"Seeking One Mind”

A Sermon by Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett

Pleasantville UCC, July 31, 2011

Philippians 2:1-13

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”
(Philippians 2:1-2)

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.    (Philippians 2:4, The Message)

            That’s how Eugene Petersen renders our passage for today from Philippians in his modern translation called, The Message.  Let’s hear it once again:

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.    (Philippians 2:4, The Message)

Wow.  For all the talk in Washington about Christian values, they must really have missed this part altogether.

            My friends, sometimes the best way to teach something is to show what it is not.  And what has been unfolding in Washington of late around the issue of raising the debt ceiling is a perfect illustration of what “being of one mind” is not.  No matter what ‘team’ you’re rooting for, people of good will everywhere must agree that what we are seeing is a shame.  It shames each of us who try to teach our children how to play well in the sandbox. It shames those who try to model healthy relationships in our work environment.  It shames every one who thinks we can convince other nations by our own behavior that Democracy, well played, is a noble choice.  Where are our healthy leaders?  Where are our positive role models?  Where are those noble Christian values now that we are still so far from the ballot box?

            By now, we are far enough into our studies of Paul’s letters that one thing should be clear to everyone who has been here. Those congregations that Paul established or helped to nurture were in no way less diverse than the world in which we now live.

            Thessalonica – a port city and the capital of the province of Macedonia, located on a major Roman highway.

            Corinth – a prosperous commercial crossroads strategically overlooking two harbors -- one leading to Italy, the other to Asia.

            Galatia – a largely Gentile community surrounded by the pagan culture of which they had formerly been a part.

            Rome – the center of the Roman Empire, the seat of Imperial power and influence; as culturally diverse a city then as it is now.

            And, today, we turn our attention to Philippi -- a major Roman trade link located on that same Roman highway as Thessalonica. Named after Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II, Philippi viewed itself as a little Rome – “official, patriotic, suspicious of any persons or movements not aligned and loyal to Caesar.”[1]  Positioned along a highway connecting ports on the Asiatic and Aegean Seas with the cities of Asia Minor, Philippi, too, was well accustomed to the ways of the world.

            The letters we have received from Paul reveal communities that were primarily urban, located in bustling cosmopolitan cities where trade routes brought a continuous flow of people and products and ideas from all over the known world; cities where diverse cultures and religious traditions bumped up against one another.

            Paul’s letters offer advice and encouragement to churches in which both men and women were viewed as leaders; where people of widely divergent class backgrounds labored to worship as one body; where members struggled to get along with one another despite differences in culture and economic class and vision about what was the most important aspect of religious life.

            What I mean to say is that, while there are vast differences between the 1st Century Rome and 21^st Century Washington D.C., Washington could learn a thing or two from Paul:

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.    (Philippians 2:4, The Message)

            There is no consensus on where Paul was when he wrote his letter to the Philippians.  We only know that he was in prison.  He may have been in Rome; it may have been Ephesus; it may have been Caesarea Maritima. And because we cannot be sure of where he wrote it, we can only guess that it was written sometime between 52 and 62AD.

            The occasion for Paul’s writing was the availability of a courier.  A member of the Philippian congregation named Epaphroditus was returning home and his return “provided a ready means of conveying a letter.  But Paul knew that the congregation had heard of his imprisonment and he wanted to reassure them of his undiminished joy – even in those circumstances...”[2]  He also wanted to address some tensions that existed within the Philippian congregation, specifically addressing two women who were active leaders in the church. “Paul knew that the Christ followers in Philippi…must deepen the focus of their life, their work, their prayer, their love, their ambition – finding their unity of identity in Christ alone.”[3]

            In this morning’s text Paul identifies those qualities of common life which he considers most important to communicate the gospel: “being of the same mind (the phrase does not refer to agreeing on everything, but to having a common attitude or orientation); having the same love, being in full accord (joined souls); and of one mind (he repeats the call for a common attitude or mindset).”[4]  Paul “regarded as inappropriate to the body of Christ the selfish eye, the pompous mind, the ear hungry for compliments and the mouth that spoke none, the heart that had little room for others, and the hand that served only the self.”[5] 

            Paul’s vision for the Christian community made it that place where we bear one another’s burdens; share together in the partnership of the gospel; rejoice with those who rejoice and we weep with those who weep. Paul believed that there is a quality of mind, “an approach to life, to others, to self, to God which characterize[d] those who are in Christ Jesus; and he calls upon the Philippians to let this mind qualify all their relationships with each other.”[6]  This quality of life together requires humility.  It requires that we embrace the heart and mind of a servant.  And that is a profound shift indeed.  Perhaps that is the key to all that remains unresolved in Washington today.

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was* in Christ Jesus,
⁶who, 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.[7]

            Seeking one mind does not mean seeking to be in agreement with one another all the time.  The one mind which we seek is Christ’s.  We seek to imitate the Master.  We strive to discern his will and his way for us and for our community.  We endeavor to strip away the falsehoods of this world and become more and more made in his likeness and image.

            St. Augustine lived in the 4^th and 5^th centuries and wrote this remarkable prayer – which is just as true today as when he crafted it.

In this world filled with half-truths, outright lies, and acceptable deceptions,
how extremely grateful I am for You.  You are the One, whose heart is true,
the One who will never deceive.  But how can I have this certitude? How can I be assured I know you?  Only by paying very close attention to my motivations and desires,
only by the daily working of integrity[8].

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ,
if his love has made any difference in your life,
 if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you,
 if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor…

…seek the mind of Christ, and it will change your life.

May it be so.  Amen.