Sermon text: Philippians 2
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul wrote the following: “For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the gospel.”
That’s how St. Paul saw himself and his office in relationship to the churches that he founded, and the converts he made over the course of his three missionary journeys.
Paul was their spiritual father, and the converts his spiritual children. As their spiritual father, Paul wanted what all good parents want for their children: he wanted them to enjoy the best that the Christian religion had to give.
Good fathers and mothers know what it means to be a good parent. You love your children. You want what’s best for them. You worry about them when they’re growing up in a sinful and increasingly evil world. You take joy in the lives of your children when all is well, and your deepest sadness as a parent comes when your children are suffering or walking down a path of sin and self-destruction. Above all else, the Christian parent wants their child to hold firmly to the Word of Life, so that they will share in the eternal joy that awaits all believers in heaven.
As their spiritual father, Paul wanted his children to be “blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” He tells the Christians in Philippi, “You will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.”
The Epistle to the Philippian congregation is often called the epistle of joy. In chapter 1, Paul introduced the theme of joy and tells the congregation that he is torn between going home to be with Jesus or staying here in this world to continue with them for their progress and joy in the faith. Remember last week’s sermon? I noted that the words joy, rejoice, and glad occurred 16 times in four chapters.
Through the preaching and teaching of Paul, God had called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified some of the citizens of the city of Philippi in the true Christian faith. The Holy Spirit had created a church in Philippi — a family of believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They’ve been taught correctly, and in the ten years since Paul had left the congregation to continue on with his missionary journeys, unlike so many other congregations established by the apostles, the Philippians actually held firm to the Law and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This unity of doctrine and heart and mind created a formal partnership between the Philippians and Paul. There’s a Greek word for this kind of partnership. The Greek word used here is koinonia. We know that word in English as the word fellowship, or partnership — to have a participation in this fellowship or partnership was a participation in the Christian faith and the joint mission work with which they helped Paul throughout the years.
This relationship produced, both in Paul and the Philippians, joy in each other and in their respective work.
Christian joy transcends circumstances. It goes deeper than feelings of happiness and celebration, and Paul models this joy. After all, he writes from a prison cell in Rome. Yet he is not bitter or angry about it. He does not complain, though imprisoned unjustly. He does not sit in self-pity or depression. He looks to the Philippians and has joy because they’re making progress in their understanding of the Christian faith and their support of the same — the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are, in fact, holding firm to the Word of Life, and that is a Christian parent’s greatest desire for their children.
And what does the Word of Life produce? Verses 1 and 2 of chapter 2: “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, doing nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but to the interests of others.”
The Word of Life — meaning the gospel — produces common Christian virtues which lead to a greater virtue, namely the Word of Life. It’s a circle, as they say. It creates love and tenderness, compassion, encouragement, the sharing of the Spirit — all of which lead to a likemindedness in Christ.
Paul uses the phrases “being of like mind” and “being of one mind” a number of times in the Epistle to the Philippians. You don’t see those words very often on weekly church signs. Words like “experiential worship” and “contemporary worship” are the marketing buzzwords put on church signs these days. You never see a sign that says, “Join us — we all think alike.” It never happens. But when it comes to the primary articles of the Christian faith, Christians are supposed to think alike. We’re supposed to be united in Christian doctrine, in our understanding of the faith, and, as we will see, united in humility too.
Paul says that his joy will be complete in the unity of the faith held by the believers in Philippi. This kind of unity is supposed to mark the whole Christian church of his day and of our day. That’s how it all began. After all, in Acts chapter 2, verses 44–47: “All the believers were together and had all things in common, and they would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.”
Paul describes this unity with words like “the same mind” or “the same love,” “being in full accord,” “being of one mind together.” Paul had introduced this thought in chapter 1, verse 27. He wrote there: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”
Modern Christians and churches gave up long ago the biblical imperative of seeking biblical unity. We don’t hear much about those biblical imperatives of unity of mind and doctrine. Christian laymen, men and women alike, pastors, scholars, church denominations — don’t even try to come to an agreement on the articles of faith any longer. There’s a word for this problem. It’s called heterodoxy. It means there isn’t an agreement in doctrine even among the same people who belong to the same church or the same church body. Each person believes what seems right to them. People within the church teach different things about the same topic. That’s heterodoxy.
But here in Philippians chapters 1 and 2, we’re told that progress in the faith — love, kindness, compassion, the Spirit, and unity of mind — makes for true Christian joy.
Then there are vices — the attitudes and the behaviors that are contrary to the Christian faith and destroy joy. Paul says to the church: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
Paul points to the ultimate model of faith and service for the Christian mindset. Verses 5–8: “Have this mindset among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
So what does the mind of Christ look like? It’s humble. It’s sacrificial. It’s obedient. It’s loving. It’s compassionate. The mind of Christ is one with his heavenly Father. John 10:30: “I and the Father are one.” In John 6:38–39: “For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that of everything that he has given me, I have lost nothing, but will raise it up on the last day.”
Congregations these days are often torn apart because members — some, most, or all — don’t have the mind of Christ. They’re not likeminded. They do have a mind and a spirit of humility, but they are not doing the will of God the Father. It’s the same reason that people fall away from the church. They no longer believe or live the way that the church calls them to believe and to live.
Look at what Christ did. He is the eternal Son of God. He is the second person of the Holy Trinity. He came down from heaven for us and took on flesh, submitted himself under the law. That’s what it means when he says “humbled himself.” He bowed to his own law and obeyed it perfectly. He became one of us, our brother in the flesh. He came as a servant. He came to do the Father’s will, which was to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. This Christ did by going to the cross for us. This humble, sacrificial, self-giving love in the highest degree.
Paul continues to tell them: “Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.” In the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, we stand out. We shine like the light of Christ because we’re holding fast to the Word of Life. Faithful churches, Christians, stand as a beacon of hope in a lost and dying world because we have the mind of Christ.
And where do we get the mind of Christ? It’s not of our doing, not of our own origins. It doesn’t come from inside of us. Our mind by nature is turned in on itself. It conforms to the thinking of this evil age. It looks out for itself, and very often doesn’t do that very well. Our sinful mind is dead toward the things of God. The mind of Christ is found and given only in those who are in Christ. Paul was given to write 1 Corinthians 2:16. He wrote: “But we have the mind of Christ” — enlightened by the Spirit and taught to us in the written Word. We have the thinking of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul urges us to make use of it in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
We’ve been united with Christ in baptism. We teach the doctrines of Christ in confirmation and in Bible classes. We’ve been given the gift of the Spirit. Thus, we have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ gives us new impulses, new desires, a new way of thinking and seeing the world. Then in verses 12 and 13, he writes: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but 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.” Our good works, you see, come from God’s prior work of converting us, forgiving our sins. He enables us to work out our salvation.
For it is God who works in you. I call Christian good works the byproduct of the gospel. The gospel is the work of God himself to forgive our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and impart the righteousness of holiness and the mind of Christ in us. We shine forth with the mind of Christ when we hold fast to Christ’s word, the Word of Life. Holding fast in the Word means being regular in church, where the Word is freely given, preached in the liturgy and the sacraments and the hymns. In Bible class, it means being in the Word throughout the week — daily devotions as we meditate on God’s word and apply it to our lives. This is how being of the same mind, the mind of Christ, is nurtured and demonstrated in our lives. What was true for the Philippians is true for us. The source and the ongoing power for having Christ’s mind among us is found in none other than Christ himself. What our Lord has done for us in humbling himself and going to the cross for our salvation is the cause of all of our joy, our hope, our love, and our new way of thinking. Therefore, Paul says, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,” so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. So use the mind of Christ. Seek the Word of Life. Amen.