A Powerful Purpose

Philippians 3:13, 14

A waiter was asked how he handled all of the orders.
He answered, " I just throw my mind into neutral and go where I'm pushed."

All too many of us are like that.
We have thrown our minds into neutral and are drifting with the currents.
People like this are yielding to the pressure of the group.
Whatever is popular at the moment, they are doing it.
If the crowd is playing cards -- so are they.
If the latest rage is… ... then they are…

If fashion decrees that dresses should be shorter, then women will hem their skirts or buy a new one.
If the fashion of dresses is longer, then women will let their hems down.
Many seem to have no settled purpose of their own.
They repeat the current fads, and echo the prejudices of the crowd.
Their minds are in neutral, and they are going to go whereever they are pushed.

The Apostle Paul found a similar situation in the church at Phillippi.
He warned the Christians in Phillippi not to allow themselves to become engaged in nonessentials.
Sincere Jewish Christians had made the Philippians feel that they must conform to Jewish customs
if they are to reach the highest levels of Christian experience.

Paul warned against an overly concern with the past, and urged them to be so proud of
all that they had achieved.
Above all else, he urged them to find a central purpose in harmony with the mind of Christ.
He pointed to that purpose and indicated what we can do to reach the goal:
"… But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I pressed on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3: 13-14)

" One thing I do!"
There is tremendous power in singleness of purpose.
When we know what we want and we strive for it, power and purpose come into our lives.
Concentrating on a dominant purpose is vastly different from idle wandering from one thing
to another without any fixed goal.
It is easy to be distracted by side issues and to dissipate our energies in the pursuit
of minor goals.
When we have our minds in neutral, we are pushed to please others instead of moving
in the direction that we should be moving.

When we concentrate on our goal we find the power to accomplish the one thing we have set
as our purpose.
Concentrating is something that all of us can do.
We have does this as children, but too often we lose it when we grow up.
Children can concentrate so completely on what they are doing that they are
are oblivious to everything that goes on around them.
Children have the ability to give themselves completely to one thing at a time.

There are those who have this power of concentration, and they hear jokes about them
being absent minded.
People who seem to be " absent-minded" are often present-minded individuals.
They can pass you on the street, and while they are not unfriendly, they may fail to return
your greeting.
They are absorbed in their own thoughts, and they are as much alone as if they were
on a deserted island.
Singleness of purpose always brings power into the life of an individual, regardless of what
that purpose is.

But there is more to Paul's technique than singleness of purpose.
We can be defeated by too good a memory.
So Paul urges his readers to forget everything that is past.
He is really saying that we really need a good " forgettor".

A good memory is well worth having, and it should be developed.
The person who stores up great inspirational thoughts and encouraging passages
of Scriptures will have a wonderful reservoir upon which to call upon in the hour of need.
When sorrow or temptation sweeps across the soul, treasures stored in memory will
strengthen, sustain and provide guidance.

But even more important than a good memory, as significant as that is, is to have a good "forgettor".
This is the ability to let go what has happened including the pleasant and unpleasant,
and the successes and the failures.
Past failures can cause present fears, and past achievements may make us so satisfied
with ourselves that we will not be interested in new challenges.

We must forget the failures of the past.
It is not only our failures that cause our fears and handicaps and prevents us from trying again;
our successes may also be a hindrance.
We may remember too well the service we have already given.
Past achievements and past service may become a stumbling block to future efforts
and to new achievements.

A man and his wife moved from one part of a large city to another.
They moved from the church in the old community to a larger one close to their new home.
In the former church the husband had been a deacon and the wife had been the president
of the Women's Missionary Union.
They had been regular in their attendance and loyal in their service and interested in all
the activities of the church.

In their new church they had determined to let somebody else work, and that they were
going to take it easy.
They had given years of service, and now their attitude was to let others do it.
Nothing could be done to enlist their participation in the life of the new church.
The memory of past service was too strong that they needed a good "forgettor".

Also, failure or sorrow may defeat us.
Even though the scars of our sin can still be seen, and the consequences experienced,
it is a blessing it is to know that God forgives, and gives us new beginnings.

An unknown poet says:
" Build on resolve, and not the fond regret,
the structure of thy future…
Waste no tears upon the blotted record of lost years.
But turn the leaf, and smile, O smile, I see the clean white pages that remain for thee."

There is no healthier attitude toward life than to remember that each day is a new day.
We must remember that there is a " clean white page" upon which we can write
a new day's experience without regard to what happened yesterday.

We may have lost control of our temper, yesterday.
We may have spoken words that were cruel, yesterday.
We may have chosen selfish indulgence -- nevertheless, today is a new day.
When we cultivate the ability to forget, accept forgiveness, and forgive ourselves, we will discover
the power of purposeful living.

Paul is very sure of the power of a purpose.
He said: " Straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…"
Paul was remembering the runner at the Olympic games which he had probably witnessed many times.
The runner takes his position, alert and eager to spring forward when the signal is given.
This principle holds true for the game of life.

Fatigue is often the result of a lack of a definite purpose.
If the body is organically sound, illness may be nothing more than the lack of a purpose for living.
All of us have experienced the let-down that comes when we take a vacation,
and we especially want and plan to have a restful one..
On this kind of vacation there is no real reason for getting up in the morning,
and we do not have to set our alarm clock.
We are under no stress, so we do only what we want to do and when we want to do it.

Back home and on the job again, we do need an alarm clock to be sure to be on time for our work.
Before we fall asleep, we make our plans for the next day.
In the morning we will jump out of bed to do the the things we had planned last night.

In the book, How Never To Be Tired, the author writes that tiredness does not come
from too much physical labor, but rather from the lack of an engaging and absorbing interest in something.
When we have something very interesting to do, we forget about ourselves and discover
that we are not so tired.
And then, we are not so tired but that one good night's sleep will get us ready for a new day.

What is true of fatigue and retirement applies equally to overcoming handicaps.
Handicaps get some people down, but to others, they become only a challenge to a renewed effort.

This was seen in the live of Glenn Cunningham.
Glenn Cunningham was born on a Kansas farm, and attended school in a one room frame building.
The building was heated by a big stove in the center of the room, and Glenn and his brother were
responsible for starting the fire each morning.

One morning they came early as usual to build the fire.
They poured some kerosene in the stove to hurry the process.
There were a few live embers from the day before, and an explosion occurred.

Glenn turned and dashed for the door, but when he looked back, his brother was not with him.
He went back for his brother and they were both found at the door.
Glenn had dragged his brother to the door before he was overcome by smoke.

His brother died a few days later, and Glenn's legs were badly burned.
It was thought he would never walk again.
No one would ever imagine that he would grow up to be a record-breaking track star.

As little boys, Glenn and his brother had a goal to break the world's record in running.
Glenn's disappointment after the accident was tremendous.
He stayed in bed for a long while, but eventually, he was able to get up and do chores.
He would lean on the plowshares and hobble across the fields following a mule.

At the age of 18, he took a job working on the rear loading platform of a Kansas City packing house.
He couldn't walk very well, and he could run very little, so he would hobble in his own way
at a very fast pace.
Glenn was still consumed with a passionate desire to be a great runner.
He entered college in his early twenties.

At 25, his legs were still scarred from the accident years before, and he still could not walk too well.
But having a great goal in his mind, Glenn Cunningham broke the world's record for the mile race
which was slightly over 4 minutes.
Two years later, he broke his own record and established a new one.
He discovered there is tremendous power in a purpose which he always kept in his mind.

Paul has some other important words:
"… I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
We must have a great purpose -- an " upward call," if we are to get the most out of life.

We can drift along with our minds in neutral always seeking the approval of others
or we can set our minds on a high and holy purpose.
If we set our minds on a higher purpose, we will find abundant power for the realization of our goal.
And in that process, we will discover the secret of purposeful living.
We will find strength to overcome our fears and anxieties, and we will have the power
to be victorious over the unfavorable circumstances in our lives.

Paul tells us that we must always keep our eyes on the prize.
It is like the Olympic athlete who trains tirelessly and relentlessly to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
When they get tired, they imagine what it will be like to stand on the platform and hear
the National Anthem of their country being played, and that picture spurs them on.

Many years ago, a young black child was growing up in Cleveland, in a home which he later
described as "materially poor, but spiritually rich."
One day a famous athlete named Charlie Paddock came to his school to speak to the students.
At that time Paddock was considered "the fastest human being alive."
He asked the children, "What do you want to be?
You name it, and then, believe that God will help you be what you want to be."

That day one of the boys decided that he wanted to be the fastest human being on earth.
The boy went to his track coach and told him of his new dream.

His coach told him, "It's good to have a great dream, but to attain your dream
you must build a ladder to it.
Here is the ladder to your dreams.
The first rung is determination!
And the second rung is dedication!
The third rung is discipline!
And the fourth rung is attitude!"

The result of all that motivation was that he went on to win four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
He won the 100 meter dash and broke the Olympic and world records for the 200 meter.
His broad jump record lasted for twenty-four years.

The young man was Jesse Owens.
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988)
pp. 26-27.

What is your purpose in life?
Paul provides one that would please God, and one that should inspire us to purposeful living.
It is found in Philippians 3:13-14:
"Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things
which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,
I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
(ASV)
Sermon adapted from several sources by Dr. Harold L. White