A Call From Heaven
Keith McFarren
October 4, 2026
Philippians 3:4b-14
    I don’t know about
you but I don’t like being around people who talk about themselves all the
time.  Self-centered people.  Blowhards.
Braggarts.  Listening to them talk
about themselves, their accomplishments and their successes gets old, real
fast.
    That’s why a lot
of people don’t like Paul.  He rubs
people the wrong way because he talks about himself a lot.  Because he brags about himself a lot.  
    In fact, he begins
this section by outlining everything about himself that might be considered of
value or of great significance.  He makes
a point about talking about all those things that will increase and maintain
his self-esteem and status in the eyes of himself and in the eyes of those
around him.
•He
lists his background and his heritage: “circumcised on the eighth day, a member
of the people of Israel, specifically a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew born of Hebrews.
•He
makes sure those listening to him know all about his education and his
training, “as to the law, a Pharisee.”
•Then
he goes on and he brags about his religious and political convictions and his
activism, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church.”
•And
finally, he notes his uppity lifestyle, “as to righteousness under the law,
blameless.”
    These are all
gains, all plusses, all things that are valuable and needed in our life to
achieve status and power and significance and recognition.  He then goes on to emphasize that in regards
to anything anyone else might have done or accomplished, he is more than sure
that his resume is equal to or greater than any other resume around.  Just the kind of guy you really don’t want to
be around, you know.
    In the past, we’ve
found Paul talking about humility, but today it’s as if he’s set all that aside
so that he can brag and let everyone know that he’s just a little bit better
than everyone else. And then he goes on to suggest that it would do us all some
good to listen to him since he’s a little bit holier than we are.  In fact, in just a couple of verses past
where we are today he has the gall to tell the reader that they should “Do what
I do” and “Join in imitating me.”
    It’s no wonder he
rubs people the wrong way.  This is the
type of stuff that has turned people against Paul for a long time…and after
seeing the way he talks about himself, it’s no wonder.  But let’s look a little bit deeper into all
of this.  Because it just may be that
he’s not quite the same old Paul as he has been in the past.
    By looking deeper we find that Paul is
putting himself up against, or comparing himself to, the Judaizers, the “dogs”
and the “mutilators” that he’s talking about. The Judaizers were the Jewish
Christians who believed that is was necessary for Gentiles who wanted to become
followers of Jesus to follow all the Old Testament Jewish laws, especially
submission to the rite of circumcision, plus, adhere to all the New Testament
teachings, in order to receive God’s salvation.

    The problem with
the Judaizers was that they couldn’t accept the fact that all of their Old
Testament laws and regulation failed to bring them a step closer to their
salvation.
    So we find Paul
this morning criticizing the Judaizers because they looked at Christianity
backwards - thinking that what they did, the circumcisions and walking the
straight and narrow path of Old Testament laws - made them believers and
secured their salvation.
    After bragging
about who he was and where he came from and all that he had done and after
criticizing the ways and the beliefs of the Judaizers, Paul says all of this
stuff he’s done and accomplished …all of his credentials, and all of his
credits and all of successes…all of this stuff that he did and all of this
stuff that the Judaizers were doing, including mutilating each other,  was nothing but a bunch of garbage…a bunch of
rubbish…a bunch of dung.
    That’s how he felt
about his own resume and that’s how he felt about the Old Testament Laws and
about the circumcision of those wanting to become Christians because when it
came right down to it, all of this stuff did absolutely nothing to guarantee
anyone’s salvation.
    It’s in the
context of this dispute that Paul begins to account for his gains and his
losses.  The imagery for verses 7 - 11 is
all financial with language all coming from the world of accounting.  
    Paul’s
qualifications and achievements as a faithful Jew would normally be counted on
the side of his assets.  But he has had a
taste of the Holy Spirit - a down payment on the glory to come that is offered
only through God’s grace - and because of this grace and because of his
relationship with Jesus, he is no longer interested in anything dealing with
the “fleshy” commodities that the world has to offer.  The only acquisition he really cares about is
his relationship with Jesus.
    So Paul begins to
compare the two sides of his ledger…his assets and his liabilities.  On the one side is his knowledge of God’s
kingdom and the relationship with he has with Jesus and the grace he
received…the grace offered by Jesus…all which also refers to sharing in
Christ’s life through his righteousness, suffering and resurrection life.
    On the other hand
there is the act of circumcision and the continual legal observances and his
status and power as a Pharisee…all things that previously defined him and his
identity.  
    For Paul, the math
is simple.  “I regard everything (all
this stuff on my resume) as loss (as rubbish, as garbage, as dung) because of
the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord.”
    He is a man who
isn’t embarrassed to tell anyone about his relationship with Jesus and that he
is ready to lay his life down as a witness to the power of God’s Spirit.  Not as a way to increase his own glory or to
climb the social ladder or enrich himself in some way or another.  But instead, he chooses to let his own story
be heard by others…a story that is offered as an invitation for someone else so
that they might hear and embrace Jesus as he has and come to know the one who
gives Paul his strength and his purpose in life.
    He had quite a
resume.  But lets face it, the best thing
about Paul’s story is not his past history…but his future.  None of this is about who he has been, but is
instead about who he has become and who is becoming because of God’s
grace.  
    The invitation to
the Philippians and to the Judaizers is to set aside your old self and your old
ways, and come along for this life changing journey of discipleship…the journey
of a lifetime.  The invitation is not to
“look at me and all that I am and all that I have,” but to “humbly walk with me
as we experience God’s grace.  Humbly
walk with me as we walk together with Jesus.”
    For Paul, the
prize is righteousness…not as in strict adherence to all sorts of Old Testament
rules and laws, but as an embodiment of God’s mercy and justice.  It’s about being in a right relationship with
God, a relationship not achieved by human effort, but a relationship that can
only be achieved by our faith and by God’s grace.
    It’s about how we
live.  It’s about the actions we take,
the positions we hold and the values we embrace.  We are called to cast aside our human values
and strive to become like Jesus.  
    We live in the
21st century and in todays world it’s hard for Christians to communicate with
people who place their values on things that can be seen and touched and
measured.  That’s because possessions and
wealth and power serves to influence todays world.  And because of our values that’s why it’s so
difficult to get people to see and understand that it’s much more important to
put Jesus first in your life and put all of this other stuff behind you.
    That’s why we need
to listen to and remember what Paul says, “[Look at who I am] and all that I
have, yet it is nothing compared to knowing Jesus.”
    Our salvation, our
entire future, is not dependent upon who we are or what we have.  We are not saved by the color of our skin or
by our accomplishments or our possessions.
We are not saved by coming to church every Sunday nor are we saved by
putting our offering in the offering plate.  

    We are saved only
by God’s grace…a grace that comes to us only by opening our hearts to Jesus…a
grace that come to us only through our faith and through our trust in Jesus…a
life changing grace…a grace that will bring meaning, and purpose and
fulfillment to our lives…both today, tomorrow, and for eternity.