Press on to the goal! - Philippians 3:7-14
Today is the last day; the climatic conclusion to the first soccer camp that has been held at Messiah, in what I call the modern era. Soccer is a pivot for us from the Science Camps that we have hosted for the past few years. I wasn’t exactly sure how it would turn out, but I suspected there would be more, let’s say, “activity”. I am not saying Science is boring. We worked hard to make science entertaining, for goodness’s sake one year we blew up a cow’s lungs with an air compressor! But youth soccer, by its very nature, is more active than youth science. It has been a hot minute since I have had children playing soccer, but I remember watching little soccer players on the field and thinking to myself that they resembled a swarm of bees. When young soccer players are first learning how to play the game, they all go for the ball. Doesn’t matter what position they are supposed to be playing forward, mid-fielder, full-back, wherever the ball is that is where a little soccer player wants to be. They just buzz around the field bumping into each other chasing after the ball. I remember the sadistic pleasure it would give me to hear the coach on the sideline screaming themselves hoarse as they futilely tried to get the players to play in their assigned positions. Little Cathrin come back you’re supposed to be our goalie - bzzzzz, little Carson stop tackling the other players and pass the ball! – bzzzz, little Rorey, you’re going the wrong way! – bzzzz. As more and more children showed up for our soccer camp, I said a quick prayer for our young coaches because I knew it was going to be difficult to coach buzzing little bees. And although the coaches did their best to keep a smile on their faces, I think I saw flashes of fear in the eyes that led me to believe they were thinking the same thing.
In a way I imagine the apostle Paul felt like he was coaching a swarm of bees. The congregation in Philippi was a good congregation, a congregation not terrible different than our own. They were an eclectic group of people (like us) who had moved to the prominent city of Philippi (similar to Atlanta) from all over the Roman empire and beyond, just like we have members from Kenosha to Colorado from India to Bogota and beyond. Also like you, the believers in Philippi were very supportive of their pastor, and, like me, their pastor loved them and thanked God for them. Finally, like us, the believers in Philippi possessed a strong faith that gave glory to God in both their words and their actions. But like every congregation, including this one, there were areas in which the Philippians needed some coaching.
Like young children learning to play soccer, the believers in Philippi at times resembled a swarm of bees buzzing around the field and bumping into each other. The believers in Philippi were all on the same team and they all wanted the same thing, but sometimes they had difficulty playing together. Toes were accidentally getting stepped on, people were unintentionally pushed to the side, and occasionally players complained about the way their fellow players were playing the game and sometimes in the heat of the moment emotions got the best of them and they argued with each other. The congregation in Philippi was in many ways the ideal congregation, it’s just they, like so many other congregations, like our congregation needed a little coaching. Thankfully, in our lesson from Philippians 3:7-14 we see the Holy Spirit working through the apostle Paul as he acts like a spiritual coach instructing his team to press on to the goal.
The first thing that Coach Paul does is he reminds his players that they are all on the same team. He uses himself as an example in verse 9 as he begins his pep talk by reminding us it is a gift of God that we are on the team in the first place. Coach Paul says, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” Coach Paul reminds us this morning that none of us deserves to play on God’s team. On our own, not one of us is righteous. Now I know we like to think of ourselves as petty good people. No one likes to think of themselves as the worst player on the playground. But the reality is… that is often how we act. We run away from the ball - we neglect the opportunities that God gives us to share our faith. We run into each other - husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fellow church members argue with and complain about each other. We chase after glory. Sometimes we seem to be more concerned about what is good for us than what is good for the team. If you were picking players from the playground to play on your team, would you pick you? Would you pick someone who was afraid to take the shot, who argued with and complained about the other players, who was a ball hog?
There was absolutely no reason why God should pick us to play on His team, and yet here we are. Because of God’s undeserved love and mercy, we are on the team. In verse 12 coach Paul makes the comment that “Christ Jesus took hold of me.” In verse 14 he says, “God has called me”. You don’t deserve to be on God’s team and yet God took hold of you. God called you. For some of you, God took hold of you at your baptism where, by a miracle, The Holy Spirit connected the Word of God to ordinary water and created faith in your heart. For others, God called you as The Holy Spirit worked through a parent that sang Jesus loves me, a teacher that trained you in the way that God would have you go, or a pastor that preached the words of everlasting life to you. Because of God’s undeserved love and mercy you have been taken hold of, you have been called, you are on the team.
After reminding his players that we are all on the same team, Coach Paul shares his secret for getting everyone running in the same direction. Coach Paul says, “…one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” It is as sublimely simple of a plan as you can imagine. Coach Paul reminds the players on God’s team that we are all headed toward heaven and if we all press on toward heaven we will all be headed in the same direction. It is similar to telling 5–11-year-old children, ‘kick this ball into that net’. Coach Paul says to you and to me, Press on to the goal.
But Coach Paul knows that there are many distractions in the game of life. Which is why his sublimely simple plan includes some skills training. The soccer camp coaches just spent the last two days teaching the children some techniques. In a few hours they will be placing players on the field and pointing them in the direction of their goal. Their hope is that some of the techniques they taught their players will help them succeed in pressing the ball down the field to the goal. That is the same reason that Coach Paul teaches his players a couple of techniques.
The first technique is to stay focused. Coach Paul says that we are to “forget what is behind us.” When I look behind me, I see failure. I have failures as a pastor. I have failures as a parent. I have failures as a partner. I have failures as a person. When I look behind me, I see a lot of failure. And I don’t mean to be judgmental here, but I am guessing when you look behind you, you see the same thing, failure. Look behind you and you will see that you have not always given your spouse the love and respect they need. You will see that you have frustrated your children with your stubbornness. You will see how your special blend of arrogance and insecurity has damaged all sorts of relationships. When you look behind you, you see lots of failure. It can be crippling. It can make you want to throw in the towel and forfeit the game? The devil whispers in your ear that you don’t really belong on this team in the first place. Your insecure sinful self tells you the team would be better off without you. And no doubt there are plenty of heckling spectators telling you its time to hang up your cleats. When we look back on all our failures we are tempted to give up pressing on to the goal.
Coach Paul knows how you feel. Paul had failures in his past. In his former life he was a persecutor of the church. He was likely part of the mob that killed Stephen; the first Christian martyr. Looking behind is what caused Paul to confess that he was the worst player on the playground. Paul knew from personal experience the importance of forgetting what is behind. That is why he is stressing this technique to his players this morning. “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind,… I press on to the goal…” Paul knew what God said through the prophet Isaiah, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (43:25)… Paul knew that because God sent his son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, all of his failures, and all of my failures, and all of your failures are forgiven. God does not look back on your sins… If God is not focused on your failures, then why should you focus on your failures? My fellow teammates, forget what is behind and press on to the goal.
The second technique is to play with passion. Coach Paul says we are to “strain toward what is ahead”. I have found that I enjoy watching nonprofessional athletes compete much more than I do professionals. To me professional sports have become too professional. Sometimes I get the feeling professional athletes are out on the field just going through the motions. It just seems like their hearts are not in it. Amateur athletes on the other hand seem to be nothing but heart. I am looking forward to watching the children play their soccer scrimmage today. I imagine I will see little faces knotted up in fierce determination or beaming with a grin from ear to ear. I imagine I will hear shrieks of laughter and maybe even some sobs of sadness. To me, that is the way to play the game. All in, heart and soul, straining toward what is ahead.
That is how Coach Paul instructs us to play too. God is not interested in a team of professional Christians. God does not want us simply going through the motions, absent mindedly rattling off, “Our Father” on Sunday and “Come Lord Jesus” before each meal. God is passionate about your salvation. He sacrificed his one and only Son so that you could be on his team. Your salvation was not just business for God it was personal. Knowing what your salvation cost, how could you play with anything but passion?!? As we remember what Jesus has done for us our faces will be knotted in determination as we go to make disciples of all nations or beaming with a grin from ear to ear when someone says, “let us go to the house of the Lord”. Remembering what Jesus has done for us causes to rejoice with the angels over one sinner who repents and sob as we carry each other’s burdens. God was passionate about your salvation, which is why coach Paul encourages us to play with passion. Coach Paul teaches his player the technique of “straining toward what is ahead” as they “press on to the goal”.
By the undeserved love of God, you and I have become teammates on God’s team. From time to time our sinful natures get the better of us and we resemble a swarm of bees buzzing around and bumping into each other. I hope you will forgive me for the times I have stepped on your toes, pushed you aside, or let my emotions get the better of me. And I hope people will forgive you for doing the same things to them. After all, we are all on the same team and we are all headed in the same direction. As we press on to the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward, let us remember the techniques coach Paul has taught us this morning. Let us forget about our past sins, God has. And let us remember what our savior has done for us and play the game with passion. As coach Paul would say, “13… Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” My fellow teammates, let us press on to the goal. Amen