Pastor Tom Johnson, March 17, 2013
Recently, the media was wowed and amazed by the new Pope,
Francis. It wasn't his powerful message. It wasn't the beautiful vestments. It
was the fact that he carried his own luggage, paid for his own room, and took
the bus instead of the Papal limo. The story behind this story is our hopeful
glimpse into a person with humility, humanity, and godliness—even for those who
are not Catholic.
In our Epistle reading from Philippians chapter 3, Paul is
writing a letter while under arrest, in chains, and in a Roman prison (1:7). He
is pleading with us not to put confidence in the flesh—that is to say, not to
put our trust in our pedigree, education, and religious piety. Don't put your
faith in yourselves, Paul tells us. "If anyone has an impressive resume," Paul says,
"I above all people have a litany
of bragging rights. My genealogy is untainted. My circumcision is to the letter
of the Law. My training makes me a scholar. My zeal is unsurpassed. My piety is
unparalleled." But whatever he thought of himself before, paled in
comparison to his new relationship with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In
fact, the word he uses to describe his former life in comparison with his new
one is the crass Greek word for excrement.
This same humility and vulnerability can be heard in the
writings of St. Patrick four hundred years later. In his Confession, he says he
was born in Britain and baptized in the Triune Name. He was the son of a Deacon
in the Church. And they had all the material wealth they would ever need. But all of that was lost when Irish raiders came. They
sailed from Ireland to the British island, killing, stealing, and trafficking
in young boys and girls—taking them home to be their slaves. Patrick spent the rest of his teenage years as a shepherd
slave. He was in isolation for weeks at a time. He spent the nights out in the
exposed cold air. He had to learn the culture and language of his barbaric
captors. It was in the loneliness of his life among sheep far away
from his family and church that he realized that his religious upbringing did
not cultivate genuine faith, but a nominal religious life. He runs away from
his slave master and makes his way to Gaul. And there, he discovers a much richer
and deeper faith in Christ. He no longer sees his life as being robbed of a wonderful
life and his childhood. He now sees how his Heavenly Father disciplined him as
a son and brought him into a closer, more meaningful relationship with God.
What the Irish meant for evil, God meant for good. And so Patrick goes back to Ireland probably as the most
effective missionary, church planter, school starter, and evangelist since the
Apostle Paul. He goes beyond just serving those people; he makes them his own. By
the end of his life, Patrick talks about the Irish as his own people. In an ironic turn of events, those who made Patrick their
own by violence into slavery now makes them his own by the Holy Spirit. He
spends the rest of his life building the Irish people up in faith and working
hard to protect their freedom from becoming slaves as he himself once was.
As we see in our Scripture this morning, Paul no longer
defines himself as a Jew, Benjamite, Pharisee, or religious zealot—he now
defines himself and his reality as a Christian. And so he says, “I press on to
make it my own.” And what is it that he is making his own? Jesus’ suffering,
death power of resurrection. In the same way, Patrick opens up his autobiography with the
words, "Ego Patricius Peccator," "I am Patrick the sinner."
But he also calls himself a bishop and servant of Christ. He is both sinner and
saint. He acknowledges that we are all born into a world full of uncertainty,
sin, evil, and death. And now, we need to get used to our new reality—the
reality of being a child of God. “I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made
me His own.” The Christian life is our getting used to what is already a
reality for God. It may be not be overstated to say that the Christian life is
a lifelong adjustment to how God already sees us—as his beloved daughters and
sons.
“I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made
me His own.” The eternal Son of God became human to seek and save that which is
lost—“to make us His own” In Christ, we are all baptized into the triune Name—in
water, Word, Spirit, He adopts us and makes us his own. And in the years that
follow, we get used to our new family status as daughters and sons of God. But
it was always a reality from the beginning. Through Lord’s supper He gives us Body and Blood for the
forgiveness of sins—He takes possession of us. He makes us his own. Through the
Word and meal we get used to the reality of the Gospel.
We don’t create this reality—God has sought us out. “We love
because He first loved us.” We make it our own because we have already been
purchased by the blood of Jesus. “I press on to make it my own because Christ
Jesus has made me His own.” We call God "Father" because he has adopted us as
his children. We call Jesus "Savior" because he has delivered us from
death, sin, and condemnation. We call the Holy Spirit "Helper"
because he gives us strength for life's journey. Later in this morning service, we'll sing a hymn attributed
to St. Patrick, "I Bind unto Myself Today." Patrick binds himself to
the work of God. He clings to God's work in creation. He attaches himself to
the death and resurrection of Jesus. And he unites himself to the Holy Spirit
for his strength. He binds himself to God because he is already bound up in
his love. So we make God our own because he has made us his own.
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