"Jesus Hath Lived and Died for Me"

Philippians 3:4b-14 21st Sunday After Pentecost - A 10-5-08

Pastor Troy Slater, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Herington, Kansas

I would like you to do something with me this morning, we're going to take a little trip. And we're going to take two buckets with us. And one of those buckets well we're going to take it down to the bank - we'll take it down to Jeff's bank and have them fill it with $100 bills. Not too bad. Well, let's take the other bucket and go up to say Mark's farm up north and we'll have Mark fill it with some of that 'fertilizer' he has laying in some of those pens he's got - manure as it's called - cow dung. We bring both of those buckets back here and I say, now choose one - which one do you want?. .. Probably not too hard of a decision. …

Well let's leave those two buckets there for a moment for I would like to comment on how it is sometimes said that the way of distinguishing Christianity from all the other religions of the world is that all the other religions say, "Do. You've got to do this, keep these rules or laws, do that". But Christianity on the other hand is the only one that says, "Done. It's been done by the Lord, Jesus Christ." "Do" religions versus the "done" religion - that's really what it all boils down to.

And that's really what St. Paul's basic point is here in our epistle text for this morning from Philippians, chapter 3. For you see it seems that there were some who were coming into the Philippian congregation and trying to tell the people, "Yes Jesus is the Christ, but he didn't do enough for you to have God's favor. You must now also obey the OT laws." In other words, they were trying to turn the Christian faith back into another "do" religion.

And of course Paul is going to have none of this and so he lays out before his readers what we'll call two buckets. And in the first bucket he puts into it all he was, all he had done, all the good he had accomplished, how nobly he had kept the rules and laws of his faith. For he starts out in our reading by saying, "If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day according to Jewish law, I am of the people of Israel -God's OT people - I am of the tribe of Benjamin even - a pure-blooded Jew, a Hebrew of Hebrews - his fellow Jews looked up to people like him; in regard to the law, he says, I was a Pharisee - a group known for their strict observance of the Jewish laws; as for zeal," Paul says, "persecuting the church - he took his faith extremely seriously; as for legalistic righteousness, FAULTLESS!" he says. Absolutely faultless. He knew the Jewish laws inside and out and had made it his life's passion to keep them to the "T". If there was ever anyone who had a reason to boast in who he was or what He had done, it was Paul.

And of course the world would pat him on the back and say, "Way to go Paul! You took your faith seriously, you believed it sincerely, you were a model citizen. Sure you weren't perfect, but who is. No doubt your ticket to heaven is punched."

But what does Paul say to the Philippian congregation? Does he say, "Look at me, look at what I've done. You need to fill your bucket like me so that God might then be happy with you."? No. No he doesn't.

For you see Paul also knew the danger of trusting in one's own righteousness; he knew the inability of anyone to keep the demands and the decrees of a holy and just God. Paul knew that we all fall short - far, far short - of the glory of God. He knew he was a sinner - a chief of sinners even as he would once write. …

You know the world likes to fool itself, the adherents of all those "do" religions like to pretend that they somehow have something of merit to offer to a holy and just God who demands, "be holy as I am holy." But it's nothing - we can't, we don't - we fall short. Going back to those two buckets we had earlier, if we try to tell ourselves, I'll do my best, live a good life and hope God finds we worthy enough to enter through His gates of heaven - and yes I have heard those very words come from the lips of lifetime Lutherans - we're fooling ourselves - works righteousness it's called. If we trust in our works, thinking we can somehow offer God something of our own of any value, basically what we're doing is offering God that bucket of manure.

Seems rather harsh I suppose to say it that way - certainly offensive to the natural human ego, but consider God's Word in Isaiah 64 where it says, "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags." "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags." And note here that that word translated as "filthy rags" refers to a woman's menstrual cloths. Think you have something of your own to offer a holy and just God? Think again, scripture says, think again. And it doesn't care if you're a St. Paul a Martin Luther or a Mother Teresa. "Poor miserable sinners" is how we confessed it earlier - "poor" in that we have nothing of our own to offer a holy and just God. Sinners produce sin - all that comes from us by nature is sin.

Now I'm not saying we don't strive to be good citizens, good mothers and fathers, etc. - and a bit more on that later. But if we expect any of that to merit us any standing before God - we're fooling ourselves. And again, here Paul even uses himself as an example. For after going through how if anyone had reason to boast before God it was he the pure-blooded Pharisee and meticulous follower of the laws of Moses - he says how he now considers it all "rubbish, garbage, manure, dung." Worthless before a holy and just God.

And so to trust in our works as the Philippian congregation was being tempted to do; to trust in our merits as every other religion of the world tries to get you to do; to trust in our supposed righteousness which our ego wants to do - that's basically to offer to a holy and just God that bucket of manure. It's repulsive to Him. Absolutely repulsive. …

Although we said Paul set out two buckets before his readers, didn't we? So what's in the other one? .. Well, for Paul it wasn't filled with $100 bills as we pretended earlier. No, fortunately for Paul, fortunately for us, it contains something far more valuable - something - in fact the only thing that is valuable enough to buy us a place in God's heavenly kingdom. And actually it's not even a bucket, is it? No, rather it's a cross that Paul sets before his readers. It's a cross - it's the blood-stained cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Of course a cross doesn't look like much to an unbelieving world - nothing but an instrument of torture and death. The world says "If it's Jesus and a cross that you're trusting in for your salvation, well good luck." … But Paul knows, by God's grace we know that it was upon the cross that Jesus gave His best, gave His life, gave His innocent sufferings and death. Paul knows, you know that Jesus, the Son of God came down to earth to live that life we cannot live; to fulfill a righteousness we could never fulfill. That's what the cross tells us. Jesus came, Jesus lived, Jesus died, that you, that I, that all who would believe in Him might not perish, but have eternal life.

And of course that's why we find St. Paul in our epistle reading clinging not to his own vain attempts at righteousness, that's why we see him offering to God not his own worthless and yes even repulsive bucket of sin. That's why rather we find St. Paul clinging to Christ and His righteousness; not offering but receiving from God the infinitely valuable, life-giving cross and blood of Christ. For Paul writes, "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 - garbage - manure - dung - that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, 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." … "not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ." …

There is one thing and only one thing that can give hope in the face of death, there is one thing and only one thing that can give forgiveness where there is sin, there is one thing and only one thing that can give righteousness before a holy and just God - only one thing - Jesus and His blood and righteousness. Of course we just sang of that, didn't we? "Jesus Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress. Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head." That's our faith - that's what we cling to - that's what we confess as Christians.

And confessing that fiath, having had God grant us that faith, with God's Holy Spirit living in us, we can now love others; we can now serve other; we can now do good works. Not to earn anything before God, but simply as offerings of thanksgiving to a God who has had mercy upon us. …

Today as you probably noticed, we celebrate LWML Sunday - The Lutheran Women's Missionary League. The LWML was founded about two-thirds of a century ago and has been dedicated to proclaiming to sinners that Jesus - and only Jesus saves. Untold numbers of people have been given the gift of faith in Jesus and His blood and righteousness through the mission work that has been supported by mites from the women of the LWML. Many other people have benefited from the numerous acts of charity, the quilts, the gifts of food and clothing - mittens and hats - all lovingly supplied by the women of the LWML in thanks to God. Today we thank God for their work.  God is truly at work in them as together we cling to Jesus and invite others to do the same.

For there is nothing more important, nothing more valuable than the message of Jesus. Of course that hymn that we just sang and that I referred to here a moment ago - Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness - it speaks of what our hope is in life. But not just in life, but also in death and most especially on that day we stand before our Lord God in all His glory on that great day we often refer to as Judgment Day. If you think you have something to offer to God on that day - something that as any other religion will try to tell you will somehow merit you a right standing before Him - put that bucket away and hear these words - learn these words - make these words to be your hope and your confession. It's verse 5 of our hymn. And actually we're going to sing it here again in just a moment so go ahead and open up your hymnbooks to hymn number 563. Verse 5. And I know I've said this before from this pulpit but it certainly bears repeating. If you never remember anything else I ever say to you or anything any pastor ever says to you - remember these words - verse 5 - "When from the dust of death I rise - and of course that's judgment day - to claim my mansion in the skies, this then shall be my only plea: Jesus hath lived and died for me." "Jesus hath lived and died for me." That's where our hope is. That's where our salvation is. Jesus and His Blood and His righteousness - anything else, it's rubbish. … So why don't we go ahead and sing that verse again along with verse 1. And by God's grace, by God's Spirit, let us certainly take these words to heart that they might truly be our confession in life and in death. So let us sing …… (LSB 563 verses 1 and 5)

And may the peace …