The Mind of Christ

Phil 2:1-13                                                                      September 25, 2005

         If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition*** or vain conceit** (empty glory – kenodoxis), but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look (consider)* not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

    Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

    Who, being in very nature**** God,

      did not consider* equality with God something to be grasped,

      but made himself nothing (emptied himself),**

      taking the very nature**** of a servant (slave),***

      being made in human likeness.

    And being found in appearance as a man,

      he humbled himself

      and became obedient to death—

         even death on a cross!

    Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

      and gave him the name that is above every name,

      that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

      and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

      to the glory of God the Father.

         Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Intro: City of Philippi was a place that Paul held in special affection. This was the first city he entered after responding to a vision where he heard a man from Macedonia call him and say, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

         Luke tells us that the next morning they left for Macedonia or Northern Greece. Philippi was the leading port city in that region. When they landed, they stayed several days, and on the Sabbath they went to the river to meet with the Jewish community that was so small they did not even have a synagogue. Paul shared the story of Jesus with the women who had gathered, and Lydia, a wealthy woman received the message, was baptized with her household, and invited Paul and his companions to stay with her.

         It was in the city of Philippi, the church on the continent of Europe was born. It truly was a special place for Paul. While he was in prison in Rome that he wrote this letter of encouragement to this little church. There was some fighting in the church which is seen in Chapter 4 where Paul encourages two women who were leaders in the church to come to agreement, so Paul addressed that. But mostly the letter was intended to encourage the church and let them know how much he loved them. He was nearing the end of his life. He knew that soon he would die and he wanted the people he cared about to know just how much he loved them.

         Have you ever received a letter of encouragement? My mother-in-law, Helen, has for decades carried on a ministry of letters of encouragement. Some of you may have received one of these letters. At times they are newsy, but mostly the say over and over, in many different ways, “I care about you.” It has been a wonderful ministry that has touched countless lives. That was the nature of the Letter to the Philippians.

         Let me ask you, if you were to look back over your life, who can, with a show of hands, testify to at least one time when you were encouraged through your relationship with Christ? That is wonderful.

         Who can testify to at least one time when you were comforted by the love of Christ?

         Who can testify to at least one time when you experienced fellowship in the Spirit?

         Who can testify to at least one time when you experienced any tenderness or compassion in your life?

         Praise God, now, listen anyone who can testify to even one of these uplifting experiences, this is for you. Paul said, if you have found encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness or compassion, you have a responsibility. “Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”

         If the love of Christ has touched your life or my life, this is to be our goal. We are not to live out of vain conceit or selfish ambition, rather we are to live for one another, we are to look our for the needs of each other, we are to be concerned about the interests of others.

         But I would suggest, this is easier said than done. We need to hear a word of encouragement similar what Billy Martin used to say the Yankees when they were the dominant team in major league baseball, he would approach the rookies and say, "Boys, it's an honor just to put on the New York pinstripes. So when you put them on, play like world champions. Play like Yankees. Play proud." And that is what Jesus calls us to. But what does it mean to “live like Christians?”

         That was Paul’s next issue. And he answers it with one of the oldest hymns in the Christian faith.

         “Let this mind be in you, that was also in Christ Jesus.” This introduction to the hymn calls us both individually and corporately to actually be people who are out of our minds and into Christ’s mind. We are often good at being out of our minds, or at least my friends often say so, but we how often are can we say the mind of Christ is in us? And when it is what does it look like?

         The mind of Christ is humble. I once had a classmate who seemed so arrogant that I was sure would one day write a book entitled, “Humility and How I Achieved It”. The odd thing about humility is when we are sure we have it, we have lost it.

         We live in a world that is very concerned about Rights. And we each have rights, we know our rights, we claim our rights. Our nation was founded upon the premise that there are certain rights that are granted to us by the creator and no one should be allowed to take those rights from us. They are inalienable. Yet, when we individually seek to claim these rights for ourselves, we inevitably come into conflict with one another. When my right to pursue happiness infringes on your right to liberty, we come into conflict. This is the reality Paul is speaking to when he says, “Jesus, who in very nature was God, emptied himself and . . . took the very nature of a servant.” Theologians have long argued over what it means that Christ emptied himself, but that is not the important part of this passage, it was never intended to become the battle ground for Kenotic theory, no, the point of the hymn is the humility of Christ.

         When we selfishly pursue our own rights because they are our rights, we run into conflict. Jesus Christ was in very nature God, Jesus Christ had the rights and privileges that went with being God. Power, honor, glory and worship were all His rights. However, Jesus humbled himself and set aside those rights and accepted the very nature of a servant.

         As human beings, when we follow the example of the humility of Jesus, and set aside our rights for others, the result is freedom for all.

         Len Sweet, in the book “Soul Tsunami” presents what he calls the veggie principle. He said, “I hate VeggieTales. When I walk into a vegetable market, I shudder when I see a tomato. When I eat a pickle, I get an evil pleasure thinking about Larry the Cucumber. If I never hear another talking French Pea, it will be too soon. VeggieTales are immature, shallow and LOUD. I hate VeggieTales.” Then he adds. “However, when the next installment comes out, I will be the first in line at my local Bible Book Store to purchase it. Why? Because it is not for me. It is for my 6 year old who knows every song, and every word of every story. It is for my 6 year old who is learning about forgiveness and compassion and contentment and obedience with each episode.” He goes on to say, “Here is the “veggie principle”: If I like it, it is not for others, it is for me. So any time I am called to reach out to others, I need to ask myself, am I doing this for me, or for those I want to reach. If when I preach, it is only from passages I like, then I am doing it for me, and not for those I want to reach. Is the music in worship for us who are here each week, or for those we are am trying to reach? If it is only what we like, it is for us.”

         I think the Veggie Principle is another way of saying, Have the mind of Christ who though in his very narture was God, set aside his divine rights and became in his very nature a servant. This is humility.

         Rather than seeking “vain conceit” as in verse 3, or literally, “empty glory” we are called to “empty ourselves.” Rather than pursuing “selfish ambition” we are invited to become a “slave” of one another.

         It is in service that we learn compassion. It seems that a priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer asked, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes." The doctor agreed: "I've never seen such slow golfers." The pastor noted, "Hey, here comes the groundskeeper. Let's have a word with him."

         The pastor called out to the groundskeeper, "Say, George, what's with the group ahead of us?"

         George said, "That's a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime."

         The group was silent for a moment. The pastor sympathized, "That's so sad. I think I'll say a special prayer for them tonight." The doctor added, "That's a good idea. In fact, I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if we can do anything for these guys." Then the engineer spoke up: "Well that's great, but in the meantime, why can't these guys play at night?"

         You see, being a servant, having compassion, means putting the needs of others ahead of ourselves.

         To have the mind of Christ begins with humbling ourselves by giving up our rights, and proceeds to obeying God’s call to serve even to the point of death. Throughout the history of the church there have been men and women who have faithfully served with obedience to their call. Mother Teressa, when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, chose not to go to the presentation ceremony because it interfered with her work. She knew she was not in the business of accepting prizes; she was in the business of serving the poor of Calcutta. She maintained her dedication to the cause by refusing unrelated honors.

         Kevin Miller tells the story of Bramwell Booth whose father was William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army. One day the elder Booth went to visit his son in London. When he arrived, he didn't even say "good morning" to his son.

         “Bramwell!" he cried, when he caught sight of me, "did you know that men slept out all night on the bridges?" He had arrived in London very late the night before from some town in the south of England and had to cross the city to reach his home. What he had seen on that midnight return accounted for this morning tornado. Did I know that men slept out all night on the bridges?

         "Well, yes," I replied, "a lot of poor fellows, I suppose, do that."

         "Then you ought to be ashamed of yourself to have known it and to have done nothing for them," he went on, vehemently.

         I began to speak of the difficulties, burdened, as we were already, of taking up all sorts of Poor Law work, and so forth. My father stopped me?.

         "Go and do something!" he said. "We must do something."

         "What can we do?"

         "Get them shelter."

         "That will cost money."

         "Well, that is your affair. Something must be done. Get hold of a warehouse and warm it, and find something to cover them. But mind, Bramwell, no coddling!"

         That was the beginning of The Salvation Army Shelters."

         If we would be humble servants of Christ, we must follow His example of laying aside his rights and becoming a servant.

         When Jesus did this, God exalted him, and God glorified Him. And one day, every person will bow in worship to this one who has showed us what it means to be a servant.

         “Therefore,” Paul writes, “my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

         And that is the call. Don’t give up. To have the mind of Christ is to pursue a humble life to the very end. So, hear again verses 1 and 2 “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”

         Let us pray.