Philippians 3:17–21

¹⁷ Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Imagine that you get a phone call telling you that your great-uncle Bob has died. Bob was incredibly wealthy, he didn’t have any kids, so he named you as the sole heir of his massive estate because you played catch with him at a family reunion years ago. Congratulations. Now, Bob’s mansion with all of his groundskeepers, a personal chef, butlers, and maids is all yours. You’ve never been to that mansion, but you are given a couple aerial pictures of the massive estate and a partial list of everything you’re going to get. That list is incomplete only because there was too much include everything.

Your great-uncle Bob would travel to that estate by helicopter, but Bob’s helicopter was left at the mansion. So, the only way you can get there is by hiking a path. That path is straight and clearly marked, but you can only enter that path at the beginning. No map of this path exists, and you can’t use a GPS to help you. You know where to start, you know what the path looks like, but you don’t know how long the path is. The hike could take you a few minutes, or it could take you weeks. You just don’t know. So, while you journey on this path, you keep taking out the pictures of the mansion and the partial list of everything you will get to enjoy. Those pictures and list of things motivate you to keep you putting one foot in front of another when the path gets tough.

Tuck that analogy in the back of your mind as we consider this text. What Paul is doing in these verses is encouraging you to keep looking at, to keep longing for, and to keep expecting the joys of what lies ahead (see Php. 3:12-16). Paul wants you to do that so you don’t stray off the path that leads you to your eternal inheritance with Christ, your Savior.

Paul starts this text by saying that we should imitate him and other Christians like him. When we celebrated All Saints’ Day last week, I mentioned how Scripture wants us to remember the saints who have gone before us so we can be encouraged by their life and walk of faith. This is one of those places. And Paul isn’t just being boastful here; don’t get that impression. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this, so that means God Himself wants us to imitate Paul (and other Christians) and walk according to his example. But also know, that doesn’t mean you here today are supposed to take Paul’s biography and make it the story of your life. God isn’t calling you to be a persecutor of the church, go around arresting Christians, be blinded on the road to Damascus, get Baptized, and become a missionary who gets beaten and arrested almost everywhere he goes. Instead, go back to what Paul has said in the verses leading up to this text. 

If you look back in Philippians 3, you’ll see exactly how Paul wants you to imitate him. I’ll just list a few of them here:

Paul says that he counts everything as loss for the sake of knowing Christ as his Lord (Php. 3:7-8). Paul recognizes he doesn’t have a righteousness that comes from himself; instead, his righteousness is given and imputed to him only through faith in Christ (Php. 3:9). Paul shares in Christ’s sufferings (Php. 3:10). He recognizes that he hasn’t been resurrected yet, so he presses on in life because Christ has claimed him (Php. 3:12-13a). Paul forgets what lies behind and strains forward to what lies ahead (Php. 3:13b-14). And Paul says that he holds on to what he already has been given by God (Php. 3:16). Those are the ways God wants you to imitate Paul. Walk according to that example.

Now contrast Paul’s walk with those that he, with tears in his eyes, calls “enemies of the cross of Christ” and how they walk. Those enemies of Jesus walk in the way of destruction because the only god they serve is their belly, they glory in their shame, and their minds are set on earthly things. All three of those things are closely related to each other because, when people think this world is their home, they set their mind only on things of this world. They end up serving the god of their sinful, carnal desires. And they wrongly find “glory in their shame.”

There are myriads of examples of finding glory in shame today. Unbelievers celebrate their sins. Heathens ‘shout their abortions’ and label brutal, horrific murder as ‘choice.’ It’s no coincidence they have ‘Pride Month.’ Pagans steal, loot, and riot, and they call it ‘mostly peaceful protesting.’ I could go on and on. All of those sins of murder, fornication, and robbery should bring them shame, but they rebrand those things to try to make them sound glorious.

Now, don’t dislocate your shoulder because you want to pat yourself on the back. While unbelievers find glory in things that should cause them shame, you and I do the same thing in the opposite direction. We are ashamed of things that actually bring us glory. In Psalm 4, which is my favorite Psalm and one that I recommend you read when/if you are having trouble falling asleep, David asks pagans (Ps. 4:2), “O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?” Too often we are persuaded by popular opinion and are embarrassed by the most glorious things about us. The devil likes to try to turn things on their heads. He wants to pagans to boast in what is sinful and shameful as though it is glorious, and he wants believers to think that the most glorious things are shameful.

Scripture repeatedly says, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord,” (1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17; Jer. 9:23-24). How often are you talking to someone who would be blessed by hearing you quote a Bible passage or offer some comfort from God’s Word but you are afraid to do it? I know it happens to me, and it’s my job. We all fall into the temptation to be ashamed of the very things that bring us glory and should be most proud of. You are a child of God, but do you boast about that?

If you’re at a fancy party surrounded by important, powerful people, do you say, “I don’t mean to brag, but I’m saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). God has written my name in the Book of Life (Php. 4:3; Rev. 3:5). Each week, I go to this place, and God Himself sends someone to tell me that I’m entirely forgiven of all my sins’ (Jn. 20:23). I’m Baptized. Yeah, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). I am a regular a guest at feast of the Creator of the universe, and He gives me life and salvation through His Body and Blood (Mt. 26:26-28)”? Probably not.

Yes, it’s sinful and dreadful when unbelievers try to turn their sin into glory, but it’s equally wretched when we fall into the temptation to turn our glory into shame. Repent.

This is why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this text and remind us that our citizenship is in heaven (Php. 3:20). Notice that. It doesn’t say, “your citizenship will be in heaven,” it is. Now. That’s something to hold on to when the path of your Christian walk gets long and hard.

Dear saints, you are, right now, citizens of the kingdom of God. Your driver’s license might have ‘Minnesota’ printed on it. You might pay income taxes to the state of North Dakota. (Living in a border town makes this part of the sermon a little more difficult.) Your passport might be issued by the United States of America. But, Christian, you are not home here. You have a better home. So, back to the great-uncle Bob analogy, stay on the path. You don’t know how long this path is going to be, but you do know what lies at the end of it. When you are tempted to quit hiking, pull out the pictures and lists of what Scripture promises are yours when you arrive at your inheritance, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. When you are enticed to stray from the path, remember the glory that is yours because you are, right now, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

And whenever you find things in this world that bring you joy and pleasure, know that they will fade, because heaven and earth will pass away (Mt. 24:35). The best things here on earth, yes, they are good gifts from God, but those things are only echoes and incomplete copies of the joys and pleasures that await you when you arrive home when Christ returns. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.