Philippians 2:1-11
Change your Mind!
Sometimes people easily change their mind. I heard about a guy who e-mailed his ex. He said,
My dearest Susan, I’ve been so desolate ever since I broke off our engagement. Simply devastated. Won’t you PLEASE consider coming back to me? You hold a place in my heart no other woman can fill. I could never find another woman quite like you. I need you so much. Won’t you forgive me and let us make a new beginning? I love you so.
Yours always,
John
P.S. Congratulations on winning the lottery!
Yes, John changed his mind. But other times, it’s not so easy to change our mind, even when it’s good for you. And yet, the truth is, God calls us to a radical change of mind, for our own good and for the good of the church family. Today’s passage contains three ways to change your mind. First, it says,
1. Be like-minded.
Paul begins chapter 2 with a plea. It’s a poetic plea, punctuated with four uses of the word “if”: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion...” Paul knows they have these things, so he really means “since.” “Since you have all of these things...” He continues in verse 2, “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
Paul says we need to be like-minded. Note he DOESN’T say to be “same-minded,” because that would be pretty boring and useless. He says “like-minded,” which means to be united on one purpose. We need to overlook petty differences and agree on the big stuff. And the big stuff here is that we are the body of Christ. We have the same love. We are one in spirit. We are one in mind. What unites us is greater than what divides us.
On a side note, did you know today’s scripture is where you can actually find an automobile mentioned in the Bible? Yes, it’s true. You have to use the King James Version, which tells us to “Be of one Accord!”
OK, seriously, think of the military culture. When you go to boot camp, the drill instructor or training instructor is there to chisel out of you all that background stuff that makes you unique, and instill in you a new group identity. It’s not about you anymore; it’s about your unit, your platoon, your flight. What unites you is greater than anything that might divide you.
And so it is with the church. When you become a believer, you are linked not only to God as his child, but also to brothers and sisters across the globe. You are part of the family. That’s why you can discover a Christian on a cruise ship across the world and immediately find a kinship.
Blue Skies East needs to see a healthy church family, not a dysfunctional family. We need to be a family that first and foremost works hard to get along. We need to overlook the small stuff, to work through conflict, to become quick repenters and quick forgivers, so other residents can see the love of God in the way we treat each other. When that happens, people are drawn to God. As the old song goes, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
Paul says, “Be like-minded.” And then he builds on that to say, in verses 3-4,
2. Be humble-minded!
Let me re-read the verses to you. They contain a great definition of humility:
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
You see, true humility doesn’t think less of yourself. True humility simply thinks of yourself ... less. You have less time for selfies, for personal updates in social media, for hair appointments or mirror glances, less time for plotting how to get your way. Why? Because you are busy serving others. It’s not that you become a doormat, to be used and abused, with no life of your own. It’s simply that you learn to value others before yourself. You live by the acronym JOY: Jesus, Others, and then You.
This is a familiar theme throughout the New Testament: Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Galatians 5:13 – “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Ephesians 5:21 – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” And 1 Peter 5:5 – “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’”
Marriage is a laboratory for moving from selfishness to selflessness. My theory is that God has a sense of humor, so he leads you to marry someone your opposite. Opposites attract ... and then they attack. What you thought was so cute when you first met NOW DRIVES YOU CRAZY! Yet, if you make your marriage work, you discover that what unites you is greater than what divides you.
And so it is with the military and corporate America. The best leaders out there are humble leaders who want to not only accomplish the mission but also care for and develop their subordinates. Those were always the leaders who motivated me the most. In fact, I’m blessed to have such a leader currently at the VA. I’m sure you have your own list: people who served you while you were serving them.
And so it is with the church. Paul says, you find like-mindedness in being humble-minded. While each one of us is different, part of our commonality is developing a humble, serving heart, putting each other above ourselves.
A second century believer was so moved by these verses that he quoted them on his death bed. Tradition tells us that Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, was martyred in the year 155. His enemies tied him to a stake and lit a fire under him. Miraculously, the flames would not come near him. But undeterred, they stabbed him to death. In a letter he wrote before his arrest, that circulated among the churches, Polycarp quoted today’s passage to speak of his willingness to die for his faith, because of his strong calling to serve other believers in humility.
Be like-minded and humble-minded, both in the context of #3, which is to ...
3. Be Christ-minded.
Jesus referred to himself as humble (Matthew 11:29), and Paul rightly points us to Christ as the ultimate example of selfless humility. Verse 5 says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
Paul illustrates Christ’s humility with a beautiful poem in verses 6-11. Most scholars think it was an early hymn of the church, and have nicknamed it the “kenosis,” from the Greek word in verse 7 that describes Christ “emptying himself.” People have differed over what that phrase means. My understanding is that, when Christ volunteered for the mission to become fully human, to step down from the glories of heaven to become one of us, he set aside for a time his divine qualities. While he walked the earth, he relied on the Heavenly Father just as we do. That’s why he could honestly say to his disciples about the timing of his second coming, “No one knows, not even the Son” (Matthew 24:36). And that’s why scripture can say that Jesus was tempted in every way common to man, yet did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). He lived a full 100% human life, dependent upon God like us. He didn’t cheat and rely upon his godliness to live the perfect life. No, he set all that aside when he stepped down from heaven to earth.
Verses 6-8 depict that downward trek. Can you imagine the voice of all creation (Colossians 1:16) now limited to a baby’s cry? Max Lucado marvels, “The God of the universe kicked against the wall of a womb, was born into the poverty of a peasant, and spent His first night in the feed trough of a cow” (From “Next Door Savior”). This downward mobility required great humility. The one who was in essential nature or form God himself became in essential nature or form a human. 100% God and now 100% human. And this human would suffer and die, not just any death but a poor criminal’s death on a cross. Paul elsewhere wrote,
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Because he humbled himself, verses 9-11 tell us how God the Father exalted him above every other name. That is the pattern of the Bible: when you humble yourself, God will lift you up. If you choose to take the high road, if you choose forgiveness over revenge, if you choose serving over being served, God will take care of you. It may not look like it today, but trust in him. For Christ, things didn’t look so hot on that fateful Friday, but things got a lot better by Easter Sunday.
So change your mind! Move away from the self-centered compulsion and seek to have the mind of Christ, to serve rather than to be served, to build up the body of Christ, and to love others with the love of Christ. Let us pray:
Lord, as we prepare now for Communion, we ask for help with our own sinful selves that so often pursue our self-centeredness and selfishness. Help us to love each other as you have loved us. Help us to focus on the one who gave himself for us, so that we could be with you forever and ever. Perhaps you would help someone here today receive Christ as their Savior just now, and take the Lord’s Supper the very first time as a member of your family. As we take the Supper, we remember the one ...
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen!
