Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, April 7, 2019
Our Lenten journey began with remembering that we are dust and to dust we shall return on Ash Wednesday. It continued in the wilderness, fasting, temptation, and ongoing struggle with sin. We now come toward the end. Paul gives us the tools we need in order for us to move forward to celebrate Easter, the pascal feast. Paul has mastered one thing: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” To press on, Paul reminds us that we must forget what lies behind. Paul is honest, vulnerable, and candid about his past. He puts his impressive resume forward. His pedigree is impressive. His was born into privilege. He was highly educated. And he was passionately faithful to continue his family’s legacy.
But all that is rubbish to him now. The New Testament word rubbish, as you might know, is the vulgar word for excrement. He considers his past worthless and even repulsive—not because he despises all the good things he inherited but because of how much more valuable and precious is what he now has in Jesus Christ. And so Paul forgets what lies behind. By telling his story, he tries to inspire us to follow his example—or rather the example of Christ.
Forgetting is a not a passive slip of memory. It is not the inability to remember. It is not spiritual dementia. It is active effort to no longer let what is in the past define you. It is a mindset to transform the way we enter the future. Forgetting what lies behind is paying less attention to the old you and paying more attention to the new you God is creating. Forgetting what lies behind is caring less about the things that are passing away and more about the gifts God has in store. Forgetting what lies behind is our belief that God can take any very messy situation and bring order and peace. It is our faith in God’s power to transform the vilest sinner whose sins are forgiven, in the past, and whose righteousness in Christ is emerging and rising like the dawn of a bright new day. God says in Isaiah 43 (v. 25), “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” God forgives and forgets. When he erases our guilt and shame, he chooses not to remind us or conjure it up again.
Paul does not bring up all his pedigree, privilege, and persecution of the church to impress us but to persuade us that none of us is too good nor too bad to have the need to forget what lies behind. Pride about our past keeps us from seeing the surpassing riches of Christ which await us. Regret stifles the growth that God wants to cultivate in our lives. To put it bluntly, to dwell in the past and to let it hold us back is a form of unbelief. It is allowing the things of this world to hold us captive, to paralyze us, and to prevent us from moving forward in the peace, joy, and hope of our future in Christ. “One thing I consider to have mastered,” Paul says, “to forget what lies behind and to strain forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul uses one of his favorite metaphors to describe the Christian journey—a race. In the 2006 Winter Olympics, Lindsey Jacobellis was about to finish first for the gold in a snowboard race. When she saw her success behind her, she showboated on a jump, wrecked, and finished second instead of first. It’s painful to watch. Coaches and sports commentators scold runners and racers of all kinds who look back for whatever reason because of the loss of focus and precious time.
One of the most powerful moments during my visit to Stateville prison with Deaconess Lori Wilbert was when Jesús was vulnerable enough to share his belief that his young daughter will never want anything to do with her incarcerated dad—that he will spend the rest of his life without a relationship with her. “You do not know that,” said one prisoner. “Yeah,” said another, “you never know what God will do in her heart to want a relationship with you.” I could see a glimmer of hope in Jesús’ eyes as he began to let go of the past and strain forward toward a future in the hope of the Gospel which is a ministry of reconciliation.
That is Paul’s encouragement—don’t look back. Strain forward. “Press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” In our Gospel reading, Mary does just that; she anoints Jesus with costly perfume. Jesus says that it is in preparation for his burial. Mary presses on in her faith in the Messiah who will die and rise again for her forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus presses on toward Jerusalem where he will win the race and battle against sin, evil, and even death itself.
So we press on—not looking behind gloating in our success nor looking back bemoaning all our past mistakes. We cannot earn our life in Christ by what we do. Nor can we lose our life in Christ by what we do. We press on—not with our own resources nor with our disgraceful regrets. We press on to what Jesus has won for us—the goal—the prize—the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Soon, our confirmands will be taking an oath to press on. They will say, “Yes, by the grace of God”—by God’s strength and help, confirmation is about what lies ahead in our Christian journey and lives being built up on the promises of God. So God cheers us on to “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). And so we press on in the peace, joy, and hope of what is ours in Christ Jesus.
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