Philippians 3:7-14 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ 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 ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

An unknown monk in 1100 A.D. wrote: "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world."

We need to realize that we, like this monk and like the apostle Paul, need to work on change within ourselves.

One of the more damaging fallacies that we as Christians can fall into is the thought that because we are Christians, we are better than most people out there who are not. For example, we are a better mom, a better husband, a better child, a better teacher, a better coach, a better employeeor we have a better marriage, a better family, etc. Though it may appear prideful or self-righteous, that may not necessarily be the case. This kind of thinking can spring from a genuine, though incorrect, assumption that Christianity, in order to be true, must produce better all-around people. In other words, we take on the responsibility to defend the truth through the "better" lives we display.

Paul wrote: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Jesus took hold of me." We listen to Paul and realize that we are far from a perfect parent, spouse, employee, child, etc. We know that we are all growing in Christ with the ultimate goal of becoming like him. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we are "better" than other people. It means we are in the process of becoming more loving, more truthful, more peaceful, more patient, and more kind.

At one time Paul would have considered himself to be better than most others of his Jewish faith. Before his conversion, Paul, then called Saul of Tarsus, was a proud Pharisee who would have received all the top honors of his day – the Pulitzer, the Medal of Honor, the Most Valuable Player, and the Gold Medal for the Nobel Ancient Order of Jewry. If they had newspapers and magazines in his day, Saul’s picture would have read "RELIGIOUS ZEALOT OF THE DECADE." He described himself to the Philippians: "[I was] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." When it came to living a legalistic life, he was faultless. When it came to persecuting Christians, no one had a greater passion than he did. He was the best of the best.

While on the road to Damascus, Christ quickly and miraculously convinced Saul with a blinding flash of light and a voice from heaven that Saul may have been faultless according to his own standards, but he was worthless according to God’s standards. Christ convinced Saul of the emptiness of his old, proud, self-seeking ambitions. Though he was the chief persecutor, the Pharisee of Pharisees, and the legalist of legalists, it was nothing compared to what Christ was offering him.

So Paul wrote: "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ 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 ⁹ 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."

Paul considered his former "better" life to be nothing but a loss and rubbish to his new life in Christ Jesus his Lord. He knew his Savior now, but he wanted to get to know him better. He now knew God’s blessings of righteousness through Christ, but he wanted to experience them even more. He wrote: I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." His life’s new number one ambition was to gain Christ and be found in him – to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.

We often fall into the easy temptation of comparing ourselves to others. We strive so hard to have the first chair in the band, or be on the starting lineup for sports, or get that promotion or have the smarter, better behaved, more athletic children. Like Saul, we get so caught up with being better than everybody else, we forget to be better than ourselves.

"Better" is often defined in terms that have little to do with becoming like Christ. The religious leaders of Saul’s day would have considered him the best of the best. While those same religious leaders would have never considered Jesus as being better than anybody. In fact, they thought Jesus was a scoundrel – they called him a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11:18,19). So "better" is a relative term.

What’s true is that we should be getting better, but "better" compared to whom? Compared to ourselves – what we used to be – which may still be a long way from someone else out there who is perhaps a healthier Christian overall. Bottom line: It’s not good to compare yourself with others, whether they are Christians or not. "Better" means better than I was yesterday, not better than you.

Admitting that an atheist has a better marriage, a Mormon has better kids, a Muslim family is more loving, or a Buddhist is healthier shouldn’t be a threat to one’s Christianity. The point is, as Christians, we are saved and that’s the most important thing. We are all sinners saved by grace, and rather than making ourselves out to be different from everybody else, we should be focusing more on our similarities. If we need Jesus, so does everybody else, which makes us basically the same as the rest of humanity.

I might think of myself as a good father, but you know there are lots of good fathers out there, and when it comes to fathering, I have much to learn. So someone might teach me about fathering, and I might, in turn, be able to share Christ with that person because he may be experiencing a lot of guilt inside, or he may be carrying around a sense of failure, or he may feel alone and distant from God and wondering what his life is all about.

So you see, being a Christian has nothing to do with being better than anybody; it has everything to do with getting better in Christ, which is something we can all do and we all need to do.

The story is told of a young girl who was converted by the Holy Spirit and wanted to become a member of the church in her hometown. "Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?" inquired an old deacon. "Yes, sir," she replied. "Well, are you still a sinner?" "To tell you the truth, I feel I'm a greater sinner than ever." "Then what real change have you experienced?" "I don't quite know how to explain it," she said, "except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved. I'm a sinner running from sin!"

Instead of running after sin, we need to be running from it. Sin likes to weigh us down. Guilt wants to cripple us. Think of a commandment, you’ve broken it. Whether it was lashing out at your spouse or friend with bitterness and anger, or neglecting the Word and worship of God to follow your own desires, or those times when you lied about others, gossiped about others, antagonized others, we have all sinned.

But Paul says all of those things, all of that sin, all of that guilt and baggage is behind us now. It doesn’t need to weigh us down. It doesn’t need to burden us anymore. And it certainly doesn’t need to stand in the way of reaching eternal life. You and I have been forgiven. Jesus carried the weight of our sin as he went to the cross a long time ago. He took that load of sin onto his bloodied back on Good Friday. And when he died, it was all taken away. Jesus has removed your sins from you as far as the east is from the west, so you don’t need to be weighed down by them, constantly being disturbed by them, or worrying about whether your sin will prevent you from reaching the goal of eternal life. It is behind you, washed away by the blood of Jesus.

Freed from the overwhelming baggage of your guilt and sin, now you can run away from your sin and run toward the prize of heaven. Paul wrote: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Our Lutheran theology teaches that we have been justified so that we can be sanctified. That means that we have been set free from our sins so now we can live of a life of freedom, thanks, and service to our Lord. Or, to put it another way, you want to live better than you did before. You want to be better. You want to live like you are on your way to heaven.

As Christians on our way to heaven, we live differently and we look at things differently. Unbelievers around us may look at us and think we are out of our minds. But Christ has given us new lives and new eyes, and nothing looks the same to us anymore. We worship a God we have never seen. We plan to live in a place we have never visited. We experience death, but see life. We suffer tragedy, but see opportunity. We face adversity, but see humility. We feel despair, but see hope. We experience failure, but see success. We see the seen, but believe in the unseen. In school we learn history but see God’s story; learn science, but see God’s laws; learn psychology, but see God’s wisdom; learn anthropology, but see God’s image; learn astronomy, but see God’s heavens. We live through war, but see mankind’s rebellion. We carry our cross, but see Christ’s cross where everything is made new and alive.

Each day we live, we live differently, better than the day before. We live knowing that we are but strangers here, heaven is our home. We run the good race, seeking God’s face. We live hanging loosely to the treasures of this world because we know that we will receive joy, a crown, glory, and bliss once we cross the finish line and receive the prize of heaven.

An American tourist was visiting a Polish pastor and was astonished to see that the pastor’s home was only a simple room filled with books, a table and a bench. The tourist asked, "Pastor, where is your furniture?" "Where is yours?" replied the pastor. "Mine?" asked the puzzled American. "But I’m a visitor here. I’m only passing through." "So am I," said the pastor.

We are only passing through. Heaven in our home. Press on toward the prize that God has called for you to receive. Don’t compare yourself to others. Instead, each day compare yourself to yourself. Live better than you did the day before, knowing that your failures are forgiven, your sins washed away and your guilt removed. Live differently. Look at things differently. Let Christ change the world by first changing you. Amen.