Where is Home?

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was quizzed by Andrew Marr (check out 0.24s into the clip) on his Sunday morning show over the cufuffal regarding her expenses for her 'second home'. His first question went straight to the heart of the issue, and also happens to be at the heart of the back end of Philippians 3:

"Where is home?"

Potentially the perfect illustration?! But just a few hours too late to make it into my talk. Marr's point was simple: you can't have two homes. And that seems to be Paul's reminder to the Philippians as he calls them to stand firm in Christ: 'but our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ...' (3v20), in stark opposition with those whos minds are set on earthly things (3v19). Where is home?

Passports stamped 'Heaven'...

'Each successive generation of the church has the privilege of living as though it were the generation that will greet the returning Christ.'

I enjoyed this quote from the late, great F. F. Bruce on Philippians 3v21; it brings home the reality I think Paul is trying to convince the church in Philippi of. He is quite bluntly reminding them that their citizenship is in heaven; that is where they belong, that is where they are going, and therefore their lives should be heavenbound-shaped.

Philippians chapter 3 seems to be a crucial lesson in standing firm (4.1), and one of the ways you stand firm is by having a clear understanding of where, as a Christian, you're headed. His model of discipleship is one of straining forward, every muscle and fibre working towards the goal of heaven. The danger of Philippians 3 seems to be mindsets that are in opposition to that: both a kind of religious perfectionism highlighted by his strong negatives in 3.12 & 13, and a wordly here-and-now grab-it-all approach seen in those whom he calls 'enemies of the cross of Christ' (3.18).

The solution is remembering your citizenship is in heaven - not of Philippi or Rome, London or Earth. We await a Saviour, who will transform our bodies of humiliation to be bodies of glory, for He is the name above all names to whom everyone will one day bow. Because that is our destination we can live Christ-minded sacrificial, neck-on-the-line striving for the gospel lives that Paul advocates in the rest of the letter.

I'm challenged by this. We often talk about living in light of eternity, but for Paul this means a very practical change in our priorities and goals here and now. One of the striking things about his letter to the Philippians is that, whilst soaked in the language of Christian love, joy, and delight, Paul sees this happening in the face of cross-shaped living: standing up for the gospel, facing hardships, and foregoing 'rights'.

Creation waits with eager longing...

BBC Washington correspondent Matt Frei has an interesting article and film on how climate change is dividing evangelicalism in America here.

The first-fruits point to a sure harvest...

Just been reading an article for the dissertation here by Richard Gaffin on the significance of Jesus' resurrection for our redemption. Quite often we talk about the resurrection as 'proof that Jesus was God', or the clinching piece of evidence that 'it's all true'. Which is all very well and good, but Gaffin argues that actually having a good theology of the resurrection is key to understanding our lives now and our lives in the future.

1 Corinthians 15.20 is a key verse in Paul's argument in that chapter:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Christ is the firstfruits of a resurrection harvest that includes US (v23). It is a guarantee of future bodily resurrection. The way in which the NT describes the event has that now-but-not-yet vibe, as we're described as already being raised, yet still await a future resurrection.

Gaffin goes on to talk about how we do tend to polarise justification and sanctification, with the latter often just being our response of gratitude for the former. He writes that actually Jesus' resurrection teaches us that we should give intense attention to the eschatological nature of sanctification, and the present work of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is Christ, the life-giving Spirit himself, and his enduring work is manifest in fruits (Gal 5.22,23). So, it is in these fruits that we get a preview of the new creation, not in some suped-up experience. And in case we stray into an over-realised new creation living now, Paul makes it clear that the resurrection life on this earth now is cross-shaped...

'...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his suffering, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.'

But what marvellous truth... Christ is raised! We too will be raised! Don't forget it, wander from it, cover it up. You're in the process of being sanctified... work hard at it... Christ is the first-fruits! It's nearly harvest time.