“Keeping our focus”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, February 15, 2024 Philippians 3:12-21 (Forward, p. 17) CEV p. 1230
While I am sometimes ‘twigged’ about being overly focused on just one thing, with the result that I may miss out on peripheral or side details or issues, far too often the opposite is true. Far too often I get distracted by things that are not really the task at hand—and often, not even that important or crucial.
Here, in today’s passage, the apostle Paul is talking about focus and here he uses an image that was very familiar in the Greek world, the idea of a foot race. While the ancient Olympic Games are well known to most people today, we may not realize that similar games took place elsewhere in Greece. And the foot race was an important and well-known part of these. And what Paul is here talking about is not just the idea of running and persisting in the race of life, the race of faith, but not in the least slacking off or giving up. In fact, what he describes is something we often see in the video replays of the final seconds of a race. Here, a runner, in almost painful agony, stretches and strains forward, arms almost clawing or raking the air, in an effort to break the tape first. That flat out desire to reach the goal is what Paul is describing.
And what is that goal? It is heaven and our heavenly calling, our heavenly aspiration, our desire not only to fit into heaven but also reproduce something of its character here and now. Here Paul uses another image that the Philippians would understand so well. He talks about their citizenship being in heaven, but for most Philippians they were proud of yet another citizenship. Philippi was a Roman colony, a Roman city, with all the privileges and perks that this entailed. They had Roman laws, customs, dress, and institutions, and were proud of it. But Paul is saying that as Christians they had something far, far better, and so, rather than being drawn away or drawn down by the deplorable behaviours that were also part of Roman society and culture, they were to focus only on their other citizenship, their citizenship in heaven. And so, they were to focus entirely on that, and to strain and make every effort to live lives worthy of it.
They were to settle on nothing less than that, and so too, neither should we. Amen.
Forward notes: “Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (verses 13-14).
“The Apostle Paul reminds us in this passage about the importance of forgetting what is behind and pressing forward. When we hold onto past mistakes, we allow them to define us and determine our present and future. However, as Christians, we must remember that we are new creations in Christ and that our past no longer defines us. Through repentance and forgiveness, we can learn from our mistakes and move forward with a renewed sense of purpose.
“When we let go of our past, we create space for God to work. We can fully embrace the present moment and be open to the opportunities God places before us. We can trust in God’s plan for our lives and have faith that the Holy Spirit will guide us toward a future full of hope and purpose.”
Moving Forward: “What do you need to let go?”