Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

Today we continue in our Epistle Readings that work through St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which he wrote to respond to their concern for him when they found out that he was in prison. In his own time of suffering St. Paul took the opportunity to teach them about the place of suffering in the life of the Christian.

 

Two weeks ago we heard how this suffering, which seems like an alien invasion into the life of the Christian, actually serves for the advance of the Gospel. Last Sunday we heard that we can work out the puzzle of Christian suffering by remembering the humble sufferings of Jesus Christ. The divine working that turns suffering into the advance of the Gospel of Jesus is the same divine power by which we are given the mind of Christ, that we might see Him at work in and through us, not only as we bear our sufferings but also that we bear with one another as Christ the Saviour bears with us and our sins. You are united to Christ through Holy Baptism even while you suffer. It is the working out of your salvation as one united to Him in both His humiliation and His exaltation.

 

After writing in his Epistle to the Philippians about (1) how suffering serves for the advance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and (2) that we each need to work out our salvation in light of the humble suffering of Jesus, St. Paul went on to conclude (3) that we can press on through suffering in the righteousness that we have in Jesus; and (4) therefore also rejoice in our salvation even while we are suffering.

 

Today, we take to heart the encouragement of St. Paul to press on through our time of suffering with the knowledge of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Rather than tell you in the midst of your suffering that you have to press on, St. Paul instead speaks of the outcome of his own faith in Christ Jesus. It is because of Christ and only because of Christ that he can press on—press on to keep on preaching and confessing the faith while in prison, while in chains, to his guards and captors and to those who have come with tears of sorrow over his condition and to those whose fighting among themselves added to his suffering.

 

It is difficult to press on and not throw in the towel. It is difficult to “keep calm and carry on.” It is hard to “keep a stiff upper lip,” not letting it quaver, not letting the tears well up in the eyes, not breaking down in sobs and sorrows and letting them paralyze your life of faith. This kind of inner resolve and stoicism is not how St. Paul was able to press on.

 

But St. Paul found that he could stand firm and even press forward, pressing forward in faith in Christ Jesus, pressing forward through his suffering even if it were to only increase and increase and increase until death. In our society we are threatened and driven to fear and despair over the prospect of intense and acute suffering as death approaches. Society’s answer to this is to cut it short and bring about the death early and thus bring suffering to an end. MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) seems to have a noble purpose that we could accept, if we did not believe God’s Word that killing others or ourselves is against God’s holy Law, a holy Law that He put in place in His all-knowing, all-loving character.

 

If killing in order to end suffering is not the right way, then what is? St. Paul presents us with the alternate path of pressing on through suffering until God sees fit to alleviate it whether in life or in death.

 

But I don’t think that I can live up to the measure of a man like St. Paul. I don’t think my faith is as strong as his. I don’t think that I have what it takes to press on like he says he does in the letter to the Philippians.

 

You know, you have something right. You cannot live up to the measure of a man like St. Paul. He has some pretty impressive credentials and he listed some of them so that you would know that you do not live up to his measure. “If anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more” (Philippians 3:4). His body bore the sign of God’s covenant by circumcision. He was a genetic member of the chosen people of God. He knew God’s Scriptures better than anyone. He was scrupulous about living a holy life. He was a fanatic about protecting the faith of his fathers. There is no way to measure up to Paul so don’t try it.

 

In fact Paul himself says that none of it has anything to do with his ability to press on in face of his sufferings. In fact, he tells us that all of that stuff actually gets in the way of the ability to press on. Anything that would direct you to your own accomplishments or privileged heritage, or the extent of your efforts only turns you in the wrong direction. It turns you into yourself and away from your Saviour. The ability to press on through suffering is not found in you at all.

 

You cannot compare yourself with Paul. But you can imitate him. Mindful of all of his accomplishments and gifts and abilities, Paul says, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (3:7-8).

 

Whatever gain you have, you can count as loss. That was St. Paul’s first step toward pressing on in faith during his sufferings, and knowing that more sufferings were yet ahead for him. You can do the same thing. Count all of the gains you have as loss. Which gains? All of them. Everything. You have no gain. Whatever you might consider as a gain is actually a detraction. It does not help you to press on. It prevents you from pressing on.

 

Don’t think, “I can press on because I got baptized.” Or, “I can press on because I know a lot of Bible passages.” Or, “I can press on because I strictly follow the commandments.” Or, “I can press on because I have always done what God has told me to do.” Whatever you think you have done to gain yourself some spiritual strength or advancement will turn out to be the source of spiritual weakness and regression in the face of suffering when it becomes true suffering, that is, beyond what your spirit can bear. No righteousness of your own will see you through.

 

But St. Paul reveals to us that there is more than one kind of righteousness. There is the righteousness that he has because of what he has done according to God’s holy Law. It is good and right, but it cannot save anyone. It is never enough to deliver you from sin and its effects in this world. Your righteousness will never be enough for God to say that you don’t deserve the suffering that comes upon you. It will never be enough to undo even one sin that you have committed, let alone the lifetime of sin and the inbred fallen sinful nature that permeates your being. There is no strength for you there.

 

But there is another kind of righteousness that St. Paul had; not a righteousness of his own achieved by his holy life of obedience. Rather, it is a righteousness that is not his own. It is a righteousness that is not acquired by action, but by faith. It is the righteousness of one more holy than any apostle or saint. It is the righteousness of God, and it conquers all things, including sin and all of its effects, even suffering and death.

 

This is the righteousness that belongs to the holy Son of God, Jesus Christ. It is the righteousness of One who has never sinned, who was born without the stain of original sin, who has endured every temptation without falling to sin, and who endured suffering in obedience, even to death on a cross (2:8). This is the only righteousness that can save us, not St. Paul’s, not yours, only Christ’s.

 

Dr. Martin Luther hung his faith and hope on this passage of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. When in despair over his own shortcomings and the sufferings that he had to face from attacks by the pope’s theologians, from betrayals of his colleagues, and the many physical maladies and infirmities that plagued his body; Luther knew that he could not rely on his own accomplishments of education, service to God’s people, or even faithfulness to God’s Word. He needed more. He needed a righteousness not his own, but a righteousness given to him.

 

Of these two kinds of righteousness only one can save, that is the righteousness of Christ. The other righteousness can respond to salvation but it cannot achieve it. It can serve God and the neighbour but it cannot save anyone.

 

The Good News of the Gospel is that this righteousness of Jesus, by which He obeyed His Father’s will to suffer death upon the cross for the forgiveness of the sins of the world; this righteousness is freely given to you, bestowed upon you, placed over you, poured out on you to be your very own.

 

This righteousness comes to you through faith. By believing that Jesus has gone to the cross for you, this righteousness is yours. By the grace of God extended in love to you, this righteousness is yours. Through the working of God in the promise of His holy Sacraments, not by your working to do these sacraments, this righteousness is yours, this saving righteousness, the righteousness of Christ.

 

You were covered in this righteousness at your Baptism, not because you decided to get baptized or because you were obeying God’s command to be baptized, but because God put His promise of salvation into Holy Baptism and He doused you with it when the water poured over your head. It is not a righteousness of your own following of His command, but the righteousness of Christ’s suffering and death for you, freely poured out upon you.

 

At the beginning of our Funerals Service (LSB, 278), we have a remembrance of Baptism to testify that the one who died in the faith was able to press on with the righteousness of Christ. As a white funeral pall covers the casket carrying the body, the pastor says, “In Holy Baptism [this person] was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin. St. Paul says: ‘Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?’” And the congregation continues, “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Romans 6:3-5).

 

It is in this righteousness that St. Paul could press on through his sufferings and whatever might yet come upon him in this life, right to and through the time of his death; through death to the upward call of God into eternal life with Christ. It is in this righteousness of Christ that St. Paul could see in that the more he suffered like Jesus suffered unto death, the closer Paul was to his resurrection like Jesus rose from the dead. It was not because his sufferings earned him anything or counted as any kind of righteousness for him, but because Jesus’ sufferings counted as a righteousness form him.

 

Forgetting everything that he had accomplished throughout his entire life, Paul could press on toward the goal, considering only what Jesus had accomplished for him. And so it is for you. You can press on in the righteousness of Christ for you. Stand firm in this righteousness of the Lord. “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself” (3:20-21). Press on in the righteousness of Christ to the resurrection of your body.

 

It is never easy to suffer. It is never pleasant to suffer or to watch someone else suffer. We should never glory in our suffering, but we should see Jesus and His glory there. We should be reminded of His suffering for us and for all upon the cross. We should be reminded of His glorious victory and His resurrection from the dead. We should take to heart the promises that He has given to us of our deliverance and resurrection, and contemplate the mystery that “it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).