eager to warn them again of this danger. He says here it’s a safeguard for them. Then he mentions this again. He loves them and he wants them to be secure in who they are in Christ.

And so he warns them here.

 

In the NIV it just says “watch out” once. In the Greek, it’s a little more emphatic; it says, “Watch out. Watch out. Watch out.”—three times. And he employs some rather strong and derogatory terms. I mean he calls them dogs and evil-doers and mutilators of the flesh—certainly not flattering. But actually the real edge here is lost on our ears. There is more irony than is clear at first glance. These are the very words that Jews would have used to describe pagan Gentiles who lived among them—words that Paul himself, I’m sure, was very familiar with and probably used to employ as well. And here Paul is turning the table, invoking these very terms in reference to these Jews who are demanding that Gentile Christians become Jewish in order to be accepted before God.

 

He’s turning these Jewish putdowns, as it were, upon the Jews themselves who are excluding the new Gentile believers saying, “You know who the real dogs are here—the real workers of evil? It’s those who would force their Judaism upon you.” Because life isn’t found in being Jewish, Paul will soon tell us, but rather in knowing in a personal way the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, and knowing him as Lord.

 

The greatest irony is probably reserved for the third of the three phrases: “mutilators of the flesh.” It’s a little clearer in the Greek. The word Paul uses for circumcision is “peritome” and the word he employs here is a deliberate pun (one that David, I think, would appreciate): it’s “katatome.”

 

“Peritome`” means “to cut around” and I think that’s self-explanatory. But the word Paul chooses is “katatome:” “to cut against” and hence the translation of “to multilate.”

 

And I think what lies behind Paul’s polemic here is that circumcision of the flesh was intended to be an outward sign of an inward reality: circumcision of the heart before God is what really matters.

 

And so, Paul is saying here, is that if by the Spirit you have been circumcised inwardly, if your heart has been opened up and yielded before the Lord, physical circumcision is unnecessary. And those who would tell you otherwise are actually elevating the outward sign above the inward reality. And that’s dangerous, Paul says, because they’re still finding their identity in their ethnic heritage, rather than in their fulfilled heritage in Christ. In fact, to underscore this point with a bright yellow highlighter, Paul claims in verse 3, “It is actually we who are the ‘peritome—the circumcision.’ It is actually we—that is Paul and largely these Gentile Christians in Philippi—who are the true circumcision.” It’s a bold claim.

 

In other words, those walking around claiming that you need to be circumcised in order to be validated as part of the people of God, they’re not really a part of the people of God themselves.

 

Now this sounds pretty harsh to our ears, but remember Paul is speaking as an ethnic Jew here. He’s not rejecting Judaism—as they might claim; he simply believes that his Jewish heritage has been brought to fulfillment in a Jewish Messiah. And now for Paul the only true source of identity is found in Christ or as says here, “In glorying in Christ.”

 

The word “glorying” is the same word for “boasting in” or “taking pride in.” And Paul is saying rather than boasting in your Jewish heritage—in what marks you out—boast in Christ and in what marks him out! Boast in who he is; boast in what he has accomplished through his own death and through his own resurrection. For Paul, Christ alone is our sure ground; Christ alone is our secure basis for who we are!

Amen? [Amen]

 

And those who have Christ are marked not by the knife as it were, but by the Spirit. Verse.3:

And they worship the living God by means of His Spirit that He places in their hearts and in their midst.

 

Paul says, “We do not put confidence in the flesh!” Now clearly in the context he’s referring to those who would claim their Jewish heritage is what gives them validation—what makes them better than another. And he’s saying don’t put confidence in the fact that you have been outwardly circumcised because God looks at the heart. He always has, not at the flesh; and so confidence in the flesh is misleading and misplaced.

 

And I think this is a profound insight here for us as well. I know that most of us don’t struggle perhaps with finding our identity in physical circumcision, but we sure are prone to finding our identity and our security and our purpose in things other than Christ, aren’t we?

 

What you make doesn’t make you valid. What you own doesn’t make you valid. What degree you have, it doesn’t make you valid. I mean certainly it indicates some hard work, but think about it. How about the opportunity? How about the finance? How about the mind that you have? Is it not a gift from God? Why do we boast in these things?

 

Probably the clearest example of grace is beauty. Our culture is infatuated with outward beauty. But you don’t earn beauty. It’s a gift. And it’s not meant to be flaunted as if somehow you’re valid and worth something because you can grace the cover of a magazine. Talk about easy come, easy go. And if it’s so wonderful, why is Hollywood strewn with the depression and eating disorders and divorce and drug overdoses. I mean c’mon. They’re often the most hapless people on earth.

 

Why is that? I think it’s because when we seek validation and self worth and a sense of identity in anything other that knowing Christ—belonging to him, glorying in him—we come up empty and we malfunction and we die a bit inside. And we don’t know if we’re okay. And so we scramble to find out. And Paul says really there’s only one way to know if you’re okay, and it’s Christ!

 

Now the rejoinder might be, “Well Paul you’re just jealous. You’re just jealous. You don’t make much. You don’t own much.” And from all accounts—from what we understand—he wasn’t particularly easy on the eyes. I don’t know how we know that, but supposedly we do. We don’t have any pictures. I can tell you that!

 

Paul is not jealous of these Judaizers. In fact, in verses 4-6 he validates his right to be making this claim about Christ! He says, “I myself have reasons for confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more [he’s out-Judaizing these Judaizers at least to make a point]: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law—a Pharisee, as for zeal—persecuting the church [I mean, these are his badges, right?]; as for legalistic righteousness [that is, following the law to the T], faultless.”

 

If anyone could find their identity in being Jewish, it would be Paul. He had an impeccable resume.

Yet he says, “In comparison to knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, all of these markers just fade away.”

 

He says in verse 7:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ….

 

Now the language here could not be any stronger. Paul’s not just saying, “Hey, you know what? Those things are still really nice and I still enjoy them.” No, and he’s not even saying, “Those things are now neutralized by my faith in Christ.” No, Paul goes all they way and then beyond even that saying, “That in comparison to knowing Christ, these things are a loss.” In fact, it’s as he has lost them, it’s as he has let go of them that he has been enabled to hold on to more of Christ.

 

He uses the term “loss” three times: one in 7, twice in 8. He even throws in the term for garbage at the end just to make sure we’re listening. And it’s not the garbage of a trash can, but of the toilet.

 

Now, some would say this is Paul’s classic anti-semitic text, but I don’t think so because Paul isn’t so much trying to downplay his Jewish heritage as he is trying to magnify his new heritage in Christ. His Jewish heritage has led him to embrace the Messiah.

 

And this text is very clear when it says that Paul considers “everything” a loss, so his assessment is much broader than just his ethnicity.

 

And, frankly, I think he’s grateful as he looks back on his Jewish heritage; it’s just that as he looks forward to Christ he’s unable for looking back; he can’t look back! It would be foolish! He mentions this in verse13, but that’s for next week’s message, so we won’t go there.

 

Let me try to illustrate this: When I was in college I dated Amy long distance. It was very hard. We had very long phone conversations sometimes. I think our record was like four or five hours. I mean it was insane. But, at any rate, when I would talk to Amy, I would often gaze at a picture of her to try to get that sense of being with her. Imagine her showing up in my room and imagine me talking to her but continuing to look at her picture while I’m talking to her. That would be foolish, wouldn’t it? I mean here she is in my arms. She’s here in person. I’d be better to ball up that picture and throw it away.

 

I think that’s a bit of what Paul’s saying here.

 

Another way of looking at it might be this—some of you might be able to relate to me on this: I love to watch golf and I like to watch the British Open in particular. I know a lot of you don’t understand how anyone can watch golf, but there are a few of us. I love to watch the British Open in particular. That’s the home of golf; that’s where it all started. And it’s a blast when I get a chance.

 

But imagine actually being there: St. Andrew’s with the sea breeze comin’ off and hittin’ you in the face witnessing history. Oh, that would be sweet! But imagine a step further: imagine teeing it up, teeing it up, and not with just anybody, but teeing it up in the British Open with The Golden Bear, and The Shark and The Tiger—Oh my! How about that? That would be sweet.

 

And not just teein’ it up, but takin’ them to the cleaners! I mean defeating ‘em all, right? Hoisting the Claret Jug at the end! I mean how do you compare that to little old me sittin’ back at home watchin’ it on the tube? No comparison.

 

That’s a little taste, I think, of what Paul’s saying here. There’s nothing wrong with being Jewish. It’s just that there’s this insurmountable gulf [no pun intended]; there’s just this insurmountable gulf between finding your life in Christ and finding your life in anything else.

 

What is it for you? It’s not a matter of shame. It’s helpful to be honest with the Lord. He knows your heart. Be honest; what are you prone to look into for validation, for identity, security, purpose?

 

I think Paul would say to all of us, “Whatever it is, if it isn’t Christ it’s about as helpful to you as garbage that you would gladly flush away!”

 

And, frankly, that’s less of a condemnation of your degree. You don’t have to be ashamed that you have a degree. And it’s not a condemnation of your home. You don’t have to be ashamed that you own a home and that you like to keep it nice. It’s not a condemnation of you vocation—by no means. What it is, is it’s a magnification of the blessings that are ours in Christ—in really knowing Christ in a growing and deepening way! And to that Paul says, “Nothing, nothing, nothing can compare.”

 

Paul loved being Jewish and he was good at it. But, by God’s grace, he discovered real abundant life when he discovered Christ: when Christ discovered him!

 

And that same life is held out—it’s available—to you and to me as well as we learn to let go: to lose what defines us so that we can find our identity in Christ.

 

It’s what Jesus himself taught us when he said you really need to lose your life in order to find it.

 

Paul’s life was Judaism and he was willing to lose it that He might gain Christ!

 

And in verse 9 he fills out a little bit what he means to “gain Christ.” He says:

“…to be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the [Jewish] law [the Torah], but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

 

One of Paul’s favorite ways to talk about our relationship with Christ is to use the phrase “in Christ” or “in him.” And in this Paul implies that Jesus who represents us is our Messiah and whatever is true of him is true of those that are in him—who are in association with him, who are in fellowship with him. You might think of it like being in somebody’s will. The lawyer finds you in someone’s will and their assets become your assets.

 

Well here Paul is saying that the blessings that belong to Christ belong to those who are found in Christ. And he’s eager to make the point that being found in Christ is a gift. It’s a gift from God. And it isn’t about being Jewish—being right before God because somehow you followed the Jewish Law. It’s a right standing that comes from God as a gift and it is received by faith.

 

Now there is some good debate about the phrase “through faith in Christ” here in verse 9, and I don’t have time to go into it in detail But another possible translation—and one that I am more and more persuaded by—is “through Christ’s faith or through Christ’s faithfulness.” It has a little different emphasis.

 

In other words, the question is: Is Paul referring to our faith as the means through which we become right with God, or is he highlighting Christ’s faithfulness on our behalf?

 

Certainly at the end of the verse he mentions our faith, but I think that rather than being redundant, Paul is suggesting initially that Jesus is the Faithful One; Jesus is the Faithful Son—the anti-Adam obedient to his mission; as Paul tells us in Chapter 2, even to the point of death: death on a cross. And the Father validated him—vindicated him—and raised him and seated him at the right hand.

 

And so Paul would be saying here that as we are found by faith in the Faithful One, we too are right with the Father and become recipients of all the blessings that now belong to the Son. Amen!

 

I think that’s powerful. Either way Jesus is certainly lifted up as the One through whom we might receive right fellowship with the Father. It is a gift to be received by faith.

 

In other words, we don’t identify with Christ by attending religious gatherings. And we don’t identify with Christ by checking off religious boxes. And we don’t identify with Christ by trying to live moral lives. It’s not about impressing Christ; it’s about knowing him! It’s about a relationship, not a religion.

 

Paul says in verse10:

“I want to know Christ!”

 

 

That’s the defining reality of his life: not just knowing about him like an historical figure—you know like Shakespeare or Napoleon—no, to relate to him personally, to learn to enjoy his company, to listen to his voice and to speak with him. And not just to know him, but to know him as Lord, to grow in a desire to obey him and to become like him as we pattern our lives after his.”

 

For Paul, for Paul who you are can only be answered with reference to Christ; why you exist can only be answered with reference to Christ; what really matters can only be answered with reference to Christ. What will satisfy you, what will inspire you, and what will strengthen you can only be answered with reference to Jesus Christ.

 

For Paul LIFE is Christ! That’s what he said in Chapter 1: to live is Christ! And it’s why he can say, “That to die is gain,” ‘cause it just means more of Christ. “I want to know Christ!” Is that the longing of your heart too?

 

And just to be clear that he’s talking about a relationship, Paul explains in verses 10 and 11: I want to know the power of his resurrection and I want to know the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings—becoming like him in his death—so that somehow I might also attain to the resurrection from the dead.

 

For Paul, life was all about Christ, and he was willing to join Christ in living for him and he was even willing to die for Christ. Yet he knew that he couldn’t do this on his own, that he would need access to Christ’s resurrection power to make it through this life and to rise again in the life to come.

 

It truly was true for Paul: to live is Christ and to die, more of Christ! Christ had him covered either way! And so it is with you and me as well. This is why he rejoices “in the Lord!”

 

It’s quite a perspective! Is it becoming, is it becoming your perspective? Are you creating space, creating time, creating opportunities to know Christ more personally? It’s not that that’s all that matters. It’s just that if that’s not in place, then nothing else does. And when it is in place, in a growing sense, it gives meaning to everything else you do. The goal isn’t to just go off and get cloistered in some cave. No, the goal is to have Christ become more and more your central, defining passion! And you might, you might need to let go of some things in order to take hold of more of Christ.

 

I’ll close with this.

 

A few years ago, I was cleaning out my childhood closet. Those of you who are empty nesters know the sweet gift our children give when we come back to finally clean out that closet. Well, I was cleaning it out and I came across my trophies. And, honestly, I hesitated in throwing them out because they’re my trophies, right? And yet it was time. They had been an encouragement for a season, but they didn’t define me anymore. They were a picture of the old me not the new me in Christ. And I threw them in the trash. My favorite golf trophy actually broke as it hit the garbage can. That was a little hard for me which showed that it still had a hook, right?

 

I wonder what other “trophies” there are in my life that rob me of really knowing Christ: things I look to for identity and security and purpose. What are your trophies? What are your trophies that need to be thrown away?

 

I want to know Christ. Do you?

 

Let’s pray.

 

Jesus, we’re all very similar. We all have very similar longings and

we each do fall short in looking for the satisfaction of these longings in places

other than you. Forgive us and equip us with the power of your resurrection

to identify those “trophies” and to begin to let go of them so that we might have

more of you. Knowing you, Jesus, is the greatest thing.

In your name we pray. Amen.