Philippians 1:18b-26
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
Everyone looks to the future.
Obviously.
We all have expectations. We all have calendars and plans of one sort or other. As soon as you were a reality, they said your mother was "expecting."
All of life thereafter is one expectation after another.
Once you were born it was expected that about 365 days later you would take your first step. Soon you'd learn to tie your shoes. It was expected.
First Sunday School, first time to ride a bike, getting down your times tables, mastering memory of the Six Chief Parts, getting a high school diploma and a thousand other things are commonly "expected."
Sadly, there are some who never realize the expected. Alas, somewhere around 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Accidents make others, young and old, incapable of taking a step. How many children are never exposed to the Bible or Luther's Catechism, so how can they be expected to understand things of the Spirit?
Just expecting something doesn't mean it comes true. Yet everyone knows the inevitability of some kind of future.
What St. Paul rejoices over in his letter to the Philippians is not merely the fact of a future but his joy in what that future held because of Jesus Christ.
Paul didn't know whether he was to live long. He didn't know what work or courage would be required if his days were lengthened. He didn't know what travels would be his to take or by what death he would die.
But he did know to Christ belonged all the credit for carrying him safely whether in life or in death.
Ever since, Christians who ponder all the possibilities of life will always come back to this known certainty: "To live is Christ, and to die is gain." On this we place all our expectations.
Here is anchored the impossibility of losing no matter what comes. Christ is Victor in life and in death. That alone creates the eager expectancy in our lives.
Sure, like anyone, a Christian can make guesses about the course and chronology ahead for himself. Christians too speculate about a career path or try to forecast how things will go. Even when a doctor gives bad news, the basic question is, "Doc, what can I expect?"
There is a big difference however between expecting and actually realizing. Pediatricians can offer educated estimates about an expected child. But he can't say for sure. Gerontologists can estimate someone's longevity, but they don't always have it right. We know a lot of cancer patients doing wonderfully and for whom a prognosis was way off.
God has our lives in His hands. That's what we Christian's depend upon. Faith in Jesus.
Weather forecasters are accurate for about ten minutes. God knows exactly what's best for us forever. The guy who works as an insurance actuary computes risks and probabilities based on statistics, but nobody really knows for sure.
Nobody, of course, except the Christian.
The Christian knows from the very Word of God that whatever comes will turn out splendidly. We Christians know our lives will be useful under whatever circumstances because Christ designs, enables, and furthers them.
Like with Paul, our expectations don't ultimately rest on our own choices. He said he couldn't pick the best path to follow. He wanted to go to heaven, but he realized God had great blessing for him here too.
Paul trusted that God would bless the right or the left. He trusted Christ was with him in the living or the dying. He lived by faith.
When you live that way too, you will hear others conclude that you are only guessing on God. When you trust in Christ there will always be those who say you can't absolutely expect things like deliverance from death or the gain of a better world to come true.
But the only reason they say that is because they don't know Christ.
You do.
The Christian eagerly expects tomorrow because Christ is in his body.
The Christian expects fruitfulness in his labors because of the abundance of Christ.
The Christian rejoices--period. Come life or death, to be a Christians is supreme joy.
And the Christian even knows death will be a gain because blessed are those who die in the Lord.
These things are not wishful thinking. They are the expectancies of those who have heard, believed, and been made happy by the promises of Christ.
For if the God who gave His life for you and rose again promises it, you can expect-- and depend upon-- and look forward to-- absolutely everything the Word of God has guaranteed.
