Philippians 3:8-9 - "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
In that powerful verse in Philippians, Paul lets us know what he considers a winning formula for the game of Life. He says “If I can lose all things” I win the game. In fact, he calls all the other stuff “rubbish.”
This week we begin exploring eight ingredients in a “with-God” (Immanuel) life: celebration, study, pilgrimage, submission, prayer, obedience, confession and sacrifice. We begin with “sacrifice.”
Benjamin is studying great religions in his 5th grade class and this week had a test on Buddhism. I’m always impressed with Fairfax County’s schools because when I was in 5th grade, my knowledge of Buddhism extended as far as the joke “Q: What did the Buddhist say to the hotdog vendor? A: Make me one with everything!” (Ha!) According to Benjamin’s material, one of Buddhism’s primary tenants is that we all suffer, and that the reason we all suffer is because we all have “wants.” The more we can remove ourselves from “wanting,” the less we will suffer, and the closer we will come to some sort of enlightenment. (I know there are much more complex explanations of Buddhism, but the 5th grade version is a good place for my intelligence level.)
As Christians, Paul reminds us we are very strange people because we’re not about working towards a life void of suffering. In fact, we are people who are looking for opportunities to “suffer” on behalf of Christ. At first glance it looks similar to the Buddhists’ attempts to eliminate wants, but Paul reminds us it is more than this. We are consumed by a “want,” a desire to be like Christ! We sacrifice all things, not as a trade off to balance some cosmic energy, but so we can experience increasing enlightenment as Christ lives in us.
In that powerful verse in Philippians, Paul lets us know what he considers a winning formula for the game of Life. He says “If I can lose all things” I win the game. In fact, he calls all the other stuff “rubbish.”
This week we begin exploring eight ingredients in a “with-God” (Immanuel) life: celebration, study, pilgrimage, submission, prayer, obedience, confession and sacrifice. We begin with “sacrifice.”
Benjamin is studying great religions in his 5th grade class and this week had a test on Buddhism. I’m always impressed with Fairfax County’s schools because when I was in 5th grade, my knowledge of Buddhism extended as far as the joke “Q: What did the Buddhist say to the hotdog vendor? A: Make me one with everything!” (Ha!) According to Benjamin’s material, one of Buddhism’s primary tenants is that we all suffer, and that the reason we all suffer is because we all have “wants.” The more we can remove ourselves from “wanting,” the less we will suffer, and the closer we will come to some sort of enlightenment. (I know there are much more complex explanations of Buddhism, but the 5th grade version is a good place for my intelligence level.)
As Christians, Paul reminds us we are very strange people because we’re not about working towards a life void of suffering. In fact, we are people who are looking for opportunities to “suffer” on behalf of Christ. At first glance it looks similar to the Buddhists’ attempts to eliminate wants, but Paul reminds us it is more than this. We are consumed by a “want,” a desire to be like Christ! We sacrifice all things, not as a trade off to balance some cosmic energy, but so we can experience increasing enlightenment as Christ lives in us.
This week we will look at the first space in the with-God game of Life …the space that says, “sacrifice all you have.”
Mark
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