Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Philippians 3:12-21
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  October 18, 2020

Everything has changed since January 9, 2007. Do you know what happened on that day? A man walked out onto a stage wearing jeans and a black turtleneck and everything changed. January 9, 2007 was the day Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. It wasn’t the first smartphone, but it’s success launched a revolution. Today 95% of Americans ages 18-50 own a smartphone. On average we will spend around three hours on our smartphones every day. And get this, we check them 150 times every day. Everything has changed.

Our smartphones enable and encourage constant connection to information, entertainment, and each other. They put the world at our fingertips, and rarely leave our sides. Although these devices have brought great blessings, their presence comes at a cognitive cost. At the University of Chicago, phycologists tested the “brain drain” hypothesis on smartphones and cognitive performance. Participants in the study were asked to take a test. The variable in the study was the location of their phone. One group put their phone down on the table next to them. One group put their phone in a pocket or purse. And the final group had to leave their phone outside of the room. Can you guess what happened? The closer the phone was the worse they did on the test. Even though none of the subjects checked their phone, avoiding the temptation to check their phones took up cognitive space—the mere presence of their phones distracted them. 

But I didn’t need to tell you about a study to prove to you that our phones are distracting us. We all know that distraction is starting to take a toll. There is a measured decrease in productivity at the workplace. There is rampant loneliness in an age of supposed connectedness. There are physiological changes occurring in humans, like chronic neck pain and early arthritis in our thumbs. There are medical studies linking phone usage to increases in depression and anxiety. There is an increasing diagnosis of media addiction in young adults, particularly young women. There is nothing new under the sun, as Solomon says. People have always been distracted, but we live in the age of distraction. We have streamlined it, put it in our pockets, we have found a way to distract ourselves, not just from boredom, but from meaningful relationships, from contentment, and even from God. 

That’s why we come here. We are here trying to pay attention, as distracted as we may be. We are here so that the Holy Spirit might spare us for just a moment to hear the Word of our loving Savior. We are here in-person or online, because we know, deep down, that we don’t have time for distraction. That’s what the Apostle Paul is driving at in Philippians chapter 3 today.

If you read this short letter, you can tell that Paul has a sense of urgency. Perhaps it is in part because he was writing from prison, and he didn’t know how much time he had left. As he says in chapter 1, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He also keeps talking about “the day of Christ”. He wants them to realize that none of us may have as much time as we expect before the day comes when we meet Christ! In chapter two, he goes on to remind the Philippians that there is no time for selfishness and no time for grumbling or complaining. In chapter 3 he tells them there’s no time to take pride in earthly accomplishments, no time to shy away from persecution, no time to waste at all! Paul says in our lesson today, There is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Do you hear the urgency? It’s like he’s running a marathon and though all sorts of things try to distract him, he doggedly refuses to  stop until he reaches the finish line. He has put on blinders, he will not be distracted. “I press on!” he says! There’s no time for distractions: I press on!” 

Paul thought that Phillippians needed some encouragement to get rid of distractions and run their race for Christ. What about you? Are you distracted? Are you tempted to look at your phone this very second? I think that distraction is one of the main problems for Christians in our world today. Maybe the reason you haven’t been maturing in faith isn’t so complicated. Maybe you aren’t harboring unrepentant sin, maybe you aren’t confused about God’s Word, maybe you’re just distracted. 

I wonder, how many times did you think about heaven this past week? How many times did you pray? How many times did you consider the urgency of Christ’s call? How many times did you try to share your faith? How many times did you check your phone? … When I think of sins I’ve committed I know I need to repent, but when I consider the potential things I could have been doing for God’s kingdom, I feel crushed. Forgive me Lord, for I have been distracted. Maybe you can relate with the words of St. Augustine. In his Confessions he said, “Behold my life is a distraction.” (Confessions 11.29.39)

But he didn’t stop there and neither should we. In the same passage he contrasts his distracted life, pulled in so many different directions, with our God, who is constantly attentive and merciful to us. He says, But because your mercy is far greater than my [distracted] life…I press on, not as stretched out over those things past and future, but as stretched forth toward things present; I press on, not distractedly but with attention toward the prize of my heavenly calling. Did you hear it? He was using Paul’s words from our text today. “I press on!” Why? Because of God’s mercy.  The mercy of God is greater than our distracted lives.

It reminds me of all people who came to Jesus to try to distract him from his mission.  They would ask him farfetched questions and try to trap him and get him in trouble with the empire.  But notice, whenever he answered, he answered in a way focused on his mission. They tried to distract him and get in his head, but he was so clear on why he was walking this earth and what he was there to do, what his goal was, that they were never able to knock him off his path. He set his face like flint toward Jerusalem and he endured the cross, scorning its shame. Jesus pressed on. He didn’t have time for distractions because he loved you. Jesus made perfect use of every moment of his life, and when God looks at you that’s what he sees, because Jesus covered your distracted moments with his perfect life. God’s mercy is greater than your distraction.

This is Paul’s perspective. He knows that we are forgiven in Christ and so says in verse 20 Our citizenship is in heaven. We are eagerly waiting for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, we don’t belong here on this earth. We are here for a short trip. Jesus is coming back soon. We, in the joy of forgiveness, eagerly await his coming. And this makes an interesting point. You see, Paul has been talking about Pressing On and pushing forward through distraction. But what does he say that looks like? We are waiting… he says. We are supposed to press on and wait? How can this be? Well, the idea of pressing on in Greek is to intently pursue. (Literally, like a cop pursuing a criminal.) Now we aren’t in a car chase with Jesus, but we need to have that same focus on him. The idea of “Pressing On” in faith, is all about focus. It is about the opposite of distraction. Remember Paul was in prison. What does it mean to press on when you can’t go anywhere or do very much? Well, in his case he wrote letters. He was so passionate about pursuing Christ that he focused on spreading his kingdom to those dear souls God had given him to take care of.  To press on, in our context, may mean slowing down. It may mean, as Augustine said, that we are stretched forth toward the present! That we are so convinced that the time is short we don’t allow distraction to stop us from praying. That we are so convinced of God’s attentive love, that we focus on those he has given us to love. That we are so sure of our forgiveness that we need to take time to eagerly await our heavenly home! 

There’s a poem written by James Wright. It’s called Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota. In the poem James Wright describes everything he sees and hears around him as the sun is setting. The bronze butterfly, the cowbells on the cattle, the chicken hawk floating in the sky…it’s this gorgeous pastoral scene. And then comes the last line: “I have wasted my life.” My understanding of the poem is this, most of the time people live mindlessly, just existing, consuming information at a breakneck pace, never stopping to listen and observe. And when they finally do stop for a moment, they realize that this is what living is all about. It struck me the other day when I was with my son, Solomon, who is now three and a half. He was playing happily, self-directed, didn’t need me to be involved. And so I just automatically reached for my phone, I figured I’d catch up on some emails if he was doing his own thing. But then he started singing, some made-up song, and I put the phone down and just watched him. Just took a moment to appreciate this beautiful boy that God has given to me to take care of. The fact is, that there will always be more emails, there will always be news to catch up with, there will always be posts to read, but my son won’t always be three years old playing with Magna-tiles and singing to himself. There’s no time for distractions. 

My friends, the common transactions of life are the sacred moments God has given us to pursue Christ by loving those around us. It’s the parent who prays with their child. It’s the moments between a husband and wife around the house. It’s the common practice of coming to church and receiving Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for you. This is where God’s Kingdom comes. This is where we focus on sharing his attentive love! Paradoxically, pursuing Christ urgently means slowing down and loving people presently. Paradoxically, to Press on toward your heavenly calling often means sitting down and relaxing with God’s Word. There’s no time to be distracted, “press on” by pressing off on your phone. “Press on” by eagerly waiting for Christ’s coming. As Paul said in our text today, when Jesus comes back “he will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body.” I can’t wait to see what that is like. There’s no time for distractions! “I press on.”

Amen.