Lent 5
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more....
-- Philippians 3:4
Christ does strange things to our pride. Paul could point to all of the reasons for religious pride. He could demonstrate the right background, practice, and commitment. "Circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless." The list is pretty impressive. "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ."
When we are insulted, mocked, or dismissed in getting our way in the church, our temptation is to want to rehearse all the reasons why our opinion should bear weight. We hold on to our "Doctor of Ministry," let people know how hard we work, and allow others to see our devotion to the faith. Each of these can be of great value in shaping our ministry. After Paul cited all of this, he said, "For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...." When we look at the life of Christ, he suffered the loss of pride, possessions, and dignity in his journey to the cross. When we feel our existence threatened either as an individual or as a church, we are faced with the choice of protecting what we have or being open to what new thing God is doing (Isaiah 43:19). What Christ revealed and Paul experienced is that the death of pride is sometimes the price we must pay to experience the resurrection of God in our lives.
-- Philippians 3:4
Christ does strange things to our pride. Paul could point to all of the reasons for religious pride. He could demonstrate the right background, practice, and commitment. "Circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless." The list is pretty impressive. "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ."
When we are insulted, mocked, or dismissed in getting our way in the church, our temptation is to want to rehearse all the reasons why our opinion should bear weight. We hold on to our "Doctor of Ministry," let people know how hard we work, and allow others to see our devotion to the faith. Each of these can be of great value in shaping our ministry. After Paul cited all of this, he said, "For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...." When we look at the life of Christ, he suffered the loss of pride, possessions, and dignity in his journey to the cross. When we feel our existence threatened either as an individual or as a church, we are faced with the choice of protecting what we have or being open to what new thing God is doing (Isaiah 43:19). What Christ revealed and Paul experienced is that the death of pride is sometimes the price we must pay to experience the resurrection of God in our lives.
