Working It Out

Philippians 2:1-13

Back in March of this year, I worked with OLLI as a music director for an original production titled OLLI, OLLI, OXEN FREE! In addition to my production role of teaching music to the cast, putting together accompaniments, recording music tracks for the show, and playing live, I also had the privilege of being one of the actors on stage. One of the tricks for actors is to immerse themselves in the role as much as possible. There are all kinds of exercises that you can use to do this. Sometimes I write out a backstory for the character. My favorite is to try to think like they would think when rehearsing- what would be running through the character’s mind in this particular scene, even when I don’t have any lines or singing to do. By thinking like the character, I could play the part on stage as they would.

My last role was a bit complicated. Primarily, I was a music teacher and hippie at Faber College in the 1960s. Then I played the same role, but 50 years later at a class reunion. In addition, in between those two times, I got to be Elvis, Tommy Smothers, and a swimmer at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Each time I switched characters in the show, I thought about who that character was, deep down, and tried my best to think and act like them. When I was Elvis, I tried to have Elvis's mind. I was the King, Baby. When I was Tommy Smothers, I had Tommy’s mind and tried to think a bit goofy. You get the idea.

In today’s passage, Paul calls for the church at Philippi to have the mind of Christ, so that they think as Christ thought and would act like Christ towards one another and towards those outside the church. What do we know about the church in Phillipi and Paul’s connection to it?

Paul founded the church in Philippi during his second missionary journey around AD 49–51. The church was the first Christian community established in Greece, founded by Paul along with his companions Silas, Timothy, and Luke. Paul received a vision of a man from Macedonia pleading for help, which he interpreted as a divine call to preach the Gospel in Greece (Acts 16:9-10). Upon arriving in Philippi, Paul and his companions encountered a group of women gathered by the river for prayer, among whom Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira, became the first convert. Her conversion and baptism, along with her household, marked the beginning of the Philippian church. The congregation was made up primarily of Gentiles, as well as a few Jewish converts. It quickly developed into a structured community with overseers and deacons, as indicated in Paul’s epistle to the Philippians.

Apparently, there was quite a bit of strife going on in the congregation. There was some form of outside persecution of the church. In chapter one, verse 28, Paul calls the church not to be intimidated by their “opponents”, and that their long suffering is a privilege granted to them so that they might remember the sufferings of Christ. There were struggles within the church as well. Two women, Euodia and Syntiche, who had worked faithfully with Paul, were now at odds (4:2-3). Another group seemed intent on bringing circumcision back for Christian men (3:1-6). Finally, perhaps some felt slighted by Paul, as throughout the letter he repeatedly reiterates that he loves and prays for ALL of them, rather than just a select few.

Paul was trying to manage things from afar, most likely in some prison in Rome. Paul had established this church, and he wanted to see it grow and thrive. His formula for success: Have the mind of Christ Jesus. First, he reminds them of some of the hallmarks of their congregation- if there is any encouragement in Christ (and there is), any consolation from love (and there is), any compassion and sympathy in the church (and there is)- then “Make my joy complete,” says Paul. He wanted them to come together, which would bring Paul happiness. We can tell in verse 3 that, in addition to some leadership struggles, questions over the theology of the church and possible slighted feelings, many in the congregation were being divisive, with attitudes such as "selfish ambition," "vain conceit," regarding oneself as better than others, and putting one's own interests ahead of others. Theologian Fred Craddock, in looking at this passage, says, “What we do know for sure is that 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.”

The key to helping the church through times of struggle, persecution and differences? Paul writes, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (V.5)

Paul then quotes a familiar hymn from the time about Jesus (verses 6-11), which drives home three points about Christ's character: his servanthood, his humility, and his obedience. First, he reminded them of Christ’s servanthood, that Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (V.7). If the church at Philippi would look to serving others, both within and outside the church, they would no longer have room for selfish ambition, conceit, or quarreling. Service to others would help them find common purpose.

What does servanthood look like in our own church? Servanthood has many forms. You are serving others when you put food into the Little Free Pantry. You are serving others when you host a reception for a grieving family. You are serving others by giving of your time as a lay reader, usher, greeter, elder, or deacon. You are serving others by serving on a seasonal planning team (the Winter team is coming up!), providing snacks on Sundays after the 10 am worship service, and cleaning up afterward. You serve others when you volunteer for a church activity, such as helping with AV on Sunday mornings, volunteering at the upcoming Pride parade, or serving as a helper in the safe parking program. You are serving others when you go to the store and remember to buy protein-rich foods for those in need at the Food Bank. Each one of those acts of service helps us think and act as Christ did, as a servant to all.

Here is a great example of servanthood out in our community. Last Sunday, Darlene and Sandy Saunders told our Deacon president Pat Alovrd about a dishwasher at the Wild Goose, who's recently been diagnosed with Colon Cancer. He has no health insurance, and the Wild Goose has started a fundraising campaign to help him with medical expenses. The deacons discussed helping this man out and unanimously chose to donate deacon funds to his fundraiser.

Next, we become Christ-minded by living in humility. The language of the hymn in verses 6-11 expresses the paradox of Christ's exalted status and willingness to be placed in human form. As Christ was humble, giving up his exalted status as God, so too the church at Philippi was called to live in humility. So, too, are we.

In the book Tuesdays with Morrie, the author recalls a lesson from his former psychology professor, who is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. "It is 1979, a basketball game in the Brandeis gym. The team is doing well, and the student section begins a chant, `We're number one! We're number one!' Morrie is sitting nearby. He is puzzled by the cheer. At one point, in the midst of `We're number one!' he rises and yells, `What's wrong with being number two?' The students look at him. They stop chanting. He sits down, smiling and triumphant.”

There is nothing wrong with being number two, or three, or even one thousand. The word "humility" has at its root the Latin humus, which means "earth." To be humble means to be down to earth, to place oneself in a low, near-the-earth position. It means to share the attitude, substance, common spirit, and mind of Christ with others, and to place the needs of the other in front of our own.

To be humble and Christ-like may be something as simple as not taking the last tasty morsel off one of the plates during our fellowship time and instead leaving it for someone else, or parking far away when the church parking lot fills up so that someone who can’t walk as well can get into church more easily. Being humble may take form if someone happens to be sitting in the pew where you always sit, and rather than raising a fuss, you move somewhere else quietly. Humility may be found if, when no one is doing the dishes after a church meal, you go in and begin to wash them without being asked. Being humble may be found in something more difficult: being humble in the midst of an argument in person or on Facebook, rather than loudly trumpeting your own views. In all places and at all times, we are called by Paul to live lives in humility. Theologian F.B. Meyer said, “I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other, and that the taller we grew in Christian character the more easily we could reach them. I now find that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath the other, and that it is not a question of growing taller, but of stooping lower where we find the greatest gifts.”

Paul ends this section of his letter by writing, “So then, my beloved, even as you always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now also in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

Let’s wordsmith this sentence to see what Paul is trying to tell this young congregation.

First, unlike most other congregations Paul has founded, he seems to be in a good relationship with them. He even calls them his “Beloved,” something you definitely will not hear him call the congregation in Corinth! Then he mentions how they obeyed him while he was there and still do even in his absence. The word obey in Greek is hupakouó: ὑπακούω, meaning “to obey, to listen attentively, to heed.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) So, Paul’s congregation respected his leadership and listened to his teachings, which were rooted in Christ's.

Then he told them, “With fear and trembling, work out your salvation, for God is working in you.” What is this about? The idea of working out our faith in fear and terror seems unsettling.

One way to think of this charge is that it is written to describe the anxiety of one who is representing God in what one says and does. So, just as anyone on stage will try to have the mind of the character one plays, we are called to play the part God calls us to- that of Christ himself in what we say and do. Gulp! Perhaps “with fear and trembling” isn’t so far off?

The Greek word translated as fear, phobos (φόβος), also means “reverence, respect.”

The word for trembling, tromos: τρόμος, means “trembling, quaking.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) There is this sense that we Christians completely distrust our ability to have the mind of Christ and to live humbly. Still, in faith and accompanied by grace, in reverence for being God’s representatives here on earth, out of respect for God, and with some trembling because of who we represent, we do our utmost to fulfill this charge and work out our salvation from day to day. 

As was true in Philippi, we are living in a time where it is difficult to be a church. Our nation is in a dark place, and faith is being twisted into very unchristlike ways. The key to helping the church through such times of such difficulty is to have the mind of Christ and live in humility.

How then can we play the part of God, representing that which is holy by what we say and do? We can start by learning our lines. A great place to begin is by reading Matthew 5-7, Jesus’ first sermon. Follow Christ’s teachings in blessing the poor, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry, the pure in heart, and the persecuted. Have the mind of Christ by serving others, loving God, neighbor, and self (Mark 12:28-31). A good summary comes to us from Theologian Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin, who said, “When Jesus said, follow me, he was walking towards the margins, not the mansions.”