Sermon -- 20th Sunday after Pentecost (October 11, 2026)

LET US PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL.

PHILIPPIANS 3:12-21

In the name + of Jesus.

     If you ever get to take a trip to northern Michigan, I highly recommend you visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  The dunes rise about 400 feet above Lake Michigan, and the views are spectacular.  The recommendation, however, also comes with a warning.  You will find a large parking lot in front of a dune simply called The Climb.  As the name suggests, you are encouraged to climb up.  The highlight of The Climb is running down it.  But to run down, you have to climb up.  Climbing up a sand dune is exhausting work.  Because the sand gives way went you press into it, your progress is very slow.  The top of the dune seems almost unreachable as your calves are burning from the climb.  Many stop along the way to rest.  But resting doesn’t get you to the top.  You have to strive and labor to reach the goal. 

     The Christian faith has a goal, as well.  As St. Paul noted, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).  The everlasting glories, peace, joy, and rest of heaven is our goal.  Your greatest comfort is that Jesus has secured this goal for you.  He has taken away every splotch of sin in you which would have kept you out.  He has clothed you in garments of salvation through holy baptism.  These cover you in the righteousness you need to enter its pearly gates.  He has overcome the grave and holds the keys to death and Hades.  Therefore, Jesus assures your release from death to eternal life.  When he comes again to judge the living and the dead, “he will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).  All these things Jesus secures for you.  So, if you keep your minds and hearts set on Jesus Christ, you have every confidence that you will reach the heavenly goal.

     But we are not there yet.  As St. Paul wrote, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus also took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it yet, but there is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).  Let us press on toward the goal.

     The Apostle Paul reminds us that we are still in the Church Militant.  We continue to struggle, battle, and strive toward that goal.  One of the enemies that we must battle is the world.  Worldly attitudes are constantly around us.  Worldly people live by them.  St. Paul noted, “Many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.  I told you about them often, and now I am saying it while weeping.  Their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, and their glory is in their shame.  They are thinking only about earthly things” (Philippians 3:18-19).  That sounds wicked, and it is.  Surprisingly, it does not appear wicked when we encounter it.  And we are enticed to join in so that we feel like we belong.

     When St. Paul says that their god is their appetite, he is saying that people will pursue whatever pleasures satisfy them.  They not only dedicate themselves to them, they are celebrated for them.  How many people are congratulated for their promiscuity?  How many people boast about how drunk they got?  How many seek approval for ripping people off?  And how many Christians have accepted this same kind of attitude or behavior because their friends have embraced it?  If your glory is in your shame, then your goal is completely different.  St. Paul warns about the end goal for such worldly thinking: “Their end is destruction” (Philippians 3:18). 

     Do not be deceived into thinking that Jesus’ promise and his enduring mercy gives you license for wickedness.  Do not be fooled into thinking, “If salvation is so sure, then it does not matter what I do or think.”  This is not doing battle with the sinful nature; it is conceding the battle to it.  And it is surely not striving toward the heavenly goal; it is clinging to the world.  The world is marked for destruction.  Those who cling to it will be destroyed with it.  That is why St. Paul urges you: “Only let us … walk in line with what we already have attained” (Philippians 3:16).

     Let us press on toward the goal.  The Lord Jesus Christ has delivered you from the curse of sin and from the fear of death.  He has set you apart for godliness and leads you on the path of righteousness.  Since he has put you on this path, keep your focus on Jesus and his words to guide you on the way.  Flee to this altar for the sustenance that strengthens you for the journey and for the battle.  This is how we “walk in line with what we already have attained” (Philippians 3:16).

     Let us press on toward the goal.  We are not there yet.  Even the likes of the Apostle Paul recognized that his place in God’s kingdom was not yet his place in the heavenly kingdom.  He was still in the Church Militant.  He still had to struggle and battle against the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh.  So do we.  But St. Paul also encouraged us to keep our focus on the goal.  He wrote, “There is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14). 

     We do well to forget the things that are behind.  It means that we do not rest on the achievements of the past.  Many here have observed the Rite of Confirmation.  In that rite, you were asked, “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?”  You swore before Christ and his Church that you would.  Perhaps that day stands out in your mind as a significant moment in your Christian faith.  Even though you can present a confirmation certificate, that day is long in the past.  No matter how much you benefited from your catechism studies, it was a step on your way to the heavenly goal.  But it was not the end. 

     Perhaps a comparison can be made to your wedding day.  No doubt, it was a highlight of your life.  But your wedding day was just the first day of your marriage.  Then came the work—learning to live together, work together, communicate with each other, and demonstrate patience with each other.  The blessings of marriage continued only as you worked on it together.  Gazing at your wedding photos did not resolve current tensions.  The goal is not just the wedding day; the goal is a joyful marriage.  The struggle to preserve it is on-going.  In the same way, the goal is not just that you are in church today—although it benefits you for the struggle; the goal is the heavenly kingdom.  Therefore, we do not live in the past.  “Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, [let us] press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14).  We give thanks to God for the blessings of the past.  We don’t dismiss them, but neither do we dwell on them. 

     Perhaps the things of your past which continue to resurface in your mind are not the blessings.  Perhaps you are plagued by your shame and your regrets.  We all have words and moments that we would like to have erased from our memories.  For good reason, King David taught us to pray, “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.  According to your mercy remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD” (Psalm 25:7).  Even if there are not life-long consequences to remind us, Satan gladly will. 

     How can one forget the sins of the past?  Perhaps you won’t.  Do you think St. Paul ever forgot that he had persecuted Christians?  Do you think David ever forgot that he had orchestrated the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba?  Do you think Simon Peter ever forgot that he had denied Jesus while Jesus was being beaten and condemned in the court of Caiaphas?  If you are haunted by your past, you can be sure they were, too.

     If you can’t forget your past, God may use that to prevent you from repeating it.  But if you can’t forget your past, then remember what God has done for you in the past.  He sent his Son into the world for the sole purpose of gaining for you your place in his holy kingdom.  To bring you into his holy kingdom, he had to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.  And he has.  Do not dwell on your sins; rather dwell on these words: “The blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  When the devil vexes you, shove those words in his face.  For, Jesus has wiped clean the record which stood against you.  You’ve been washed in the blood of Christ in your baptism.  You partake in the blood of Christ which was shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.  The things that Jesus achieved for you in the past are delivered to you here and now. 

     Let us press on toward the goal.  We do not dwell on the past—whether it was filled with blessings or regrets.  Nor do we dedicate ourselves to what is temporary in this world.  For this world and everything in it—whether good or bad—is passing away.  But your goal does not.  As St. Paul wrote, “Our citizenship is in heaven.  We are eagerly waiting for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.  By the power that enables him to subject all things to himself, he will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). 

     If your goal is to be perpetually healthy and strong, then press on toward the goal.  For Jesus Christ will raise you up with a body that will be eternally glorious.  If your goal is to live without pain or sorrow, then press on toward the goal.  For Jesus is restoring all things to the perfect state in which the world was first created.  If your goal is to live free from shame, regret, anxiety, stress, or suffering, then press on toward the goal.  For Jesus is preparing for us a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, which will be forever free from every effect of sin.  If your goal is to dwell in Paradise with the Lord, then continue to come to God’s house and to devote yourself to God’s word and sacraments.  For here, God comes to serve you.  Here, God delivers to you the blessings which will deliver you to that heavenly goal.

     Let us press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus also took hold of us.  Here, in this world, we are strangers; our goal is our citizenship in heaven.  Here, in the Church Militant, we struggle and battle and strive against the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh.  Our goal is the Church Triumphant where our Lord will give us rest from all our enemies.  Let us keep our focus on Jesus Christ and press on toward the goal.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.