What is important

When we reduce it to essentials, the importance of everything is how it can point us to Jesus, how it can help us understand and grasp the Gospel of Christ in a particular time and place.

Some things help us very little, and we know some things that can point us away from Jesus!

2.Spring life-cleaning

You and I should now be doing our spring life-cleaning, throwing out many things.

Things that lead us to say “I don't have time for worship.”

“I don't have time to study God's Word.”

“I don't have time to praise God; what did he ever do for me?”

“I don't have time or resources to help someone else.”

Whatever things or activities that foster those attitudes need to be cleaned out and thrown away.

Paul says: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” [Philippians 3:8]

3.Accounting balance sheet

It sounds like Paul is thinking of an accounting balance sheet which shows assets and liabilities.

In looking at our own lives, what do we have in each column?

Someone may say: “Paul, look at all your advantages:

--you are holding Roman citizenship through your father

--you have a strong Jewish upbringing through your mother

--you have education by the most famous rabbi in Jerusalem.

--you are a skilled worker, a tent-maker

--you are an articulate writer

--you are widely traveled and experienced.

Insofar as these things point Paul to God, they are fine assets, but whenever they become reasons for pride in himself or ways of demonstrating to God just how wonderful Paul is, or ways of improving his standing in the eyes of God, then they would no longer be assets, but liabilities and would need to be cleaned out.

As Paul says: God will reduce to nothing the things that are to the end that no one may boast in the presence of God. [1 Corinthians 1:29]

We have no doubt met persons who lose no time in telling us their pedigree, dropping all sorts of names of those with whom they have been associated.

And we know how tiresome all that is to us.

How much more tiresome it is to God when we try to pull that stunt on him.

Those things of which we are the most proud, about which we want to brag, which we think are solid assets – may easily turn out to be liabilities.

4.Impediments

There was an immense clanking noise as the Union army of the Potomac marched out proudly to the first battle of Bull Run in the US Civil War.

I remember reading about how they were loaded down with silver implements, tin cups and the like, useless and heavy gear.

As the day grew hot and the road long, the roadside soon became littered with all sorts of excess stuff.

What they needed but lacked was adequate training and capable officers.

It was a shocked and defeated army that fled back to Washington DC after that disastrous battle.

What they thought were assets were not, and their liabilities were many.

In preparing to hike in Spain, I read a number of books and consulted guides and experienced persons, and learned what I needed to have and what should be left out, to keep the weight and the bulk of my pack to a minimum.

I met a man who refused the advice and had tremendous hardship carrying all of that excess weight.

He was acting as though he was still a 20 year old Marine instead of a 70 year old retiree.

There is a wonderfully descriptive Latin word I remember from Caesar's Gallic Wars.

Caesar was always worried about protecting the slow baggage train, the impedimenta, from which we have our English word impediment, something that gets in the way.

5.A race

Paul suggests another image when he says: “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind ad straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal.”[Philippians 3:13]

It sounds like he has a race in mind.

What would happen if Evan or another of our runners were to say “Well look here! I'm half-way around the course and I have been running so well; I'll just turn around here a bit to see how much better I am doing that someone else.”

That would be all that was needed for his feet to be tangled and the race to be lost.

Keep your eye on the goal, Paul says, reaching for the things that are in front, like a runner reaching for the tape, head forward, with eyes only for the goal, running flat out for the finish.

It would be tempting for us to say, “Look we've been here at St. Mark's for 164 years and have touched hundreds of people over that span of time,” without asking “So what should we be doing to reach a whole new number of persons these days with the Good News of Jesus?”

We want to acknowledge where we have been, the path that has been run, but what is crucial is the goal, which is all peoples gathered around the risen Lord Jesus, praising God and serving each other.

What is important is that we do things that let everyone know what is the goal and which way we should be running.

What an opportunity!, a chance to say again that Jesus is my Lord and he is determined to be yours also.

Here is a story that comes from Japan about 65 years ago:

A man was brought up in the Shinto religion, in which the emperor was regarded as a god.

When they lost the war, this was a crisis, because how can a god lose?

So he became a Buddhist, but did not find peace.

He looked at Americans occupying the land, and decided to be like them and have no religion.

When that proved empty, he became a Communist, until he realized that their promises never brought results.

In despair, he considered suicide, until he met someone who introduced him to Christ Jesus.

Here at last was something of enduring value to him and to others with whom he had contact.

A completely different life ensued for that man.

Are we running a race while looking back?

Is this church an army burdened with impedimenta?

What are the assets and liabilities on our balance sheet?

What needs to happen in our spring life-cleaning?

What would we rescue from a fire?

What is truly important?

As Isaiah says: Dwell not on the former things; behold, I am doing a new thing.

Now it springs forth, that the people whom I formed may declare my praise.{Isaiah 43:19, 21]

AMEN.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.