November 2, 2014FBC Vancouver

Text: Philippians 3:17-4:1Title: “Our True Home”

(Series: Living As Citizens of the Land Called ‘Gospel’”)

“For our citizenship is in heaven.”

Two and a half years ago now,on March 16th of 2012,

Sharon and I became citizens of Canada.

It was a very moving experience for both of us.

I was actually caught off guard by the depth of emotion we both experienced.

As we stood with hundreds of other immigrants becoming formal citizens,

the judge lead us in our oath.

It goes like this:

“I swear (or affirm)that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance

to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second,Queen of England,

her heirs and successors,and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada

and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen.”

We spoke those words keenly aware that we are also citizens of another Dominion,

citizens of another Land.

“For our citizenship is in heaven.”

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In preparing to take our oath of Canadian citizenship, I was taken by the fact that the emphasis

was not on the “rights of citizenship,” but on the “duties of citizenship.”

“That I will fulfill by duties as a Canadian citizen.”

Can you imagine the implications for our country if all our citizens thought more of our “duties”

than of our “rights”?

In the materials we studied in preparation for taking our oath, we had to memorize our “duties.”

The pertinent page is entitled “Citizenship Responsibilities.”

The sub-title is, “In Canada, rights come with responsibilities.”

And then are listed six “responsiblities,” six “duties.”

Question: do you know what the six responsibilities of a Canadian citizen are?

Can you name them?

Please turn to neighbor and name just three.

If you are not a Canadian, take a guess.

Or you can name three responsibilities of citizens of your country.

Here are the responsibilities to which Sharon and I say our “yes.”

1. Obeying the law. “No person or group is above the law.”

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2. Serving on a jury. It is what “… makes the justice system work as it depends on impartial juries made up of

citizens.”

3. Voting in elections.

4. Taking responsibility for oneself and one’s family. “Work contributes to personal dignity and self-respect, and to Canada’s prosperity.”

5. Protecting and enjoying our heritage and environment. “Every citizen has a role to play in avoiding waste and pollution while protecting Canada’s natural, cultural and

architectural heritage for future generations.”

6. Helping others in the community. “Millions of volunteers freely donate their time to help others without pay …”

Can you imagine the implications for life in Canada if all Canadian citizens

knew and lived those responsibilities?

From a prison cell in Rome,the apostle Paul reminds the disciples of Jesus

living in the 1st century city of Philippi in the 1st century Empire of Rome,

“our citizenship is in heaven.”

Can you imagine the implication for life in Canadaif all “citizens of heaven” living in Canada

understood and exercised their heavenly “duties” and “responsibilities”?

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As disciples of Jesus Christ,Paul’s cherished friends are citizens of heaven

while citizens of Rome in Philippi.

As disciples of Jesus Christ,we are citizens of heaven

while citizens of Vancouver in Canada.

Primarily citizens of heaven.

That is what Paul is emphasizing.

Our primary citizenship is in heaven.

Trumping our citizenship in any other city or empire.

“Heaven” is our true “home and native land.”

And to heaven “true patriot love in all thy sons [and daughters]command.”

“For our citizenship is in heaven.”

The word Paul uses which we translate “citizenship”would have immediately gotten of his friends living in Philippi.

It is the word politeumeo.

We have spoken about it nearly every Sunday this fall as we have been making our way through Paul’s letter.

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We met the verb form of the wordin what I have been calling the “driving-force” of the letter.

Philippians 1:27 –

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

“Conduct yourselves” is politeuomai.

It means “live as citizens of …”

Let me remind you of what we have learned.

Do you hear and see the little word “poli” in politeuo?

“Poli,” or, “polis,” means city, or city-state.

It is the root of many English words having to do withour corporate lives:

polity,politics,politician,police,metropolitan,cosmopolitan.

In the 1st century, and in many centuries before and after, “Polis” was the organizing centre of people’s lives.

In the 1st century, it was the “polis,” the city, the city-state,

that shaped an individual’s life.

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As one scholar put it:the “polis” gave “individual” citizens

“scope for the use of all [their] giftsand the realization of all [their]

potentialities” (F.W. Beare).

So much so, the meaning of one’s life was determined by the “polis” to which one belonged.

The “polis” expressed itself in all kinds of ways:as agriculture, arts, technology, architecture;

as institutions, laws, customs, manners;as language, philosophy, religion,

spirituality, world view.

The “polis” to which a person belonged –be it Jerusalem, or Athens, or Philippi, or Rome,

or Vancouver, or Ottawa, or Hong Kong, or New Delhi –

determined how one lived one’s daily life,how one spent one’s money,

how one treated other people.

The “polis” to which you belongedgave you your values, your goals, your priorities.

Your “polis” shaped your longings, your desires.

From Rome – in most people’s mind THE “polis of all poli” –

Paul reminds those living in the “polis” of Philippi,that the gospel of Jesus Christ

creates a new “polis.”

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The gospel of Jesus Christ creates a new city-state,

a new Kingdom,a new Dominion,

a new Empire,a new Culture,

a new way of ordering human life,giving birth to

new values,new goals,

new priorities,new longings and desires.

Playing off the word Paul uses,in relationship with Jesus Christ,

we become citizens of the “Gospel-polis.”

And as we go on living in whatever“metropolitan,” “cosmopolitan” culture we find ourselves,

Jesus calls us to also, and primarily,

live in His “Gospel-politan” culture.

Hence, the title I have given to Paul’s letter:“Living as Citizens of the Land Called ‘Gospel’.”

“Only, live you lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

A few Sundays ago, I paraphrased Paul like this:

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“My dear friends in Christ Jesus living in Philippi.

You have the unique privilege of being Roman citizens.

And you know the privileges and duties of life in the Roman-polis.

You know its guiding myths,its traditions,

its expectations, its values,

its laws,its trajectories.

It is all deeply ingrained in your minds,stamped on your hearts.

You know the gospel of Caesar.

You know what it means to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Caesar.

I remind you that you are now dual citizens.

You carry two passports.

For in relationship with Christ Jesus,you also belong to the Gospel-of-Christ-polis.

Indeed, you primarily belong to the Gospel-of-Christ-polis.

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Your true ‘home and native land,your true ’home, sweet home,’

is nowwhere the Gospel is law,

where the Gospel shapes values and priorities,where Jesus is Soter and Kurios,

where the Spirit of Jesus breathes life in all its fullness,

where the ‘national interest’ is the glory of God.

Now, live your lives worthy of your high calling.

Live worthy of your citizenship in Gospel-polis.

Your citizenship is in heaven.

Be faithful citizens of our true home.”

And what does that mean?

There is more to the word politeuma which we need to know.

Politeuma was used to designate a colony of foreigners.

Often made up of military veterans.

After a stronger empire conquered a city or city-state,the empire would bring in veterans

to help establish the empire’s agenda.

This was especially the case in Phillipi.

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And as NT scholar Gerald Hawthorne puts it:

the purpose of these “imported” people

“was to secure the conquered country [city]for the conquering country …”

(Philippians, 170)

How?

Hawthorne continues:

“… by spreading aboard that country’s way of doing things,its customs,

its culture,its laws, and so on.”

As I said, this was especially the case in Philippi.

When Rome took over the city,the citizens of Philippi were granted

full citizenship in Rome.

The people of Philippi were given “all the rights and privileges”accorded the Roman citizens born in the imperial city (ibid).

And so the people of Philippi gladly embracedRome “spreading aboard”

Rome’s way of doing things,Rome’s customs,

Rome’s values,Rome’s priorities,

Rome’s passions,Rome’s understand of power,

Rome’s understanding of history,Rome’s understanding of what it means to be human.

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So much so that Philippi was referred to as “Rome in miniature.”

And from a prison cell in the heart of RomePaul calls his friends, and us,

to “live as citizens of heaven.”

“Only conduct yourselves as worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

Right in the middle of Philippi,right in the middle of Vancouver,

“spread aboard” heaven’s ways of doing things,heaven’s customs,

heaven’s values,heaven’s priorities,

heaven’s passions,heaven’s understanding of power,

heaven’s history, heaven’s understanding of what it means to be human.

What a calling!

As the church of Jesus Christ,we are a “colony of heaven” in Canada.

A colony of heaven!

We enjoy all the rights and privileges of full heavenly citizenship.

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And as the politeuma of heaven, as a “colony of heaven,”

it is our glorious duty,our glorious responsibility,

to live in such a way that Vancouver,that Canada,

comes to realize that Jesus Christ is alive and well,that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord,

and that His Empire, His Kingdom, is alive and well;that living in Him in His Empire

leads to full human flourishing.

How are we doing?

In the section of Paul’s letter we read earlier, 3:17-4:1,I think the apostle gives

us four ways we can better live our primary citizenship.

First way: embrace the nature of relationships in any true “colony of heaven.”

Notice how Paul speaks of the people in Philippi’s heavenly colony.

3:17 – “brethren.”

4:1 – “brethren.”

We know from the whole letter that the term means“brothers and sisters.”

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Paul speaks of the citizens of heaven as members of a family.

Which we are.

Brothers and sisters IN Christ Jesus.

Because we are brothers and sister OF Christ Jesus.

And, therefore, sons and daughters of Jesus’ Father.

In the heavenly colony in the citypeople are treated as family.

Which we are.

The family of God.

The family of the Triune God.

So Paul calls his fellow citizens “beloved and longed for.”

4:1 –“Therefore, my brothers and sisters,

beloved and longed for.”

“My beloved.”

The evidence that we really do believe we are sisters and brothers IN Christ and OF Christ

is that we actually love one another,and that we long for one another.

That we actually cherish one another,and want to be together.

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So, the second way to more faithfully live our primary citizenship: embrace the pattern of conduct inherent to

any true “colony of heaven.”

3:17 -“Brothers and sisters, join in following my example,”

says Paul;“and observe those who walk

according to the pattern you have in us.”

It initially sounds a bit egotistical – “follow my example.”

Who does Paul think he is?

Sounds a bit audacious.

Until we realize that it is the only thing Paul could say.

How else were new citizens of heaven in Philippigoing to understand how to live as citizens of heaven

unless they had some model of heavenly conduct?

The church had only recently been established.

All the churches throughout the Roman Empirehad only recently been established!

The New Testament had not yet been written.

So how else could new believers grow?

As Fred Craddock says:“no better textbook could be offered

than the lives of those who stood before them as leaders.”

(Philippians, 68).

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“Join in following my example,and observe those who walk

according to the pattern you have in us.”

The “us” being Paul, and Timothy and Epaphroditus,about whom Paul spoke earlier in the letter.

Not egotistical when we remember “the pattern” Paul has in mind.

“The mind of Christ.”

Paul sought to live “the mind of Christ.”

Which he freely admits that he does not do so fully yet.

Paul sought to live centered in Christ.

“To live is Christ, to die is gain.”

“I count all things loss in order to gain Christ.”

“I want to know Christ,and the power of His resurrection,

and the fellowship of His sufferings.”

Which he freely admits that he does not do so fully yet.

The “pattern” Paul calls to follow – radical focus on Christ.

With every fiber of his being seeking to know Christ.

Seeking to be found in Christ.

And especially knowing and living “the mind of Christ.”

Philippians 2:5 – “Have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus.”

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The mind Paul goes on to reveal in that early Christian hymn in Philippians 2:5-11.

I am going to quote it again,for it is the “National Anthem of Heaven.”

It is the song we ought to sing regularly.

“Have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus.

Who because He was in the form of God,did not count equality with God

something to take advantage of,

but counted equality with Godemptying Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,

and being found in human likeness.

Being found in appearance as a man,He humbled Himself

by becoming obedient unto death,even death on a cross.”

That is the “pattern” Paul seeks to live.

That is the “pattern” he calls us to follow.

The “pattern” of servant-hood.

For there is no other “pattern” for being human that works.

It is what the life of heaven is all about:self-emptying love.

It is what the life of heaven has always been about:

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Father, Son and Holy Spirit,in the eternal joy of self-emptying love.

So, third way of more faithfully living our primary citizenship: realize how easy it is to loose our way.

“Enemies of the cross.”

3:18 –“For many walk,

of whom I often told you,and now tell you even weeping,

that they are enemies of the cross …”

So much has been written on whom Paul has in mind.

I have tried to read as much of the research as possible.

But since Paul does not actually name them,it is hard to be definitive about who

the “enemies of the cross” are.

Are they the problematic people Paul has referred to thus far in the letter?

Are they the envious preachers taking advantage of Paul’s imprisonment?

(1:15-18).

I do not think so.

Are they the opponents of the gospel Paul says we need not fear?

(1:27-30)

I do not think so.

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Are they the “dogs,” the “evil workers,” the “false circumcision” of whom Paul says,

“beware, beware, beware”?

(3:1-3).

I do not think so.

Are they Jews who were hassling Paul?

I do not think so.

Are they Jewish Christian who were insisting that Gentiles had to become Jews

in order to faithfully follow Messiah Jesus?

I do not think so.

Are they Christians who mis-heard Paul’s gospel of freedom,concluding that the Law of God

was no longer relevant to life in Christ?

I do not think so.

Are they “gnostic” Christianswho thought that the body

was irrelevant to life in the Spirit?

I do not think so.

Are they Christians who in the face of persecutionwere willing to deny they knew Christ

and that we find life only in His cross?

Are they folks who caved in when people called the cross

a “scandal” and “foolishness.”

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I do not think so.Then who are they?

I agree with those who argue that the “enemies of the cross” were Christians –

whether Jewish or Gentile, does not matter – who have simply lost their way.

(Especially see Stephen Fowls, 170-172).

Paul says of these “enemies” – 3:18 –“whose end is destruction,

whose god is their appetite (or belly),whose glory is in their shame,

who set their minds on earthly things.”

A lot has been written on this too!

“Whose god is their belly.”

By “belly” is Paul referring to the stomach,and saying that these people have allowed their stomach

to become their god?

That they have uncritically given into their every craving,

their appetite for more food, more sex, more money, more power,

more, more, more?

Not hard to imagine.

Or by “belly” is Paul referring to some spiritual force?

When the church was being formed in Philippi,a slave girl from freed from a demonic power.

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Luke called the power “the spirit of python” (Acts 16:16-21).

She was speaking in the voice of the spirit,a phenomenon called “belly-talking.”

(Mark D. Nanos, “Paul’s Polemic in Philippians 3,in Journal of the Study of Paul and his Letters,

vol. 3, no. 1, Spring 2013, 59).

“Whose glory is in their shame.”

By “shame” is Paul referring to shameful behavior which these people were in some way flaunting in public?

Or by “shame” is Paul referring to blatant idolatry?

In the OT “shame” is often used in conjunction with idolatry, which is regularly referred to harlotry,

going after other gods than the One true and living God.

Were these people glorying in the gods of their own making?

In power, in wealth, in prestige, in education?

Not hard to imagine.

The key phrase is “who set their minds on earthly things.”

Not “earthy things.”

“Colonies of heaven” are earthy places.

Noting wrong with the earth.

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We are, after all, destined for a new heaven and a new earth.

The problem is “earthly.”

Earth-bound.

Values, priorities, drives, desires, longings shaped by “earthliness.”

Paul weeps over believers who had slowly succumbed to

the earthly pressures upon them.

Not hard to imagine, is it?

The “enemies of the cross” are believers whoslowly gave into the pull of Rome.

They did not stay in “the pattern” of Paul,the “pattern” of the gospel,

and slowly gave into “the pattern” of Rome.

And slowly came to the place where they thought they could find live beyond Christ –

He was no longer the center of life.

They slowly came to the place where they felt they could make it without Christ -

that His cross was not all that essential for life.

They slowly came to the place where they lived without radical dependence on Christ -

they could “do the Christian thing” in the world on their own.

Not hard to imagine, is it?

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Scary, actually.

Warning us that we too could become an “enemy of the cross.”

No, Lord, please do not let it happen!

“They set their minds on earthly things.”

That is the problem.

“They set their minds on earthly things.”

(If I had the time I would work with the verb Paul uses, phronien. He uses it six times in the letter: 2:2 twice, 2:5, 2:15, twice, 2:16, 4:2, 4:10, twice, and 3:19. It is difficult to translate the verb into one single English word, for it encompasses the whole of us as human beings: mind, emotions, actions, affections. I would render it, therefore, as “think, feel, desire, behave”).

And their minds then nurtured earthly longings, earthly desires.

Which nurtured earthly behavior, earthly conduct.

And they slowly fell back into living as citizens of Rome.

They forgot where they lived;they forgot where home was;

and lived as if Rome “our true home.”

Not hard to imagine.

So, being Roman determined they spent their time.

Being Roman determined the way they spent their money.

Being Roman determined the way they treated people.

Being Roman determined their cravings.

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And they ended up “enemies of the cross.”

O Lord, I do not want that to happen to me or my sisters and brothers!

So …

Fourth way to live more faithfully our true citizenship:live the deep longing inherent to any “colony of heaven.

3:21 –

“Our citizenship is in heaven,from which we eagerly wait for a Saviour,

the Lord Jesus Christ.”

But of course!

For if Christ is our life,if to live is Christ,

we want to be with Christ,we want Christ to come.

Right?

We cannot read any of Paul’s letterswithout hearing and seeing and feeling this longing.

It is not only the longing of believers.

As he says in his letter to the Romans,it is the longing of creation.

Creation knows that its freedom comes when Christ comes,

and eagerly waits for Him to come. (Romans 8:19-

21)

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And creation knows what will happen to us when Jesus comes.

Jesus will transform us!

Jesus will transform our bodies!

As Paul says,Jesus will “conform” our bodies

to the body of His glory.

We will become like Jesus in every way!

Even so, Lord, come!

Maranatha!

I think Paul is saying to us that one of the clearest signs that we

have forgotten where home is,is that we are no longer eagerly waiting for Jesus.

Our minds are fixed on earthly things.

And, conversely, one the clearest signs that we are living in our “true home”

is the longing for the coming of Jesus in all His glory.

And Paul is saying that one of the best ways to live in our “true home”

is to keep that longing alive.

When the longing for Jesus is alive in usall our other longings come into line.

We will no longer give into the pull of Rome.

I regularly read to myself what Eugene Peterson writes of texts like Philippians 3:21:

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“The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of the future,

with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail.

From the day Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers lived in expectancy of his return.

He told them he was coming back. They believed he was coming back. They continued to believe it. For Christians, it is the most important thing

to know and believe about the future.”

And then this:“The practical effect of this belief

is to charge each moment of the present with hope.For if the future is dominated by

the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies.

It takes the clutter out of our lives.”

(In his introduction to 1&2 Thessalonians, The Message).

“Our citizenship is in heaven.”

And so we come to the Lord’s Table.

To one of the places on earth Jesus has chosen to break through to us.

To one of the places on earth where Jesus gives us a taste of what is to come.

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The place where He takes us back to the His cross,Remembering and celebrating that

He has done everything that needs to be donefor us to become citizens of heaven.

And the place where He fuels our desire for more of Him.

Where He fuels our longing for Him to comeand make all things new.

“Our citizenship is in heaven.”

Come, eat,

drink, remember.

“Do this in remembrance of Me.”

For it turns out that HE is “our home and native land.”

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