Title: Getting Along
Text: Philippians 2:1-13
Thesis: When we have the same attitude as Christ, we will get along together and please God.
Introduction:
Our text was originally written to Christians living in Philippi which was a Roman Colony and as such they were citizens of the Roman Empire. They were Romans. Wherever they were in the Roman Empire and for that matter the world, they were Roman citizens. And as Roman citizens they lived with the privileges and responsibilities of Roman citizenship.
This concept is easily transferable to us. We are citizens of the United States of America. We are perceived as generous tippers, friendly, uncomplicated, rich, standard bearers for freedom and equality, creative and a technological power. While largely admired in the world we are known for our gun violence, angry racial division and for having an outsize penchant for defense spending.
Those less enchanted by us refer to us as Ugly Americans… loud, arrogant, rude, obnoxious and exhibiting a sense of privilege. I did chuckle a bit when I read one tongue in cheek description of Americans as lazy, obese and over-medicated.
While there are always those who manage to embarrass us I think most Americans are proud to be Americans and wish to be responsible citizens. So whether citizens of the ancient Roman Empire or citizens of the contemporary United States we are expected to live into the highest expectations of our citizenship. With that high standard in mind the Apostle Paul ups the citizenship ante and adds, “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.” Philippians 1:27 In other words we are urged to live here and now, as we will live there and then.
I think of all the descriptors of what it will be like there and then, that come to mind… I am looking forward to living in absolute peace.
• Isaiah 9:6 – 7 - For unto us a child is born, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.
• In I Timothy 2:2 Paul instructs us to pray for all who are in authority so we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
• I Thessalonians 5:13 urges us to live peacefully with each other.
• We are to work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life. Hebrews 12:14
So with the thought that if we live now as we will live then… we will live in peace. So how can we consciously go about living in peace and getting along here and now?
Is there a compelling biblical case in this text for our getting along with each other? What about this text motivates us to care about and work toward getting along with each other? Certainly one motivator is a:
A. Heartfelt Passion and Purpose Is Necessary. (This means we care about Christ and what Christ cares about…)
Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another and working together with one mind and purpose. Philippians 2:1-4
The Apostle Paul was concerned about two threats to the life and ministry of the church at Philippi…
1. The threat was external or from without or outside the church, i.e., persecution.
2. The threat was internal or from within the church, i.e., dissention or strife.
This piece of our text speaks specifically to the internal threat of strife. Dissention is when Christians don’t get along Dissention happens when Christians get tripped up by their differences.
An automaton is a mechanical devise made in imitation of a human being… a human robot. The church is not a group of automatons or human robots walking in lockstep but rather a group of individuals who, despite our differences, are willing to show love for one another through putting the well-being of others first.
Scripture teaches us there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free, Democrat or Republican, a 1%er or a 99%er, a Bears fan or Green Bay fan. Christ is all that matters and he lives in all of us. Colossians 3:11
1. Agreeing to agree and/or disagree with each other
2. Loving one another
3. Working together
4. Considering the other… are all key elements cited in the text for getting along with each other.
A culture war is a conflict between groups with different ideals, beliefs, opinions and philosophies. We are currently enmeshed in an ongoing culture war on what it means to respect the flag and the Constitutional right to freedom of expression.
So if we take our eyes off the ball we arrive here at St. Paul’s and immediately choose a side… “Standers” on the right side and “Kneelers” on the left. But if we keep the main thing the main thing, when we come to church we leave that stuff at the door. We set aside our differences. And we find ourselves fully committed to getting along with and loving each other and working together and thoughtfully being considerate of each other.
In here we are passionate about loving each other and working together for the good of others and the glory of God.
Perhaps one corrective question we might ask ourselves is, “Are my preferences and opinions more important to me than my relationships?”
A second motivator for getting along is the example of Jesus.
B. Humility Is the Example Jesus Gives Us.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had… Philippians 2:5-11
I am assuming the attitude of Jesus is different than the attitude of most people... otherwise Paul would have given them a nice little thumbs up and a little “keep ’er up” pep talk.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but babies are pretty much consumed with their own wants and needs. I think a case can be made that many of us grown ups are just big babies. We start off by crying every time we feel the need to feed or whatever. We eventually adjust our behavior but we are still pretty much into looking out for ourselves and getting our way and as children we tend to protest long and hard if we feel we are not being treated fairly.
We grow up knowing that we need to look out for ourselves because no one else is going to look out for us. We apply for the best paying job we can. We like living in a spacious and comfortable home. We dress well and drive nice cars. We plan great vacations. We are in pursuit of the American Dream.
No one goes into a human resources office and asks for the most menial, low paying, most debasing, least sought after job available. No one tells a realtor they are looking for the dumpiest, rattiest, run-down home in the neighborhood. No one goes down to Car Max and asks for the ugliest, least reliable, back-row heap on the car lot. (I saw a the absolute ugliest new car ever to roll off the assembly line this past week that I am certain the dealer had to pay the customer to drive it away.)
We like to take care of ourselves. We have to consider our dignity and pride. We have a certain status to maintain. We have our ideas and our ideals and our beliefs and convictions and motives and motions to defend and status and reputations to uphold.
Then we have Jesus who never indicated a need or desire for anything or in any way resembling self-serving.
In 1996 two military strategists, Harlan Uliman and James Wade, started advocating a more focused approach to war. Uliman and Wade argued for engaging the enemy with an overwhelming show of force that will destroy "the adversary's will to resist before, during, and after battle." They titled their book Shock and Awe.
Shock and Awe, also known as Rapid Dominance, is defined as "a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy and destroy its will to fight." (In other words, scaring the be jibbers out of them.)
We saw shock and awe at work at the onset of the war in Iraq… it was an amazing display of power and destruction.
Isn’t it interesting that God, who could have marshaled all the shock and awe in the universe, opted to win the war with humility?
So we have Jesus:
1. He did not cling to his privilege.
2. He humbled himself.
3. He gave his life for others.
If ever there was an example of humbly putting the best interests of others before his own… it is best illustrated in the life and death of Christ.
So we might ask ourselves, am I willing to graciously and humbly be considerate of others as I live and work in my faith community (especially when I do not get my way)?
A third motivator for getting along with each other is:
C. Holiness Is Our Response to God’s Work In Our Lives.
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:12-13
“There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.” (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 16) But sincere followers of Christ sign on for the hard work of the long haul.
1. Work hard. Work out is a better way to understand what it means to work hard. To work out means to bring something to completion… it means to go all the way until it is finished.
Bonnie and I attend a lot of track meets. At one of the meets we saw Glenbard West distance runner Katelynn Hart run the 1600-meter. She is a freshman who just happens to hold the national record for the 3200-meter indoor race. The day we saw her, she ran something like a 4:46 1600/mile. We watched as she actually accelerated with each 400-meter lap. It was a blistering pace. She is described by her coach as “a freak.” (Not in the freaky sense but as a very exceptional young woman.) No one, especially a freshman, blows away the competition like she does. She starts fast and finishes faster…
At the same track meet we watched the 8th grade boys run their 1600… It was a pretty tedious affair after having watched Katelynn but again we watched as athlete after athlete doggedly completed the race. But one runner was most noticeable. He was running dead last the whole race. His strategy was to run like a maniac for a short distance then walk for a while. When he caught his breath he sprinted like a maniac until he ran out of gas and walked again. This went on for 4 – 400 meter laps. He was so far behind I was sure he would give it up but he didn’t and eventually he sprinted across the finish line as the athletes and the crowd cheered wildly for him.
I don’t know if he is a goofball or a little eccentric or what but I know he started and he finished. He brought his race to completion… a bit unorthodox but he did it. However we do it we must see our faith as a commitment to doggedly work at through completion. So we work hard and we…
2. Obey God
3. Cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit when we hear and respond to the Word of God. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit when we consciously are attuned the Spirit’s promptings
Here we may ask ourselves, am I fully committed to and engaged in living every day, determined to complete my pilgrimage here on earth?
Conclusion
We spend all of our lives in between. In between may be thought of as a timeline. A timeline has a beginning and an end… the line that extends between the beginning and the end is in between. Our in betweens are often marked by and remembered as monuments… births, baptisms, weddings, graduations, achievements or accomplishments, etc. Keeping in mind that we are all running our own unique races, so to speak, we may think of those monuments as highpoints in our lives. However another way to think of our in between timeline is to see it in our steps or footprints.
William Faulkner is credited with this insight. So while our tendency is to go back and revisit our monuments it might be interesting to go back and see our footprints. When we mark our lives by monuments we look back and we say, “Well, at least I got this far.” But when we look at our lives as a series of footprints we can say, “This is where I was when I moved again.”
I am big into being Beautiful Christians. I don’t believe there is a place in this world for Ugly Christians. If anything in all the world should motivate us to please God by getting along and living in peace and harmony as a faith community… knowing that God is investing in each of us, working in each of us giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him should.
