Gotta Have Swagger
The Apostle Paul, oh boy, that guy had a lot of swagger. The writer of Acts and even Paul in this letter do not use the word swagger but Paul sure had it – confidence and pride. Me, when I am sitting behind my desk with pen and paper in my hand or if I am preparing to send what I believe to be an epic tweet I may resemble Paul. Confident, swagger that with the stroke of my pen or click of a mouse I am prepared to win any argument and convert the world regardless if I’m correct. Now, put me in the position Paul found himself in as he wrote this letter, under house arrest and charged with sedition, and my confidence and swagger would disappear.
Before he was locked away Paul had confidence and swagger to spare. Pastor Jeff read from chapter three of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, where Paul explained the source of confidence, his swagger. He wrote, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”[1] Paul’s confidence came from his Jewishness. He was a Pharisee, a member of the prestigious tribe of Benjamin. He was prepared to do whatever it took to stomp out the newly formed Christian movement taking root in synagogues throughout Israel.
In the book of Acts, we were introduced to Paul. As he traveled from Jerusalem to Damascus, Paul had an encounter with the resurrected Lord. Paul was traveling to Damascus to capture “any who belonged to the Way – followers of Jesus – men or women that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”[2] Along the road to Damascus Jesus said to Paul, “Saul, Saul – before Paul was Paul, Paul was Saul – Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?”[3]
Before Jesus asked Paul this question Paul was confident in his efforts, he knew how to root out Christians and he knew how to do it efficiently. But on the road between Jerusalem and Damascus Paul’s confidence and swagger changed.
Confidence in our own abilities is a trait highly favored by employers, friends, and parents.
No one wants to hire an employee to complete a job who is not confident in their ability to complete the job they were hired to do.
We prefer to surround ourselves with people who are confident. We see arrogance as a bad character trait but at the same time do not want to be around people who are a pushover.
We teach confidence to our children – firm handshake, look adults in the eyes, stand up straight, and speak like you mean what you are saying.
Being confident in our skills, in our ability to conquer to tackle whatever task is placed before us is a hallmark of the society we have built for ourselves.
When I go to the doctor I want the doctor to ooze confidence in their ability to diagnose and fix whatever ailment I am presenting.
Confidence and swagger are so much a part of our daily interactions we may not even notice the trait but when they are missing, when the person we are interacting with lacks these two traits we notice.
Paul’s confidence changed when he was changed after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. The things Paul found confidence in – his ability to follow the Law, his lineage, his vocation, his blameless righteousness – all of those things were what he called “rubbish,” “a loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.”[4] To be clear, Paul was not implying that being Jewish is rubbish, rather Paul is explaining to the church that the gains he held onto, the gains that gave him his standing and thus his confidence and swagger to persecute the church were a loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ.
Prior to his conversion the kingdom of human flesh was Paul’s focus. This is why his list of why he could be “confident in the flesh”[5] was so detailed. He could name the reasons because others valued these fleshly markers.
Notice verses 5-7, the list Paul laid out for his confidence, these were all focused on him, his ability, and were not pointing towards God.
The pivot in Paul’s life, the moment he turned away from his abilities in the flesh and turned towards God, this reorientation towards the faithfulness of Christ is the same pivot we make as the waters of our baptism fall down our face and when we share a meal around Christ’s table of grace. In this moment of reorientation, this moment of repentance we are no longer reliant upon our CV or LinkedIn profile and instead we turn toward the one who met Paul in a moment we may believe Paul least deserved grace and changed his life.
Paul realized his holiness, his righteousness did not come from being blameless under the Law, but simply through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul did not need to, we do not need to be anything other than a beloved child of God.
God promises to meet us, changing our lives. We may not be knocked off a horse and blinded like Paul was but Christ will meet us. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ is an invitation to set aside the gains of this life, leaving behind the old markers of confidence and swagger, and now lean into the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ.
This Sunday we celebrate World Communion Sunday. This is a day when Christians around the world choose to set aside our theological and doctrinal differences, gathering around Christ’s table, and share in a meal. A meal where we are the guests and the guest list includes those we least expect or believe deserving of an invitation.
Every time we choose the faithfulness of Jesus Christ – in bread and wine or in water – we are proclaiming to the world the truth that whatever accolades we seek or gain pail in comparison to the accolades and confidence we find in the faithfulness of God in Jesus Christ.
We have every reason to be confident. We have every reason to be filled with swagger and the Good News is this – there’s nothing you need to do to earn or obtain it. Everything has been accomplished through the faithfulness of the one who invites all of us to gather around his table. We can live confidently because God has and God continues to be faithful. We press on because Christ made us and makes us his own and in him, we are made one.
