Heavenly-Minded People
a sermon based on Philippians 3:17 - 4:1
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn

Yesterday, I was reminded again of how much children imitate their parents.  It's not something we necessarily intend, and sometimes we wish they'd do as we say rather than do as we do.

Most mornings, I find myself eating a bowl of cereal with a magazine in front of me.  (It's one of the few times that I can get things read.)

Yesterday morning, I saw George, our foster child, reading his book while he was eating his cereal.  This is in spite of the fact that I've told him not to play with things while he was eating.

But what could I say?  He was imitating me.  Children naturally imitate their parents and other adults.

Of course Ronda also called back to Kansas this week and heard a story about our three year old granddaughter Kaylee.  She was playing house with a friend and Ronda's mother overheard Kaylee say, "Let's go shopping now.  I'll get my check book, you get your credit card."

I wonder where she learned that line?

And I know I've said it before, but the message is quite clear.  We are all Sunday School teachers, whether we want to be or not.  Every child who sees you here this morning is learning from you.  The children are learning that it's important to come to church.  They are learning what it means to worship and to pray; they are learning how we are supposed to dress when we come to church and how we are to act in church.

But they are also listening to our attitudes and learning from our opinions and how we express them.

Paul, in his letter to the church in Philippi, is sending a stern warning to some in the church who he considers to be 'enemies of Christ' (v 18).  He is warning others not to follow their example, but rather to imitate his own example.

Earlier in this chapter, Paul spoke of one set of enemies, while in our passage for this morning, Paul addresses another set.  These two enemies are still among us, still tempting us and luring us away from the truth of who Jesus is and what his life means for us.

Who are these "enemies" and how are they working among us today?

For the most part, they are very subtle, so subtle that we don't often recognize them.  So subtle that we become like them ourselves without realizing it.  They're not always present, but when they are, we hardly notice.

The first type of enemy in Philippi was the group that put prerequisites on grace and salvation.  These are the ones who insisted on becoming a Jew first before allowing people to become a Christian (Phil 3:2-7).

In the church today, these same enemies exist.  They don't require us to become Jewish, but they do begin with a set of rules and guidelines for us to follow.

Often it's our children that help us to see these most clearly as they try to imitate us.  They can tell us what 'rules' we have in church.  What dress code, for instance.

The most destructive form of this that I've seen was in a church where there was the unstated premise that you had to be related to someone in the church to attend.  Anyone else who came received a cold shoulder and silence from the rest of the congregation.  No one in the church realized they were doing it, but it was clearly being taught to their children and to the children of visitors.

In our church, I think we see some signs of this enemy, too.  Because of our reliance on hymns and responsive readings, for instance, we make it necessary that someone can read to be fully a part of our worship life.  For the most part, we expect people to be able to speak English.

But our greatest threat comes from the other enemy that Paul addresses, those who tend to separate the soul or spirit from the physical.

It isn't always obvious, but there are signs of this perversion of the Gospel all around us, signs that have been lurking around the church for hundreds of years, signs that it is here, even today.

These are the people who insist that our lives can be separated into parts, the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual.  To them, church and faith are spiritual issues that have no affect on the rest of their lives.

In ancient Rome, these were the Christians who went to the colosseum to watch the gladiators mutilate each other.  Their faith taught them to love one another, but this was entertainment.  The one who died somehow was not someone to love in their eyes.

Today, we promote violence in our society by our participation in sports like boxing and hockey and by watching television programs that are filled with it.  It certainly seems as though we haven't allowed our faith to influence the rest of our lives.

Not too many years ago I read that a study has been done about the sport of hockey.  Have you seen it?  It claims that the longer someone plays hockey the more likely they are to accept violence, cheating, and illegal tactics.

There are also those who insist that politics should stay out of the church.  They would have us separate our civic responsibilities from our religious convictions.

These people become so "heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good."

Paul's response to these concerns is to follow his own example, to integrate life with faith.  He recognizes that he is first a citizen of God's Kingdom, and that this relationship with God determines his response to the world.  He is heavenly-minded, but only in the sense that he sees signs of God all around him.

The task of the church is to eradicate itself and our society from the influences of evil, even in its subtle forms.

I guess that explains why I have been opposed to the state-run lottery and other forms of sanctioned gambling.  I see them as a subtle influence in our society that teaches our children that you can 'get rich quick'.  The state's TV ads are the most offensive to me because they are so subtle.

It also explains part of the personal dilemma I've been facing for the past two years as a board member for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Skagit County.  You see, their primary revenue has been from gambling, from Bingo.  At times I know that the only reason I stay involved is because there are others on the board who want to get out of gambling and find other sources of income for the agency.

You see, I don't see my faith as separate from my life.  And I think my own life should reflect those values and principles that are at the core of our faith.  Who Jesus is and what he means to me should be clear by the way I live my life outside the walls of the church, not just on Sunday mornings.

Like Paul, I see my spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects integrated into my one life.  I am never "just a Pastor" or "just a Christian"; nor am I "just a man", "just a husband" or even "just a citizen."

I am always first a child of God, a person loved by God, who responds to life in response to God's call:  as a pastor, as a Christian, as a husband, as a citizen.

That is what I hope to teach by my example, by my life.

Paul holds himself up as an example to be followed.  My sense is that people will see our lives as an example whether we would hold them up or not.

When we lived in the small farming town of Saint John, we saw how important basketball was to that community.  It's unlike anything I've ever witnessed, and it's difficult to explain to people who've never seen it.  Put simply, the community centered on basketball in all of its various forms.

In the High School gymnasium, for instance, there was a section reserved for senior citizens whose children had played there and whose grandchildren had played there.  There was another section for people with young children who came to watch the games.  It didn't matter if your child was involved or not, if you were a part of that community, you came to the basketball games.

I saw in their cultural model a role model for the church.  From the earliest age, children there are taught to go to basketball games and to be a part of the team.  If you didn't play, there were other roles to be filled.  But there was never any question but that basketball would be a part of life.

We as a church have the opportunity to do the same for our young children, our grandchildren, and our neighbors.  We can live in such a way that our example will speak to them.

As someone has said, our life may be the only sermon someone ever hears.

Let's live our lives faithfully, carefully, and always with an awareness of the subtle temptations that exist, lest we become a poor role model.

Amen.