Tag Archives: Christian unity

Have the Same Mindset

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“Have the Same Mindset”

Philippians 2:1-11 – October 1, 2023

            How many here have seen a Christmas pageant? How many here have ever participated in a Christmas pageant? It can be sweet, even awe-inspiring, seeing the story of the Nativity played out, sometimes with a large choir or even real animals. We can watch a Christmas pageant and be so proud of our children or grandchildren as they participate. Or, we could possibly be totally swept away as we consider what a grand, eternal narrative we are watching, as it was played out on a huge cosmic stage!            

            Today’s Scripture reading comes from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers. I want us all to pay close attention as “we connect this passage from Philippians theologically with the Incarnation, as God in Jesus came down on our level.” [1]

            We all know the story of Christmas Eve, and the cast of characters. The shepherds, the angels, the animals. Even the wise men (even though they really arrived some months later, according to the Gospel of Matthew). We see the Holy Family at the center of the Christmas pageant. Young Mary, exhausted shortly after the birth. Joseph, trying to protect his family. Then, we have the baby Jesus. A beautiful baby.

            But, what if we walk around backstage, behind the manger? That is what Paul is doing right here in Philippians 2! Paul is showing us what went on behind the scenes, before time began. Paul reminds his friends – his readers in Philippi – about the mind, the motivation and the character of God, in Jesus Christ. Then, Paul starts to relate the behind-the-scenes story of the Incarnation. Imagine only being vaguely aware of how Jesus came into the world. Paul lets us know how God the eternal Son humbled Himself! Became human – a tiny baby!

            Jesus fully joined the human race. He became one of us, and willingly left all of His Godhood behind. Far, far away in heaven. Just think of what a huge cosmic event that was, for the eternal God the Son to become a tiny, helpless human baby. And yet, becoming human was (and is) the best way to communicate with us humans, on our level. In our language, and in a way we could possibly begin to understand.

            When Paul wrote this letter to his Philippian friends, he was worried about their little church. He had heard about some church fights some of the believers were having. Paul calls these fights divisions in the body. (Remember, Paul refers to the church as the body of Christ in several places, in several places in the New Testament.)

            Paul had just finished talking about these divisions in the church when he says “make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

            Think back on your own history, and the history of this church, or other churches where you have been a member. Do you remember church fights? Where one or two members were bickering with each other? Perhaps others in the church started to join in? Even, maybe, it got to the point of a church split? Perhaps it was an argument between different members of the church board. Or a difference in worship styles. Or a showdown between the pastor and one or two elders in the church. Or even a disagreement about the style of the new church drapes.

            Let’s concentrate on what Paul said in our reading today, from Philippians. “Have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Our Lord Jesus is all about unity. His humility and love for everyone transcends division and fighting, squabbling and bickering. Even over serious, consequential things like worship bands and the color of the new church carpet.

            The Church Universal today is fractured and splintered into so many different pieces! We know that the quarrels, disagreements and selfish attitudes among church members are nothing new. Paul wrote to his friends about those same things, and it hasn’t changed one bit, all these centuries later. Whether it is conflicts between faith traditions (Catholics vs Protestants), between denominations (Baptists vs Methodists) or groups within denominations (conservative vs liberal), things have certainly not changed. [2]  

            Yet, the apostle Paul knows very well how the Gospel of Christ can change hearts and minds! Just look at how the various Philippian believers, from all strata of society, welcomed the stranger Paul into their midst. They welcomed him and the Gospel he preached into their hearts and homes! And, they continued to financially support Paul long-distance long afterwards, when he was in prison in Rome.

            As Paul says, we need to pattern our lives upon Jesus Christ and His humility. However, I caution us all because of powerful things, divisive things that are just waiting to pounce and to separate us as believers in Christ. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, and not allow conflicts, quarrels and divisions to confuse and separate us as believers.

That is why World Communion Sunday exists. We all believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. We all – across faith traditions, across language differences and cultural divides, across earthly conflicts and reasons to fight – can agree on this important thing. We come together in our faith in Christ; we come together in our reverence for God and our celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

And one day, the world wide group of believers will acknowledge together that “God exalted Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So, come. The Lord has prepared THIS table. To that, we can all say “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!” And we can also say, “Alleluia, amen!”

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(I would like to express my great appreciation for the observations and commentary from Alyce McKenzie, https://www.patheos.com/progressive-christian/level-with-me-alyce-mckenzie-09-19-2014.  And also, many thanks to Dennis Bratcher and his superb article at http://www.crivoice.org/kenosis.html.)

[1] https://www.patheos.com/progressive-christian/level-with-me-alyce-mckenzie-09-19-2014

[2] http://www.crivoice.org/kenosis.html – Dennis Bratcher

Proclaim Good News!

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“Proclaim Good News!”

Luke 4:14-21 (4:18) and Romans 12:1-13 – January 20, 2019 – Ecumenical Prayer Service for Christian Unity, St. Martha’s Catholic Church, Morton Grove, Illinois

luke 4-18 proclaim good news

[The (Ecumenical) John 17 Fellowship is an informal group of Catholic and Protestant churches in the northwest Chicago suburbs. We celebrated the Week of Ecumenical Christian Unity with a prayer service for unity this afternoon, on Sunday, January 20. I was asked to preach. Here is my sermon.]

What do you want to be when you grow up? That is a familiar question to many children and young people. I dare say lots of people wonder what they will be as adults, today.

I wonder whether Jesus was asked that question while He was growing up? In our Gospel reading today from St. Luke, our Lord Jesus makes some bold statements while at worship with His fellow townsfolk in Nazareth. But first, we ought to set the scene.

Sure, this was the very beginning. Jesus was just starting to make a name for Himself as an itinerant rabbi. And, He came to His hometown, the place where He grew up. Maybe where the butcher and baker down the street were good friends with His parents from way back. Maybe the real estate agent across the square sold His parents their house some years before, the house where His mother Mary still lives. In other words—I suspect everyone in that town was there in the synagogue that day to hear what the Rabbi Jesus—their hometown boy!—had to say.

Jesus already had generated some buzz in the greater Nazareth area. “Have you heard the latest about that Jesus? The one who says He is a Rabbi? The one who was baptized in the River Jordan by that Baptizer fellow? And, there was something about the heavens cracking open, a dove flying out of a clear blue sky—and a voice from heaven! I’m not saying all this was for real or not, but that is what people are saying about this Jesus. You know, the guy from our town.”

Our Lord Jesus had hardly started to do His public ministry, and people were already talking about Him and what had happened in His life. Especially in Nazareth, the town where He had grown up.

In this scene from the synagogue in Luke chapter 4, the townsfolk did what they habitually did every week in worship. In addition to the prayers, the townsfolk read from the Bible, and then someone made an interpretation of the reading. Biblical exegesis, or midrash.

Isn’t that what we do in worship each week? In addition to the prayers, we also read from the Bible, and then someone (usually the priest or pastor or minister, but not always) makes an interpretation of the reading.

The Bible is so important, to all of us. Here in our Gospel reading today, the Rabbi Jesus reads from the book of the prophet Isaiah. Ecumenically, all of us here from different church traditions and even various places across the globe can agree that the Bible—the Word of God—is one important way that God communicates with us all.

When I was younger, a teenager and in my twenties, I memorized a number of verses from the Bible, from both the Hebrew Scriptures and from the New Testament. I have not kept up with my bible memorization, but I still remember a good deal. Like, for example, two verses from Psalm 119. Verse 11, “Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” And Verse 105, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

These verses are just two of the many places in the Bible that remind us of the importance of God’s Word, and what a central role the Bible ought to have in our lives. Our Lord Jesus tells us so. What’s more, He shows us what we are to do.

Our Lord Jesus was attending worship services—as was His custom. He was reading the Bible. What’s more, Jesus always lived out what the Bible said to do. Always.

Listen again to what our Lord Jesus read: “He found the place where it is written:  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because God has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

In another sermon two and a half years ago, I preached on this same Gospel reading. I told my congregation that this was where our Lord Jesus preaches His first recorded sermon. It is quite a bit like political campaigns. The various candidates all have their position distilled down to a simple message. What they stand for. What they will strive to do. Just so, with Jesus. Jesus is here to proclaim the Gospel. Share the Good News, indeed!

The Apostle Paul was so moved and energized by the risen Jesus that he made it his life’s work to share that Good News. Paul went to endless places and preached the Gospel to just about everyone he met. What is more, he used his organizational skills to help the growing gatherings of believers, as we can see from our second reading from the book of Romans today.

These words from St. Paul not only tell his fellow believers about their gifts and how much God has blessed each of them, individually, but also to let them know how they ought to live together, and bless each other as a church community. We can take that one step further, and see how Paul’s fellow believers—that is all of us, as Christians—ought to live in love and justice in our neighborhoods, and with our fellow citizens.

Let’s go back to Luke chapter 4. My first thought is, I’m not poor! Or, a prisoner, or blind, or oppressed, either. I am not any of those things. Seriously, what is the Rabbi Jesus saying here? Does He have some kind of secret message? If these are the types of people Jesus says He is going to preach and minister to, I am not sure I would be comfortable with it.

All that talk about the poor and blind, grief-stricken and oppressed, that is giving me some hesitation about following this new Rabbi Jesus.

But, let’s take a closer, deeper look. Here Jesus is addressing the poor. Could that be the poor in spirit, as well as poor, materially-speaking? Next up, He addresses the prisoners. Perhaps, prisoners of sin? Then, speaking to the blind; blind to the love and gifts of God in their lives? And, our Lord Jesus came for the oppressed. Oppressed by anxiety, doubt, fear, anger, self-loathing, self-pity, self-righteousness. (I could go on, but I think you all have the idea.)

That is why Jesus has come to earth. That is His message. Our Lord gives His purpose statement, distilled down to the pure essence.  

Our Lord Jesus speaks to each one of us, as individuals. The Apostle Paul speaks to us as a group, to the church.

So—what do you want to be when you grow up? Do the words of Paul or the purpose statement of Jesus make a difference to you? Do these words change your life or your path? Following God’s Word can make all the difference in the world. It did for our Lord. It did for Paul. Will following God’s Word make a difference for you and me today?

            God willing, may it be so.

Alleluia, amen.