“Focused On the Finish Line”
Text: Philippians 3:12-21
10-15-2023
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Back in 1985 I was in the Omaha Police Academy and during our training they taught us all kind of skills for being good cops. But there’s one part of it that sticks out more vividly than anything else. Over the course of 12 weeks, our disciplinary sergeant took us from huffing and puffing on a one-mile jog to running more than 6 miles with relative ease. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I’d be able to do that. As I look back on it, I realize that the sergeant was teaching us a whole lot more than just how to run a long distance. Rather, he taught us about endurance. One of my classmates argued that we should be running short sprints which would be much more helpful in catching bad guys. But he was wrong, because if you know you can run 6 miles then chasing somebody for a couple blocks is a stroll in the park.
That’s not all this running exercise taught us. We also learned how to stick together and encourage one another. If somebody dropped out along the way, the sergeant made us circle back to get them. That’s because he had us running in some pretty seedy neighborhoods. So, we’d encourage each other to stick with it and focus on the finish line, saying things like, “Come on, you can make it. It’s only a little farther.”
Our sergeant thought we were good enough so he enrolled us as a group in the Omaha Corporate Cup Run, which was 6.2 miles. We all knew that there was no grand prize waiting for us. Instead, we received a t-shirt and a coffee mug. What a deal, huh?!? However, there was another reward. It was the pride of knowing that I had completed the race doing the best that I could. Simply put, my goal was to reach the finish line.
Well, because of my bad knees my days of running races are over. But even so, those lessons of endurance and mutual encouragement will stick with me for the rest of my life. I don’t know if St. Paul ever ran in a long-distance race, but when you read the Epistle Lesson for today it certainly sounds like he knew a lot about it. He uses this whole image of running a race in order to teach us about our faith. And those spiritual lessons can also teach us about endurance and mutual encouragement as we run the race of faith.
In the text, Paul makes it very clear that it’s Jesus Christ who chooses us to run on His “team.” He put it this way, “I press on to make it my own {he’s referring to eternal life}, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” Jesus had taken hold of Paul’s heart and placed him in the race. Paul didn’t decide this for himself. If anything, he had been running away from Christ and fighting against Him. That’s because Paul was running his own race, not God’s. Paul was certainly working hard to wipe out Christianity. He thought that by running this course he would reach heaven through his own human efforts. But Jesus took hold of him and set him straight. Christ set Paul on the path that doesn’t rely on human efforts to attain heaven, but rather, trusts in Jesus for salvation.
You and I have been set on that same course. You can think of your Baptism as the “starting line” of the race. We were all born sinful, which means that like Paul, we were running in the wrong direction. We were running away from God and living as His enemies. When you were Baptized, Jesus turned you around and entered you into the race of faith. You didn’t choose Him; He chose you and called you to run on His team. He pointed you in the right direction with heaven as your goal.
In any race, though, there are plenty of distractions that can take your focus off the finish line. My friends in the Police Academy used to tease me because they said that I never ran in a straight line. It was all swervy. As a result, they figured I ran twice as far as everyone else! I had no idea I was doing it. Maybe I was focusing too much on the guy in front of me or trying to avoid tripping on cracks in the cement or worried about finishing last. Whatever the reason, I was very self-conscious about it. And it distracted me from focusing on the most important thing: the finish line.
Spiritually, Satan and the world can do the same thing to us. They try to distract us from our heavenly goal. As we run the race of faith, the devil points out that we aren’t always running straight. After all, we’re still sinners and we make plenty of mistakes. He’d like us to focus on all of our past sins and forget about the goal. St. Paul felt that same temptation. He knew all the terrible, sinful things he had done. In the opening verse he admits that he was far from perfect. No human being ever does reach perfection this side of heaven. But Paul says, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” You see, Paul stayed focused on heaven, which is the believer’s finish line. He didn’t get distracted by his past because he knew all his sins were wiped away when Jesus took hold of his life. Like Paul, we all have more than enough ugly sins in our past. But he encourages us to forget about all of them because they’ve been forgiven through the blood of Jesus. Instead, we are to focus on running toward the goal of heaven where Jesus is leading us.
No doubt, you’ve heard people refer to life as a “rat race.” But it would be better to call it a “dog race” because that’s what the unbelieving world is running in. At the dog races, the poor mutts chase after a fake rabbit up on the rail. They’re focused on that and nothing else. Around and around they go, never able to catch it. And even if they did, what would they have? Our world is the same way. People get up, go to work, and chase after the fake “rabbits” of things like wealth and popularity. Day after day, around and around they go. Life has no meaning, because their focus is on a goal they can never reach. So, they live miserable, unhappy lives. We too can get sucked into the mentality of thinking that if we just had a million dollars, we’d be happy and set for life. But if you look at the millionaires and even billionaires of our world you won’t find happiness. No. Like the poorer people, they’re still chasing after that stupid fake rabbit called wealth even though they’ll never be satisfied by it.
Paul says that if your focus is on earthly things, your destiny is destruction. In Matthew 6, Christ tells us to not chase after the things of this life. Rather, He says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus was saying that we don’t have to be caught up in the monotonous race of the sinful world. If we run the race of faith that He has charted out for us, we’ll have a goal that can actually be obtained and that will bring true happiness.
It’s important, though, to remember that we’re not running this race alone. Paul wants us to know that we’re in this together. Because of that, we gather here as a church to receive God’s gifts and also to encourage one another as we run the race. Please notice that Paul tells us to forget what lies behind, not forget who is left behind. We are to forget our many sins of the past but we should never forget about our weaker brothers and sisters of the faith. Like my police academy class, we ought to go back for those who have dropped out of the race. And we need to encourage them by reminding them again of the goal we are focused on, which is heaven.
Yes, there’ll be those who refuse our encouragement and invitations. But rather than gloat over their destruction, we should be moved to tears over these lost souls like Paul was. Thank goodness there are loving examples of Christians like Paul who had a tender heart for the lost. My grandfather was a man like that. At his funeral, the pastor told a touching story I had never heard before. My grandpa had served as an Elder at his church and during a visit at grandpa’s home the pastor discussed with him the difficulties of reaching those who had wandered away from the faith. He saw that grandpa was getting emotional about it and said, “Well Edwin, you can take comfort in knowing you did your best to reach as many as you could.” God bless him, my grandfather responded with a tear in his eye, “Yes pastor, but there are so many out there who are still lost!” I pray that God would give me a heart like that—a heart that’s focused on the goal of heaven but that’s also devoted to encouraging others to keep running the race of faith.
You know, when I ran that Corporate Cup Run, I wasn’t the first one across the finish line. Somebody else won that race. I only got a cheap token and the personal reward of having finished it. In the race of faith, though, it’s different. Because Jesus Christ has already crossed the finish line and He won first place. He died on the cross and was resurrected on Easter morning, never to die again. He won the prize of eternal life!
But here’s then really good part. Since Jesus has chosen us to run on His team, so-to-speak, we get to join in on the victory. Jesus won the race on behalf of the whole team. By faith, His victory is our victory. Jesus has a prize to share with all of us who trust in Him as our Savior and it’s better than a cheap coffee cup and t-shirt. Paul says that prize is a glorified body in heaven. A body which will be just like Christ’s glorified body, that is, a body that’s holy and pure and sinless. A body that will never again die, but will last forever.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, keep focused on that goal. Don’t let Satan or the world distract you from it. Run the race of faith with all your strength. Encourage one another to keep running the race also. And do everything you can to not leave anyone behind. Remind one another that the finish line of heaven isn’t very far away. Soon, the Lord will call each of us home and give to us the prize that Jesus won for us. So, keep pressing “on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I’ll look forward to seeing you at the finish line. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!