St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church -- Watertown, WI

Pastor Mark Gartner

Sermon for Lent 2 -- March 4^th, 2007

Dear brothers and sisters in the faith,

One thing that is as certain is that people like to be independent. One way that we see our independence is on directions to a certain location. For instance if I asked what is the quickest way to get from Watertown to the city of Hartford, I would most likely get a number of suggestions. Some might say take 26 to 60. Others might say to take R to 60 . Others would loudly protest that you need to take M to 60. Still others might say to take CW to 83. This doesn’t include those who know some other ways that might or might not be quicker. Isn’t it interesting to see the variety. Directions are great, but what happens if you get bad directions? You get lost and can end up being frustrated, mad or even miss your appointment. It is good to make sure that you know the right directions before you get started to ensure that you get to your destination on time.

This morning we are going to take a look at the directions that people might offer to get to our destination of heaven. If we could punch up God’s spiritual mapquest, what would we find for directions to heaven? We would find that there is only way to heaven. There are no shortcuts and there are not multiple ways to get there. In our text for this morning, we see the Apostle Paul warning the Christians in the city of Philippi about following the wrong directions. He warns them that there are right directions and there are wrong directions. With this in mind our theme will build on that thought:

Paul as you might remember was called by God in a dream to go and preach the Gospel to the people living in the area of Europe. As he went and preached in these areas, he started many different congregations. One of these congregations was in the city of Philippi. Philippi was a city that had heard Paul’s words about Jesus and was led to believe that Jesus was the only way to heaven. Paul must have had a close relationship with the Christians living in this city. He visited it multiple times on his various missionary trips. As he wrote the letter to the Philippians that we are using for our text this morning, he was encouraging them to stay firm in their faith. He loved them dearly and didn’t want to see them wander from the truth. As we look at our lives here in Watertown, we can see why Paul’s words are so fitting for us here in Watertown in the year 2007. God doesn’t want any of us to fall away from the truth.

One of the first things that I did when I moved to Watertown was to get myself a good map of Dodge and Jefferson counties. It didn’t take me long to realize that there are a lot of these little county highways that are all labeled with letters. I needed to find out where did they go and were they going to cut time of my trips to various parts of the state? Growing up in Milwaukee, I didn’t much have to worry about all those little letter county highways. As Paul points out to the Philippians there is place to look for good directions on how to get to heaven and there are many that are trying to mislead you with bad directions. Paul points this out with some pretty harsh words.

"For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things." Paul points out that there are plenty of bad directions coming from the Devil as he works through our sinful nature. Did you catch some of the phrases that Paul uses to warn us of the false shortcuts that are given to us to mislead us on our road to heaven? First he says, "Many live as enemies of the cross." Those who live down to the level of their sinful natures are living as enemies of the cross. Those who think that sin really isn’t all that bad are following false directions. God reminds us that sin is sin and can’t be overlooked. But as we look around us we see people all around us and even ourselves at time living apart from God. Whenever we let our own sinful desires overrule what God tells us is right or wrong, we are living as enemies of the cross. Whenever we take our marriages lightly and think divorce is OK, we are living as enemies of the cross. Whenever we let our hearts be filled with greed and complain when we hear Church encourage us with God’s Word to give of our blessings in a cheerful, proportionate and generous way, we are living as enemies of the cross.

Paul goes on to expound on this thought. He says, "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things." The devil would tell us that one shortcut would be to live for the things of this world. Paul describes it very well when he tells us that, "their god is their stomach." What do you think Paul was pointing out? Was he pointing out that we might at times put too much emphasis on what this world has to offer? Do you think he was saying that even Christians at times might be caught up in the things of this world where we live to make our "stomachs" full and satisfied? Do you think he was warning us to be careful of the mentality that we should live our lives to the fullest, because we deserve it? These thoughts and many more like it would correctly point out what a terrible shortcut the Devil has offered to us when we live only to make ourselves happy.

Every so often you will hear on the news of a car that somehow got headed the wrong way on the interstate. For whatever reason the driver of that car thought they were going the right direction until it is too late and a head-on collision occurs and most often the driver is killed. All too often the Devil makes us think we are going the right direction, but we in hindsight see that we were going the wrong way. I’ve had many people come to me and try and justify to me their sin, but saying "God wants me to be happy, doesn’t he?" Isn’t that exactly the shortcut that the Devil wants us to follow? But isn’t this going the wrong way? If our happiness comes at the response of breaking God’s law and will, then it isn’t justified. It is still a sin. God never promises that the life of a Christian will always be happy and perfect. In fact there are many references from God that say the exact opposite. The Devil’s greatest tool is trying to make it sound like his way is better or easier than God’s way. Yes, he can make things easier and better on the outside, but the Devil’s version of happiness and better is far from God’s happiness. The Devil’s shortcuts will always lead to a dead-end. His shortcuts and directions will always be based on earthly things and earthly pleasures. The Devil will always seek to make everything look so good, only to have it all pulled away when Judgment Day comes. How many shortcuts has the Devil placed before you as you make your journey to heaven? How many times have these shortcuts looked so enticing? I pray that we recognize with God’s help that these are false directions that will only lead to eternal destruction.

As sternly as Paul points out the problems that were facing the Christians at Philippi, that is how graciously he pours on the soothing message that leads all those who believe to heaven. As we said before, there are many ways for us to get around Watertown and the surrounding areas. But with our walk to heaven there is only one way. As Paul points out, the one way is to stand firm on the foundation of Jesus’ saving grace. The Philippians knew that they had been brought from eternal destruction to saving grace by the gospel message that Paul preached to them. They knew from Paul and believed by the work of the Holy Spirit that their sins were taken away by the blood of Jesus who died on the cross of Calvary. That is the directions that Paul was leading them back to. He was leading hem to see through the law that hey were heading the wrong direction, but that Jesus was still there to take them home.

Paul uses the beautiful description of our citizenship in heaven to point out what the true way to heaven is, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

" Paul was pointing out again and again that it was only by the power of Jesus that they would one day spend eternity by Jesus side. It is Jesus alone who will take our sinful bodies and transform them into glorious bodies. This path has nothing to do with how happy our earthly lives are. It has nothing to do with how many possessions we own. It has nothing to do with earthly joy. Paul wants us and all people to know that this is an eternal joy as he wonderfully says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." The joy we have is in knowing that we can eagerly await our Savior who will one day come and take us to be with him heaven. Paul points out that this Savior is our Lord Jesus Christ who lived and died for us and our sins.

As Jesus gives us the right directions we also want to take note that God’s love in our hearts has changed the way that we live and view things. Paul points this out, "Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you." How does God want us to live during our days on this earth? Paul encourages the Philippians and all believers to follow his example and pattern. This doesn’t mean that Paul was boasting about how great a Christian he was. This means that God said that we can follow those whose lives are filled with the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus. Paul as one of God’s children was following the pattern of God’s love as he lived a life full of the fruits of faith. Were the Philippians going to go to heaven because they followed the pattern of Paul’s words and actions? Obviously not! But the Philippians and all Christians can and should live lives that are full of thanks and love to God who has given us the right directions to heaven through the love and mercy of Jesus.

This means that our priorities in life will be to follow all of God’s laws, even the ones that might not make our lives easier. This means that we will look to Jesus for true happiness and fulfillment, not the through the ways and things of this world. This means that we will not follow the sinful nature in us that seeks to destroy Jesus and his way. As we look at God’s Word we recognize that we have something pretty special. We have the grace of God that forgives our sins and points us to the cross to find the right directions to heaven. May we always pray that God will give us the strength and forgiveness we need to live our lives to the glory of God. May we recognize by the help of the Holy Spirit the shortcuts of the Devil. And may we open our Bible often to see the true directions that will lead us to our eternal home in heaven. Amen.