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 consider them garbage, 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 on the basis of faith.
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. (New International Version)
Whenever someone asks me what my favorite portion of Holy Scripture is, I reflexively turn to these verses in our New Testament lesson for today.
I resonate with these words from the Apostle Paul to the Church at Philippi, because they match what I truly believe, and how I really feel about Jesus.
We go through a lot of loss in this earthly life. We experience hardship and adversity. We grieve and lament.
Some of the losses in this life, we are okay with, or at least, we come around to being okay with them after a bit of time. Yet, there are other losses that are heartrending.
On the flipside, there are many gains we experience in this life. Some of them we worked very hard for, and others came to us as gifts.
Oftentimes, our gains and our losses are inextricably bound with each other. Something we consider precious is lost. We may even choose to set aside or give up something we have – we allow it become lost – so that we can gain something even better.
At other times, the process of gaining, losing, then gaining something good was not purposed by us, but by God.
And, to me, that’s probably the best sort of good there is.
Another way of putting the matter is: We must let go and accept how something or someone is, before we can experience what a truly good life really is.
Allow me, or please indulge me, as I frame the Apostle’s words in my own sort of language:
Anything in this life that I have achieved; anything I have come to possess; any sort of position or title I hold or have held; any kind of identification I have, or prestige I have gained, is of no value. In reality, it’s all rather worthless.
If you will let me take it even further, compared to having an authentic, real, and experiential relationship with Jesus as my Savior, my Lord, and my Friend, everything else is like a bunch of garbage. That’s how much I value Jesus. There’s no other thing, no other relationship, that comes remotely close to knowing Christ.
It isn’t so much that I found Jesus, but that he found me. So, I have a faith that’s got nothing to do with keeping up appearances or rule-keeping, or keeping ahold of anything. I have the life that is truly life.
But, oh my, there is so much more to experience and to know with Jesus! I want to experientially know the power of Christ’s mighty resurrection. I want to be like him, and participate with him, as if Jesus were living his life through me.
And, I must tell you, I know that this sort of life means suffering. But I also know that this suffering puts me in solidarity with my Lord – which is exactly where I want to be.
I only want to live up to who I’m supposed to be in Christ, to be my true self, and not some faux Christian living according to mere rules and regulations. The only thing that counts to me is faith expressing itself through love.
I understand that I took a lot of liberties with the text, and elaborated on it in order to make it my own. But, truth be told, we all need to find ways to make scripture as our own.
We all must let go of some old ways and unlearn a lot of things, in order to discover new life and be united with Christ. Everyone needs to learn from the past, so that we can live a new life here in the present.
If you don’t like my words, that’s fine. You aren’t under any obligation to read them. Yet, I do believe we have an obligation to Holy Scripture, and specifically, to ingest it as if it were the best meal you’ve ever eaten.
Indeed, we end up experiencing a lot of losses in this life. Yet, with Jesus, we will never lose him, because he will never forsake us. Christ is our eternal gain. He’s alive, always living, so that we need never be concerned about him not existing anymore.
That’s my faith. That’s what I trust in, or rather whom I put my faith in, and my trust upon. It’s all about Jesus. Anything less will not stand the test of time, nor of satisfaction in life.
What will you do with Jesus?
Christ isn’t going to strongarm you into the kingdom of God. But he will doggedly go after you, and be a pester pup in your ears and an ever-present sense in your heart.
You might as well go ahead and consider him, or perhaps reconsider him, like you’ve never done before.
After all, you’ve really got nothing to lose.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. – The Nicene Creed, on Jesus Christ
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 