Strong in the One Who Empowers Me :: Philippians 4:13

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[Introduction: Who you are]

We will begin with the truth about ourselves that we all should never forget: I am baptized.

Now say that with me ... I am baptized.

When you really get down to it, that’s what today is all about ... it’s about our baptism.

Today is All Saints Day. Today is a day to remember all the saints who went before us in the faith, but it’s also a day that’s perfect for remembering our baptism ... the day God called us saints, his beloved children (1 Jn 3:1). It’s also Debbie’s confirmation day, the day she remembers her baptism. 

We Lutherans don’t think of baptism as something that happened to us a long time ago, saying I was baptized on such and such day. Instead, we know that your baptism, my baptism, our baptism is a present reality ... an on-going reality ... a gift of God. He has baptized us! And he keeps us in our baptism! He has, as Saint Paul says in Ephesians 5, sanctified us ... or made us holy, thereby calling us saints. This is why Peter says, Baptism now saves you (1 Pt 3:21).

In Romans 6, Paul says God did this by uniting us through baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rm 6:3-4). Our sin was thereby crucified and died with Jesus in baptism. And our new life began in the resurrection of Jesus when we were raised out of the water. And since Christ is Most Holy, and God has united himself with us in Christ, we are therefore holy. You no longer have a stain or wrinkle (Eph 5:26-27). You are blameless ... or as our first reading today says ... you are one of those clothed in white robes (Rev 7:13).

Yes, you are his saints, as Peter proclaims ... chosen ... royal ... holy ... the people of God who have received mercy (1 Pt 1:15; 2:5, 9-10). And that’s what I want you to hear today.

BECAUSE YOU ARE BAPTIZED, YOU ARE A SAINT ... AND BECAUSE YOU ARE A SAINT, YOUR STRENGTH IS HIS, NOT YOUR OWN

I. [What you confess]

In just a few minutes ... OK, maybe 10 more ... Debbie will remind us of this. She will stand before God and this congregation, like we all have, and give answer to the questions beginning with this one on page 272 of our [Lutheran] Service Book ... Do you this day, in the presence of God and of this congregation acknowledge the gifts that God gave you in your Baptism? She will confess ... (and I pray that you all will do this too) ... that as we vacillate between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, God continually calls me into a life of repentance ... away from all sin, iniquity, and transgression. He reminds us that we have a savior who calms our fears, comforts our spirits, and forgives our sins. She will confess our common Christian faith is rooted in prophetic and apostolic scriptures ... that our church doctrine is faithful and true ... that she intends to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully ... and that she will do this because of the faith she received in baptism ... remaining true, even to death.

II. [Where your strength is]

Debbie, that’s why Philippians 4:13 has been so meaningful to you in your life. That’s why it is now your confirmation verse. You are baptized. 

You probably have this verse memorized from a common English translation as “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” But the Greek and more literal English translations are even better. Paul writes, [For] all things, I am strong in the one empowering me (NA 28). That is baptismal language. It is the language of All Saints. Our strength is not our own. It is located in Christ, which is why Paul said immediately before this verse that we can be content with both abundance and nothing. 

While it’s true that Paul’s letter to the Philippians never speaks of baptism overtly, you can’t escape the truth that his whole message is one centered in baptism. At the heart of the letter is the great hymn of Christ, who emptied himself, having taken the form of a slave ... humbling himself, becoming obedient to the point of death. Therefore, God highly exalted him (Phil 2:5-11). That is the pattern of baptism: dying with Christ and being raised with Christ. Through the water and the Word, God gives us strength. God empowers us. God enlivens us. God enables us to live as Christians ... doing all things without grumbling or disputing (Phil 2:14). 

And to think Paul wrote all of this while sitting in prison, knowing he would become a martyred saint. He knew, like he says in Galatians 2:20, that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We therefore find we have strength only in him ... strength to live out the new life in Christ as a saint, not neglecting to meet together (Hb 10:25). 

III. [What you are]

Popularly, we set the bar too high for sainthood. Too often we think saints are the stained-glass people, and that we’re just sinners. But you are baptized. You return to your baptism daily. You confess one baptism delivers the remission of sins. You are thereby blessed.

Theologically speaking, saint and Christian are synonyms. They are those who have been clothed in white ... those who confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead (Rm 10:9) ... those who receive his sacraments with joy (Acts 2:46-47) because they recognize Christ is actually with us. 

They are those who forgive whatever grievances they may have with one another (Col 3:13) ... those who carry each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2) ... those who find themselves surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hb 12:1-2).

They are those who have faith that the life, his death, his resurrection and ascension of Christ and his promises of Word and sacrament ... his continual intercession and parousia ... are enough to give and sustain us forever. As Jesus reminds us in our Gospel reading, this is the faith that blesses us (Mt 5:1-11). 

It’s not faith in your faith that saves ... that doesn’t count. You can’t make your faith stronger. Your faith apart from the Word and sacraments of Christ is nothing. True Faith is the work of God (Col 2:12). It is given to us (Phil 1:29). It receives the gifts Christ delivers. 

When you have this faith, you are a saint. You are one of those who hear the eternal Gospel of all that Jesus did for you, all that Christ continues to do for you, and all that he will finally do for you. You then become one of those who share that word with your neighbor ... who share his words of absolution that you are forgiven ... and who believe that his body and blood given and shed for you actually delivers to you life and salvation. 

IV. [Where it ends]

This is our final scene that was revealed to Saint John in our first reading. This is where baptism leads. 

John beheld a great crowd that no one was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and [with] palm branches in their hands, and crying out in a great voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb! (vv 9-10). 

Every time we celebrate the sacrament we commune with Christ and see heaven on earth. Our communion includes all of the saints who have gone before us ... Abraham, Isaac, Jacob ... Ruth, Mary, and Elizabeth ... Peter, Paul, and John ... our grandparents and great-grandparents ... husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. We join them all lauding and magnifying God’s glorious name in the eternal feast that has no end. 

[Conclusion: Why it’s certain]

So come, rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven. This is the reality of pure joy that awaits you! Your Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus has set you free. Death has no more dominion over you. Thus, you will stand ... strong in him ... among the great crowd in white ... in communion with all the baptized ... in Jesus’ name.

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