Many weeks ago we started our journey together learning about what it takes to be “The Buzzing Church”, a church buzzing with enthusiasm, excitement, joy and love; a church that practices what it believes; a church willing to do a new thing in obedience to God.
We learned every one of us must integrate four core practices into the life of our church: instruction in God’s Word, fellowship with one another and the world, worship of God and a devotion to prayer. These practices provide the avenue for God to do a new thing in our lives and the life of our community. We learned we have all inherited the necessary tools of the trade in order to put these four practices into action; the full armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6. We learned for a team or a community to be successful and meet its goals, every player, every member has specific God-given gifts to be used to play their specific role on the team. Everyone has been given spiritual gifts from God through the Holy Spirit. Paul writes we are to “present our bodies to God”. Real worship is the offering of everyday life to God. Real worship is something which enables us to see the whole world as the temple of the living God, and every common deed an act of worship.
Today I wish to conclude this series on the BUZZING Church by examining the balance sheet of faith; the gains and losses of the life of faith in Christ. What do we gain through faith in Christ and what do we lose through faith in Christ?
D’Anna and I were recently visiting with one of our neighbors who works for Bank of America. We were talking about finances & money and how it doesn’t grow on trees anymore (not that it ever did!), the challenge of saving money for the future, and that it seems as if we don’t have enough money to do all the things we want to do. Our neighbor re-introduced to me to an old term I hadn’t heard or discussed since college: Opportunity cost. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines Opportunity Cost as "the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen".[1] The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. We all have limited time and money, so we must make choices every day choosing one thing over another. The cost is what we gain from our choice as well as what we lose from our choice. We use it to make routine decisions about how best to spend limited time or money.[2] We lose something, we gain something.
Paul writes in our scripture today about opportunity cost to the church in Philippi, an ancient Greek city in eastern Macedonia. He is writing to them from prison in Rome. The overall tone of the letter indicates that Paul loved the Philippians; he’s concerned for their welfare; he’s proud of them; he prays for them with joy for they had come to believe so readily the first time they heard the Gospel message. Paul has heard things about some false teachers whose teachings contradict the Gospel. These false teachers have distorted the idea of circumcision, as one commentator puts it, as nothing more than the useless, meaningless cutting of one’s body. According to Paul, true circumcision is no longer a physical one, but a spiritual one. It has a true, inner meaning realized only in believers, who worship God with genuine spiritual worship and who glory in Christ as their Savior rather than trusting in their own human effort. The false teachers have confidence in the flesh as their saving grace. But Paul, who once had confidence in the flesh, now has something more.
Paul’s Jewish pedigree is the real deal. Back in his day, Paul had it all! His pre-conversion confidence is rooted in his Jewish pedigree, privileges and attainments. His Jewish roots are deep and unambiguous. He was an All-Star, an All-Pro, the cream of the crop, the Big Kahuna, top of the class, king of the hill, A number 1! Paul counted it all as gain!
When Paul has his conversion on the Damascus Road, he gives up his pedigree, his privileges and his attainments. He gave up his status as a Pharisee, the privilege of being a Jew, following the law, any wealth he may have had as a Pharisse and even his own name. He counts it all as loss. He sees it all as rubbish. Paul gave up everything he knew and had to gain Christ.
Paul has gained Christ. Paul has been crucified with Christ so therefore it is no longer Paul who lives but it is Christ who lives in Paul. Paul’s righteousness no longer comes from following the law of God. It comes to Paul from God through faith in Him. He gains Christ through faith in Him.
What do we lose through faith in Christ? I read a story about a young man from Florida named James Barnett, who gave up everything he owned to live on the streets and love the poor. He grew up in a solid Christian home. He was very involved in his church growing up. It was on a mission trip to Nicaragua when he met a woman named Ms. Ruby. Ms. Ruby would go and pray for the poor who were living in La Chureca, a city dump. They lived amongst mountains of fecal matter, toxic medical waste and battery acid. She prayed over them every day on God’s behalf. James Barnett met with Ms. Ruby on his last day in Nicaragua.
“As James kneeled on the floor of her home just outside the gates of the dump, she poured oil over his head and began speaking in tongues.
“I was expecting something transformational,” James said. “I mean, how often do you get outside of the country to be prayed over by a prophetess in the middle of a dump?”
Finally, the prophetess fell silent. She looked at James and said, “Child, the Lord wants you to know you haven’t been obedient.” James was furious. He had worked so hard to live a good life; he didn’t understand how he had not been obeying.
“My child,” she said calmly, “your obedience isn’t defined by what you don’t do, but by what you do for the world your God so loves.”[3]
In September, 2009, James decided to make a change. James quit his job, giving up a six figure salary position with J.P. Morgan Chase, sold all his belongings and lived on the streets to serve the poor and the homeless. He made some simple t-shirts to sell to raise money that simply read, “Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself”. It has since become a non-profit organization raising money to help the hungry and the homeless.
What did James lose and what did James gain? Everything & everything. He gave up the status and wealth of his budding career path in the banking industry to live amongst the poor and homeless of Tallahassee, Florida and later Atlanta, Georgia. He counted it all as loss, but counted Christ as gain through faith alone.
Through faith in Christ, we have everything to lose and everything to gain. Through faith in Christ, we are no longer tethered to the Law of the Old Testament for our salvation for it has been fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Through faith in Christ, we are set free from the anxiety of an unknown future, the nostalgia of the past, and the expectations of tradition. Through faith in Christ, we are able to let go of the stale, tired and old traditions that hold us back; old jobs that have become monotonous, dull and tiring; and the old ways of living that are unsustainable and unmaintainable. We gain a new freedom; the freedom from ourselves; the freedom to let go of all the dead weight and baggage we’ve been carrying around for far too long. We gain a new righteousness through faith in Christ, a new grace that cannot be earned in any way or bought at any price. We gain a trust; a trust that God is in control and leading us where we are to go (if we only let him).
The BUZZING Church lives in the freedom gained by the righteousness of God through faith in Christ. Through faith and faith alone, we know who is ultimately the captain of this sea-worthy vessel we call the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore, Texas. We see God’s face in everything, all around us; we feel his presence in our community life; and through the small, still voice of truth, we trust in his love for us. Everything is loss, but Christ is gain. This is the Good News. See it. Feel it. Trust it.[4] Amen.
[1] www,wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost
[2] Ibid.
[3] www.publicgoodreporting.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/james-barnett-a-man-who-gave-up-everything-he-owned-to-live-on-the-streets-and-love-the-poor
[4] Seven Days in Utopia. Directed by Matt Russell. Produced by Utopia Pictures and Prospect Park, 2011.
[2] Ibid.
[3] www.publicgoodreporting.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/james-barnett-a-man-who-gave-up-everything-he-owned-to-live-on-the-streets-and-love-the-poor
[4] Seven Days in Utopia. Directed by Matt Russell. Produced by Utopia Pictures and Prospect Park, 2011.
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