Jump Start # 461

Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”

  We love this passage from the beloved Paul. It’s used in many settings today. Some view it as a motivational statement, but it’s much, much more than that. It defined his walk and his attitude in life. Paul continued to press on. There was more to be done. Heaven was near, but he wasn’t there yet.

  The phrase, “forgetting what lies behind,” is fascinating when you give it some thought. All of us have a story. We all have a past. We all carry baggage and we have to deal with issues including sins.

  Some never can move on from their past. Their past defines their present and limits their future. Paul didn’t let that happen. It was a choice, and he chose not to let that happen.

  I can only imagine could have raced through Paul’s mind as a preacher. Remember he spent quite a while chasing down Christians and was responsible for many going to prison and being killed. He felt he was doing right by stamping out the blasphemous cult that followed the false Messiah. He thought that. He was wrong. Now he was one of them. Now he was spreading the gospel. When people heard that Paul was in town, would any show up to hear him preach. Would they ridicule his sermon? Would Jews call him a traitor? Would the Christians forgive him? He may be preaching to a audience that had family members in prison because of what he did.

  Those kind of thoughts can cripple someone. Fear and worry can keep a person in bed all day. Two things happened. These same two things will help us. I don’t anyone reading this this morning has killed anyone, especially because of their faith, but we may have sent stares that were as sharp as daggers. Our words may have killed hope in someone. We may have walked away when we should have stayed, spoken out when we ought to have been quite. We thought it was the right thing to do, but differences and anger led us to do things we shouldn’t.

  First, Paul was forgiven by God. That’s the top of the list. We need that.

  Second, Paul forgave himself. He doesn’t seem to justify it or excuse his actions. But once God has removed the burden of guilt and the penalty of sin, Paul did the same to himself. Many a person would continue to beat themselves us, by saying, “I don’t deserve anything nice,” or, “let them find someone better than me to preach.” Not Paul. He forgave himself. That’s the hardest person to forgive, is ourselves. We can be gentle, forgiving to others, but we expect more of ourselves and we really have a hard time forgiving ourselves.

  Forgetting what lies behind. Does that mean Paul didn’t know what happened in the past? No. He didn’t dwell upon it. His mistakes were buried in an unmarked grave. He didn’t visit that grave and leave flowers, it’s gone. He was done with it, learned some powerful lessons, and was ready for God to use him because God trusted him. That’s what forgiveness will do. Paul had to trust himself.

  Now, there’s one more side to this “forgetting the past” business. Often we do well with it. It’s others that refuse to let us forget. They don’t think or won’t allow a person to change. They hold the broken past over them. With some sins, it may take a while for trust to be regained and restored, but some won’t allow that. One mess up and they put an asterisk by your name and your are forever known by that. People change. People change doctrinally. What they once believed, they may not anymore. Give them a chance. People change morally. People grow. People get stronger.

  Families have a tendency to not let go of the past. Get a group together and they start telling stories of the past, often the same stories, over and over. Some of those stories contain pain and guilt and shame. You have tried to move on, but they won’t forget the past. They remind you. They continue to blame you. They do not want you to move on as Paul did.

  That’s tough. It’s hard to deal with. I expect Paul had some of that in his day. It is mostly from people who refuse to forgive. They feelings turn to bitterness and anger and soon they are eaten up with this stuff. It bothers them that you are not bothered like they are. It bothers them that you have chosen to move on. What they don’t understand is forgiveness. That’s the key. Forgiveness from God and forgiving your self.

  Paul forgot the past…have you? Is it holding you back? Have you sought the forgiveness of God? Have you forgiven yourself? You can’t move on until you do.

Roger

Jump Start # 457 

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

  Contentment—that’s a hard one for a lot of us. The context of this passage describes both humble means and prosperity. Contentment therefore is not based upon what you have, but rather what has you. Most of us could do quite well in prosperity. Just let us have a chance and we’ll show you. We think that, but would we? Would prosperity make us generous and kind? Or, would we spend like a fool, buying more and more stuff that we don’t need just because we could. The guy in humble means doesn’t have many choices. He can try to get a better job and improve. Maybe mismanagement of money led him to being humble, but most likely, as in Paul’s case, he wasn’t paid much to preach. He got by. It didn’t sour him.

  Contentment is a state of the mind—it has nothing to do with bank accounts. It is being satisfied. Satisfied, I wonder if we can ever get there in our minds. We look at where we live, and we think, it’d be nice to have more room. We look at the car we drive and think, it’s sure getting a lot of miles on it, it’d be nice to have a new one. We look in the mirror and think, sure could shed a few pounds. Satisfied. Are we ever there?

  I wonder about this spiritually. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Can a person ever be satisfied spiritually? In some ways, no. And the reason is, you always have room to grow. There are always things to be done. There are people to teach, others to encourage, still others have doubts that need to be addressed. More could be saved. More could attend. More could be teachers. More…more…more. Is it possible to be satisfied spiritually?

  Then I think about Psalms 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” That is a statement of contentment. I am satisfied. I have found what I need and I don’t need any more.

  Contentment is that inner calm that keeps you from being agitated, worried and stressed. Sure, we could all be better. Sure, we could all probably do more. But when we put our eyes on Jesus, what else matters? This is the peace, the satisfaction, the calm that echoed through Paul’s writings. Humble or prosperity, didn’t really change things between him and God. That’s the thought.

  Maybe our lack of contentment is a sign that we have too much of this world in us still. Maybe we are trying to fix everyone else’s life and we can’t do that. Contentment is personal. It is how I feel about things and how I see things. Type A personalities, have to work hard on contentment. The accelerator in your brain is always pushed to the floor. Driven is your way of life. That’s good in many areas, but there’s that inner peace that may be missing that only comes from being satisfied with God.

  God is good. He is good to each of us. We have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes it’s good to pause and see where we’ve been, what we’ve gone through, and what lies ahead –especially spiritually.

  The key to our passage today is Paul saying, “I’ve learned…”  Contentment doesn’t just happen. You learn it. You experience it. You see it in others. You see it in Paul. You see it in Jesus. You see it in other Christians. Satisfied. Satisfied with God. These are the folks that actually enjoy worship service. They don’t notice that the song leader was late in getting up to lead songs…the preacher fumbled around for a while, the babies were fussy, a light was burned out…no, what they noticed was God among us. They are satisfied, focused and connected to God. They actually smile as they enter the church building—they are glad to be there. Worship is peaceful, helpful and refreshing. They leave feeling better.

  I can’t say that I always feel that way. I over analyze my sermons, I’m thinking about this and that, and that could have been better, this should have been said…and on and on and leave tired and sometimes unconnected. I’m working on contentment. Being refreshed because I’m in the presence of God. Satisfied that God invites and includes me.

  Give this some thought and chew on it a while. Being content is a wonderful place to be.

Roger