“The Same Mind as Christ”

Philippians 2:1-13
Therefore 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, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming 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 acknowledge 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, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Today is, as you know, World Communion Sunday. It's a day in which we remember that we are part of the global body of Christ. We are not just Presbyterians. We are not just Americans. We are part of God’s church that spans every continent and country in the world. Today's text from Philippians is one that has been read in churches all over the world. There is something that I find so comforting about knowing that the same scriptures are read in big cities and small villages; on military bases or in home churches that meet in secret. It is to all these Christians that Paul’s letter is now read– “make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

There it is, the theme of ‘unity’ once again. I’m amazed at how often it keeps coming up. It’s almost as if God really wants to get God’s point across that unity is essential. I think it’s a fitting theme for this Sunday as we think about what it means to be united with churches around the globe. This month, I’ve been thinking more about the Global Church than usual because our Presbytery had a special delegation of visitors from the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. These leaders from Kenya came to celebrate Umoja Presbyterian’s dedication of their new sanctuary at the old Skyline property. The Secretary General of their general assembly spoke at our Presbytery meeting and he gave thanks for the Scottish and American Presbyterian missionaries who came to Kenya in the late 19th century. To be honest, I was quite a bit surprised at the way he spoke so positively about these missionaries because in my adult life, I have come to see the legacy of Western Christian missionaries as deeply complicated. Often Christian missionaries brought not only the gospel, but colonialist power and oppression of the local people. 

And yet, these Kenyan Presbyterians gave thanks for those who brought them the gospel. I thought about the secretary's speech for days afterward and when I was invited to give a short welcome at the Umoja celebration, I told them that when American and Scottish missionaries came to East Africa, they knew they were bringing the good news of the gospel. But what they did not know was what good news African Christians would bring for the church.That was all I could manage to say because I get choked up every time I think of it. There are five times as many Presbyterianss in Kenya as there are in America. The center of global Christianity is not here in America. It is in Africa. It is in South America. It is all around the globe in what we used to call the Global South. Despite Colonialism, despite Western power and the abuse of native people, the gospel has thrived anyway. Sometimes it blows me away. When I listen to the spirituals sung by enslaved Africans in the antebellum South, I am simply in awe of the people who have every reason to hate the religion of their enslavers but instead saw the truth of the gospel and claimed it as their own. Around the Globe, Christians who have untangled the gospel with Western culture have found a deep and profound understanding of who God is. It is as if we look at God through a kaleidoscope. If we look on our own, we can’t make sense of who God is. But if we listen to what others are seeing as they look through their own kaleidoscopes, we see a better, truer picture of who God is. We’ll never fully know God, but our connection to God becomes richer and deeper in community with others. 

The majority of our scripture passage from Philippians is actually a hymn. This is how the early church understood the truth of the gospel– Jesus willingly gave up his power and position and chose obedience to Christ, even when it meant death on the cross. Paul says that our responsibility as Christians is to be imitators of Christ. And what does it mean to imitate Christ? It means to empty ourselves of all of the things the world gives us and give it up to God for God to use. Christ, who deserves all honor and glory, chose a criminal’s death so that all the world could be free. I've been thinking a lot about power and privilege lately. The word “privilege” can trigger big emotions in folks because sometimes the way that it is talked about makes it seem like privilege is something to be ashamed of– white privilege, male privilege, hetero privilege. When misunderstood, it can feel like if we have those privileges that we should be apologizing for them. No. The privileges we were born with are not the problem. The problem is a society that privileges and respects certain people above others. The solution for those of us who care about justice and want to imitate Christ is to decide what we do with our privilege. 

If those of us with privilege that we did not earn or deserve want to imitate Christ and we must use that privilege for the good of others. We are not free until all are free. I think a good example of using your privilege is Colin Kapernick and what he gave up when he used his privilege as a wealthy NFL celebrity with the eyes of the world on him. His conscience led him to start a silent but powerful protest against racial injustice, police brutality and oppression in this country by kneeling during the National Anthem before NFL games. This protest cost him everything. He went from being a star quarterback for the SF giants to unemployed and shunned by his entire industry for more than 6 years. Now, there may be some of you who disagreed with his protest and I understand that. My point is not that Colin Kapernick’s protest itself is an imitation of Christ, but that being willing to give up our positions of power or privilege can be costly. Whether he knew the costs at the time or not, Colin Kapernick gave up his privilege to try and make this country a more just place for marginalized people.  

It's no small thing to imitate Christ. As the hymn from Philippians says, obedience to God meant following a journey that led to the cross. I am certainly not alone in not wanting a path that leads to certain death. But I keep returning to verse 4– let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interest of others. 

We belong to one another. If I am tending to your needs, if I am making sure your best interest is being looked out for and I can know that you are looking out for my best interest, together we can form the beloved community. It's a vulnerable thing to trust that someone else is looking out for your best interests. We are taught over and over again to watch our own backs and to look out for ourselves above all else. But that's not how it works in God's kingdom. Jesus, by his own free will, chose to give all of who he was because he loved us. He was certain in the Father’s goodness and knew that his choice would bring freedom to the world. 

Throughout the globe today there are Christians who are eating at the Lord's table and will remember that Christ gave his body for us. There are days when our faith feels small. When we’re not sure if we believe enough for all this. But on those days, the table is still set for us. Whether our faith feels weak or strong, whether we feel like we deserve it or not, the table is open to us, inviting us to taste and see that the Lord is good. All Glory be to Christ our Lord, for he indeed good to us.