Fireworks, Festivity, and Forgetfulness

 

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But 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 upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:7-14 ESV).

 

Happy New Year! The title today is “Fireworks, Festivity, and Forgetfulness.” I know that must seem a bit odd, especially the latter of those three. However, once I explain it a bit in light of our reading today, the easier the connection will become. You see we spend literally millions of dollars here and abroad on beautiful, awe-inspiring fireworks displays. The one I’ve included a photo of is from Dallas last year. I have read where it takes days and dozens of licensed and trained explosives experts to place and sequence the fireworks from Reunion Tower. It is a beautiful display; however, as good a way of beginning the New Year this may be, it will not insure finishing it well. I could talk about the festivities, but simply let your mind wander just a bit to imagine all the wonderful celebration help in your community and abroad. The forgetfulness is a bit more complex.

 

I have read that in America, 25% of us blow or discard our resolutions by the end of the first day. Change can be so difficult that even people who want to change will most likely fall back into old patterns and not make change permanent. One reason permanent change is so hard is because we continue to associate with people who knew us before the change. We do and go to the same old habits and expect to get different results. It’s often easier to change who you are when you make a clean break and get a fresh start. Paul had everything going for him from a human point of view—he was THE guy and had it all. But nothing he could DO could make him right in God’s eyes. Paul had to change his perspective—to reframe the things he thought were important.

 

Christians are given a new goal—to know Christ and to be conformed to him. And, just as Paul had to change his orientation, we need to change ours. Fixating on the past prevents us from focusing on the now or moving forward into tomorrow. Turn around—refuse to go back. It means we know where we’ve come from but focus instead on where we are headed (it’s like Lot’s wife yearning for the old life when God was trying to move them forward).

 

There’s an old legend about the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortés. While many history books gloss over the dark elements, the nitty-gritty was something like this. While on a mission in the New World, some of his men were loyal to the Governor of Cuba and conspired to seize a ship and escape to Cuba. Cortés moved swiftly to squash their plans. Two ringleaders were condemned to be hanged, two were lashed, and one had his foot mutilated. To make sure such a mutiny did not happen again, he decided to scuttle his ships, on the pretext that they were no longer seaworthy. There is a popular misconception that the ships were burned rather than sunk. With all of his ships scuttled, except for one small ship with which to send his representatives and booty to the King of Spain, Cortés effectively stranded the expedition in Mexico.

 

Extreme… yes, but it’s the kind of mentality we need to have when we think about moving on in our own lives. We’ve come to a new point with God. Forget about that old way of life and practice intentional, deliberate living.