Sermon for Sunday, October 1, 2023 || Proper 21A || Philippians 2:1-13
I’ve preached many, many times over the years about the famous words we heard this morning from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Many biblical scholars regard these words about Christ’s descent to be one of us and his subsequent ascension as one of the first Christian hymns in existence. It’s an important passage that I’ve read over and over again, but this time a few words caught me that I hadn’t noticed before: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Another translation says, “Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” A third says, “Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus.”
That got me thinking. In what ways can we live into this mindset, this attitude of Christ? So, I’ve compiled a Top Ten list for this morning’s sermon. Each one of these deserves its own entire sermon, but instead of dwelling on one particular piece of the mind of Christ, I thought I’d share ten in the hopes that one or more will set a fire in you for further reflection and action. All right. Ready for the Top Ten ways to embrace the mindset of Christ?
#10: Emptying ourselves of power and privilege
Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus took seriously the “self-emptying” that Paul talks about in today’s passage. In encounter after encounter, Jesus transfers the power he has to others. He centers the experience of those who usually don’t have a voice in their society. The best example of this impulse to turn the microphone to someone with no power is the encounter with the woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. She comes up and tugs on Jesus’ robe, believing that even that act would heal her. Jesus is on the way to the house of the powerful Jairus, an official of the people, to see to his dying daughter. But Jesus stops, turns to the woman, and listens to her speak her whole truth. Jesus empties himself in order to fill up others, and he starts that by…
#9: Inviting others into relationship
At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus walks around Galilee and gathers up all sorts of people to be his disciples. He calls them into relationship with the invitation to “Come and See.” He even nicknames some of his friends, a sure sign of deepening connection. Jesus sustains all of our life-giving relationships by being the vine to our branches, abiding with us and nourishing us with the connective tissue of his presence. This leads us to…
#8: Being a healing presence
Speaking of presence, one of the most helpful ways for us to live into the mind of Christ is to be healing presences in the lives of other people. We might not be able to perform miraculous healings, but the ministry of presence in itself is miraculous in its own way. We can be present with those who are ill or dying. We can also, in our very attitude and behavior, offer a healing presence to the world. Living as such a healing presence can drain us, so we engage in…
#7. Praying in solitude
Jesus understood that his own spiritual wellbeing was vital for his ministry in the world. He took care of himself and his own needs by spending time with God alone in prayer. The Gospel reminds us that, in the midst of seemingly endless demands, Jesus took the time to go up the mountain to be alone with God. In these moments, Jesus intentionally tended his relationship with God, and when we adopt his mindset, we make the same intention. Much of this intention finds its fodder in…
#6: Giving thanks
Jesus gave thanks to God even at times when there didn’t seem much to be thankful for. The prime example of this happened when Jesus and his disciples were surrounded by a crowd of over five thousand people. Jesus told his followers to feed the multitude, but they had a laughably small amount of food: only five loaves of bread and two small fish. But what does Jesus do? He thanks God for the seemingly scarce resources and in the subsequent sharing of the loaves and fishes, what was scarce becomes abundant. That’s the power of giving thanks to God. We will give thanks in a special way very soon when we share the Holy Eucharist, which is just the Greek word for ‘thanksgiving.’ If you didn’t know that, don’t worry; we are all…
#5: Growing in understanding
While Jesus was a wonderful, if enigmatic, teacher, he also grows in understanding about himself and his mission throughout the Gospel. When a woman from a foreign land confronts him about her daughter’s illness, Jesus tells her that he came only to help the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she presses him, and her faithfulness illuminates new understanding for him. He heals her daughter, and in the encounter recognizes that his mission encompasses so much more than a single people from a single region. Likewise, we embrace the mind of Christ when we remain open to fresh understanding, to new ideas that we might hear when we are…
#4: Sharing stories
Jesus was a storyteller. Oftentimes when people ask him questions, he responds with stories called parables. He invites others into the stories he shares so they can learn more about themselves and their place in the world. When we are in conversation with someone who has a vastly different worldview than we do, we can come to a greater understanding of one another’s worlds by sharing stories with each other. If you feel the judgmental impulse (that we all have) start to shut you down, practice saying, “Tell me a story about that.” Often we will hear these stories when we are…
#3: Confronting injustice
Jesus knew the power structure of his day led to dismal outcomes for so many of God’s beloved children, and in the Gospel, Jesus speaks often about the exploitation of the vulnerable. In the tradition of the Old Testament prophets, he critiques the religious and political establishment of his day for their treatment of people on the margins of society. He preaches, “Blessed are the poor,” when everyone else operated as if poverty was a sign of God’s displeasure. He did all this knowing that the power structure was growing increasingly hostile to his message. And that hostility leads to…
#2: Trusting God
Jesus stands in solidarity with all those made vulnerable by the choices of people in power. Rather than fleeing when his own life was threatened, Jesus went to the garden and prayed to God: “Let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want, but what you want.” Did God desire for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross? No. Jesus suffered and died because he was unwilling to forsake the mission that had set him on the path to the cross. In order to stay on the path he trusted in God’s grace and presence to be with him through the pain to the bitter end. And it was bitter, but it wasn’t the end because of…
#1: Keeping promises
Jesus promises to be with us until the end of the ages. His second name, “Emmanuel,” means “God is with us.” The resurrection happens in order for Christ Jesus to fulfill this promise forever. His fidelity to his mission and to the relationships he makes along the way lead to the depth of this foundational promise. When we stay true to his mission in our own lives, when we stay true to ourselves and to one another, we live into the promise that Jesus makes with us, to be with us always.
These are ten of the many ways that we can live into the mind of Christ. Like I said, every one of them deserves its own sermon, and that’s where I’m going to challenge you. Choose one or more of these ways and practice living them – actively, intentionally, prayerfully. Be the good news of Jesus Christ in the world by adopting the ways he moved through the world. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
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