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Proper 22

Philippians 3
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 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; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: 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 favourite TV personality is a tiny gecko. I get my hair cut at the Little London Barber Shop by Nigel (he’s from South London). This summer I read The Eagle of the Ninth, The Thames: A Biography, and five books by Bernard Cornwell centered around the life of Alfred the Great, who (for me) really defines what it means to be British in the ninth century. Yes, I’m an Anglophile.

My Dutch ancestors are not pleased. Four wars fought between the English and the Dutch, and maybe a fifth going on inside me now as I confess my love for all things British.

Carmen tries to help. She won’t let me watch Coronation Street when she’s home. She won’t allow me to rent the latest film version of various Bronte or Austen novels. I’m discouraged from talking like the aforementioned gecko. I don’t think she’s noticed yet that my favourite online newspaper is The Guardian.

Speaking of The Guardian, a fine newspaper, with just the right politics, they always cover international news from a unique perspective. There are few Canadian news items, of course, because not much happens here. But their US coverage, sometimes edgy, sometimes a little condescending, is usually worth a read.

The Guardian has been reporting for a few days on the Occupy Wall Street protests, which is a good thing, because the US media has mostly ignored it. At one point there were 5,000 protesters in the streets of lower Manhattan, and it might as well have been happening on another planet, or some other country. And at least one astute blogger made the point that if it was happening in another country, the mainstream media would likely have covered it.

Last week I mentioned all the social action training I received when I was an impressionable young seminarian, all that training focused on the principle of getting people to take notice. Help the media get your story out, we were told, or make it hard for them to resist, so that the news people can’t, well, resist.

But when worldviews are threatened, or narratives are challenged, the media becomes strangely silent, unable to report a story, and will turn instead to Ashton and Demi, or that thing Brad said about Jen, or an 800 lb. Pumpkin, as described this morning on CNN.com.

Worldviews and narratives are a powerful thing. Paul knew it, and he wrote about it, in the very letter that Jim read this morning. Paul’s narrative was this: if you are circumcised, if you honour your tribe, if you follow the law, if you show zeal in defending your faith from all adversaries, you are a great success. If you demonstrate this type of righteousness, you will receive an appropriate reward. But then he pauses, and says:

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I now consider them garbage.

Dung is a more accurate translation, according to some. So for Paul, whatever were gains to him, whatever the status, whatever satisfaction he felt is now dung. This is a change in narrative. Whatever he valued before, now has no value. Whatever gave his live meaning, now has no value, what ever he pursued with the zeal only Paul could show, now has no value. He is a new man.

Now, the traditional picture of Paul is a man struck from his horse, upbraided by a heavenly voice, temporarily blinded, and finally won to the cause of Christ. It has drama, it is the literal ‘road to Damascus experience.’ But the passage Jim read, the passage that begins with Paul’s C.V. of righteousness, is more reflective. It is a conversion in retrospect, without the flash of light, but just as profound in scope.

Profound, I would argue, because it documents this new worldview, the end of one narrative and the beginning of another, the shift from earning God’s favour to dying with Christ. Minus the flash of light, it is just as dramatic a transition.

It is the same dramatic transition that Luther made, and then Wesley made two hundred years later while listening to Luther read aloud. It is the transition from an earned righteousness to a righteousness freely given, given solely on the basis of a relationship with Christ. All the zeal in the world was for naught—
something else Luther and Wesley learned the hard way—because God’s zeal for us is freely given.

If you will permit me to go back to Wall Street for just a minute, you will see the same transition playing itself out. The great myth of our southern neighbour, some describe it as a dream, is that people who work hard and rely only on themselves will achieve material prosperity. It is the national narrative, an article of faith that is held just as tightly has Paul’s loyalty to tribe and law and the outward marks of faith.

But somehow, when people were not looking, the narrative changed. They found themselves ‘under water’ while the banks did not. They lost things, precious things like homes and self-esteem, and the banks did not. Suddenly it seemed the entire system was tilted away from the very citizens it was designed to protect, and very few noticed.

One of the remarkable aspects of the last two weeks, aside from being a story you had to actively search to find, is the personal testimony. Under the heading “We are the 99%” people have begun posting photos of themselves holding hand written notes that describe their situation: staggering student debt, unemployment, lost benefits, homelessness. The notes conclude with “I am the 99%” meaning not a member of the 1% that controls 40% of the wealth in the US.

Another article this morning, again on CNN.com, is a look at the way preachers have approached the economic downturn. The title of the article is “Preachers confront 'last taboo': Condemning greed amid the Great Recession.” More than one pastor argues it is always easier to preach about sex than money. Some simply avoid the topic altogether, and others preach that being more charitable is the answer. The article does mention Walter Rauschenbusch, the father of the Social Gospel Movement, and his effect on government policies toward the poor 100 years ago, and even draws a link between Dr. King’s anti-poverty work and his assassination. The last word: “There just aren’t that many prophets left.”

Paul said: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Notice the lack of hubris in his words, the new humility that he finds even as he is busy being the architect of this new faith. He wants to participate in the suffering of Christ, crucified for speaking truth the world that could not hear, in the hope that he could somehow attain Christ’s resurrection.

He is willing to suffer (and his letters record he did) because his worldview has changed. He no longer seeks for a life of comfort, the life he felt was owed him for his righteous zeal. He seeks to be faithful to Christ, enduring whatever comes from describing Christ and following in his way. He is willing to put on Christ, to be his ambassador, even at the cost of this own safety and eventually his life.

To follow Christ means having new goals. It is no longer seeking individual reward for good deeds, it is the way of the cross, and the way of loving and serving others wherever it leads. It is no longer standing up for tribe and creed, but standing up for whom ever follows in the way of mercy and compassion. It is no longer accepting that this is all there is and this is where we seek rewards, but rather understanding that there is always much more than we can see and the reward is always a relationship with Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God, amen.

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 11:05 AM