Now is a time we begin to wonder where we are headed. For some of us it's vacation plans we're trying to figure out. Where will we go to "get away from it all" for a few days this summer? For others it might be work or family matters that seem at a crossroads or up in the air. What am I doing with my career or my life? And for us here at Old South, just a week after Jim Crawford's final Sunday with us, there is an air of uncertainty and strain as we try to accept the reality of his retirement after leading this church for twenty-eight years. Where are we going? What's the plan, the next step, the new direction?

While a Fodor's Guide or the Globe Travel Section may be where we turn to sort out our ideas for summer escape, the Bible is the place to start when we feel lost in any other aspect of our lives. Sustaining those in our faith tradition for centuries, the Old and New Testaments seek to speak to us as well, no matter how intellectually sophisticated or technologically advanced we may be. Rather than running to the self-help section at Barnes and Noble or the nearest career planner in the yellow pages, we turn to these sacred scriptures when our direction seems uncertain or unclear. As defined by Daniel Webster after all, the Bible is, "A book of faith, and a book of doctrine, and a book of morals, and a book of religion, of special revelation from God." It's to the Letter to the Philippians then that we direct our question this morning. Bringing our fears of uncertainty to God in this place of worship and prayer we say to one of the most prominent and early leaders of the church, "Where are we going, Paul? Where are we headed now?"

Paul is accustomed to hearing such questions. We needn't have any concerns about catching him off guard or finding him at a loss for words or inspiration. A man whose life was changed so dramatically by that radical conversion he experienced on his way to persecute members of the early church, this apostle is one who has deep compassion for men and women trying to find their way in the world by following the Christian faith. Even more than the stories of the Old Testament or the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, his Epistles were written in order to help specific members of the church find specific guidance and direction when there seemed nowhere else to turn. Writing these letters so that they could be read aloud during worship, Paul always offers a clear path toward faithful and devoted living.

And so we turn with the women and men of Philippi to hear him address our concerns. Following the traditional components of salutation and thanksgiving found in each of his letters we enter a segment today that biblical commentators call "Exhortations for the Meantime," a passage describing how the community can deal with practical and theological concerns until he is able to visit them again. In these verses Paul lays out three fundamental aspects of Christian discipleship that should be followed when we wonder where we are going, personally and as a community that calls itself the church.

First, and most foundationally, he preaches sacrifice as the road to meaning and salvation. Beginning this passage with a reflection on the suffering of Christ Paul lifts up our Easter theology, bearing witness to God's redemptive power found in the face of Good Friday. "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ," he writes, reminding the early church and us here today that we are called to do the same: to follow the model and teachings of Christ. As Jesus trusted God to guide him, so we are to look to God for leadership and strength; as Jesus offered healing and love, so we are to give our lives to service; as Jesus suffered death for the salvation of humankind, so we are to sacrifice our personal desires for comfort and affluence for the sake of those in need. Preaching the power of the resurrection with the sacrificial elements of the cross Paul shows us how we are to move forward as Christians individually and communally. Described by theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic work on ethics, Paul is illustrating here that, "The Church is nothing but a section of humanity in which Christ has really taken form. The Church is the man in Christ, incarnate, sentenced and awakened to new life." This is the first foundational point of direction offered to us today.

The second comes in the next paragraph as we imagine his words read aloud to the congregation: "Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me." Encouraging us to follow in his footsteps Paul is not merely tooting his own horn here but rather offering solace that we are not alone in our struggle to live faithfully in this world. He's assuring us that there are others with whom we can join in solidarity and trust as we strive to live as devoted Christians. "You don't have to be like the enemies of the cross," Paul writes, implying, "You don't have to succumb to the pressures of the secular world. You can be like me. You can live like Jesus with others who are trying to do the same."

Paul knew the importance of such fellowship and camaraderie. He understood the need to offer both an example as well as a helping hand. Aware of the many conflicting messages the Philippians were getting from other authorities he sought to provide clear Christian theology to help free them from such divisive strain. For Jewish converts that meant stressing that it is God's grace that saves, not following the law to the letter. For Gentiles it meant replacing dozens of secular idols and gods with a monotheistic divinity. For us here in the twenty-first century it means keeping the Christian love and faith alive while we find ourselves immersed in a more agnostic and atheistic culture. Paul knows that as members of the church we face ongoing pressures from the outside world that threaten to weaken our faith and so he offers himself as a shepherd and guide. Oh, yes, "Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us."

Accepting the fact that we are not alone in our efforts to live like Christ is such an important aspect of our tradition. Unlike many of the new age philosophies that lead people to a more individualized spirituality of self-enlightenment Paul helps us to see that Christianity can only be lived out in community. This is not a naval-gazing faith that offers singular change or peace of mind. Rather, it is a radical proclamation that transforms our entire understanding of and relationship with the world. Embracing the path of Christian discipleship we recognize that before any other loyalty or creed we claim ourselves to be members of the church and therefore citizens of heaven.

This is the third and very critical teaching in our passage today. Using a phrase found only in this letter, "our citizenship is in heaven," Paul reveals that the question "where are we going?" is often best answered by first appreciating where it is we come from. We come from God; we are children of God. No matter where we find ourselves, no matter how lost we may feel, this is the transforming reality that offers clear direction and purpose. As citizens of heaven we remember our place in this world and are empowered to move forward.

And so with Paul's help we see that in our struggles to find direction in life we need never feel abandoned: we walk daily with other disciples and we journey onward with the grace of God. Whether our fears consume us in this house of worship or only when we are by alone Paul's Letter to the Philippians reminds us that the Christian journey is one of fellowship and purpose. As captured by Old South's minister of twenty-seven years, Dr. Frederick Meek, back in 1951, "The Christian has always insisted that the great search of life is the search for the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God sounds like a remote, far-away region with which we need not concern ourselves in a busy episodic life. But the Kingdom of God is within the person, and everything else is external to that. We find the Kingdom of God where we are, and in the finding of it we know our greatest happiness. We find it by doing what lies to our hand, realizing that we labor with God."

So if you find yourself wondering where you are headed at this time in your life, be assured with those first disciples that Christ offers you direction. If you are a part of this community or any other that is going through transition and change, trust with members of the historic church that God will provide leaders like Paul, Fred Meek, Jim Crawford. Here in this Letter to the Philippians we receive three vital truths from that early apostle reminding us that we are forever led in Christ's direction, called to a life of sacrifice and service. We recall that we are not alone on this journey, but rather traveling with all the saints of time and with one another. We proclaim that above any other pledge of loyalty or allegiance we are citizens of God's realm, living from the promise of transformed and resurrected life. As Thomas Carlyle wrote in the early eighteen hundreds, "Our grand business in life is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." Today we recognize our need to faithful today, praying that tomorrow we will have the courage and grace to do the same.

Let us pray.

Eternal God, we pray this day for your grace and guidance. We pray for strength, mercy and care. When we feel lost teach us to trust like Christ. When we feel alone teach us to walk with Christ. When we feel abandoned remind us that we are members, citizens of your holy realm, this day and always. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING
Philippians 3: 10 - 4: 1

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.