The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

Psalm 112:6

We seldom talk about our death, or how we think we will be remembered by those we leave behind. “Legacy” is a word that we associate with “wills”, and we do not usually think about wills either. Life is too short and too busy to be dwelling on the hereafter.

For the Christian, though, we must bear in mind that heaven is where our true lives are. We already inhabit the kingdom of Christ that will only find its full expression when we see him face to face. Whether that happens at death, or before our death when Jesus comes again, is not for us to debate. But what we need to grapple with today is what the old song says: “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through …”

The sense of there being a far country and a faraway place that we look yearningly for ought to inform our thinking and doing. Abraham, who did not see the fulfillment of all God’s promises to him, was nevertheless content, because what he longed for most was a heavenly country and a heavenly home.

Psalm 112 is a psalm that talks about the blessed righteous man. Nothing to do with heaven? The person who “fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands” (v. 1) has already set his sights on the heavenly, where God is. Psalm 112 enumerates the blessings of the righteous, but this blessed state of favor with God comes about only because the righteous has turned his eye on the eternal and the truest good that he knows. His path will take him to a different destination from the paths of other people no less talented or motivated than he. His path cuts through merely material existence, and acknowledges the divine in everything he does. He sees beyond the obvious successes and failures of mortal life, and is concerned for other things beyond the horizons of human death. Thus his actions and decisions are consistent with the end goal of his life, which is the heavenly kingdom where God dwells. Unafraid of death, he calls it a gateway to his true home, toward which his mortal life journeys.

This man is blessed because he is God’s friend, thinking the thoughts of God after him (v.1), reaching for the eternal goals and hopes that God has placed before him. He has faith that all that God has said is true, and does not entertain doubts that his heavenly friend would play games with him, or trick him. No wonder Psalm 112 says that such a man would bear offspring that are “mighty in the land” (v. 2). This is his lasting legacy to his children and his land, that they too should be blessed and righteous and call God their father and friend.

Such “wealth and riches” (v. 3) that he may possess are gifts from God, and viewed with open and generous palms toward those who lack (v. 5). The point of everyone else knowing of the wealth and riches in his house may simply be because of his compassion and large-heartedness that cannot keep good things to himself (v. 9). All these good deeds are done not as ends in themselves, but as expressions that mirror and reflect the mind and heart of his true friend, God.

This man thus finds his heart steadfast and secure (vv. 7, 8), because his underpinnings are fastened on the rock of ages, and his security is the everlasting arms that embrace him. His trust is not in the fleeting wealth that still belongs to material existence. No, he has shored up true wealth in the way he cultivates his life with God (vv. 4, 7). Whatever may happen to his money bank, he is assured that his treasures elsewhere, where God is, will never rot or fade away. That is his security.

The righteousness of this man will be remembered forever (v. 6), the psalmist says. His horn will be lifted high in honor (v. 9), because all his life is lived with a view to higher thoughts and ideals than simply what goes on “under the sun.”

In contrast are the vexations of the wicked, or the ones who do not live with the eternal end of God in mind. Their longings and yearnings, which are for futile things, like mere riches and success, will come to nothing. They will not be remembered forever in spite of wanting to make a name for themselves.

We sometimes forget to polish our glasses and take care of our perspectives. Though we are called Abraham’s children, our longings are often too much like the longings of the “wicked”. We yearn not for that heavenly home, but rather for the trappings of success that we see around us, forgetting that if we do so, we have exchanged our eternal hopes (which are imperishable) for what is frankly just the fleshpots of Egypt.

God presents to us two ways to live, two paths to take. One remains under the canopy of life lived under the sun, as Ecclesiastes is so fond of telling us. It proceeds in linear fashion from birth to death. And the grave is the marker that signals the end of such life. The other leads in a straight and inalterable, unchanging path toward the source of all life, the still, unmoving point of the universe that is God himself. It has a beginning in God’s call to us, and God’s germination of real life in us, and it has an end too that marks our final entrance into the life that is dimensionless and eternal.

How we want to be remembered depends on how we decide on these pathways of life. Psalm 112.6 tells us that the righteous will be held in everlasting remembrance. That cannot only mean that the generations of our descendants will remember us always. Surely that also suggests that the eternal God will remember us in his eternal contemplation of the children of man. To be held in God’s eye and gaze is our inheritance as God’s loved children. We do not need to “make a name for ourselves” when we are known and loved by him.

To be remembered by God is a pretty good epitaph to have on our gravestones: “The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.”

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2.3-4

The thing about life in church is that our focus is never just on ourselves. The Christian ethic delivers a call to believers to be humble, and to live unselfishly. For a “me” generation such as ours, surely this presents the greatest challenge of all. How do I let go of my self-preoccupation and selflessly live for others?

Paul tells the Philippians that they are to do nothing out of “selfish ambition.” The Greek translated carries meanings of intrigue, contention, strife and factions. “Selfish ambition” and “vain conceit” (empty glorying) that would put others down in order to further oneself or one’s own cause are the enemies of unity and harmony in the church. Paul warns the Philippians: do nothing out of such motives. His reason is clear. In verse 2, he had already urged them to be “likeminded”, showing “oneness in spirit and purpose.” Paul knows the dangers of too high a regard for our own reputations, our causes, our success. In Galatians 5.20, Paul lists “selfish ambition” among the acts of the sinful nature. Discord in Christian communities can easily be traced back to these two attitudes that Paul identifies as toxic behavior. Such attitudes, if unchecked, would tear the church apart.

The only way to counter vain conceit and selfish ambition is to display humility, a virtue that Paul prized. This is required for Christian unity. Humility was not valued in ancient Greek society or literature because it implied subjection. To be subject to anyone was to be in slavery to that person. A free man was not subject to any man but himself. Greek heroes were noble characters who greatly prized their role as free men; they considered themselves subject to none and towered over everyone else. But Paul contends that Christians must live differently. They were to act in their freedom as God’s children, but all the while remembering their willing subjection to Christ and to one another (Ephesians 5.21). What was contemptuous in pagan Greek society was thus transformed by Paul into virtuous behavior that marked Christian ethics and society. Spiritual brotherhood and unity of spirit and purpose were characteristics that distinguished the family of God from all other communities.

Humility does not mean considering ourselves meanly and falsely, but rather, possessing a proper, realistic and accurate view of ourselves and our gifts. Humility is not the hypocritical groveling of a Uriah Heep that hides great contempt for others, but rather, a respect for others who are, like us, also made in the image of God, even if they may be very different from us. Having humility would naturally lead to what Paul says next: “consider others better than yourselves” (v. 3). Our consideration for others must precede our concern for ourselves. The self-centeredness that thinks only of one’s own rights and interests must give space to consideration for the interests of others as well as our own. Mutual concern is at the forefront of what Paul is saying. What a cure for disunity!

Paul’s challenge to the Philippians is his challenge to us too. Back to our first question: how do I let go of my self-preoccupation and selflessly live for others?

The only way we can let go of our self-preoccupation is … to let go. The Christian life is meant to be lived and proven. The taste of the pudding is in the eating. Paul lists no “how-tos” for the Philippians. He just tells them that they already have it in them to do what is necessary. The impetus is Christ’s sacrifice; the power is the indwelling Spirit. What remained was simply for the Philippians to put it all to work, and be humble, considering others as better than themselves, and looking out for themselves and others as well. As verses 5 and 8 say, if they did that, their attitude would be the same as Christ’s, “who humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!”

Paul’s practical theology goes very far toward resolving conflicts and hurts in the church. In every conflictual situation that is fraught with tension and pain, there is bound to be a sense that one’s individual rights have been offended. Paul introduces humility over and over again in his writings because he sees in it the answer to discord and disharmony. It expresses how Christian relationships are to be carried out, and explains the dynamics of church life. It also explains the presence of discord and disunity in any church community! Where humility is absent, there is disharmony! The line between toxic behavior and godly behavior is called “humility”.

Humility also finds a perfect fit with the attitude and behavior of Christ himself, who is its exemplar. Paul, in other words, is saying that the Philippians (indeed all Christians) were to exhibit humility because it was the mark of Christ their master: they were to imitate Christ. So important is humility that any child of God who does not exhibit such behavior stands in danger of offending God himself, who hates the proud and gives grace to the humble. And the measure by which pride and humility are measured is via the expressions associated with each: pride with selfish ambition and vain conceit; humility with considering others as better than oneself (respect), and caring for the interests of others (compassion). This, after all, is the true life that Christ has called us to.

Another good question to ask ourselves today: “Am I toxic?”

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

 1 Corinthians 15:58

In the earlier verses of this chapter, Paul had been writing about the resurrection of believers. As he explains to the Corinthians, the glory that awaits those in Christ means that we will exchange the temporal in life for the eternal, and the imperfect for the perfect. At the bodily resurrection of believers, Paul says that we will all be changed “in the twinkling of an eye” (v. 52), transformed into the perfect beings we were always meant to be by the resurrection power of God in Christ, the Resurrected One. Paul’s tone is triumphant, and for good reason. Like the seed of a tree that dies and gives way to the shoot and branches and leaves of the mature tree, our perishable bodies will likewise give way to new and imperishable bodies. And all this will be done “in a flash” (v. 52). The “mystery” (v. 51) of the resurrection body, not yet understood by us, will all be revealed at that time. Such is the victory that awaits believers in Christ. Then, we shall know as we are known (cf. 1 Corinthians 13.12).  Finally too, we shall see the end of death. It shall be swallowed up by victory, and in Christ, every obstacle that sin presented to man’s quest for God, will be finally removed: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (v. 54).

On this high note, Paul encourages the Corinthians to consider the only logical response to such a glorious hope that awaits them. In view of the certainty of the wondrous life that lies ahead of them, they are to be “steadfast, immovable” (v. 52). The NIV has: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.” If we truly believe in the power of Christ’s resurrection, and the promise of our bodily resurrection, then we know the importance of a life that stands firmly and steadfastly on such a basis. To be unmoved by distractions and doubts, and to focus only on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, is crucial to the way we live our lives and carry out our work.

Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians is practical and down-to-earth. Having laid the theological basis for the resurrection, which provides the motivation for faithful service, he goes on to tell them that they must therefore devote themselves to the work and ministry of God. In the light of all the wonderful truths that he has explained, could they do otherwise? Such certainty of the theological foundations and undergirding of the believer’s future and destiny spurs him on to give himself “fully to the work of the Lord” (NIV). It is only logical.

But more than that, Paul reminds the Corinthians, there is reward. Faithful service to God (if not to human employers!) is always rewarded. Looking toward our future reward is not to be seen in terms of monetary or material remuneration, but rather in terms of the Father’s welcoming smile to faithful servants and children: it is his “well done!” that we desire most to hear. Naturally, our reward in the day of our resurrection involves the Father’s presence, his joy, the nearness of Christ and his intimacy … all these things suggest powerfully to us that we are not just employees working for a salary, and hoping for a pension at the end of it all. But we are children who go about our Father’s business in our Father’s house, and his delight at the labor he has commissioned us to do makes it significant and meaningful, above all else. Paul has these things in mind when he says that the Corinthians’ “labor in the Lord is not in vain.” It is neither futile nor empty and useless activity that we engage in, but rather, efforts of service to Christ that are invested in furthering his mission will be rewarded, and rewarded well when he comes again.

When we consider the hostility and opposition that Paul often faced, from Gentile and Jew alike, and even from other Christians, then we understand the depth of his conviction and his own unshakeable faith in the faithfulness and promises of God. He too was waiting for the Father’s “well done!” that would give rest to his work and confirm the labor of a lifetime.

In times when our own labor seems to yield little result, when it appears as if it is just meaningless slog and mindless activity, Paul calls out to us from his vantage point of eternity, reminding and cheering us on that nothing done for the Lord is in vain. We shall be satisfied when Jesus comes again.