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“His Own”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Text: Philippians 3:4b-14
I press on toward the goal for the
prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, in what we have just heard, Paul tells us
about his relationship with Christ Jesus; that Jesus has made Paul his
own. That is the very same
truth about all our relationships with Christ Jesus.
Jesus has made every one of us, his own.
The greatest prize God has called us to that we will know and experience
in heaven, because Christ has already made us his own, is that we will
fully be in love with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity.
Paul, as he has finally come to see all this, is doing his best
to forget his past. In his
words, he is also trying to “press on;” going forward in
experiencing his new relationship with God.
The greatest truth in the entire universe, and the whole history of this
earth, is that we belong to Jesus Christ. Of course, being a citizen of the USA, Texas, and the area of
Kaufman, we have interests and concerns about the Presidential
elections, national issues all over this world, global warming, our
economic situations, health care, education circumstances, and family
protections. Yes, each of
these events are very important. So,
when we perceive and contribute service to any of them that is grown out
of the faith that Christ has already made us his own, we are becoming
freed from the motivation of selfishness.
The Bible certainly uses a number of concepts to teach us about our
relationship with Jesus Christ. He
is our Lord. He is our
Messiah. He is our Savior.
He is our High Priest. He
is our divine Brother. He
is our Shepherd. He is our
Word of God. He is our
Birth from Above. He is our
Bread and Wine. And, in
whatever one of these relationship descriptions we might be thinking
about, the main point within them all is that he owns us. We belong to
him.
What Paul is now sharing with us is that his most important desire,
after learning all this, is to grow in knowing Jesus Christ.
In whatever circumstances Paul found this part of his life in,
certainly having to deal with the circumstances, his main pressing on
was still to know Christ better, personally.
We sure know there is a difference between knowing about someone and
actually knowing someone. Here
in church, during Sunday school, worship, and even Session and committee
ministries, we learn about Christ through teaching and conversations.
How we may actually move foreword in knowing Jesus is to realize
that when we receive unexpected grace, especially during suffering, it
is through him. Then we may
pray to Christ about it, and wait to hear his next message to us.
Where do you meet Jesus? Well,
first of all I contend you meet Jesus in suffering people.
If you look deeply into the eyes of suffering people, you will
have this eerie awareness that the same Jesus that died on the cross is
staring back at you. Then
with your continual love, you will be ambushed by the grace of the
resurrected Christ, who wants you to get to know him.
Last December, when I was in the hospital, Ron Holloman came to visit
me. I told him that I
wanted to write you a letter that he could read to you during worship.
Ron told me that he had a cell phone with a speaker which would
make my voice public; so I may call you during worship.
That was certainly fascinating.
But, at that time I didn’t make a commitment.
The next Sunday when I woke up I started thinking about what I would
love to say to you. It was
about God is love, and that God is in you, for you, and with you.
In a few minutes I had all these words memorized, which was
different for me. That is
not how my mind usually works.
There I was, lying in bed with all this on my mind.
As I have already told you, I had not made any arrangements for
this Sunday. Then totally
surprisingly, the Reverend Ashley Hood, Grace Presbytery’s Pastor to
Pastors, came in my room. The time was 10:30 am. I told Ashley about my talk with Ron. I told her about my memory thoughts this morning.
She responded, in spiritual joy, that she had Ron’s number in
her cell phone. She called Ron, and made the arrangements.
With all this being taken care of, I was able to call you during
worship. It was a unique experience of God’s love through Christ, in
a time of our suffering.
Christ told me that he loves when we experience love for each other,
even during difficult times. He
has been the Son of God for all eternity. When he became human, it was during suffering that he learned
how to be obedient to God. May
we grow in knowing Jesus Christ? We
are his own.
Let us pray …
Amen.
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