Readings
Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32
Psalm 25:1-8
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32
Mohandas Ghandi, the famous pacifist of India, is reported to have once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” He said this in the middle of his struggle for justice during the British occupation of India.
Ghandi, presumably speaking to a western audience that claimed a Christian identity, was making a point that many voices in today’s society are making all around us. Namely, that the issue isn’t Jesus, the issue is those who claim to be followers of him.
And what is that issue? Well friends, to not put too fine a point on it, it’s that many of us who claim the moniker of Christian spend more time believing some discrete ideas about Jesus rather than following him. Or to use words that I have before, we care more about what we think about Jesus as Christ or Savior, than we work to make the shape of our life match the shape of his.
The selection of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi that we heard this morning speaks to this very issue as well. We can suss out of his remarks that the community of faith to which he writes is marked by conflict, selfish ambition, and deceit. In other words, there’s a whole lot of ego going on that’s leading to some markedly broken behavior.
And what is his solution? He calls them to “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Paul, in fact, is calling them to emulate Jesus and to pattern their lives, their thinking, and their behavior after him. He is reminding them that they are not a people who simply believe certain things. Rather, they are, as the early church referred to themselves, the people of the way. Whose way? Jesus’ way. They are called to make the shape of their life match the shape of his.
And what does that look like? Well, we need look no further than this passage. If we believe what we say every Sunday, that Jesus is the incarnation of God. Then Jesus, being in the form of God, did not lord his power over others. Jesus, in fact, did not even consider or presume himself equal to God. Rather he humbled himself and made himself a servant to others and to God. Not only that, he redefined what God’s relationship to humanity is by doing so. He went so far as to being willing to die for us in a most gruesome way. He died that love, his love and the love of God, may be made real in and through us. He died that we might see that there is nothing that can stop the love of God when we embrace it. Not even death.
And the result of such behavior? Paul says that he was exalted. He was given a name above every other name. He became the Lord of all creation and was acknowledged as the Son of God.
And while Paul does not explicitly say so, the implication is clear. When we emulate Jesus. When we make the shape of our life the shape of his. When we choose humility over ego; when we put service above self; when we embrace the truth of our humanity then God will embrace us and make us whole. God will adopt us and bring us into his loving arms. We will have nothing to fear, not even death itself.
And what are the fruits such behavior? We will be a people marked by love, respect, and mutuality. We will be a witness to the world of not only of our own capacity to be a people of love, but ultimately an embodiment of the love of God. We will be the hands and heart of Christ in our own day.
So the question is: how do we practically do that? How do we become the people of the way? How do we become part of what our Presiding Bishop calls the “Jesus Movement.”
We need look no further than our baptismal covenant for the answer.
In that covenant, which we say at every baptism, we make promises that outline what it means to be as Jesus was. We, in essence, make commitments to take on the mind of Christ as our own.
In that covenant we promise five things:
One: we promise to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers. In other words, we agree to function not simply as individuals who believe in Jesus, but as a community that studies, fellowships, and worships together.
Two: we promise to persevere in resisting evil and whenever we fall into sin, to repent and return to the Lord. In other words, we commit ourselves to actively work against the brokenness in the world that seeks not only the destruction of the human family but also the destruction of creation. And we acknowledge our own brokenness and proclivity to miss the mark, committing to make meaningful changes when we recognize such behavior and return to the sacred pattern of Jesus himself.
Three: next we promise to do something that makes most of us squirm. We promise to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. In other words, whether we are doing good deeds or persevering against evil we will do so as a proclamation of Jesus and the grace and salvation he brings to us and to the world. We are committing to being more than a service club, but to being a community who is the embodiment of Christ in the world today.
Four: and speaking of service, we also promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves. In other words, we commit to embodying Jesus’ summary of the law and recognizing that when we encounter another person we encounter Christ, we encounter the living God. As I said earlier, we are called to be a people of love, respect, and mutuality.
And finally, five: we promise to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being. In other words, our concern is not just for those we agree with or those who are like us, but for every human being. This is a commitment to justice for all and peace for all. It is a commitment to recognize our common humanity and that the promise of the Kingdom of God is ultimately for the whole of creation. As such our behavior is called to reflect such a value and a commitment.
In the end this is the shape of the life of our savior. It is the shape our lives are called to be. And, with our humility and God’s help it is possible to live this life to a greater or lesser degree. Just as the early church wasn’t perfect, neither will we be perfect.
But, like the early church, our integrity as people of faith will increase by a manifold beyond imagination. Not only that, but God will use us to have a profound impact in the world. We will become more than simply a people who believe, but a church who changes the communities in which we reside and by extension the world around us. We will be nothing less than agents of the peace, love, and grace of our Lord. We will, in effect, make Ghandi’s critique no longer true.
If you haven’t done so, take time this week to reflect on how you might take on the mind of Christ; how you might embody your baptismal covenant. Imagine, what we might be like. Imagine what the world might be like if we reoriented ourselves in the way the Paul calls us to. May we, by God’s help and grace, have the vision, the commitment, and the courage to do so and to be so, both today and always.