If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:4-14 NIV)
“All he needed was nothing, but nothing was the one thing he didn’t have.” That phrase is in one of our children’s Bible books. It’s always stuck in my head: “All he needed was nothing, but nothing was the one thing he didn’t have.” It’s talking about Naaman. Remember him? Naaman was an important army commander for an important king of an important country. But he got leprosy. So he went to Israel, to the prophet Elisha, ready to do something important. Elisha told him to wash seven times in the Jordan River. That didn’t sound important enough to Naaman. He didn’t want to do it. And the children’s Bible says: “All he needed was nothing, but nothing was the one thing he didn’t have.” Who was going to heal him? God. How was God going to heal him? By grace. “All he needed was nothing, but nothing was the one thing he didn’t have.”
Do you? Do you have nothing? It’s really hard to actually have nothing. That sounds backwards, doesn’t it? You’d think it would be easy to have nothing. But that’s not true! We always have something. We always cling to something. We have endless back-up plans. We think through every possible contingency. We have insurance. And retirement accounts. And generators. And family members to count on. The thing we fear most of all is to have nothing. To be nothing. Could we be wrong? “All he needed was nothing, but nothing was the one thing he didn’t have.”
It’s not just us. It was the people 2,000 years ago in Paul’s day too. Everybody had something. In fact, they boasted about it. So Paul decided to join in. He said, “If someone else thinks they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.” Paul had something. What was Paul’s boast? “I’m as Israelite as you can get!” Not “my great-great grandpa was a quarter Irish.” Paul was a full-blooded Jew. One of God’s people. Circumcised. In those days, that meant something!
And that was just the start. Paul continued, “In regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.” Paul was the best of the best. He was a Pharisee. The Pharisees took great pride in how well they kept God’s laws. Paul was no exception. He was faultless. He wasn’t lying. He was good! And zealous. When these new Christians began to talk about faith in Jesus, Paul zealously persecuted them. Both by race and religion, he had reasons to boast. Paul didn’t have nothing. Paul had everything!
But listen at what he says about everything: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” When Jesus made Paul a Christian, he lost everything. Literally. He lost his family. His reputation. His job as a Pharisee. The things he used to cling to were a total loss. In fact, Paul writes these words from chains. Yet, he was overjoyed. That’s backwards, isn’t it? Paul had found the joy of nothing. Who was going to save him? God. How was God going to save him? By grace. So what did Paul need? Nothing.
Sometimes it takes losing everything to realize what you have in Jesus. Listen to those words again: “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” There’s one word in there that stands out: “My.” “The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” Somehow, it’s when you have nothing that Jesus becomes real to you. Would you agree? When you’re alone in the pit of depression, the Lord becomes my Lord. When you’re staring death in the face, the Lord becomes my Lord. Paul—the man who once had everything—realized that all you need is nothing. Nothing but Christ Jesus my Lord.
That makes me think of a woman I knew in Minnesota named Elodia. Elodia really had nothing. She lived in an old trailer. In the winter, the pipes froze, and she would go weeks without water. She lived on $400 a month for her and her two sons. She had nothing, except the most intimate faith in Jesus I’ve ever seen. Whenever she heard the word “God” or “Jesus,” she would get this big smile on her face. And she would say, “My Jesus. My Jesus.” And I would think, “Can you teach me to believe like that?” All she had was nothing, and nothing was all she needed.
Paul explains why: “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” We all need righteousness. We need to be proved right and considered good. How? By nature we always go back to ourselves: “I’m a good person.” “I try my best.” “Look at what I have.” But that’s not how it works. We don’t have a righteousness of our own that comes from following the law. “But that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” Righteousness is God’s gift to us by faith in Jesus. God’s grace doesn’t depend on us at all. There’s an equation I’ve learned about that: Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
Can you tell how excited this made Paul feel? Verses 8-11 in Greek are all one huge, run-on sentence. You’re not supposed to write like this! But Paul couldn’t stop bubbling over! “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Wow!
Do you have that enthusiasm? Does Jesus make you that excited? No? So what’s missing? Remember our equation? Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Jesus isn’t missing. You’re hearing about Jesus. What’s missing? Maybe you’re missing the nothing. Maybe you don’t have nothing. Do I sound crazy? Remember what that kid’s Bible story book said? “All he needed was nothing, but nothing was the one thing he didn’t have.” I’m not saying that God’s blessings in our lives are bad. But like Paul, like Naaman, God wants to teach us is that the only way to receive God’s grace is with nothing. The only way to appreciate the gift of Christ is to come with nothing.
Do you have nothing? Nothing might be what you need most. When we think about Jesus, the devil gets us to always think like this: “Jesus and.” “Jesus and good health. Then I’ll be happy. Jesus and money. Then I’ll be happy. Jesus and peace. Then I’ll be happy. Jesus and my way. Then I’ll be happy.” It’s always Jesus and, right? But when it’s Jesus and, where is our hope always placed? In the and. That’s not faith. That’s sin! Can you see that? All I need is nothing, but nothing is often the one thing I don’t have, because I cling to everything other than Christ.
So why does God sometimes let us fall to a place where we feel like we have nothing? Why does God sometimes let everything get stripped away? Why does God let us suffer loss unexpectedly? Why does God make us go through so much we don’t want to face? Some of us feel that way right now: Like nothing. Like we have nothing. Broken friendships. Failing health. Ruined plans. Why? To teach us that all we need is nothing. Because that’s exactly what we need to see Jesus.
Next Sunday begins Holy Week. Don’t miss it! Don’t miss any part of it! Watch Jesus ride into Jerusalem knowing he would die for you. He loves you! Watch Jesus pray for you in the Garden of Gethsemane. Watch Jesus stand on trial for you and your sins. Watch Jesus get condemned for you and crucified for you. Watch Jesus tear that curtain in the temple in two for you, so that you know that nothing separates you from God. Watch Jesus rise from the dead for you. Even death isn’t the end. In all of that, what do you have to do? Nothing! All you need is nothing. Just Jesus. “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
That doesn’t mean everything’s perfect. That doesn’t mean everything in your life is magically great right now. It’s not. That’s the point. Jesus is. Listen to how Paul continued: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul didn’t have a perfect life, because that’s not the goal. Heaven with Jesus is!
I was talking with a friend once about life not working out. About things not going according to my plans, at all. I struggle with that. Do you? It’s so easy to constantly dwell on the past. To regret what’s been done. To wish you can go back and change things, but you can’t! And that friend wisely said, “Nathan, there’s this verse that goes like this: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Don’t spend your life looking back. Your sins are forgiven at the cross. God has taken hold of you and your life. Forget what’s behind.
Instead, remember your goal! What’s your goal? Heaven with Jesus. The goal isn’t good health. The goal isn’t a perfect family. The goal isn’t financial security. The goal isn’t world peace. If any of those things are your goal, you can have the whole world, but it won’t be enough. What’s your goal? Heaven with Jesus. How do we get that? “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling.
All you need is nothing. In the middle of a city park in Norway, there is a big stone statue of life. It’s a tangled mass of human bodies from little babies at the bottom to teenagers to adults to middle aged people to retirees to old people. That sculpture connects human existence from birth to death. Babies aren’t that different from the elderly. We come with nothing. We leave with nothing. That’s kind of depressing, unless you have Jesus. Remember how Jesus praised the faith of little children? What do they bring to Jesus? Nothing. Have you ever stood at the bedside of a faithful believer taking their last breaths? What do they bring to Jesus? Nothing. For us in the middle, when your life is full of everything, remember this: All you need is nothing. And when it seems like you have nothing, remember this: With Jesus, nothing is all you really need.
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