The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 1 October 2017

Philippians 2:1-13

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

(Should this sermon sound odd in some of its references, it was delivered at both Trinity Anglican Church and St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, both of Aylmer.)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus

·       Paul wrote letters. I think we all know that. He addressed concerns he had with the various churches he was familiar with. He also wrote to present what might be called his “faith credentials”, such as his Letter to the Romans, written to a church he never founded and did not yet know.

·       What then is Paul concerned about in this letter to the Church at Philippi? In other letters, he addresses problems such as the relationship of rich and poor in the church, or issues of morality. So what is he talking about here?

·       In a way, he is telling the Philippians this simple thing: Be like Jesus. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. The next step in that advice would to ask what is Jesus like and how can we do this?

·       Paul then uses a piece of poetry which many scholars think is an early Christian hymn to tell the Philippians what Jesus is like. We have no idea what this hymn may have sounded like and we’d have to say that the theology expressed is quite profound, taking it far beyond a devotional piece. Who knows? Maybe the Philippians would’ve recognized it and sing along.

·       This hymn addresses Jesus’ origin as well as the depths to which he stooped to become one of us. His birth as a human being is spoken of and more is expressed in speaking of the death he endued on the cross.

·       We are so used to the symbolism of the cross we sometimes forget the meaning of it to the people of Jesus and Paul’s time. As a means of execution, it degraded the one being executed in such a way as to serve as a reminder of how powerful the crucifying power was. It was a sign so shameful that the Christian Church did not use it for hundreds of years. The iconography of Christ as the good shepherd and the “Icthus” fish served to identify Christians and to decorate their place of worship. Only later did the cross come into use as an outward sign for Christians.

·       Paul uses the hymn to retell the ultimate meaning of the story of Jesus, from emptying through humiliation to exultation by the Father. In effect, Paul tells his readers “This is the mind of Christ Jesus. Be this way.”

·       How to “be this way” is not a simple thing, but Paul’s first statement about this hold the key: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. It is a matter of changing how one thinks. We all know how easy that is!

·       It could be that Paul is counseling his readers to develop a new way of thinking. The society around them was obsessed with seeking honours and glory. (Sound familiar?) In light of this, Paul is actually recommending the opposite: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God… emptied himself…

·       This does not come easy and it usually doesn’t happen over-night either. The issue often comes down to guiding true humility through the rocky shoals of over-whelming pride and a self-hating perversion of humility. Real humility is being just what you are and seeing that as a gift from God. As C.S. Lewis put it: “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” (Mere Christianity) In a very real sense, practice make perfect, even when it comes to humility.

·       In his letter, Paul invites the Philippian Christians (and the Christians of Aylmer) to reflect on the Good News and orient their lives on Jesus Christ. The passage we’ve been looking at also takes us beyond this to the point of praise, 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, to the glory of God the Father.

·       Paul then says something that a number of people might find troubling: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

… To many, this sounds like self-salvation or a righteousness based on works. That’s something Paul would never endorse. We might interpret this to mean that each Christian is to strive to live out their faith, even with a sort of fear and trembling. This may well involve a daily renewal of our baptism through daily repentance. {This is a real Lutheran concept, but it works for Anglicans, too.}

·       The last thing that Paul says in our passage today reminds us that it is the grace of God that permits, propels, and guides us in our daily striving: for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

·       So let’s not be fearful, but let’s trust in the one who humbled himself to raise us up by no less means than the cross, an ancient symbol of pain and humiliation that has become for us a symbol of awe and salvation.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus