Join the Journey - Philippians 3:4b-14

I’ve been having some weird dreams lately. I go through periods like this where I’ll have some bizarre dream—not a nightmare, but more like a thought-provoking head-scratcher of a dream. When I’m under stress, for example, I’ll usually have a consistent dream theme that I’m back in the military, but in the dream I’m always trying to find all the parts of my uniform (the brain tends to default to familiar past experiences when under stress). Or I’ll have that dream where it’s finals week in college or seminary and I suddenly realize that I didn’t go to a single class session for that course, that I forgot to drop the class, and now, here I am, sitting with a blue book in front of me trying to fake my way through it. That’s the perfectionist nightmare! You’ve probably had similar dreams of your own.

 Sometimes, though, I believe that God is the source of our dreaming. The Bible clearly tells us that this is the case—from Genesis we see how Jacob and Joseph were dreamers, and even in the New Testament, Paul and Peter were often driven by their dreams to engage certain people and places. It’s hard to describe, and it may sound a little crazy, but I do think that sometimes those dream, particularly the poignant ones, are one of the ways that God gets our attention.

 I was on a retreat this August at a little Catholic retreat center way out in the boonies of rural Kentucky when I had one of these dreams. The dream went something like this: I was watching TV with some others and, suddenly, there on the screen was my name and an announcer saying, "Robert Alfred Kaylor has one minute to call and claim this incredible prize." I didn't know what the prize was and didn't even know I had entered the contest, but I tried desperately to remember the phone number that had flashed across the screen. I couldn't, so I spent that minute frantically typing numbers into my cell phone, trying different combinations, asking the others if they remembered the number...but no one did. After a minute, the announcer said, "Time is up for Robert. Time to put another name up on the screen." I had lost my chance to win a prize, even though I don't know what it was.

 I woke up feeling the stress of that minute of panic, like I had missed out on something important. I had failed to get the prize, and even though it was “just a dream” I had a hard time getting back to sleep. Eventually I drifted off, but I woke up for good at 5:30 (my normal wake-up time) and decided to head outside to take a walk and do my morning devotions.

 One of the features of the retreat center was a life-sized bronze crucifix just down the hill where there was a little area to sit and reflect. There’s something about a crucifix that’s just a stark reminder of what the cross really means. I think we lose that sometimes in our Protestantism with its bare crosses. I sat down and opened my devotional book which directed me to the passage for that day, which was Philippians 3:13-14

 "Forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

My dream had been a prize and now the Scriptures were about another prize. Yeah, I think God was trying to tell me something.

 I didn’t know what the prize was in my dream, but I know that somehow I wanted it desperately. I’m thinking that maybe God was supplying the answer in the morning. If you read this passage contextually, you see that Paul names the prize that he was after a bit earlier in verse 10: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." For Paul, the prize was not some elusive material reward or cash bonus. The prize wasn’t a good grade or a renewed status in life. For Paul, the prize was not a something but a Someone. It was about knowing Jesus, about being folded into the life of Jesus, participating in his suffering, participating in the cross, participating in new life through resurrection.

 Looking at the crucifix, these words were even more challenging. “Sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” is more than a theological idea when you’re staring into the face of one who hangs on a cross. Jesus had told his disciples that if they really wanted to follow him, they were going to have to pick up their own cross (daily, says Luke)—to be like him in his suffering for the redemption of the world.

 Interestingly, later that day we visited Gethsemani Abbey, a Trappist monastery, where right outside the abbey is the monk’s cemetery with its rows of crosses. Several times a day the monks walk past the place where each of them will eventually be buried after a lifetime of service for Christ. I wondered how they read this passage.

 Some prize, huh? Some would say that it even sounds morbid. But when we understand it, we see that it is anything but. Paul is not advocating a death wish here or resigning himself to a life of dismal suffering. Instead, he sees his life in Christ as being a life of purpose. Go back to verses 4-7 and you see Paul quoting his resume before he knew Christ—he was the perfect, law-abiding, Pharisaic Jew. He had done everything right, passed every test, never missed a final. But, says Paul, all of his accomplishments were now “rubbish” compared to the goal and purpose of living for Jesus, being in intimate relationship with Jesus, being associated for Jesus, even persecuted for Jesus. Jesus’ mission had been the redemption of the world. For Paul, there was no greater prize or purpose in life than joining Jesus in that mission, for it was a mission that would do nothing less than change the world. It was this mission, this prize, that put Paul on the road throughout the Roman world where he did nothing but talk about Jesus to anyone who would listen (and even a few who wouldn’t!).

 Last week we looked Philippians 2 where Paul says that it was Jesus obedience to the point of death that enabled him to be exalted by God. Jesus whole life was a journey toward the cross, toward the redemption of the world, toward reconciling people to God through his own sacrifice. Paul wanted to be part of that journey, to part of something worth giving his own life for. That was the prize.

 Survey after survey says that the number one question people ask is “What is the meaning of my life?” People will search everywhere for meaning, looking for it in things, in position, in power, in self-indulgence. I realized that morning in front of the cross that I've spent much of my life frantically trying to punch all the right buttons in order to achieve some elusive prize - to prove that I'm worth something, to gain the status of a winner and enjoy the material benefits thereof. Usually, though, I'm dialing the wrong number. It occurred to me that I, and many others I meet, have become exhausted from the stress of trying to find the right combination to success. I wonder, too, how many people I have exhausted by trying to get them to give me the combination!

 But prizes we can dial up through our own efforts are always temporary. If we want to invest in something eternal, we must invest our lives in following Christ, who invites us into his mission and to follow him on a journey to change the world forever.

 You notice this morning some new banners and a new theme for our church—it’s “Join the Journey.” It’s an invitation. Paul cut loose everything that he previously considered precious in order to follow Christ. When we “join the journey,” we’re being invited to do the same—to see our lives, our careers, our families, our finances as being subject to a larger purpose, to expend our efforts in knowing Christ, knowing the power of his cross and resurrection in our own lives, and then sharing that message with others, inviting them to join the journey with us. The destination is not a place, but a person—Jesus Christ. To know him, to be with him, to be like him—that is a prize more precious than anything.

 Joining that journey, however, is not something to be taken lightly. Following Jesus means that all that we are and all that we have are acquired and used in obedience to him and to his purpose. It’s not an easy road, but it is the only road to wholeness and purpose.

 Over the next several weeks I’m going to be challenging you to join this journey—to think about your own relationship with Christ, to think about how you can know him better, to think about how you might invest your time, talent, and treasure in his purpose for the world. We’ve heard a lot about Wall Street and Main Street these last couple of weeks, but the truth is that both are dead ends when it comes to what’s really important. Only the road we take in following Christ leads to life.

 Truth is that someday God is going to issue a final exam, and you don’t want to have missed the class! We can’t skip out on our relationship with Christ or our call to follow him without consequences. Being in worship together regularly, engaging in personal and group study of the Scriptures, developing a healthy habit of prayer, giving generously of our resources of money, time, and talent—all of those things are foundational tests of our faithfulness.

I believe that God has dreams for our church, but we will only dream those same dreams when we’re actively seeking him. My prayer is that this World Communion Sunday will be a new beginning, a first step on a new journey of faith. Let us dream together!