The final two lectionary passages work their way to the grand finale, like the big barrage of fireworks at the end of a celebration, Phil 2:5-11 arrives on the scene as one of the seminal texts dealing with the confession that Jesus is Lord. Perhaps the most important element is that this moves completely away from our common understanding of an individual confession to the amazing statement that it is God that has crowned Jesus as Lord. 2 Cor 5:15-21 emphasizes the reconciliation of all humanity to God through Jesus, it is Christ that is renewing the world through the power at work at the resurrection. Phil 3:4-14 is a powerful personal declaration that no achievement on our part, spiritual or otherwise, no matter how grand can add or detract from the work accomplished by Christ in God. Paul is willing to give up all of his credentials as worthless to simply be able to grow in the knowledge of Christ and the righteousness that comes from God. The declaration the Jesus is Lord is important for our lives as Christians, not only because it focuses us away from those other things that claim value on our lives but also focuses us on the grace of God's sacrifice and redeeming action. Our own personal pride, our achievements and attainments, our nationalistic hopes, all have a way of keeping our eyes off the call of God in Christ Jesus. Although this is an amazing gift of God's grace, freely given in love to us, there is a cost. The face of Jesus in the painting by Titian 1565, expresses in the face of Jesus the call that we are to follow the one that is Lord in our life. To confess that Jesus is Lord is to follow Jesus as Lord. Not in our own strength, only in the power of the Holy Spirit. However, that call is a call to die to ourselves. Dying to self in following Christ as Lord, is dying to the selfish, isolating, greedy, fearful lives that result in our wanting to be our own Lord. Giving way to living a life described in the sermon on the Mount, a kingdom life of humility, gentleness, peacemaking, hungering after justice, mercy, and mourning. This brings us into a whole other kingdom where God alone is Lord. It may seem daunting, but more daunting is the lives that we lead when we are in charge of it, instead of when we allow the Spirit to guide us into a life of grace, mercy and peace. The road may not be an easy one, but the path of self denial leads to the victory assured for us in Christ Jesus.
