8 November 2024 Philippians 3:17-4:1

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Please read the passage before reading the commentary.

Our citizenship is in heaven.  Paul reminds all the Philippians and us that we should behave the way all the citizens of heaven ought to behave.  Parents expect their children to live up to the honor of the family name.  Schools teach school spirit, about being true to the school’s colors and expectations.  We tend to be proud of our home state, at least to a certain extent.  The State Department expects us to leave good impressions when we visit another country.  Paul expects more than this from the Philippian followers of Jesus.

Paul criticized the less-thana-faithful Philippians for worshipping food, bodily fitness and material things.  Paul urged the Philippian Christians to be better than that, to look to the Lord Jesus who would transform their natural bodies into his glorified body.  Paul put the goal of life not in perishable things, but in the Lord Jesus.

Our citizenship is in heaven.  We should take part in the life of our communities. We should vote in elections. We should use well the resources we have at hand to advance the lives of people around us, to ease the suffering of others, and to give them support in living decent human lives so that, using well the gifts of God’s creation, we all can progress well towards heaven where our true citizenship belongs.

Our citizenship is in heaven. We use and share the goods of the earth on our journey to heaven.  We do not get sidetracked with the goods of the earth, but we use them.  We are creatures of body and soul.  We need our bodies in order to function as humans.  We need things in order to have a healthy body.  On the other hand, we are destined for heaven, body and soul.

Virtue for the Philippians and for us is not in getting rid of food, clothing and other things we need, but in using them well.  Our stomachs are not our god, our bodily build is not our god, nor is our citizenship in a country our god.  Our citizenship is in heaven and the Lord Jesus is our God.