The second message in the series “A Town Named Philippi: Lessons from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians”
By Ed Winkler
Text: Philippians 2:1-18
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. 16It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you— 18and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.
This is the second in our series, A Town Named Philippi, based on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Philippians is perhaps the most accessible of Paul’s Letters and contains much wisdom in its four chapters.
Last week, we looked at Paul’s recommendation for living as a church in a hostile culture. He said to live together in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Show them who we really are by how we live. This week we’ll look at how to live together as a group called the church, although Paul’s advice would work for any group: a club, fraternity, sorority, or even a family.
The unity of the church was Paul’s number one concern. There are some letters attributed to Paul that he probably didn’t write, although they contain much wisdom. But if we read the letters that are definitely written by Paul, we find that he constantly writes about the unity of the church and how to keep the church together. You wouldn’t necessarily know it from the lectionary readings. I guess the lectionary committee preferred the more theological parts of Paul’s letters, but Paul spends more ink on church unity than any other subject in his letters.
We don’t know the particular reason for conflict in Philippi. It might have been the so-called Judaizers, who insisted that the new Christians must follow the Jewish law, starting with a little surgery for the men. Or there may have been other reasons.
I had some fun discussing reasons for church conflict with some clergy friends. One said that he experienced conflict in a church because some of the older members said he spent too much time with newer members. He, of course, reasoned that if we don’t train the newer members there wouldn’t be any older members in the future. I saw some nasty church conflict once when the trustees chose sage green carpeting for the sanctuary. I hope we get new carpeting for this sanctuary in the next few months, and I hope we won’t hear a lot of nasty complaining about the color. I knew a church member who once complained because the light reflected off the pastor’s bald head. One of the weirdest conflicts I can remember had to do with removing some heavy curtains from the sanctuary. The curtains kept out the sunlight but soaked up the sound. Years later, there were still folks complaining about it: “You should have seen this sanctuary when we had those beautiful curtains.†I don’t have much patience for that kind of bickering. If someone wants to be mad at me I’d prefer something of substance. For once, I’d like to hear something like, “I don’t agree with your theology of sanctification.â€
Paul’s answer to church conflict is to be of one mind. In other words, keep your eyes on what’s important. The important thing for Christians is the telling the Gospel of Christ by what we say and what we do. The Gospel is about our relationship with God as revealed in Jesus Christ. That relationship shows itself in our love for others. We pride ourselves on mission here—with good reason. But if our mission is not grounded in our love of God in Christ, then we’re just a civic club with music. I think very highly of the Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions Club, but they are not Christian churches. Christian churches are concerned saving individual sinners as well as serving those in need.
The questions that we should ask about everything we do are, “is this activity furthering the Gospel? Will this help people develop a deeper relationship with God? Are we doing something that will help sinners like you and me? Are we doing something that will help a hurting world?†If we can’t say yes to those questions, we should seriously reconsider what we’re doing.
Paul then told his little church family in Philippi to think of others first. He said it in two or three different ways, but it comes down to this: stop putting ourselves first.
I guess people have always been self-centered. My reading of the Bible certainly affirms that–all the way back to the little incident in the Garden of Eden. But I also think that we are even more self-centered now than in past generations. Unless you live in a cave, we are assaulted every day with advertising that tells us to have things our way. We are told that everything from our burgers to our bungalows should be exactly the way we want them. That consumer culture spills over into our personal relationships and even into the church. After, life is all about me and if I’m not satisfied I’m taking my business somewhere else.
A Baptist pastor named Thom Rainer calls this the “preference-driven church.†Everything is about my preference in music, my preference in worship style, my preference in ministries. Everything is my, my, my. We don’t need Einstein to tell us that if we are all thinking only about our own preferences, we will not be unified because there is nothing on which we all agree. Paul’s answer is simply look to others, not just ourselves.
One commentator writing on a similar passage in Romans said that we “live together not by insisting on being right but by having right relationships.†That’s what we should strive for: unity in right relationships, and that often means putting others first.
I have very strong drive for accessibility. I remember watching my mother-in-law’s mobility decline because of Parkinson’s Disease. So I want everyplace in a church to be accessible. I really appreciated the young, healthy folks who have supported accessibility even though they don’t need it, won’t need it for decades, or may never need an accessible church. They are looking toward others, not themselves. They are putting others first.
Paul gives us an example to follow: the example of Christ. Paul quotes what many scholars think may be the first Christian hymn. This hymn describes how Jesus Christ emptied himself and became obedient to God even to the point of being crucified. Jesus always looked toward God and looked out for others. Paul has raised the bar high, but we have an example of how to live, even if we will inevitably fall short.
Paul’s last words for his contentious group in Philippi was, “Knock it off. Stop murmuring and arguing.†If that sounds familiar, Paul is no doubt alluding to the Exodus. You may remember a few weeks ago when we read the stories of the Israelites running out of food and water. They responded by murmuring against Moses. Anyone who has been around church for a while knows about murmuring. Murmuring is complaining to each other. In fact, a newer translation skips over murmuring and just flat out calls it complaining. I know that complaining is oxygen for some folks, but it is poison in a church. It creates negativity, hurts feelings, and distracts us from our job of showing the Gospel to the world.
It takes two people to complain: one to complain and one to listen. I suspect that most of us when someone starts complaining just stand there like bobble head dolls. Paul’s advice is different: tell ‘em to stop.
Paul knew that the church had to show the Gospel at work. And Paul knew that the church could only survive and show the Gospel if it were united. When dissension, factions, or chronic complaining split the church, the church won’t survive, little more be a positive force in the world. The church can only survive if it is unified. One Bible scholar says that church unity is a gift to the world because it shows that unity is possible, even if that doesn’t seem possible in today’s world.
Our denomination, which I love deeply, is heading toward a crossroads—or maybe a train wreck—over issues relating to homosexuality. I pray that we will have the wisdom to keep our eyes on what is really important—and that is the Gospel. I pray that we will have the grace to look to others, and not just ourselves. I pray that we can have the patience to talk with each other without murmuring, complaining, arguing, and name-calling. I pray that there will be a united United Methodist Church in the future.
I’ve been around churches a long time. I come from a family of preachers and church leaders. I’ve pretty much seen it all. What I haven’t seen, I’ve heard about. I know how churches hurt people, including, by the way, pastors, choir directors, and organists. I have a friend who has been a faithful, dedicated layperson for more than half a century. He has a saying, “There’s no mean like church mean.†And he’s right. The worst personal betrayals I’ve experienced in life have been in churches, including this one. Some of the meanest things anyone has ever said to me have been in churches, including this one. Yet, I believe in the church. For all the church’s flaws and despite my flaws, the church has formed me and whatever good has come out of my life is in many ways because of the church.
I believe in the church because it is the only organization that can comprehensively deal with the problems of human sin, human suffering, and our human need to connect with the divine. I pray that we will commit ourselves as a church and as a denomination to looking outside ourselves and looking to Christ and to our neighbors. I pray for God’s guidance and I pray with confidence in God’s grace that the church will be showing the Gospel of Christ in decades to come.
© 2014 Ed Winkler