What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ….

           The prophet Jeremiah looked forward to a day when exiled Israel would be restored. While writing about that future hope, he quoted the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.

           God desires that his Word be written on our hearts. God wants us to know him.

           This is what Paul wrote about in our reading from Philippians. Paul said that if anyone had reason to put confidence in the flesh, he had more. Then look at what he wrote next. He said he was circumcised on the eighth day. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. In other words, he considered himself the best kind of Jew. Regarding the law, Paul said he was a Pharisee. He persecuted the church. And then—get this—as for legalistic righteousness, he said he was without fault.

           Those were quite bold statements by Paul. He was heaping some rather lavish praise upon himself. As for legalistic righteousness—blameless. He obeyed the law of God. He obeyed the Ten Commandments… and then some. As a Pharisee, he not only obeyed God’s law—in his opinion—he also obeyed his interpretation of the law.

 But then he met Jesus. Paul had a dramatic encounter with Jesus on a road to Damascus. And all of his obedience and legalistic righteousness he considered a loss and rubbish. Rubbish when compared to knowing Jesus. We need to be careful to note that Paul was not saying obedience was rubbish. He was saying it was rubbish when compared to knowing Jesus. Everything is nothing when compared to knowing Jesus. There was a time when God’s law was, for Paul, a code of conduct written on paper. But then it came to be written on his heart. And he desired to know Jesus.

           The Old Testament lectionary reading for today is a passage in the book of Exodus, chapter twenty. The Ten Commandments. When we think of Exodus, we think of the Ten Commandments and the giving of the law. But next time you read from that book—especially the first twenty chapters—take note of how many times God refers to his people just getting to know him. God’s desire was to be known.

           Paul’s desire was to know Jesus. And this was the kind of knowledge that went beyond intellectual knowledge. It was more intimate than knowledge of certain facts and figures. This kind of knowledge is actually sharing in the experience of another—walking in their shoes.

           Maybe this has happened to you. Laurie and I were on vacation in a place far from here. On the day we were leaving to return home, we were being driven from the place we dropped off our rental car to the airport terminal. We were the only ones on the small bus. So the driver started chatting. He asked where we were from. We told him we were from Minnesota. And then he went into this thing about how he was a big Vikings fan. He was,

too. He knew a lot of stuff. And then  he said—honest—he said, “Being from Minnesota, you must know Bud Grant.”

           Any of you have this experience? You are far from home. Someone learns you are from Minnesota. They know someone in Minnesota. They ask you if you know that person, too. I’ve done the asking. I ran into someone from Kentucky. I asked him if he knew so-and-so. His reply was, “Well, you know, Kentucky is a pretty big place. I don’t know everyone.”

           We know people in varying degrees. Some we don’t know. Some we say we know, but they are an acquaintance. Some are friends and we know a little about them and we will do things with them. This may be the biggest group. I have a number of fishing buddies who fall into this category.

           But then there are those we truly know. Intimate knowledge. So intimate that their experience is our experience. When they laugh, we laugh. When they hurt, we cry. So intimate that when they are in trouble, we would trade places. We would lay down our lives for them. So intimate that we can discern what they think and feel. We are bound up together with them.

           Paul desired to know Jesus. And so do we. We desire to know Jesus to the extent that the experience of Jesus is our experience. How did Paul put it? “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

           We share in the fellowship of Jesus’ suffering. We identify with him in his death. We will experience the power of his resurrection.

           What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ….