I. Introduction

A. Illustration – Illustration – Melvin Newland, in his sermon “Facing the New Year,” said, Statisticians tells us that the average life span is now around 75 years. If you’re under 30 then you think that is a long time. If you’re around my age, you’re beginning to realize that’s not really very long at all. A few years ago, someone went to the trouble to research what people do with their time, and came up with these results: If we live to be 75, most of us will have spent 3 solid years, 24 hours a day, acquiring an education - grade school, high school & college. We’ll have spent 7 years eating, 24 hours a day, - some more, some less, obviously. We’ll have spent 14 years, day & night, working. We’ll have spent 5 years riding in automobiles or airplanes. We’ll have spent 5 years talking with each other -again some more & some less. We’ll have spent 1 year sick or recovering from sickness. And get this, we’ll have spent 24 years of our life sleeping! We’ll have spent 3 years reading books, magazines & newspapers. And 12 years amusing ourselves - watching TV, going to the movies, fishing, etc. That totals up to 75 years - and that is what the researchers say, on the average, most of us will have done with our lives. As I looked at these statistics I began thinking. Let’s suppose that you spent every Sunday of your life, for 75 years - through infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age - in God’s house worshipping during a Church Service. Now if you did, how much time would you have spent worshiping God? Figure it out - the answer is less than 5 ½ months. But let’s double that because you’ve always attended Sunday School. If you’ve never missed Sunday School in all your life, that still just totals 11 months. Think about that - 5 years in an automobile & just 11 months in Church! Twelve years amusing ourselves in front of a TV, and just 11 months in Church. And that is if you’ve always attended and never missed! That tells us a little bit about the brevity of time and our priorities in life (as cited on SermonCentral.com).

B. Context – Those statistics are rather sobering, aren’t they? Contrast them with what Oswald Chambers wrote: My Goal is God Himself...at any cost, dear Lord, by any road (as cited on SermonCentral.com). Chambers captured the focus the apostle Paul had in Philippians 3:7-16. I’ll read it from the NIV.

II. Scripture Passage

A. Philippians 3:7-16 (from the NIV) – 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. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

III. Our Focus Determines Our Effectiveness for Christ

A. Melvin Newland, Oswald Chambers, and Paul are all trying to get across the same truth, the same insight that compelled them and helped them to be effective in reaching people for Christ. What is this truth? Simply that our focus determines our effectiveness for Christ. Nothing profound. Our focus determines our effectiveness for Christ. If we focus on our own comfort and on making sure that we do things that won’t upset anybody, we will never be effective in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. I want to make perfectly clear that I don’t mean going out of our way to upset people or to make them uncomfortable, but that if we make that our focus, we lose. If we focus on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, becoming like Him and pressing on to know Him and be like Him in everything we are, then we will become extremely effective in reaching people for Him.

B. Brother Lawrence wrote, Let us give our thoughts completely to knowing God. The more one knows him, the more one wants to know him, and since love is measured commonly by knowledge, then, the deeper and more extensive knowledge shall be, so love will be the greater, and, if love is great, we shall love him equally in suffering and consolation (as cited on PreachingToday.com). He figured out what Philippians 3 is all about. He lived a life of service and total devotion to God in all his thoughts and actions. Brother Lawrence took on this attitude that Paul wrote about. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 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. What do we have that is to our own profit, our own benefit, our own standing or reputation, that we keep hanging on to? For some of us, it’s our position at our place of employment. For others, it’s our position at church. For still others, it’s a sense of entitlement that we’ve been taught because of our family or our history of service at church. There are many other possibilities, but all of them revolve around our demands to cling to our rights. We cry out, “I have my rights!” Paul cries out, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.”

C. This is a hard passage for us, because it hits us where we live. But there is hope. Paul was a hardened anti-Christian who had everything going for him in the realm of religion. God got through to Him. All of us have areas that we struggle not to be hardened to God in, where we struggle with clinging to our rights. There is hope. If God can take a man like Paul and totally transform him and make him into God’s own likeness, He can do the same thing with us. God can make us into a people who say and live wholeheartedly this truth: 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, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Folks, that can be us if we will allow God to change our focus. Because our focus determines our effectiveness.

D. There is another roadblock that often derails us from having this focus besides our insistence on our rights. It’s believing Satan’s lie that we have to have our act totally together before God can do anything with us. Listen to what 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. Paul says, “Look, I’m not perfect in my performance, but I keep my focus on the goal of knowing Christ and becoming totally like Him and receiving my eternal reward in heaven.” We’ve got to overcome our performance anxiety, allow ourselves and others to make mistakes (we’re all going to make them anyway), and do everything we can to move toward that focus that God has for us. That, in a nutshell, is what this passage is all about.

E. We’ll all have to do some growing up if we’re going to grab hold of this truth and run with it. Paul writes, All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. If we aren’t focusing with everything we are on what God has for us as individuals and as a church, we’d better grow up or it won’t happen. But God will help us grow up. God will help us to have and keep this focus. But are we willing to make knowing Christ and becoming like Him and becoming the church He is calling us to be our one true focus for 2005 and beyond? That’s what He is calling us to.

F. Illustration – Chuck Colson, in his book, A Dangerous Grace, tells the following story of visiting Mississippi's Parchman Prison: Most of the death row inmates were in their bunks wrapped in blankets, staring blankly at little black-and-white TV screens, killing time. But in one cell a man was sitting on his bunk, reading. As I approached, he looked up and showed me his book—an instruction manual on Episcopal liturgy. John Irving, on death row for more than 15 years, was studying for the priesthood. John told me he was allowed out of his cell one hour each day. The rest of the time, he studies. Seeing that John had nothing in his cell but a few books, I thought, God's blessed me so much, the least I can do is provide something for this brother. "Would you like a TV if I could arrange it?" I asked. John smiled gratefully. "Thanks," he said, "but no thanks. You can waste an awful lot of time with those things." For the 15 years since a judge placed a number on his days, John has determined not to waste the one commodity he had to give to the Lord—his time (as cited on PreachingToday.com). If this man who knew he would be dying soon could have that kind of focus that made such a powerful impact on his life, what more can God do with us when we have that kind of focus in 2005 and beyond?

IV. Conclusion

A. That’s our challenge for the coming year. I pray that all of us choose to become more and more focused on Jesus Christ, becoming like Him in His death, and sharing His life with all we meet.

B. Let’s pray together.