Let this mind be in you: Meditations on Philippians 2

St. Paul’s short and very personal letter to the church at Philippi, is an exhortation to the people of Christ, to maintain the mind of Christ.  And as he says elsewhere in this letter, to write of such basic and fundamental things is not burdensome for him, but for his hearers, it is safe.  Rather than using his great intellect and education to craft masterpieces of systematic theology, St. Paul prefers to guide the people back to the simplicity of Christ crucified for them.  The central and present reality of Christ for His people, is what blossoms into the life of the Christian—a life of common faith, common hope, and common love, binding each Christian together into Christ as one body, with one mind.

But oh, what a mess we make of such simple designs.  For those of you who have been around a while, I doubt you’ve ever experienced a congregation that is “of one mind,” or purely exhibits the “mind of Christ.”  And if congregations can’t execute this goal, it is certainly true that church beauracracies and denominational constructs certainly can’t.  When we get frustrated with the divisions, controversies, and general confusion coming from our churches at local, regional, national, or even international levels, we often angrily curse the “politics” that bring such things to be.  But what is it that we’re really seeing, when the church fails to live up to St. Paul’s commendation, to have the mind of Christ?

What we are seeing is individual sin, brought together in corporate structures.  The sinful nature that we each bear, is certainly present with us, even when we’re alone.  But when we bring our individual sinful natures together into communities of sinful people, the sparks begin to fly quickly.  Your pride will interfere with my pride.  Your lust will compete with my lust.  Your covetousness will maneuver against my covetousness.  Your greed and love of power will wrestle with my greed and love of power.  Since the church is entirely populated with sinners, every gathering of Christians will be marked by sinners whose sinful nature clashes against the sinful nature of others.  We will grow irritated, tired, frustrated, angry, and mean.  We will say things about our neighbors that should never cross our lips, let alone spring from our hearts.  If we are wronged, we will demand an eye for an eye—if we are the one who does the wrong, we will demand justification and that we not be judged.  Like all sinners with twisted and corrupted natures, we will seek our own self gratification at the expense of others.  We will act out our inner wickedness, as we seek to be our own gods.

Is it any wonder, then, that the churches are as dysfunctional as we find them?  They are a reflection of who we are as individuals, written ever larger as more of us gather together.  While the old axiom is often true for individuals, that power corrupts, it is also true that masses of corrupt people seek power to further their corrupt desires.  We do not become any more clean or noble by our association with each other.  Rather, our self idolatry comes into endless variations of conflict with every other person’s self idolatry.  It is our own sin that gives rise to the divisions and controversies that divide our churches, our congregations, and our families; the scandal and intrigue of the churches, is simply a mirror of who we are at the lowest common level.

But it is for this reason, that Christ has come.  For this reason He humbled Himself, taking our human flesh—the Creator, taking a created human nature.  For this reason, Jesus submits Himself to the rancorous evil of His own nation, laying down His life upon the cruel Cross.  For this reason our Savior suffers and dies, descends into hell, and rises victorious on the third day.  It is for our sin, and our own inability to function either alone or in community, that Christ comes to give us a heavenly community, a blessed communion, and a new mind.

So, while our human enterprises continue to reflect our fallen nature, Christ gives to us a new nature that can strive for something more.  By the power of His Spirit working through His Word, He gives to us a faith that can receive His grace, forgiveness, and life.  He puts His own life inside of us, that we might burst out with His fruits of love, and mercy, and compassion.  He gives to us His own merit and righteousness, renews our minds, and calls us to be one with Him, even as He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He calls together in Himself all who will hear His voice, binds them together as One Body, builds them upon His Vicarious Atonement, and becomes at once our Chief Corner Stone, and the universal Head of His Body.

And as His people, saved by His grace and enlivened with His life, we are called to emulate our Savior.  We are called to let Christ’s humility drown our pride, His sacrifice to subdue our avarice, and His wisdom to bury our sophistry.  Here St. Paul reminds us, that as the baptized people of God, buried and raised in Christ Jesus, that we are called to live into the image of our Lord—no longer judging God and our world by the things that we see through our own sinful eyes, but rather to submit to the judgment and Word of God, as it pours out upon us both His Holy Law and His everlasting Gospel.

In this we are reminded, that the Church is always called to focus Her eyes on Jesus.  With our eyes on Him, we will be conformed to His image, made to reflect His light and life into the world.  With our eyes of faith upon Jesus, His mind will become our mind by His grace, transforming us, and our communities, to places of mercy, humility, love, reconciliation, and peace.  With Christ’s fee gift of forgiveness and grace, we become reflections of His forgiveness and grace, where sin and evil is swallowed up in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.  May His mind be ever formed in you, as He holds you to Himself forever.  Amen.