Glorify Christ!

18th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/16/11
Philippians 1:18b-27


Glorify Christ!
I. In life
II. In death


While you probably don’t think about purpose statements very often, if you’re in the process of updating your résumé or if you’re in a position to read résumés, you’re quite familiar with them. Most résumés present an individual’s purpose statement at the very beginning of the document. Their purpose might be to enhance their work experience, to grow in their field of expertise, to bring the best possible service to as many people as possible.

In other words, that purpose statement often presents an individual’s goals in their employment or personal life. And that’s another thing we don’t often think about. We tend to slide from one day to the next not sure of what our long-range or short-range goals are. And the most likely way not to attain any goals in life is not to have any.

Then again, from time to time you hear that a person attained one of their personal goals in life at a fairly young age. We envy the fact that they had a goal, worked hard at it, and achieved it. We wish we could do the same.

So that begs the question, “What is your goal in life? What’s your purpose statement?” Some would say it’s to live life to the fullest or to enjoy every day of life. Others would indicate by the way they work at it that their goal in life is to reach financial stability. But how elusive is that?

So, what’s your purpose statement? Let me ask that another way, “What’s your purpose, Christian?” That one word, “Christian,” certainly helps you understand where I’m leading you with that question. And if you need a little more direction, take Paul’s words to heart this morning. It’s fairly obvious what his purpose was. He said, “I will…have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted.” Another way of saying that is that his purpose was to glorify Christ. How’s that for a brief, but eternally meaningful purpose statement? And how fitting it is for any Christian, for you and me! Glorify Christ! Let’s make that our life’s purpose statement and our focus this morning as we ponder this portion of God’s word.

Part I.

“Do you want to live or die?” I can’t imagine someone threatening my life with that question, but countless people have had to answer it under extreme duress. The person asking that question usually has the upper hand due to the fact that they possess deadly force and they ask that question counting on the fact that their victim wants to live and therefore will do what they want. Even for us right now who aren’t under any kind of threat, it’s an easy question to answer. We want to live. God created our bodies to live.

Paul faced that very same choice, but he had difficulty making up his mind. That’s because his situation was rather unique.

When Paul wrote these words he was undergoing his first imprisonment. He had been arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and was on trial before the Roman government. At this point Paul wasn’t quite sure of the outcome of his trial. Was it against Roman law to preach about Jesus or not? That’s what would be decided.

If he was found guilty, the punishment was severe. It was none other than death. Thus Paul was facing possible martyrdom for the sake of Christ. And as he pondered that fate, he didn’t shy away from it. We’ll talk more about that later.

However, if Paul were found innocent, he would go on living as before, that is, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He would continue in his calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote these words, he has a feeling that that’s how things are going to turn out. He writes, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.” Paul feels certain that he will continue to live.

And that means that Paul will continue to serve. He spoke about helping the Philippian Christians grow in their faith. That means he would continue serving them by sharing the truths of God’s word with them in person, via letters to them such as this one, and through his fellow workers. It’s likely that the congregation at Philippi was quite young and thus the Christians there had a rather immature faith. Paul knew that the Lord would direct things so that he would live and be one of God’s instruments to bring maturity to their faith.

As he did so, he was actually serving his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That was Paul’s highest goal in life. Whether he was sitting in prison, defending himself in court, or proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul lived to serve and glorify Christ. In fact, that covered every aspect of his life. To the Corinthians he wrote, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Your God has given you the same high calling—to glorify Christ in whatever you do. St. Peter wrote, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Whether you are young or old, student or teacher, employer or employee, at home or at work, you are a child of God and what you are doing in keeping with your faith is being done to the glory of your Savior, Jesus Christ. What a high and holy goal in life!
Glorify Christ! Glorify him in your life!

Most people have to work hard to attain their goals. Attaining the goal of glorifying Christ in your life isn’t easy either. It takes hard work at times. That’s because our lives present so many barriers to accomplishing it. The last thing Satan wants is for you to glorify Christ, so he works constantly to frustrate you. Your own sinful nature wants you to focus only on old #1 and bringing glory to yourself, not to anyone else and certainly not to Christ. And then there’s the world we live in which sounds the incessant advice to live for yourself and throw off the chains of living for Christ. And we have to admit—that sounds like a good thing far more often than we care to admit. In other words, our lives are often at odds with the purpose our Savior has given us. But Jesus knows that. That’s why he came to this earth and glorified his heavenly Father by completing the work of salvation. He won our forgiveness and eternal life. He bought us to be his own and gave us the high calling of serving him. He has set us on a new course—life with him. In the confidence of your forgiveness and in the power of your baptism, glorify Christ in life!

Part II.

We can understand living to glorify Christ. But Paul also talks about the flip side—glorifying Christ in death. That doesn’t sound like an easy thing to do. After all, how can you do anything in death? By its very definition it seems impossible to do something when you’re dead. So let’s see what Paul means.

Death isn’t one of our top topics of conversation. As unavoidable as death is, it’s one of those things we rarely talk about. Every day we hear of things to do in order to avoid death. Information and discussions on health flood us daily. But what’s your view of death? Do you avoid it at all costs?

Paul had a far different view. He wrote, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.” He knew life with Christ was a tremendous blessing—the greatest of blessings. And he desired to die in order to have that life. Do you desire to die? Probably not.

So why did Paul? First, he realized that life is not all about attaining things. Just consider how much of your life is spent going after things—tangible and intangible. We work long, hard hours for the vast majority of our lives to attain things. In fact, some people consider that to be their only purpose. But we, along with Paul, know the truth of Scripture that life doesn’t consist in things.

Paul also knew that the greatest blessing—eternal life with Christ—was already his by faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, Paul knew that there was nothing he needed to do or even could do to make the life after this one certain. It has all been done already by Jesus Christ. His life and death earned it for us and his resurrection guarantees it to us. Paul was certain of that. No ifs ands or buts about it.

And that life with Christ meant eternal glory. Paul’s life here on earth was far from glorious. He was currently in prison. There’s no glory in that. He was beaten and left for dead more than once. He suffered shipwreck, hunger, pain and persecution. It’s possible he had a hideous disfigurement or a chronic illness. There’s no glory in any of that. But he knew that eternal glory awaited him. He lived in that certainty every day of his life.

And that’s how Paul brought glory to Jesus in his death. He approached his death as a Christian should—as a tremendous blessing from God and the attainment of the glory that awaits us. It’s better by far to live with Christ in heaven than it is to live here on earth. Sure, blessings from God abound here. But far greater blessings await us in heaven, blessings that we will enjoy forever.
So glorify Christ! Glorify him in death!

If you’re not fond of thinking about your death right now, that’s OK. As I said, God gave you life and he wants you to live here now. But can you begin thinking about death in the terms that Paul did—as the means to your eternal goal, that of life with your loving Savior forever? Like the familiar hymn states, we’re but strangers here; heaven is our home. Jesus thought so much of you that he won that home for you by his death. And now he calls on you to glorify him by looking forward to that astounding blessing. It’s yours by faith in him. So glorify him in life and in death! Amen.