Day 455 - Being One Mind in Full Accord

A Sermon given at the Urban Outreach Ministry of Second Presbyterian Church, March 10, 2014 (Also given at First Presbyterian Church, Soddy Daisy, TN on March 09, 2014)

OT reading: Acts 16:25-40

NT reading: Philippians1:27-2:16

The most important thing in the Apostle Paul’s mind is unity in Christ. Paul often revisited this theme because it is where many congregations fail miserably.  Almost all his letters turn on this point, he takes congregations to task for conduct that contributes to dissention, disorder, and poor examples to the public about who Christians are.

Here Paul has written one of those letters to the first congregation in Asia Minor that he nurtured, Phillip.  He writes from prison and he is less worried about his future that of the Philippian congregation. It is likely but unknown, that he is in Rome waiting on his impeding execution. Philippi was trouble for Paul. He had run-ins with the pagan priests when he ruined their work and the priests had the authorities arrest, severely beat Paul and his helpers and toss them in jail.

What is so powerful about this letter is that Paul never gets into exactly what the problems are in Philippi. He suggests there are people in the community pushing a different gospel and offers words of support for the congregation who appear to be experiencing hostility from their own community. He chides two member ministers by name who are arguing; and as is Paul’s way we know that there is conceit, selfish ambition, pride resentment and conflict because he cautions against it (2:3, and in 2:14).

But the only detail we get is the fundamental message of Christian conduct when he begs the congregation to model the two marks of Christian character, to be of one mind, and to shine like stars. We know if he begs them to do so, they are not doing it. The power of this letter is we get the most complete teaching about the two basic principles that will guide Christian conduct in any circumstance. The one thing we know is the perversity of human nature is always at work.Our obligation is to read Paul and look into our own hearts to identify how his challenge applies to our own situation.

Let’s look at these verses from 1:27 through 2:16. I paraphrase:

 “Only live your life in a manner worthy (be a citizen) of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you, or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For your opponents, your living in a manner worthy of the gospel is evidence of their destruction and of your salvation… And this is God’s doing. He has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well  —  since you are having the same struggle of being harassed and persecuted in Philippi that you saw I had when I was there with you and now hear that I still have here in Rome.”

Then Paul begins his message to the Philippian congregation with a plea to them and you can almost see the tears on his cheeks as a mark of the power of his intensity:

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation from love, if there is any sharing in the Spirit, if there is any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind having the same love, be in full accord and of one mind. In a message to the strong, “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit and jealousy, but in humility regard al others as better than you.  Let each of you look to the interests of others and not to your own interests.” Does it sound familiar?  Paul has spelled out the two commandments that Jesus said fulfill the law:  “Love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your might, and love your neighbor as you love your self.”

Then Paul goes to the heart of the message in 2:5-11, using not his own words but the words to a confession or a hymn. These verses are almost always read on Palm Sunday because they capture the fundamental meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus. This hymn is more than a confession, it is a definition of Christian character.

It is a historical remnant of the theology of Christ from the obscure 40 or so years about which we know almost nothing between the crucifixion and the time Paul wrote his letters. Paul quotes an eloquent affirmation of the essence of Christ's unity and sacrifice in the face of the finality of human death that has already been circulating in the Christian community long enough to become a hymn. It is as powerful an expression of Christian unity as can be stated. It applies to congregations, to marriages, and to all human relationships – having this common heart and mind with others. My wife Terry and I use this scripture at our wedding for that reason.

Hear what this hymn says, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…" Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

What do you think having “the same mind” means? Do you think it means when we argue that we should all paper it over and pretend to get along happily with each other? No, that will not work. It means more than that. It means growing, maturing in faith so when someone argues with you, you instinctively hug them and reconcile.

Consider it about pride. When we think about Jesus we often only think about the divine aspect of his existence, that is He is the Son of God and it is certainly true to say Jesus was in the form of God and that we know he is going to end up as God. But we cannot truly understand the real meaning of His complete divine presence in a human body, we cannot appreciate the profound commitment, love and unity of mind with God and us that motivated the sacrifice by Jesus until we appreciate what it means to say he “emptied himself and took on the form of a slave being born in human likeness.” The nature of that act, to empty oneself, means totally surrendering every element of power and self, every element of personal identity. We can’t appreciate these words, “he emptied himself” until we fully grasp the reality that Jesus was a fully human person who faced the absolute finality of death, holding the same fear that you and I have about that dark finality lurking beyond the veil of death.

Our civilization is far too heavily influenced by the Greek philosophy to appreciate our bias about spirit and body. It permeates every part of our existence and convinces us of the idea that spirit and body, or soul and body are separate things. It never occurs to us in the course of human affairs, especially when we are young, to think that we will come to an end.  We have this idea that some spiritual part of our reality will continue on hopefully in a heavenly home.

Although some Jews entertained the idea that we spiritual life after death, most believed Job’s lament that our last breath is the end of our existence. This is what most penitent Jews thought. The reality of it is we are this body and this mind and nothing else. That is the perspective of the hymn when it says," and being of human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-even death on a cross.”

It powerfully connects to our own humanity. What greater obedience, and what greater sacrifice can one human offer to another? Or in this case what greater sacrifice can the one God give to humanity than experiencing human death, the end of existence? This is an act of faith in God and humanity by this human Jesus. It unites humanity to the Lord and defines obedience. It defines what it means to be all the same mind. In order to make this sacrifice Jesus had to be of the same mind with us and with God. His human death is the only thing that gives meaning to faith in his and our resurrection.

The hymn continues, “And so God highly exalted him for that obedience and unity of mind, and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We confess this to the glory of God, the father.”

We do not have to wonder how the words of this hymn worked on Paul as he sat in his prison cell writing this letter to the Philippians. Paul is pleading that his last 10 or 12 years of mission work will be interpreted in light of this hymn. Paul is not perfect, he tells us that bluntly, yet he also tells us if you want to know how to live the Christian life, emulate him. Paul knows his faults and he knows how he strives to be of one mind with Christ and the congregation. He understands the fundamental requirement of Christian life is unity of mind focused on a common purpose… to walk in this world as a Christian towards the kingdom of Heaven, loving God and fellow human emulating the Christ in this hymn, even to death. You cannot keep one foot in the boat, or the kingdom of the world, and one foot on the dock, or in the kingdom of Heaven; you must choose where you are going to stand. As the Lord told the Hebrews through Moses, choose life or choose death.

To answer my question, unity of mind does not mean agreeing with one another by simply walking away from an argument. Unity means choosing life so you rise above disunity, all else is choosing death.

Paul says, “You can obey me because I'm here with you, but it's far more important to heed my example in my absence because that means the Gospel is written in your heart.” Paul can only share the gospel with you, plant the seeds and water them. Only the gospel and Holy Spirit provides the formula for living as the representative of Christ in the world.  Everything is between you and the Holy Spirit.

That's what he means when he says, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Fear and trembling are the words that signify you are in God's presence. Lest we misunderstand him, Paul reiterates, "It is God who is at work in you, and enabling you both to will and to work for his, the Lords’ good pleasure."

Paul says, “Do all these things, no arguing no grumbling, just hugs so you may be blameless and innocent, so you might be children of God without a blemish in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation in which you shine like stars in the world. If you do that then on the day I meet Christ I can boast that I did not labor in vain...” What greater goal, remember those words, “so you might be children of God shining like stars without blemish in a crooked and perverse generation.

There is no place for a vote on unity and whether we have identical opinion in that life, there is only the demand by Christ that we all have the identical sentiment for one another as a consequence of possessing a common soul in Christ. There is no place for self-centeredness, there is no place for conceit, there is no place for rash pride, there is no place for destructive selfishness, jealousy and fighting. The Father’s mansion has many rooms with space for the persons who empty themselves and do not look to their own interests but in humility regard all others as better than they are.

If then, each one of us strives at all costs to be loyal to this hymn, we will be that bright star shining in this old perverse world calling God's children home.

note: The links to the NRSV are provided via the Oremus bible browser:

‘New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.’

‘New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.’

Day 447 - On Being a Servant

A sermon given at First Presbyterian Church, Soddy-Daisy, TN., March 02, 2014

OT Lesson: Isaiah 49:8-16

NT(Epistle) Lesson: 1 Cor. 1: 1-9; 4:1-5

Almost always I follow the revised common lectionary for my preaching. The method keeps the pastor from always preaching his or her favorite texts, and it forces the pastor to read and more intimately understand texts that might not be regularly read. We also believe all teaching is inspired by the Holy Spirit and suitable for instruction. It is quite remarkable that the lectionary recommends these particular passages from the Corinthians over these last few Sundays. Following the Holy Spirit’s challenge I’m going to preach this week’s text; but next week is Philippians 2:1-16, perhaps my favorite text.

The Gospels unlike Paul’s letters were written for specific purpose, for example Luke said his purpose was to set down an orderly account of the life of Christ. Paul was a missionary responsible for the spiritual life of many congregations and by necessity he wrote his letters for the specific purpose of instructing his congregations concerning a matter of spiritual importance. There are at least two beauties of his letters, first they were read to the congregation in worship, and that human behavior is timeless. We are not honest with ourselves if we do not admit that the events and behavior Paul wrote about within his congregations are the same ones we find in modern congregations. Our challenge is to read Paul’s history to inform our actions today.

If you have been here the last several weeks you know that the history we have been following in 1Corinthians is of a church whose congregation had fallen off the tracks.  To remind you and to give the ones here who may have missed some of the last three weeks, let me give you a short recount of events up to this point.

Corinth was a city of hard living, hard drinking, sexually promiscuous and unruly people.  Paul spent about a year and a half with them teaching them about the Way of the Gospel and the nature of the Christian life. The Lord opened many minds who formed a congregation. Then he left on his missionary journeys leaving his helpers and congregational leaders behind to continue the work.

When he was in Ephesus (probably), he receives reports from some members of the congregation, and from his helpers, of the troubles in Corinth. The problem facing the Corinthians - and us - is the reality that conversion to Christianity does not automatically give a person the manners and morality of the Christian life. Wearing a cross doesn’t signify a sanctified Christian life, only actions from the heart do that. And if our heart is to follow the Holy Spirit we must be still and quiet and listen for it.  Paul is going to show us today listening and following the Holy spirit may make us really uncomfortable at first because it often challenges our Greek logic and knowledge.

The weakness of the Greek Corinthians is their admiration of education, knowledge, a finely turned argument and admirable personal appearance. They formed this idea that their Christianity has raised them to such a high level of spirituality they are immune from sin so they can go back to their old ways without consequence. They place more importance on the person who baptized them than on Christ’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection that their baptism honors - to the point they are worshipping the one who baptized them, and not the One who saved them. They value preaching more than what is preached.

What is implied but unstated until now, is there is a challenge to the meaning of the call for Christian service and the folly of judgment. This crisis in Corinth bears directly on what it means to serve as a leader in the congregation and avoid judgment.

They have judged Paul and each other to be an inferior to Peter, Apollos and who knows who else. Paul by his own admission was short, had a straggly appearance, a large nose, was not an eloquent speaker (2 Cor. 11:6), was timid face to face and bold away (2Cor. 10:1) and had some kind of physical disability. Some Corinthians must think Paul’s ministry in Corinth is a failure because of this. Their reason and logic blinds them to his message: they already have this wonderful gift of everything through this grace of of salvation Paul and Apollos brought to them. They have forgotten that they are now ministers of Christ’s church. They are arguing and fighting like children, visiting pagan temples, and judging the spiritual worthiness of each other by who baptized them and splitting the congregation. Paul is beside himself. This has to stop because good Christians are damaging the body of Christ.  

Paul’s difficult problem is to disabuse them of their mistakes and keep them in the fold. His strategy is to begin in his salutation where he reminds them of his love and their blessings, and then go to the troubles.  Before Paul says a single critical word to them he makes sure this congregation knows he loves them dearly. (This is the reason I include the 1^st 9 verses of the letter in the reading).  He tells them (v4), “Every time I think of you – and I think of you often! – I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There is no end to what has happened to you – it is beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. Just think about it – you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. You have chosen life not death. And not only that, God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until Jesus wraps up all things. God, who started you in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus Christ. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. That message is so personally humbling to me that I want to state very clearly it is also my message to you today. Terry and I treasure you all for your faith and love.

Having reminded them of his compassion, Paul takes on their attitude towards service and judgment. He tell the them that the Lord has made the plans of wise people useless. Logic and knowledge are folly to find your way to Christ. They will only get you in trouble. Faith is the key that opens up the door . And in the sentences before our reading today he tells them again they have all the tools. This life, the world, death, the present and the future, everything, belongs to you and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

When we start reading Paul’s take on the issue of serving and judgment in 1 Corinthians 4:1 – 5, it is tempting to say we know Paul is a human and he is protesting too much. He is really just defending himself and his ego. 

But that is not what Paul is about. He has never been the same since his profound experience on the road to Damascus when Jesus Christ confronted him. He called by faith to say to his congregations, “If they want to know how to behave as a Christian they should model his behavior.” Jesus has given Paul no choice to make this commitment. It is the only way he can raise the ante for his flock. “If you want to know how a Christian should behave, copy me.” Are you and I ready to say that? What pastor in the world today can we point to that can honestly and faithfully make that claim to his congregation? I suspect none. As we lead, remember when Paul preaches (or writes) he is preaching with fear and trembling as much to himself as he is to his congregation. Is Paul starting to humble you yet?

Paul eliminates any criticism of a self-serving defense when he explains the duty of the pastor. Paraphrase extraction  from The Message (ref 1) “Don’t imagine us leaders like security guards or bosses. We are servants of Christ not his masters.”  For the word “servant,” he switches from his usual word that means “deacon” to one that means the slave who manned the oars on a warship in the lowest part of the filthy bilge, where the rats live.”  Then mid-sentence he switches his metaphor, “No, We are stewards (or guides) to God’s mysteries.” The steward is the highest-ranking slave in a person's household who is responsible for the buying and selling with food and items of the house, the care of the children and generally all the daily household affairs of the Master.  The household steward is a beautiful example. I think it is a question. Do you know anyone from personal experience that you would trust as absolutely trustworthy and reliable with your affairs? Paul continues, “The pastor serves to guide the congregation to God's most sublime secrets. No one can force a change of heart to Christian behavior and faith.” The pastor can only lead the willing heart to it. Paul says he can sow seed, Apollos can water, but only God can grow the seed.

The pastor is responsible for the spiritual life of the congregation, but the pastor is absolutely and ultimately the servant responsible to Jesus Christ, who is the Master. trivia: Presbyterian polity actually reflects that idea. Your pastor is not a member of your congregation but is a member of the presbytery.

After Paul defines his role and responsibility as steward and servant, he can say with confidence in verse (3), “… it matters very little to me what you think of me and less of where I rank in popular opinion.” When he says, “I don't even judge myself” he is leading the Corinthians who are judging Paul down a primrose path to emphasize the low value of human judgment. He springs the trap forcefully, “I am not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but so what? That does not make me innocent.” Human judgment is pointless; irrelevant and mostly destructive. Only the Master is able to judge and we will all face Him.

Then he reminds them not to be so quick to make a judgment about themself or about their fellow Christians before they have all the information, (which they know they will never have it).  Don't make a judgment before the time to make a judgment.

What time is that?....It is the time when Jesus returns; when everything will be brought out into the open, our motives, our prayers, our purposes and our desires. That is when we will hope to hear “Well done, O good and faithful servant!” rather than, “Get over there with the rest of the goats.”

What does Paul’s lecture about being a servant and judging have to do with us? Paul is talking about all the leaders of the church. Remember we are all ministers of the church, the elders elected to manage the operation of the congregation, the members of committees and teachers, the people who sing and play musical instruments, or act in a play. Each member of the congregation is a minister proclaiming the Good News to the world according to their ability. Paul knows he is preaching to every minister in the congregation, both the pastor and the flock. His point is inescapable. Because our actions preach to the world how Christians should behave, we should always ask, every day, am I serving the Master as a guide to Christ. Am I making room for God in my lives? Am I leading by following the Holy Spirit, or am I trying to force God’s hand? Am I loving and hugging my fellow Christian who is just as good and valuable as I am, or arguing with them?

In closing, I pray this thought rests on each of us: We will be judged at the proper time, not by humans but by our Master; and while we may be so judged Christians at that time, I cannot but wonder with fear and trembling what pain we may feel in those fleeting moments before we finally know the joy and solitude of divine forgiveness and love to realize 
that we have done less than our best, 
that we have lost one sheep from our flock, 
that one child in our family who no longer wants to come to church, 
that one person in our midst who had their feelings hurt in an argument and left, or 
that lost that one person walking down the street that we will never even saw because we were to busy arguing to see the holy Sprit pointing him out, or 
that they heard us misbehaving and said, “That isn’t for me.” 

Will we feel all that pain because we judged when we should have served? Will we feel the pain because we lost the patience and courage to exercise forbearance and humility admitting that there is no way for the human mind, not even our own mind, to lead us, admitting that the Holy Spirit can lead only when we listen and only serve our Master?

ref 1: Eugene Peterson, The Message The New Testament in Contemporary Language, Colorado springs: Navpress, 1993