pleasure
Paul Says, Follow Me
By Linda Rex
March 16, 2025, 2nd Sunday in Preparation for Easter or Lent—One of the questions I often come across as a follower of Christ is the contradiction which people experience between what we as Christians profess and how we actually live our lives. As those who follow Christ, we are held to a standard—Jesus—which we cannot genuinely attain by any human effort. Our best efforts so often fall short of his perfection, and this is why we must remind ourselves that it is all of grace. Even though those who know us may not offer us the grace which God gives us, we are called by our Lord to continue to “stand firm” and trust that God will finish what he has begun in us through Jesus and by the Spirit.
In the New Testament passage for this Sunday, Philippians 3:17–4:1, the apostle Paul encourages the believers to follow his example. These believers were being impacted by a culture which, on the one hand, encouraged an atheistic view of life which embraced self-indulgence and pleasure, while on the other hand, embraced a self-salvation via rigid observation of rules, rites and rituals. The emperor cult saw the Roman Caesar as being the savior of the people, and no doubt, the believers had to face the challenge of their community expecting their participation in emperor worship. To follow the culture would have placed them at odds with all they had come to see and believe in when they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul’s encouragement that they follow his own example actually comes after his admonishment that they follow the example of Jesus Christ. Earlier in this letter, the apostle Paul reminds his readers that the Son of God humbled himself, emptying himself to join us in our humanity, to live a truly human life, and die at the hands of those he created. But the Father exalted Jesus, raising him up and seating him at his right hand in glory. This gives a great basis for the rest of Paul’s letter, which encourages the believers to be willing to follow Christ’s example. Great humility comes before exaltation—and God will exalt those who humble themselves before him (Phil. 2:5–11).
Paul goes on to show all of the human glories that he once had as a religious leader of his people. There was a time when he had all of the special marks of the cream of the crop, holding to the righteousness which was by the law of Moses. But now, as he wrote this letter, he considered every one of these things which made him look good to others, seem good to others, as loss for the sake of Christ. The apostle was willing to suffer the loss of all these things for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ as his Lord. This was what mattered most to him—and everything else was worthless in comparison (Phil. 3:7–11).
This concept is what sets the stage for our passage for this Sunday. Paul begins by helping the believers see that they need to follow Christ’s example. Then he shows the profound difference between following the expectations of the culture and the religious leaders around them, and following Jesus Christ. Paul had left all that humanly gave him worth and value behind to find his value and worth in Jesus Christ alone. How he lived his life was no longer based on his pleasure or expectations, but solely on following Jesus Christ, and doing his will. So, when Paul told his readers to follow his example, he was encouraging them to live in the grace that was theirs in Jesus. He was trying to help them turn away from their culture, away from themselves, and to turn back to Jesus.
Even though these believers may have been Roman citizens, as citizens of the lesser region of Philippi, they were part of an even greater kingdom which would last forever—the kingdom of God. They needed to start living in the truth of who they were as citizens of this divine kingdom, rather than citizens of the broken culture in which they lived.
This is our struggle even today as those who seek to follow Christ in our own broken culture. On the one hand, we are given many ways to live that are supposed to save us, make us successful, and enable us to achieve and acquire all that we seek in this world. On the other hand, we are told to live life however we wish, to indulge our flesh and seek our pleasure. God’s word to us today is to turn away from all these things and to turn to Jesus Christ—to do things his way, not our way. And when we fall short, to turn to him in faith, and ask for the grace that is ours in him.
The good news is that we probably won’t get it right, but Jesus Christ stands in our place on our behalf, as we trust in him. We follow him, down the road to humility and suffering, so that one day we will be lifted up into glory, given new glorified bodies in the new heaven and earth. We look expectantly toward that day when we will see our glorified Jesus face to face. Meanwhile, we follow him. And we do our best to be the kind of Christ followers who are a true reflection of his goodness and love where we are, right now.
Father, thank you for giving us your Son so freely, and thank you, Jesus, for your great humility in joining us where we are in our darkness to bring us into your light. Grant us the grace to follow you in faithful obedience as we longingly wait for your return in glory. Amen.
“Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.” Philippians 3:17–4:1 NASB
“Let me be your example here, my brothers: let my example be the standard by which you can tell who are the genuine Christians among those about you. For there are many, of whom I have told you before and tell you again now, even with tears, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. These men are heading for utter destruction—their god is their own appetite, their pride is in what they should be ashamed of, and this world is the limit of their horizon. But we are citizens of Heaven; our outlook goes beyond this world to the hopeful expectation of the saviour who will come from Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will re-make these wretched bodies of ours to resemble his own glorious body, by that power of his which makes him the master of everything that is. So, my brothers whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, do stand firmly in the Lord, and remember how much I love you.” Philippians 3:17–4:1 JB Phillips
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The Exception Clause
By Linda Rex
This week has been a busy one and when I am overwhelmed timewise in this way, I find it very easy to slip into unhealthy habits of losing sleep or eating things I wouldn’t, and probably shouldn’t, normally eat. The magical thinking begins with this one little phrase “just this once won’t hurt.”
If I was honest, I would have to say this magical phrase too often governs such decisions. For the most part, “just this once” isn’t a bad thing. Really, such impromptu delights bring joy to our lives. We can take pleasure in the here and again treasures we encounter in our daily life—and I believe God meant us to. Life was meant to be filled with such moments of delight in the presence of Abba.
However, when such pleasures begin to govern our decision-making and begin to rule our thoughts and passions, we find ourselves in the midst of what the apostle John calls the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” This is why he says we are not to love the world or the things in the world—it is very easy to become enslaved to anything we put in the place in our hearts, minds, and lives which was meant for God alone.
God is so emphatic or passionate about this because he knows this is not what we were created for. The things we lust after or become addicted to do not fill up the empty place in our hearts and lives we attempt to use them to fill. They may temporarily numb the pain we are experiencing or dull the anxiety we may be feeling, but ultimately, they do not resolve the real issues we need to face and in which we need to experience God’s healing or help.
Our momentary personal pursuit of happiness often actually derails our experience of true joy. In dulling or avoiding the pain, anxiety, or anger we feel, we may lose opportunities to deeply engage God (or others) in some serious one-on-one conversations which may resolve long-lasting resentments, false beliefs, or disagreements. In not engaging these negative feelings, we may be missing out on opportunities to experience healing, renewal, forgiveness, and cleansing—all of which are paths to true joy in the presence of Jesus.
Sometimes I think our culture encourages two extremes with regards to this. On the one hand, we are willing to put people on national television so everyone can see and talk about their messed up thinking and messed up lives. On the other hand, there are people who end up going on a shooting rampage because they’ve never gotten proper help with or healing for their mental and emotional struggles—often we hear no one even knew or cared they were struggling.
In this culture which celebrates indulging our pleasures and passions, we can find it difficult to pursue true joy in our life with Christ. We can be derailed in so many ways, not realizing we’re bound up in unhealthy ways of living or being until we are caught and find it’s not so easy to get out. And the solution isn’t always just as simple as “repent and believe”. It may require something more—relationship. It may require getting up-close and personal with someone about our struggles, failures and pain. And this we avoid.
When God calls us by his grace into relationship with himself, he places us by his Spirit into the Body of Christ. He joins us with other believers. He means for us to live in spiritual community and not to isolate ourselves. He wants us to experience the true joy we were created for, and he know this can only be found within the context of faithful, loving relationship, specifically as children held together within the inner relations of Father, Son, and Spirit.
God does not intend for any of us to have to go through life wounded, broken, and forsaken. He does not mean life to be a depressing, empty struggle. Yes, life will be tough and bad things will happen, but when we engage such a life from within the context of loving, committed relationship with God and our spiritual community, it becomes bearable and even joyful. We may find in the middle of our struggles we experience a deep, inner joy—not because of our human attempts at medicating our pain, but due to Christ indwelling our hearts by the Holy Spirit and us experiencing loving relationships with others within our spiritual community.
As a classic avoider, I have learned there comes a time when the price we pay for avoiding our issues becomes much higher than what it would cost for us to face up to our issues and deal with them. There comes a time when we need to embrace the truth and speak the truth in love or get professional help for our issues. At some point we need to delve into the unpleasant, slicing the festering sore open again so the accumulated pus can be removed and the wound cleansed—this may be what is needed to let real healing start. And this may require professional help, or it may only require healthy the intervention of Christ by his Holy Spirit within the context of spiritual community.
At other times, though, we may just need to experience the little joys of life. The “exception clause” may actually apply in these cases. God sometimes places these little moments of joy in front of us and means for us to experience little tastes of heaven to increase our anticipation of what is to come when we are truly living as glorified humans in the presence of Abba forever. He reminds us in this way of his affection for us and of his faithful love and grace, drawing from us the gratitude and praise he deserves to receive in response.
All the things we attach ourselves to in this life and believe are necessary for our fulfillment and pleasure must be seen within the context of eternity. Some are just passing pleasures which will one day be supplanted by the genuine eternal pleasures of life in Christ.
True lasting joy may be found in what will endure beyond this life on into the next—giving to, sharing with, serving, helping, forgiving, and loving others. Notice these are all ways in which we pour out from ourselves and into others, and in which we receive from others what they have to give. This is the divine perichoretic life—and this is what we were created to participate in forever. In this life, there are no exceptions—there will be no “just this once”, but an eternal participation in the life and love of Abba, Jesus, and the Spirit which is filled with joy and peace, and all God’s blessings through Jesus our Lord.
Thank you, Abba, for all your good gifts and for sharing with us the life you share with your Son and your Spirit. Grant us the grace to face up to the truth as we need to and to get the help which may be required for us to get well and stay healthy. Enable us to find, experience, and live in the true joy you created us for—pour into us your joy, for all our springs of joy are found in you. May we celebrate now and forever, in perfect joy, the gift of eternal life with you, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:12 NLT
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 NKJ
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