A sermon based upon Philippians 2: 1-11
By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, BA, MDiv, DMin.
Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership,
Sunday August, 16th,, 2020 (Growing In Grace)
As a child, I grew up on stories: Bible stories, Ghost stories, Disney stories, and Movie stories. One of my favorite ghost stories was about ‘The Devils Tramping Ground’ in NC folklore. It’s a story about a mysterious plot of land where things left there will disappear and nothing will grow. The old legend is the devil walks there to contemplate what he’ll do next.
One of the best known Movie stories I loved was The Wizard of Oz. I watched in on national TV once a year. We couldn’t stream it, nor check it out, but we had to wait on it, and then learn it by thinking and talking about it. There are many unforgettable lines, but one of the best was the Scarecrow singing about what he could do, ‘if he only had a brain.’ Of course, he had a brain or he wouldn’t be singing, but he had to make the journey to Oz with Dorothy to realize that he had one.
It’s amazing how stories from your childhood stay in your head isn’t it? We all know how the story of the Wizard tour starts out. All the characters were part of Dorothy’s dream, after she was injured in. tornado. In her dream she learns to appreciate who she is and what she has, including the people in her life. ‘There’s no place like home.”
Interestingly, the story of Jesus in today’s text is also about a journey, not to get back home, but to leave his home. In this story, Jesus is one who leaves heaven to show us how to live our lives on earth. And Jesus does this not by giving us a brain, but by showing us how to use the brain we already have. Incidentally, this is also what the Scarecrow did. He learned about the ‘mind’ he already had. In this text, Paul tells the people in Philippi how to to use their mind, so they develop God’s heart of compassion and live their lives courageously, like Jesus. Listen to Philippians 2:1-11,
“If then there is any encouragement in Christ,
any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit,
any compassion & sympathy, make my joy complete;
be of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
he humbled himself. and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name. that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Three times in this brief text Paul stresses that followers of Jesus should be of the same mind with each other. This is what it means for a Christian to have a brain, a heart, and to live courageously. This doesn’t mean that we have to agree together on every single thing, but that we have the same mindset, the same attitude. To think like this takes head, heart and courage—-not just the courage of our individual convictions, but the courage with a heart to appreciate our convictions and to learn to share them, talk about them, understand and appreciate each other’s viewpoints. We can do this because we have the same attitude of Jesus Christ. God gave us ‘minds differing’ because life can be complex, but Jesus’ attitude to humble himself shows us how even differing minds can come together rather than coming apart.
Forty years ago there was a slogan for the United Negro College Fund that said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” That phrase has had real staying power. For Christians, our mind and our mindset are vitally important. We don’t want to ‘waste’ one single mind, one single idea, or one single perspective, even when we have differences. We must appreciate the differences we have with each other, so we can also appreciate the differences others have with us, so that we show the world how Christ makes a difference in how we love, live and work together. And most interestingly, how we love, live and work together comes not from how we feel, but from how we learn to think and have the same attitude of mind like Jesus.
BE OF THE SAME MIND...
Many scriptures remind us about the importance of what we think about and where we set our mind.
Psalm 26:2 encourages us to engage in intelligent self-reflection, “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind.”
Proverbs 15:14 reminds us of the importance of continuing to learn. “The mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.” Isaiah 26:3 shares a beautiful promise about peace of mind. “Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace – in peace because they trust in you.”
In Jeremiah 17:10, God warns us, “I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.”
Our mind involves at least four major areas:
ideas, images, information, and our ability to think.
In a sense, the greatest battlefield in the world is located between our ears and the stakes are incredibly high. When Jesus was tested and tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus was able to be victorious because he had meditated upon and thought about the scriptures so much that he could think straight and not be deceived. Meditating on and memorizing scripture is one of most crucially important things we can do to think properly and to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. We can’t have the same mind as Christ if we don’t know he is, what he taught, what he did, and what he sacrificed.
In Philippians 2, Jesus is presented as loving, obedient, self-sacrificing, and humble. This is the mind we are to have as Jesus’ followers. The necessity of believers being of one mind or the same mind is so important to Paul that he mentions it in every chapter of Philippians. In 1:27, “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.”
Then three times in 2:2 and 5, “be of the same mind,.. of one mind, ...let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” He continues this idea In 3:15, “Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind.” Finally in 4:2 Paul urges two women who had been disagreeing over some issue “to be of the same mind,” which is the mind of Christ.
In this text, Paul also describes the opposite of the mind of Christ in Philippians 2:4 – selfish ambition or conceit,...regarding ourselves as better than others,... looking only to our own interests and disregarding the interests or needs of others, and arrogantly looking down on other people. Paul has reason to believe that the struggles among believers in the Philippian church are because of this kind of thinking shaping behavior – people insisting on getting their own way and not being like-minded is leading to discord. These issues continue to plague human relationships both inside and outside the church, but they don’t need to have the final word; we can change our mind about what is happening. The person who grows and ‘matures’ in Jesus Christ, have differences, and still have the same mind.
LET THE SAME MIND BE IN YOU...
In Romans 12:1, Paul says that our minds mature by being ‘transformed’ and ‘renewed’ by how we live and love sacrificially, which is exactly what Paul is suggesting here. We don’t mature in Christ by magic, miracle or accident, but by how we pattern and choose to live out our lives after ‘the perfect will of God’ revealed in the way Jesus determined to live.
Letting our minds be transformed is not a passive activity, but a very intentional and active one. This transformation comes first through Scripture; as we make key passages of scriptures permanent fixtures of our own thought life. When we continually read and reflect on and take into our minds passages like this text from Philippians 2:1-11, like Colossians 3:1-17, or also the most famous 1 First Corinthians 13, then the process of challenging and changing our minds truly begins. God has made us thinking creatures, and it is entirely possible for most all of us to learn and even to remember and be shaped huge amounts of information.
Also, the transforming of our mind comes from the images we watch and listen to as well. The entertainment industry bombards us with many images that aren’t helpful or positive. Historically many churches and cathedrals have used stained glass windows, carvings, statues, and the architecture itself all to provide images that are intended to direct our thoughts and lead the worshiper into the presence of God. More recently churches have used screens, photos, and video clips for the same purposes. What we look at or listen to shapes us all the time. Just think of the power of music to shape your mood and you know how true this is. Many scholars believe that Philippians 2:5-11 are part of an early Christian hymn that Paul is quoting and recalling to the church in his letter. It was already in their mind, so Paul knows that he can use this image to RE-MIND them how they should think and act..
The importance of what we think about is clear in the following example. You are walking down alone in a parking lot about 10:30 at night when you notice a group of about 12 big young people talking rather loudly coming right toward you. What do you think? What do you feel? If you knew THEY were leaving a Bible Study and were talking about Philippians – what difference would it make to what you thought and felt about them? It would make a difference wouldn’t it?
Whether we realize it or wish to admit it or not – what we think about, what we read, watch, and listen to shapes our mind and who we are and who we become. If God is only an occasional presence in our mind, we shouldn’t be surprised that our thoughts, feelings, behavior and relationships reflect that. The more God occupies our thoughts, the more preoccupied we are with the mind of Christ, the more the Spirit of the Lord will shape our thoughts, feelings, will, behavior, and relationships. Mind over matter is not an accidental phrase. The mind (which we also call our heart) can, does, and will affect how we live.
Thomas Watson wrote years ago,
“...He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. By this we may test our love to God. What are our thoughts most upon? Can we say we are ravished with delight when we think on God? Have our thoughts got wings? Do we contemplate Christ and God’s glory? How far are they from being lovers of God, who scarcely ever think of God! A sinner crowds God out of his thoughts. He never thinks of God, unless with horror, as the prisoner thinks of the judge.” (Quoted in Renovation of the Heart, pgs. 106-107).
OF ONE MIND
When we learn to think of this God, who is three minds in one, we can also start to learn to be ‘of one mind’ even when we be of many different minds. This happens by learning about, thinking like and becoming like Jesus in both thought and deed. As the late Dallas Willard wrote:
“The transformation of our thought life by taking on the mind of Christ – his ideas, images, information, and patterns of thinking – opens the way to deliverance of every dimension of the human self.” (Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p. 116).
So the question is, are we taking on the mind of Christ? Some of you may be thinking, “I don’t know this sounds like it may require some effort and changes on my part.”
As you think about what having the mind of Christ may mean for you, remember something Doug Scalise said; In Philippians 2 we learn that Jesus was willing to give up all claim to title, rights, privilege, recognition, and personal glory, and sought simply to be obedient to God without fanfare, without applause, without glorifying himself and without promise of reward. He did that for you, for me, for all the people of the world. Paul says, this is the central defining act of the Christian faith and it is the attitude, the approach that all Christ followers are to demonstrate. It may go against our human nature, it goes against the tide of popular culture, but it is the way Christians are supposed to be in having the mind of Christ.
This is how we must be transformed, grow in Christ and mature. Jesus has done something for us that we could never do, but he’s also shown us what we must do to follow him and really appreciate what God has done for us in Christ. Will we seek to follow and to obey and to live lives that give glory and pleasure to the Lord? Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost for His Highest (May 10), “We have to do something... We cannot save or sanctify ourselves – God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and he will not force us to walk (rightly) before him. We have to do all that all by ourselves.”
Joe was a drunk who was miraculously converted at a Street mission in Boston. Prior to his conversion, he had gained the reputation of being a drunk for whom there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the gutter. But following his conversion to a new life with the Lord, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person anyone associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission, doing whatever needed to be done. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the mess left by some violently ill client or scrubbing toilets in the men’s room, Joe did what was asked with a smile on his face and gratitude for the chance to help. He could be counted on to feed feeble men who wandered off the street into the mission, and to undress and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves.
One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening evangelistic message to the usual crowd of still and sullen men with drooped heads, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar, and knelt to pray, crying out for God to help him to change for good. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “Oh God! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!
The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man,
“Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, ‘Make me like Jesus.’”
The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, “Is he like Joe.” (Alice Gray, More Stories for the Heart, Multnomah Books, Sisters, OR, 1996, 28).
What a tremendous credit to Joe’s transformation to think and be like Jesus. Many people don’t have a clue about Christ, but they watch how we think, what we do, how we live, and they can tell whether we’re serious about following Jesus. As the great Oswald Chambers observed, “No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits – we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. If the majesty, grace, and power of God are not being exhibited in us, we will be held accountable for profaning God’s name.” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest).
Like the story in the Wizard of Oz, Dorthy and her crew, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion had to prove themselves. They had the brain, the heart, and the courage within them, but something like Dorothy had change their thinking, feeling and doing. Paul says our minds, hearts, and courage to do right must change because at the end of history there will be an unmistakable and clear change that everyone to see. Jesus, the one who came as a humble, selfless, sacrificing servant will be shown to be Jesus the Lord: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
If we confess Jesus to be our Lord now, we will need to change some of our doings, our feelings, and our thinking, so we can grow toward who we must and will become in Christ. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” (2:5). This is how it begins, but not where it ends. We can do this, if we choose to, because this is the direction his-story is going. We can even see this because of how his-story turned out. God raised him up and glorified him. Now, If we will live with the same humble, obedient, self-sacrificing mind of Christ, we will mature in our faith, and we will live together with the same mind because we are becoming of one mind, who will one day rule over all minds, in God’s world to come. Amen.
*This message was inspired by Doug Scalise from his own sermon, Having the Mind of Christ, preached at Brewster Baptist Church, 2012.
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