Our second reading today comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, written while he was in prison. We don't know if this is one of the early times Paul was in prison, or if this the final time. We don't know where exactly this fall in Paul’s ministry. But Paul is in prison, and the people of Philippi have sent one of their own, Epaphroditus, to help take care of Paul. He had been a great help to Paul, and now Paul's ready to send him back to Phillipi.
Scholars are not sure why Paul wrote this rather brief letter. Some argue that since Paul is sending Epaphroditus back, he wants to send a letter with him to say he misses the people there, and when you miss somebody you want to reach out to them. Sending a letter is as good way as any to do that, so it seems like quite likely Paul is sending it by the way of Epaphroditus.
Paul also wants to address a couple of issues. We don't know how big of a deal they are. This letter is not like some Paul sent to the other Christian communities where there was a great conflict or existential crisis of some kind. But apparently things kept popping up here and there, and he wants to help them with a few reminders to help them grow in their faith.
There are two main issues that he's dealing with this in this letter, besides gushing about how wonderful they are and how much he loves them and misses them. The two main issues are the issue of suffering and the issue of unity. In today's reading we have what I believe is the heart of this letter, and the heart of Paul's argument for how you deal with both of them.
We hear in this story what scholars say is an ancient hymn that describes the life of Christ, beginning with the great Incarnation when God, in all of His great power and glory, self-emptied all of that by being born in a human form, entering into humanity. He came into its worst nastiest bits, ending in crucifixion, a death that people thought was the most shameful way possible to die. But then God brought Jesus up through the Resurrection and Assumption, bringing Jesus back up into the fullness of all that great power and glory. Paul is taking that thing we celebrate at Christmas, the Incarnation, and that thing we celebrate in Holy Week and Easter, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and showing how they're part and parcel of the same thing. That is the pattern of the life of Christ, the ultimate act of sacrifice and giving of everything for us.
Paul is saying to the Philippians that when you engage in suffering, look to this pattern of Christ who suffered your own suffering. My suffering in prison right now is also Christ’s suffering. Keep your eyes on the horizon of our hope that this is not the end of the story. You’re finding yourself somewhere in that first half, but God is going to bring us out of it and into all of God's glory. Remain focused on that. Find within your own life that Christ lives in you, draw closer to God, and grow in your faith.
This is how Paul addresses the first issue of suffering. On the second issue of unity, he says look to this same pattern of the love of God found in Christ Jesus’s self emptying of himself for us. Have the same mind as Christ. Be unified in that mind of Christ, which he clarifies as meaning the love of God. Having the same mind means having the same love as Christ, but this unity is not a unity of uniformity. Paul doesn’t want to make clones of everybody. Remember this is the same Paul who just a couple of weeks ago said I know some of you eat meat and some of you only eat vegetables, and that's OK. Don't make fun of each other, and don't try to convince the other that you're right. It's all good. This is the same Paul who said some of you celebrate all these festivals and some of you don't, and that's OK. Stop making fun of each other and just get along. We can have our differences. This is the same Paul who says that the church is like the body of Christ in which we're all different members. Some are a hand, some are an eye, some are the mouth, some are the pinky toe, and all of it's good. Even if you're wildly different from each other, you're all one in Christ. This is the same Paul who said all of our ethnic differences do not make any of us better than anybody else. We are all one in Christ.
That is what Paul is saying in this letter to the Philippians. When you find yourselves divided, when you find yourselves disagreeing, remember to be of the same mind as Christ. Be one in Christ, be one in that love of God that we find in this pattern of Jesus’s life.
I think in many ways we here at St. Mary’s are not unlike the people in Philippi. We don't have a big conflict, there's nothing existential that we are worried about, the whole place isn't going to blow up at any moment, we're not really screwing up badly. Paul doesn't need to write us a letter like the one he had to write to the church in Corinth.
But there are some ways we've fallen short of the pattern of the love of God found in Jesus. There are moments, from time to time, either as a community or little groups within it, or individuals, in which we can be inhospitable. There are moments in which we're self-righteous and exclusive and superior, moments when someone might be rude or thoughtless or mindless, selfish or petty or judgmental. It happens, of course it does. We are not exempt from that because we're human. What Paul is saying to Philippians, Paul is saying to us, as well. Focus on the life of Christ, be of the same mind in the love of God, examine yourself and find ways that you might have fallen short of the pattern of God's love found in Jesus Christ, in the self emptying love that Jesus has for us. Look internally at the ways we’ve fallen short. Apologize if needed, of course, but also turn your gaze back to Christ and try again. Keep focused in your actions, in your words, in your deeds, on the love of God in Christ Jesus. So that you can pattern your own life in the pattern of his life. So you can draw closer to the fullness of the presence of God in love for your neighbor, for the stranger, for the enemy. Stay focused on this love. Be of the same mind.
AMEN
