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)
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.’
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