Joy That Takes Hold of Us

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12 ESV) Here at International Lutheran Church, we have been reading Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. His words of joy in the midst of hardship are an encouragement to each of us as we consider all that God has done in Christ to make us His own. Like the roar of cheering crowds, His joy takes hold of us and moves us forward in faith.

This letter, in many ways, is the apostle’s way of encouraging the family of faith that cared so much for Paul. As their faith brought him joy, now he hopes to cheer them on in the challenges that they face. This isn’t the first time that Paul used the analogy of the footrace in relation to our life of faith (see: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). There are many strong parallels to be made for us. I am not sure if you heard about the recent Asian Games event where one speed skater apparently on the verge of victory lifted his arms up instead of stretching them out in front… leading to a second-place finish. Of course, the team that pushed their leg forward at the very last second considered it a miracle that they won the gold medal by just 0.01 seconds! In a way, Paul’s letter is reminding us to keep our eyes on the prize! Just as he is forgetting what was in the past, we should make it our goal to use all our effort to move forward in faith.

The problem with these types of analogies is they can end up focusing on our effort instead of what ultimately is our only hope of winning – Jesus’ victory over all our sin and death. In fact, this is the point of Paul’s renunciation of the past. He counts all his previous accomplishments as worthless because in the end these “victories” tend to focus on self and our own accomplishments. What is more important is the good news that God has taken hold of us in Jesus! The “upward call” is the good news that we are struggling and straining in Him to hang on to. Our victory is dependent on Jesus’ arms stretched wide on the cross to gather us all to His side, not on our last-ditch effort to “do our part.” So this is the Good News. We do have someone to hold on to – the One who holds on to us.

Today, this is evident in the baptism of Owen Keith Ahn into Jesus. With him, we celebrate how the Lord takes hold of us in grace, clothes us in His righteousness, and pours into us with joy a different way of living and a desire for doing His will. Like Paul and Owen, we now press on knowing that in Jesus our victory is already made certain in His death and resurrection. This changes how we view our past, engage the present, as well as how we look to the future. No longer do we need to keep track of all the positives and negatives. We can confess our sin as well as let go of our own accomplishments. We can even forgive as we have been forgiven. We can reach out and be present in the here and now as we share God’s good gifts with our neighbor. We also look ahead, not in fear and foreboding of the end of all things, but that in Jesus everything is being and will be restored, renewed, and made fresh again. His Joy does take hold of us and moves us forward in faith!

Pastor Carl