8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Philippians 3:8–9 (ESV)
Through the Bible: Philippians 1-4
When Mr. Phillips passed away, I met with his wife Dorothy to make plans for his funeral service. One thing she was adamant about:
No eulogy. Keep it about Jesus.
It’s hard for anyone who isn’t a pastor to understand how unusual this is.
Every funeral has at least one eulogy. The word comes from the Greek eu— which means “good,” and logos—“word.” So a eulogy is a speech where good words are said about the deceased. Sometimes one or more family members or friends will speak a eulogy. Other times I’ll do it on behalf of the family.
Some eulogies are easier than others. Often the biggest issue is figuring out how to manage the number of people that want to say something, or keeping within a reasonable time limit.
Mr. Phillips would have been one of those. He and Dorothy were two of the founding members of our church. They had been married for seventy-five years. Before the pandemic, they never missed a Sunday. Mr. Phillips was the picture of humble, gentle, consistent faith. His was a long obedience in the same direction.
Mr. Phillips lived the kind of life that makes the eulogy easy. And it would have been, except for the instructions he left:
No eulogy. Keep it about Jesus.
As good a life as Mr. Phillips lived, he knew it was nothing without Christ. This is what Paul was getting at in Philippians 3. He acknowledged that he had all the credentials and life experiences that would have made a eulogy easy:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Philippians 3:5-6
But as far as Paul was concerned, his resume was rubbish. The word he used, skúbalon, referred to refuse or dung—something thrown away. I don’t mean to be vulgar, but Scripture is clear: Paul saw his credentials as worthless compared to knowing Christ.
When Mr. Phillips insisted there be no eulogy at his funeral, it was because he wanted to keep the focus on Jesus. Mr. Phillips led an exemplary Christian life. But that wasn’t where his righteousness came from. His righteousness came from Christ. Any humility he had, any servant’s heart, any faithfulness to Dorothy, was only because of Christ living in him and through him.
In the end, I still talked about Mr. Phillips at his service. Because those of us who are still trying to live our lives for Jesus need examples like Mr. Phillips. We need humility with skin on. We need to see what Christ-centered servanthood looks like. So I talked about Mr. Phillips, but only about how he consistently pointed to Jesus.
I look forward to seeing Mr. Phillips again some day. In my mind, I imagine us in the throne room of Jesus. I imagine us with the gathered multitudes of saints portrayed in Revelation 7:9. We are waving palm branches, falling to our knees, and singing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10 ESV)
I wonder if at some point Mr. Phillips is going to pull me aside and say, “Pastor, you still talked too much about me at the funeral. He’s the One you needed to talk the most about.”
And then Mr. Phillips will point to the One seated on the throne.
Just like he always did.
Related Content
- Philippians #1: Partners in the Gospel
- Philippians #2: Living as If God Is In Control
- Philippians #3: Striving Together, On Our Own
- Day 327: A Gentile, a Slave, and a Woman Walk into a Church… (Acts 16)
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