As we travel through this season of Lent, we have the opportunity to pause from our hectic schedules and take inventory of our lives. Are you headed down the right road? Are you acting like a child of God? The Apostle Paul in these words from his letter to the Philippians encourages us to evaluate ourselves. He urges us to look out and look up.

Having role models can be tricky. How often haven’t you seen someone you respect fall to their own shame? Did they let you down? They seemed to be going down the right path, but then the truth came out and they were exposed for who they really were.

St. Paul wrote, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Paul was their role model. He basically told them, “Do as I say and as I do.” He wasn’t bragging about how good he was as a Christians. Remember this was the same guy who called himself the chief of sinners. On the contrary he wanted them to know how good God was in his life. God had changed him from the man who hunted down Christians to the man who spent the rest of his days preaching the gospel. The example that Paul wanted them to follow was only good because of Jesus.

Paul loved those Christians dearly. He thought of them as family and he couldn’t bear the thought that they would ever go astray. He wrote, “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” The warning was clear: LOOK OUT FOR THE WORLD!

Look around you. Things haven’t changed. That warning is for us too. Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Those people are everywhere and our culture props them up like idols to be worshipped – the movie directors who seek to destroy the name of Jesus, the movie stars who glamorize false religions like scientology, the athletes who perpetuate the idea of eat, drink, and be merry no matter what the consequences. And they aren’t even the worse because most people can see right through them. The worst are those who are wolves in sheep clothing. The beloved talk show host who tells everyone they can find true peace and happiness if they just work hard enough for it or the TV preacher who convinces millions that if they complete their walk with God by obeying the commandments then they can go to heaven. Those are the worst. They are enemies of the cross.

Now take inventory of your own life. Are you going down the wrong path and chasing after these idols. In the cross of Christ there is no compromise with sin. There is no option for you to blatantly sin and say, “Oh well, God will forgive me later.” There is no place for justifying your sins, whether it is being mean to wife, getting drunk on Friday night, gossiping about others, or cheating on your taxes. You can’t just give lip-service to God and then live like the world. As Paul wrote, “Their destiny is destruction.” Unrepentant sin leads straight to hell. Look out for the world and evaluate your life.

Why? Why are we evaluating our lives? Why are we trying to avoid the sins of the world? Our sermon text for today answers that question with, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” That’s right. You may have an address in Adrian, or Hillsdale, or Blissfield, or Onsted, but that is not your home. The believer’s home is in heaven. We may live in the world, but we don’t let the world live in us.

Yes, our names are written in heaven. Our mansions are prepared for us in paradise. We don’t pay the mortgage though. We don’t earn the right to live in heaven. It is given to us freely by the grace of God who sent Jesus. He paid the mortgage for us by doing everything his Father commanded. He lived a pure and innocent life not giving into the temptations of the devil and the world. Jesus willingly gave himself as a sacrifice for the whole world. He shed his blood on the cross to remove the stain of sin that plagued us all. And then miraculously he defeated death by rising from the grave. His bones are not there. He wasn’t left in a box after he died. He came back to life and triumphantly ascended into heaven.

Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection gives us heaven. And we eagerly wait for him to come and take us there. When he comes, the Apostle Paul says that he will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Yes, it is true. When the Lord returns, all those who believe in him will be transformed. We will put on that robe of righteousness that Christ earned for us on the cross. We won’t be gods, but we will be like Jesus in his perfect righteousness. Jesus will restore everything that sin has corrupted or destroyed. There will be no anguish over guilt. There will be no tears of sufferings. There will be no more heartache. Look up! Look up to heaven and wait for Jesus. He is coming. Believe it. Feel it. Take joy in it.

And while you are looking up, Paul advises you with one more encouragement. Stand firm while you wait. Remember that Paul loved those Christians in the city of Philippi. Just listen to the words he uses to describe them – my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown … my dear friends. He wanted nothing bad to happen to them and so he was concerned that they would start following the ways of the world. He was concerned that they did not have good role models.

So Paul urged them to stand firm following the ways of him and other faithful Christians. What better role models can you have? First of all, it would do you well to follow the Apostle Paul. What I mean by that is get into the Bible books of Philippians, Romans, Galatians, Corinthians and Paul’s other writings. Study them. Learn from them. Grow strong through them. They are the word of God and will make you strong to stand firm against the assaults of the world.

And then find your role models in this family of Christians. You have so many to choose from. Look around you and see people who are living their faith each and every day. Lean on them. Listen to them. Let them through the sharing of the gospel and with their shoulders to cry on support you as you stand firm.

We must regularly take stock of our lives to find out what direction we are heading in. Thankfully we have the words of Scripture as our compass. Thankfully that compass always points us to the cross of Christ where we see the grace of God shining like the brightest star in the night sky. When you pause to evaluate your life, look out for the world which would drag you away and look up for Christ who will take you to heaven. Amen.