“My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Humans have always been on a search for the fountain of youth. Sometimes this search has taken the form of looking for a literal source of water with magical powers. Other times it has been more figurative than that. The point is that we are always on the lookout for something that will extend not only the amount of time we have in this life, but the quality of that time as well. We want to live, yes, but we want to live in good enough shape to be able to enjoy it to the fullest. This desire in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when it becomes the primary desire of our life, we can be drawn off the track that actually leads to life in pursuit of one of a variety of things that don’t. Starting here and running through the next few verses, Paul offers us a better way. Let’s take a look.

Let me start by coming back to this point: Wanting to fight against death by extending life as long as possible isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing. It is a reflection of the fact that we are made in the image of the God of life. We do not serve the God of death, but the God who creates and is the source of all life as Jesus Himself argued in Luke 20. He is the God of the living.

For us to work so hard to stave off death is an indication that death isn’t natural. Life is. Death is an intrusion into the order of things as God ordained them in the beginning. There were many things that were a part of creation at the get go, but death was not one of them. There’s no mention of it in the Genesis account. Death doesn’t enter the picture until sin does. In fact, death is specifically mentioned by God as a consequence of sin. Our raging against the coming of the great veil is a reflection of our collective memory as a species of a time when it wasn’t a thing. We yearn to go back to when things were right and death didn’t ultimately come for us all.

So again, this longing, this desire isn’t a bad thing. Making an idol out of it is. Misunderstanding what is real death and what is real life is. Limiting our understanding of life and death to only this life is. And that’s the secret to understanding what Paul is saying here. We have to understand that boundaries of this life aren’t the limits of existence. When God made us, He made us for eternity like Him. Our spirits are meant to live forever like He does. There is a life that extends beyond this one. That knowledge, if properly received and acted on, will unavoidably impact how we navigate this life in significant ways.

As Paul was writing to the Philippian believers, he understood that his physical life in this world was nearing its end. He didn’t have long to accomplish he yet planned to do. That kind of knowledge weighs on a person. It can lead us to pursue extreme ends whether those are extremely good or extremely hedonistic. We see both ends represented in various forms of media. Tim McGraw’s classic hit, “Live Like You Were Dying,” points in the more positive direction, but there have been plenty of shows and movies that imagine humanity basically throwing off any kind of moral restraints and taking a deep-dive into sin and carnality in the face of the apocalypse.

For Paul’s part, honoring Christ and Christ alone was his one, overriding goal. “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything.” What would bring shame to his life? The same kinds of things that might bring shame to yours and mine: Sin. Paul doesn’t want to fall into any kind of sin as his end nears. He doesn’t want to abandon Christ to his own desires. He doesn’t want to fall to unbelief or bitterness or unfaithfulness or anything else along those lines.

An argument can be made that he was also directing this comment at the Philippian believers, encouraging them to remain faithful and not bring him shame by their abandoning the faith in the face of their own difficult situations. But the major thrust of Paul’s sentiment here is inward. He doesn’t want to fall from his faith as his own end approaches, “but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Standing firm in our faith in the face of frightfully hard circumstances takes courage. Paul knew he was going to need every bit of courage he could muster. His goal, though, which was one that had been consistent throughout his journey with Jesus, was to see Christ honored. If that came by his life – something he’ll talk more about in the next section that we’ll look at tomorrow – then great. He would continue on the path of faithfulness that he had been walking for many years. If that came by his death, then so be it. He would die in such a way that even as his eyes closed on this life he would still be pointing people to Jesus.

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

This is one of those bumper sticker verses. It’s short and pithy and easy to put on all sorts of home decorations and t-shirts, most of which you can find at Hobby Lobby. But to claim it and to actually understand it aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Again, Paul knew he was near his death when he wrote this. He didn’t mean this in some kind of flippant, cliched sense. He understood what the stakes before him were, and he was clear-eyed about the promises of Christ. If God in Christ so chose to extend his physical life in this world, then he would continue to advance the Gospel in every direction he faced with every tool at his disposal and in every opportunity he received. Christ would be proclaimed by his life loudly. But if his death came as he fully expected it to do, then the gain would be all his. He would then be with Jesus directly in spirit, waiting for the day when he would receive his resurrection body fit for eternity in God’s perfect kingdom.

Life or death didn’t matter for Paul in the sense that it was a win for him either way. We have to be careful in saying something like life or death didn’t matter because that could easily be taken in a cynical, fatalistic direction in the sense that neither mattered. That wasn’t what Paul meant. Whether he lived or died didn’t matter because he was committed to Christ either way, but he was absolutely committed to making sure that which every path God led him down it was going to matter to the advance of His kingdom. So, it didn’t matter in the sense that he was going to make sure it mattered.

The challenge here for us is fairly straightforward: Just how committed to the cause of Christ are we? Just how thoroughly have we embraced the promises of Christ and their implications for our lives? Are we so committed and entrenched in our beliefs that whether our physical life extends for another century or we die tomorrow that we are going to be advancing God’s kingdom either way? This doesn’t mean we seek out death in this life. Far from it. It means that our primary goal is not the extension or even preservation of our physical life beyond what might be considered normal means. We take care of our bodies well, seeking the best medical counsel and care we can find, but we never lose sight of the fact that advancing the Gospel is our first priority in every situation.

If the situation happens to be our life, good. We look for every opportunity around us to have a conversation that will point someone else in the direction of Jesus. We look for every opportunity we can find to disciple someone in the faith so that they become more committed to following Jesus in their own life to His glory and their joy. If that situation, however, happens to be our death, then so be it. There is another life coming. We use what time we have left to point as many people to Jesus as we possibly can. We don’t give into fear or bitterness or cynicism. Rather, we embrace Gospel joy and hope and peace all while living out the love of Christ with everyone around us.

Now, is that easy to say while I am reasonably young (as long as you don’t ask my kids) and in good health? Of course it is. But those weren’t the circumstances facing Paul when he said it, so don’t take my word for it at all. Take his. “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

That’s a goal worth pursuing. May you pursue it with all the faithfulness the Spirit empowers in you.