Stanford students have begun their final exams, which end on Friday (or sooner for some). It’s a sprint to the finish! Then they’re off to a welcome three-week break over the Christmas holidays.
In our last Bible course, leading into this most challenging part of the quarter, we meditated on Philippians 3:7-11:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.As if it weren’t forceful enough for Paul to “count everything as loss”—to mentally reckon all he has, in and of himself, as deficit and disadvantage—Paul intensifies his claim. He says, “I have suffered the loss of all things.” The loss is not just something he counts on in the future as certain; the loss is something he says has already happened.
When, we might ask? When did Paul gladly lose all that he once considered gain? At the moment Christ accomplished our redemption (when he died on the cross), Paul—and all his “gains”—died with him. And at the moment Christ applied this salvation to Paul (when he first believed), the old Paul died and the new Paul came into being. For Paul, the battle to “lose” his life and so “gain” Christ (see Matthew 16:25) was not mere mental accounting—struggling to reckon his possessions and accomplishments as loss. No, for Paul, present experience is rooted in historical fact. It is rooted in the definitive moment in human history, and the definitive moment in Paul’s personal history. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). And so it is with us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Please pray for our students before, during, and after their exams. May they rely on Christ, honor him, and excel according to the gifting he has given them. May the peace of Christ guard them amid the stress. And may they consider all things loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing him.
Please pray that over the break Susan and I will be able to remain connected to students, and they to one another. Going home can be a double-edged sword—a time of refreshment with family and friends, but also a time of falling into old habits, immaturities, or temptations. May they remain strong and wholly devoted to the Lord, by the power of his Spirit. May their holiday be a time of both pouring out and replenishment.
And please pray for the many, many Stanford students who don’t know Christ. May the message of the gospel, present in Christmas songs, traditions, and the witness of their believing friends, find room to take root in their hearts, by God’s grace.
We are so grateful for your partnership in this ministry!
Warmly,
Justin Woyak
Senior Ministry Fellow
Christian Union Caritas
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
