Partners in Purpose
Daniel 6:1-10 and Philippians 1:12-30
What do you have to die for? What is there in your life worthy of your giving up your life? I submit that only those things worth dying for are worth living for, and if we have nothing worthy of our dying, then we have nothing worthy of our living.
So what is worth dying for in our
lives? People answer this question many
ways. Certainly our American history
proves that many will die for the sake of freedom. Closely associated with dying for our freedom is the sacrifice we
would make for our families. And, of
course, martyrs throughout the centuries have been willing to die for their
faith. In any case, if we have nothing
for which we would die, then we have nothing which helps us really to live. To discover that which makes us really live
is to discover purpose in life.
Purpose in life seems to be what
Paul is talking about in today’s passage from Philippians. Paul obviously has discovered his purpose in
life: “To live is Christ,” he tells us.
It is now left up to us to discover our purpose in life, but it is not
left up to us alone for we are partners with God. Our part of the partnership is to seek out our purpose in Jesus
Christ. God’s part of the partnership
is to give meaningfulness to our lives as we live for Jesus Christ. Our part and God’s part: together we are
partners in purpose.
*****
Paul’s purpose in life was to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. In today’s
passage we hear how Paul fulfills this purpose even from prison. From the Book of Acts we know that Paul was
arrested in Jerusalem for preaching the gospel, but he appealed his charge to
Caesar, which meant that by Roman law Paul had to be transported to Rome where
he could stand trial before the emperor.
At the time of this letter to the Philippians, Paul is under a kind of
house arrest whereby he couldn’t leave the room he was probably renting, but
others could come visit him at their convenience. Paul takes this opportunity of limited freedom to fulfill his
purpose in life, which is to preach the gospel.
With
his memorable and eloquent phrase, Paul tells us, “For me, to live is Christ
and to die is gain.” Paul knows that if
he keeps living he will continue to fulfill his purpose to preach, even if only
from prison. Paul also knows that if he
dies he goes to live with Christ, which is better by far. But even though to depart to be with Christ
is better for Paul personally, so intent is he on fulfilling his purpose, so
intent is he on giving glory to God, that Paul is convinced he will remain to
continue to preach for the progress and joy in the faith of those who
hear. Note this, however: one thing
Paul does not even mention as a possibility is the idea that he would not
preach. Preaching is what landed him in
prison, but not preaching was not an option.
For Paul, to refuse to preach would be to deny his existence.
Paul’s
passion for his purpose reminds us of Daniel in today’s Old Testament lesson.
Daniel’s purpose in life was to glorify God in all that he did. As an administrator, Daniel fulfilled his
duties with competence. Daniel was
faithful to the king by handling the king’s business well. But Daniel was even more faithful to
God. When the king passed a law that
would require Daniel to compromise his faith, Daniel was unwilling to be
compromised. Daniel’s life purpose was
found in being obedient to the Lord God and worshiping the Lord above all
others. So Daniel would not deny his
purpose by refusing to pray. For
Daniel, to refuse to pray would have been to deny his very existence.
Paul
and Daniel’s passion and purpose remind us of what Presbyterians historically
have said about our purpose for living in this world. Question #1 in The
Westminster Catechism from our Book
of Confessions asks, “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer is given, “Man’s chief end is
to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
What this question tells us is that Presbyterians have always believed
that we have a purpose in this world, a chief end in the sense of aim or goal,
a primary purpose. What the answer
tells us is that Presbyterians have always believed something quite clear about
our chief end, that God’s glory and our enjoyment are partners in purpose.
*****
Paul, Daniel and the Presbyterians
of Westminster had a rare and valuable gift: clarity of purpose. Clarity of purpose is essential because
without a clear purpose we are as likely to wander down a wrong path as we are
to wander down a right path; this is true whether it is the life of faith or
any other human endeavor. Consider.
V
What
happens if our purpose in relationships is our own, personal
gratification? Well, we are going to
live to maximize our physical and emotional needs, even at the expense of the
other. But what if our purpose in
relationships is to grow in our ability to love? Well, with this purpose, we will live in relationship in ways
that seek to nurture and challenge ourselves and the other that we may grow
closer to God and each other.
V
What
happens if our purpose at work is merely to make money? Well, we will be motivated for profit and
profit alone and less enthusiastic about those parts of the job that don’t make
us money? But what if our purpose in working
is to provide, not only monetarily for ourselves and our family, but also to
provide a service and a good to the community?
Well, with this purpose, we will enjoy profit as much as the next
person, but we will also find meaning and value in contributing to the
well-being of others.
V
What
happens if our purpose in going to school is to pass so that our parents don’t
get mad at us? Well, school will be
drudgery, and we will hate it. But what
if our purpose in going to school is to grow in knowledge and develop skills
that will help us get a job and grow as human beings? Well, with this purpose, school becomes an opportunity to
discover the sheer pleasure of learning.
Relationships,
jobs, school…we assign everything a purpose, and that purpose directs what kind
of meaning and significance that activity can have. The clearer we are about our purpose, the surer we will be that
we walk the path of God’s will for our lives.
The importance of understanding our
purpose can be seen also by looking at negative examples of what happens to
folks who seem to have lost their purpose. Consider.
V
What
happens when a young person has no sense of the future, no sense of hope, no
sense that he or she is heading in a particular direction worth pursuing? Well, that young person is a strong
candidate for drug use and other self-destructive behaviors.
V
What
happens when a “mom” has raised all her kids and now lives in the so-called
empty nest? Notice I did not ask what
happens to a “woman” who has raised her kids – those folks don’t have as
difficult a transition – I said a “mom.”
What happens to that woman who has defined herself, defined her purpose,
solely in terms of being a mom to her kids?
Well, that woman is going to struggle a bit.
V
What
happens to the man who has lived for his career but then retires to find “he
has no purpose.” Those of you of a
certain age may remember the late Coach Bear Bryant; do you remember how he
died two months after retiring from Alabama as football coach? Isn’t this the struggle of many men upon
retiring: they seem to ask themselves, “What will I do?” but the question they
are really asking is, “Who will I be?”
In their distortion of purpose, activity is confused with identity.
V
What
happens to the well elderly person who has entered that stage of life where he
or she seems to be defined mostly by their limits. They may have devoted their life to taking care of their family
or to great accomplishments at work and in the community, but now their purpose
is limited to intercessory prayer and the privilege of allowing others to grow
in the gift of servanthood.
Our sense
of purpose changes with each stage of life, but what does not change is the
fact that we need a sense of purpose.
*****
At the beginning of this sermon I
said that it is now left up to us to discover our purpose in life, but it is
not up to us alone, for we are partners with God in purpose. Our part of the partnership is to seek out
our purpose in Jesus Christ. God’s part
of the partnership is to give meaningfulness to our lives as we live for Jesus
Christ. We know from question one of
the catechism that our primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him
forever. This is what I call our
“global, at all times, for all people” purpose. Yet what we all ask ourselves is how we go about doing this? What does it look like for you and
for me to glorify God and enjoy him forever?
Does
it look different for you than it looks for me? For Paul, his path was to preach. For Daniel, his path was to be a good administrator and then
offer some civil disobedience when the situation called for it. Your path is probably something different
from either Paul or Daniel. It’s like
the old joke from the South about the young man who looked up and the clouds
spelled out “PC,” which the young man took to mean “preach Christ.” Only after many failures did he discern
that, for him, “PC” meant “pick cotton” (or, “play checkers” depending on how
the joke is told). As difficult as
discernment can be, there are principles that can guide us in our discovery of
purpose: the principles are giftedness, glorification and gratification.
The principle of giftedness means
that whatever we seek to do should bear some semblance to our giftedness for
the task. I remember a dentist in our
church in San Antonio named Bruce.
Bruce told me the story several times about when he retired early and
was looking for something he could do for the Lord. His wife told him she didn’t care what he did so long as he got
out of the house to do it. Bruce went
to our senior pastor and asked what he should do for the Lord with his spare
time. Duncan told him, “Bruce, you’re a dentist, and you’re a good one. Either revive your practice or volunteer at
a clinic, but do what you do well.”
Bruce chose to do both. And he
continued to do both for several years.
However, as he got older his stamina waned and his hands got shakier
(which is never what one wants: a dentist with shaky hands!), so he left his
practice. But in the meantime Bruce had
discovered he had the gift of presence and prayer with terminally ill
patients. To the end of this life,
Bruce was a hospice volunteer. He
applied the principle of giftedness in fulfilling his purpose in Christ.
The
principle of glorification means that whatever we seek to do should lead others
to glorify God. This principle is not
so much about what we do but how we do it.
We can be the pope or a teacher or work at the DOC and God is glorified
if what we do is done with integrity toward the work and with respect toward
the people with whom we work. I see the
principle of glorification as a critically important part of parenting. There is no greater inheritance one can give
children than to teach by word and example to honor God with one’s life, to
model integrity in all things and respect for all people. When we do this, we apply the principle of
glorification in fulfilling our purpose in Christ.
The
principle of gratification means that what we seek to do should be personally
satisfying. Now, there is a certain
amount of grunt work that no one likes and we all have to share in from time to
time; changing diapers will always be changing diapers. However, the principle of gratification
tells us we shouldn’t hate what we are doing.
I am reminded of the movie Chairot’s
of Fire about the true life person of Eric Liddel, the Scottish runner who
postponed his missionary work in China to run in the 1924 Olympics. In the movie, Eric’s sister was concerned
about his soul because he was giving so much of himself to the sport. Eric replied that, for him, he ran to
glorify God, for him, running must be God’s will because, “when I run, I feel
his pleasure.” Eric Liddel applied the
principle of gratification in fulfilling his purpose in Christ.
*****
What is your purpose? Where do giftedness, glorification and gratification meet in your life? Is your purpose worth living for?