I was 13 when Bob Dylan released the song from his Christian era; “Pressing On“. And of course its inspiration is our passage today from Philippians 3. “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Bob Dylan’s – Pressing On.
Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my lord.Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind
Say, “Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign”
What kind of sign they need when
it all come from within
When what’s lost has been found, what’s
to come has already been?Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my lord.Shake the dust off of your feet, don’t look back
Nothing can hold you down, nothing that you lack
Temptation’s not an easy thing,
Adam given the devil reign
Because he sinned I got
no choice, it run in my vein.Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my lord.
The King James Version says it like this; “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. “High calling” is a more accurate translation than “heavenly calling” as we had read; Bob Dylan has a good translation; “the higher calling of my Lord.”
When Paul wrote this letter to the Christian community in Philippi, a place that was in Macedonia at that time, but today is in Greece, he was under house arrest in Rome awaiting trial. Paul had spent two years in prison in Caesarea and was then transported to Rome where he was under house arrest for a further two years. At the end of this time, mid 60’s of 1st. Century, it is Christian tradition, that Paul was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero. But earlier than all this, Paul had been to Philippi and it is believed to be the place where Christianity first became a part of people’s lives in Europe through the conversion of a woman named Lydia. There is a wonderful passage from Acts 16 which describes Philippi and Lydia’s conversion and the work of Paul.
11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us. [Acts 16: 12.]
When Paul wrote the letter from which we read today, to the church in Philippi, there was division in the church, rivalry and selfish competition, and often persecution of Christians and Philippi was a place where Paul himself had been persecuted just as he wrote later that he had “suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi” [1 Thessalonians 2: 2.]
And so as Paul writes to this Christian community he urges them to press on, to be resolute in their faith, just as he himself, even a prisoner, and suffering, presses on “toward(s) the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
This ‘prize’ is for Paul, that place of being with God. It is heaven, just as Paul uses that word, “heavenly call”, and just as Jesus used that word ‘heaven’ constantly throughout the gospels. It follows up on John’s gospel where Jesus says; “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also”.
I think I have shared with you before how curious I find that element of human nature that responds to some prize or reward. I don’t agree with teachers handing out rewards, or charities offering incentives, or that socially ingrained attitude of… “What’s in it for me…?” Many things, both good and bad, have been done for some reward, and in the area of faith, so too, good and bad, have been done because of some passionate belief in the higher reward. In today’s world, we have actually seen how destructive and evil that passionate belief in the higher reward or prize can be when some deadly act is confused with the desire of God for which there is this glorious reward. But for sure, these acts are not of the God of Jews, Muslims, or Christians.
I can understand Paul, after years of persecution and imprisonment, waiting for what he must have known would be his death, pondering in his faith what lies ahead for him beyond death, and therefore encouraging the Christians in Philippi to look ahead, not back, and to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” [I remember when my own father was dying, I asked him if he wanted me to organise some quiet music for him to listen to, to which he replied, “no thanks, I’m just focusing on God.”] I can understand Paul looking at that time in his life to the prize of the heavenly call; – focusing on God. But for me, perhaps because I’m not dying, or at least not dying very fast, the words that are strongest in this passage, are not the prize, not the heavenly call, not the reward, but the “pressing on”. I think Bob Dylan actually picked up the strongest, most meaningful, and encouraging words of this whole passage; “pressing on”. For me it seems a peculiar thing, that the living community of faith should focus on the prize, rather than the pressing on.
It is the pressing on, and on, and on, that is the significant act of faithfulness for any people, in any age, and in all of life’s experiences. It is the pressing on, and on, and on, that is central part of faith in God and the core act of nurturing our relationship with God. It is the pressing on that should be the central desire of the gathered community as they seek to live out the way of Christ.
For sure, Paul has pressed on throughout his life, and through great suffering.
Jesus laments over Jerusalem, as he presses on towards that great city, and towards what he must by now know is going to be his imminent place of death.
And for us too, as individuals, there no doubt comes a time when the heavenly call is more up front in our minds than the pressing on.
But for us now as the living community it is the pressing on that we are called to, not always looking back, but looking forward. It is the pressing on that is the mark of our faithfulness in Christ. It is the pressing on, that will enable us to share the way of Christ with others.
Press on in faith, when the way is hard.
Press on in faith, when the ground seems to shrink under your feet.
Press on in your relationship with God and as you ponder God’s place in your life.
Press on to seek those things which are higher callings, but for this life, such as love, forgiveness, and grace.
And let us press on as a Christian Community, looking forward, to the call of God upon us, that we will grow in our understanding of the way of Christ, and continue to live it out amongst others.
Let us pray.
Lord, may we be a people who “press on” in our faith and love of you.
Press on with us, on the way.
We pray.
Amen.