Lent 2 Year C 2025: Philippians 3:17-4:1

The Tuesday afternoon Lenten book group is reading Entering the Passion of Jesus. In the book’s introduction the author, Amy-Jill Levine, a New Testament professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, was explaining her perspective on the text, as she is a practicing Jew. She told a story about when her children were little and they would have divinity students babysit. At times, the children’s favorite babysitters were unavailable because of field education placements. They may have been on a mission trip, or they were working at Nashville’s “Room In The Inn” homelessness program. The children would say “they can’t come because they are being Christian.” Their parents thought that was a “splendid” definition of the term “Christian”. 

Paul wants the Philippian Christians to be like those divinity students: shining as lights amid a crooked and wayward generation and holding fast to the word of life, so that he will know that he has not run the race in vain. Paul reminds us that we are called to a higher standard than what we might see in the world around us. That we are to live as citizens of heaven, not in the way of the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose god is the belly and whose glory is in their shame.

In ancient Greek culture, the belly was often associated with the seat of physical desires and appetites. In Jewish thought which was Paul’s thought - he was a pharisee, so Jewish thought was Paul’s thought. It was how he lived. And in Jewish thought the belly could symbolize the center of human cravings, which could lead to sin if not controlled. In Jewish culture, which was Paul’s culture, sin brought spiritual disgrace which led to shame, all deeply connected to one’s relationship with God. Paul warned about those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ, making the belly their god, glorying in their shame which damages their relationship with the one God, and setting their mind on earthly things unlike Christ, who had been exalted to heavenly things (2:9-11).

So, if our citizenship is in heaven, it requires that we put our heavenly citizenship above all others. And, the church demonstrates that liturgically in a couple of ways. First, anytime we’re celebrating a saint who was any kind of political leader, the proper preface we pray at the Eucharist is that of baptism. No matter how politically powerful you were, how big of a deal you were during your time on earth, your status as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven - where there is no Jew nor Greek, no male nor female, no slave nor free - trumps all of it. The other way is one that has changed over the years, which is by and large the use of one’s Christian name in the Church. For example, many churches prayed for Queen Elizabeth following her death. The “proper” way to do so would not have been to pray for Queen Elizabeth, but rather just “Elizabeth”. You might also notice when we pray for leaders, we don’t pray for “President Trump” or “Governor Pillen” or “Mayor Baird”. Rather, we pray for “Donald, our president”, “Jim, our governor” and “Lairion, our mayor”. We as Christians recognize that, while some have been placed in positions of power, we are all equally beloved children of the same God regardless of our status on earth, economically or civically.

At Paul’s time, Roman citizenship was an extremely valuable privilege, enjoyed by a very small percentage of the population. Paul knew what rights were granted him as a Roman citizen, such as freedom from flogging and the right to appeal to the emperor. Paul used those rights and privileges to further the gospel. In Acts 22, a Roman tribune has Paul all set up to be flogged when Paul inquired of a nearby centurion, “is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who is uncondemned?” This resulted in an almost comical exchange that ended with panic from those who were about to flog him. But this didn’t mean Paul was free from being in hot water, citizenship notwithstanding - Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from prison.

But Paul demonstrates how we are to use whatever power we have on this earth to build up the kingdom of God, not the other way around. We see, in the growing prevalence of Christian Nationalism in our country, the use of the name of Christ, of the proclamation of the gospel, being used to build up one’s own power and influence. It is a heretical and blasphemous remaking of Christ into whatever image is most convenient to one’s view of the power of the state. Jesus is reduced into a mascot for one’s own purposes and the inconvenient parts of scripture - which is a lot of it - is ignored and brushed aside in favor of a caricature that would be comical if it weren’t so dangerous. This distorted Jesus commands that we give those who the state favors benefits like jobs, food, and healthcare while being unconcerned about the wellbeing of anyone else. This distorted Jesus commands that we don’t care about infectious diseases in other countries because they aren’t “our people”. His answer to “who is my neighbor” would be, “those whom you like and have deemed worthy of your attention”. This Jesus is not a Jesus worth worshipping, nor is it a Jesus that would have had problems in Rome. This is Jesus remade in the image of Rome.

The destruction to which Paul wrote is “their end” is not merely a physical destruction. Other New Testament writers used the word Paul used for “destruction”, apóleia, to convey the severe consequences of rejecting God's salvation through Jesus Christ. This term underscores the gravity of eternal separation from God, a theme prevalent in early Christian teachings. It denotes a state of destruction or ruin, with a focus on eternal or spiritual loss. It can refer to both physical destruction and the ultimate spiritual ruin of a soul. In a theological context, it is frequently associated with the consequences of sin and the final judgment of the wicked.

So to annotate Paul’s writing, the end of the enemies of the cross of Christ is not merely their bodily destruction but their spiritual destruction that occurs as they separate themselves from God. Their god is their own desires and their glory is their damaged relationship with God. Paul’s use of “doxa”, or “glory”, here is a clever play on words. In the New Testament, "doxa" primarily refers to the glory and majesty of God, encompassing God’s divine nature, attributes, and the honor due to God. It is used to describe the visible manifestation of God's presence and the honor and praise that are rightfully God’s. "Doxa" can also refer to the glory bestowed upon believers, reflecting their transformation and sanctification through Christ. Elsewhere in the New Testament, “doxa” emphasizes the divine glory revealed in Jesus Christ and the hope of believers sharing in that glory. So by Paul saying “their glory is in their shame” would be like us saying “their love is in their hate”. That they have taken the antithesis of glory and given it the place which the glory of God ought to have.

But it is Paul’s hope, and our hope, that we remember that our citizenship is in heaven. We bring our humble bodies to Christ and ask him to transform us into his likeness, regardless of who it would be easier or more convenient or more enriching or more powerful for us to be. Humankind has always had the option to choose between what is right and what is easy. Those two options overlap far less often than we would like. They are opposites far too often. We have a choice to make as Christians in America to eschew the false god that is Christian Nationalism and instead of transforming Jesus into us to let the Cross of Christ transform us into the body of His glory. Amen.