Throwing Away Good Stuff

Phil 3:4-14 - Celebrate Life: Throwing Away Good Stuff Doug Partin - The Christian Church - 11/22/20 When I was younger, I didn't have much space where I lived, and so, if something broke or wore out, or I didn't need it anymore, I got rid of it. But as I acquired more space in my life, my behavior changed. If something broke, wore out, or wasn't needed anymore, I'd store it in a shed or in the garage. I had the best intentions to fix it later, or have it on hand when I might need it again, you know, just in case. And, as you can imagine, over time, things piled up. So, like a lot of people who find themselves in this same situation, I came across some that stuff I had stored away when I recently had to take down an old metal shed on the side of my house. It was near collapse, and it had been holding debris up against my good shed, and that had caused it to have problems which I couldn't ignore anymore. So, I took advantage of the situation to evaluate if I still needed to keep all that stuff that I had collected over the years. There was an old backyard pool that we had used in Artesia, and didn't need here, and now it couldn't have been used even if I had wanted to use it because the liner had deteriorated so much. The PVC frame was still good, but pump and motor were shot; it was time for it to go. There were a lot of other things in the same sort of shape. Water had gotten into the shed, so anything sitting on the floor was no good. There were old storage boxes, old water hoses, some old metal shelves that had rusted, some outdoor Christmas decorations that had needed repair but were now rotten. It took two trips with a large trailer to get rid of those "treasures." There was even some bird seed that was no good, at least I thought that was no good. I'd planted it several times and no birds ever came up. So, I threw it out. It feels good to throw away stuff that should have been thrown away a long time ago, but what about throwing away good stuff? It does happen every now and then. And I'm not talking about people being careless, although that happens too. Jesus talked about a woman who had lost a coin that way and frantically cleaned her house until she found it. His point was that people are important, and we don't throw them away, even if they have lost their luster. God can, and is willing, to shine them back up as good as new. And I'm not talking about how one person's trash can be considered another person's treasure; it really can be; in fact, that is why organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Good Will are so needed. You can pass along the good stuff that you don't need or want any more, and it becomes a blessing to those who have little of this world's goods. What I'm talking about are those times when people intentionally throw away good stuff. I recently listened to a book about a man and his brother who took a prairie schooner wagon pulled by a team of mules over the Oregon trail. They were the first people to do that in over a hundred years, and as they shared their adventures, they also told the history related to the pioneers who travelled that trail. They pointed out, contrary to the pictures that you often see in books, that those hardy souls did not use Conestoga wagons, those were too large to navigate the trail. The boxes on a Prairie schooner, which they used, were only 4 feet wide, 9-11 feet long, and 2-3 feet deep. Think of what you would have to get rid of if that was the only space you had to move all your belonging across the nation. You needed room for your family, food and cooking supplies, then whatever else could be piled on. The rest of it had to go. Those pioneers had to get rid of a lot of good stuff before they could even set out on that journey, keeping only the best of the best; and even then, when they came to steep climbs, like "California hill," which is in Nebraska, they had to unload everything and carry it up the hill, or toss it to the side of the trail. And that's what a lot of them did. They shed a lot of tears over good stuff they had to throw away; but into the ravine went chests of fine clothes, beautifully crafted furniture, and family heirlooms. They simply couldn't keep going if they held on to all that good stuff. And there is a story in the Bible (Acts 27) about a time when a ship was caught in a tempest on the Mediterranean Sea. They dropped the sails, but it was not enough to save them; so, they deployed the sea anchors, but again, it was not enough. So, the captain ordered for all the cargo to be tossed overboard, but still, it was not enough, so they also threw overboard the ship's tackle. It was all good stuff, irreplaceable stuff, but it was a matter of life and death; and even the lives of the prisoners on board were considered more important than all that good stuff. Imagine a man in a very nice, expensive suit, seeing a child in trouble in the water. It looks to him like the child might drown. Off comes the coat, tie, and shoes, and into the water the man goes. The suit is important to him, an investment, but there is no thought about whether it will be preserved, because it is nothing compared to the life of a child. I know that this is the stuff of movies and novels. Most likely, you'll never face the choice of whether you will have to throw away good stuff under similar circumstances. But there is a story in the Bible where the apostle Paul recalled when He was faced with this dilemma. His "good stuff" was his identity. He had everything going for him. He was from the right family, went to the right schools, belonged to the right denomination, and had a spotless track record. He told them, "If I were to enter a bragging contest, I'd win." He had been circumcised on the eighth day, was of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. If you didn't know, King Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and Paul had been named after him. He was proud of that family connection. Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, he was a Pharisee. That is, He believed the whole Bible to be the inspired Word of God, not just the first five books of Moses; but the histories, and the words written by the prophets, and the poetic books. The Pharisees wanted to call Bible things by Bible names and do Bible things in Bible ways. They didn't want you to simply know what it said, but they wanted you to live by it. And they believed in the resurrection of the dead, and that God would send a Messiah to save them. Paul was not in the situation of which you hear so often about by those considering following Jesus. "If you're going to be a Christian you've got to give up your bad habits, clean up your language, change your spending habits, quit terrorizing your kids, and start being nice to your spouse." We are talking about a person that if you reviewed his past, you'd only find good stuff. "Nevertheless," said Paul, "I took it to the dump." He was talking to people who were looking at the sort of stuff that he'd thrown away, and were being told that it was the sort of "identity" that they needed in their own lives if they wanted to please God, if they wanted to be a part of His family, and if they wanted any hope of being resurrected one day to live in heaven. Paul knew that this sort of good stuff only got in the way of knowing Jesus as the Christ, who was His only Lord. It was hard to give up that good stuff. He suffered, shedding tears over it. But compared to gaining Christ, it was rubbish. He longed to be found "in Him" alone. He embraced an identity of righteousness that was not derived by whether or not he followed the law well. But a righteousness that came by trusting Jesus' sacrifice to be the only thing he needed. He only wanted to know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. Paul had become united in His death that he might be united in His resurrection. Paul did not dump his past to join the church because he thought that it was a path toward upper mobility. Some do that sort of thing today. They tell themselves, "We'll, it looks like everybody who is anybody is joining the church, so I had better do it too." It will be a good place to make business contacts, and build relationships with leaders in the community. No, that is not why Paul joined the church. Although he was the sort of person that any church would have wanted to have join. He was clean, upright, honest, productive, and zealous for God. He didn't really need to get rid of anything, just add a little Jesus, right? He could have followed in the footsteps of so many people who join the church today. They tell themselves, "Just pick and choose the parts you like. Don't worry about anything else." Come to worship services now and then, especially if it is followed by a fellowship dinner. Maybe serve on a committee, maybe join a small group; maybe offer your expertise so you can change the way things are done to suit yourself. Who would object to needed improvements? I think that it is important that we understand exactly why Paul would intentionally throw away what he had just described as good stuff. Paul believed that if you were going to be a Christian, then you should strive to be just like Jesus. To do that you have to remember that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be "grasped" but threw it away to take on the role of a servant. Think about that for a moment. Jesus came from the ivory palaces above, from the throne room of God, where angels gathered around Him and sang praises. He possessed all that was good in a place where there were no effects from sin. Yet, He "emptied" Himself of all those good things and became obedient, even to the point of death on the cross, thus becoming the sacrifice for sin that we needed. That is what motivated Paul to throw away a lot of perfectly good stuff. It's not that he didn't have a lot of junk to throw away too. We all have some of that sort of stuff in our lives, because we all, as Paul himself said, have sin and fall short of the glory of God. But he also got rid of a lot of good stuff too. Paul had the radical idea that none of that good stuff meant anything if you didn't love like Jesus loved. The best speaker's ability, the wisest person's knowledge, the faith of the most religious person, the generosity of the most compassionate soul, the sacrifices of the most fervent follower. It was all good stuff that needed to be thrown away. He felt that we needed to forget all that stuff in our past on which we have built our identities, and reach forward to what lays ahead of us as we keep on following Christ. As we keep on pressing on toward that upward call. So, even if we've been on the trail for a while, we need to ask ourselves, "What do we do with our own pride, our own expertise, our own agenda, our own plans, our own independence, and all of that other good stuff that we bring with us when we come to Christ? And that we collect along the way?" We, like Paul, should consider it garbage, and throw it away, so we can continue following Jesus' example of serving Him through acts of love, care, generosity, and sacrifice. Paul freely admitted that he did not think that he was there yet. He told the believers in Philippi, "I don't want you to get the idea that I have already attained this goal. Not at all. But I'll tell you this, being like Jesus is the one thing that is constantly on my mind. I'm running toward it, temples pounding, heart pumping, muscles aching, face sweating, chest heaving. I'm giving it my all. I want to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ. I hope that you have, as Jesus often told those to whom He spoke, ears to hear and eyes to see. I hope that we can throw away not only the bad, but even the good stuff, that is holding us back from following Jesus as Paul did. Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us empty ourselves that we might be more like you. Amen.