Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
September 25, 2005
Philippians 2: 1-13
Does this ever happen to you? You are at a meeting or at lunch or talking to your kids. You open your mouth to speak and you hear your parents coming out. Same phrases, same tone of voice, same advice which seemed so stupid then and so wise now. Repeating something our parents said seemed unthinkable when we were teenagers, when we swore we would rather die than do or say anything like our parents. Yet, almost in spite of ourselves, we find ourselves saying many of the things we remember them saying. “If you kids don’t stop that, you are grounded for the rest of the lives!” Helpful, rational things like that.
A pastor writes, “Among the great reservoir of proverbial phrases our parents said, the word ‘if’ plays a significant role. Just the other day I found myself repeating one of those phrases when, during a staff meeting, someone said something to the effect that the task we wanted to accomplish could be done more effectively if we had the money for new equipment. In reply, I repeated a phrase my father used to say: ‘If we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had some eggs.’” He opened his mouth and, quite unexpectedly, his father came out. Certainly a frightening prospect for my children.
And there is that “if” word. So many of those phrases that pop out of our brains begin with the word, “if.” You could say, “If I had a dollar for every time I heard a phrase that begins with “If”, I’d be a millionaire by now.” Generally these phrases are wistful, even pessimistic in nature, referring to the relative impossibility of something happening. “If trips around the world were a nickel apiece, I couldn’t get to the end of the driveway,” or “If wishes were horses, then beggars could ride.” I think of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, singing wistfully, “If I were a rich man…” Or these immortal words from the group, Bread: “If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can’t I paint you?” What does that mean, anyway?
These “if” expressions usually imagine what an ideal world might be like or express that which is wished for but is beyond our reach. But that is not always the case. “If” phrases can also be used to make the case for something that is possible and is, in fact, expected. The phrase can be used to describe the terms under which certain things can happen: “If you finish your homework, you can go swimming with your friends.” “If you exercise and watch your diet, you will lose weight.” Or one Joyce no doubt heard and has used herself, “If you want to play the piano better, you must practice.” Or how about the quintessential parental intervention, “If you know what’s good for you, you will do as I ask.” Or one of my favorites, “If you put on the proper fly and use the proper cast, you will catch that big fish.” (OK, so maybe that one verges on wishful thinking, at least in my case!) In the words of one author, “When the term, ‘if,” is used in this way, it describes what can be and what indeed will be if we draw upon the basic resources that are within us.”
Which brings us, believe it or not, to our text for today. Listen to how Paul uses the “if” word: “If then there is encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” If there is encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation from love, if there is any sharing in the spirit…Simply wishful thinking…or a description of the way things truly can be, even of the way things truly are?
Paul knows these people. Clearly he feels great affection for them. They are old friends. But Paul also knows churches and both the agonies and ecstasies, highlights and lowlights, of church life. So even with his friends, he can talk about selfish ambition, murmuring and arguing, envy and rivalry. What? In the church?
Have you heard this phrase? “I’m spiritual but not religious.” I hear it so often that I think it must be required learning of anyone who moves to western Sonoma County. It’s right there on the mortgage application. What people generally mean when they say this is that they really don’t want to have anything to do with a church…any church. I can’t imagine why. I mean we’ve had such good publicity recently with our scandals over money and sexual abuse, backbiting, schisms between the left and right, battles over the role of women, the infallibility of scripture, prayer in schools, creationism, the role of homosexuals, abortion, styles of music, use of mission funds, and on and on. In the words of Wesley Allen, Jr., a preaching professor at Lexington Theological Seminary, “It’s hard to have faith in the church when it looks like this. I don’t mean to imply that some of these arguments aren’t concerned with very important issues. They are, and the stakes for the church are significantly high. The stakes are never small when you are struggling to be faithful to God. It’s not the content of the debates that bothers me so much as it is the manner in which the church debates them. We may not throw each other out of balconies, as they did in the early church when they were debating the divinity of Christ, but we are quite willing to throw each other out of the church, at least out of ‘our’ church.” And so people look at the church and say, perhaps not always fairly but understandably, “I’m spiritual but not religious.”
And Paul sees this. Even in the church he loves, among the people he loves, he sees this: problems of dissent, division, and conflict. And so he writes, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Then he quotes this ancient and wonderful Christian hymn which speaks of Jesus’ humility, servanthood, obedience, and love. He reminds them of the character of Christ so that they may know how to treat and live with and relate to one another. Yes, you may disagree – disagree about important issues, but “Let the same mind be in you…”
But who can do this? Sure Jesus was like that, but we aren’t Jesus. Over the years I’ve had faithful church members tell me that they just couldn’t take communion, couldn’t share in the supper of our Lord, because they didn’t feel worthy, they felt that they could never measure up to the high standards of Jesus. It reminded me of discouraged classmates of mine who said, “Why bother to study, I’ll never pass the test anyway. I know I’m going to fail.” If Jesus is the model for behavior, the model for the church, we will never measure up. We don’t stand a chance. But to say that is to forget the great “if” of this text. “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy…” An “if” that is wishful thinking, or an “if” that points to something that is not only possible, but in fact real, right now, in each of our lives?
On Friday afternoon I visited Ilah Thorpe, long time and faithful church member who, as I mentioned in prayer concerns, has suffered a serious stroke. She was asleep, but quickly awoke when I touched her arm. Ilah could only get her eyes about half-opened, but she immediately recognized me. I asked her how she was doing and she gave me her standard Ilah answer, “I’m hanging in there.” And indeed she is. She is one of the world’s greatest Giants fans, so we talked about their late season surge, if they had any chance of catching the Padres, and about the home runs Barry Bonds has hit since he returned to the line-up. She asked about the church and I told her about Launch Sunday, the dedication of the landscaping, the financial success of the Apple Pie sale – she peeled apples both days – and about the celebration for Joyce today, to which Ilah answered, “It’s about time!” She was very weak, it was a difficult conversation, but she wanted me to know that she fully intends to return to worship some day. There were a few moments of silence, then she asked, “What are you preaching about on Sunday?” I told her about the Philippians text and Paul’s confidence in the encouragement and love of Jesus, his affirmation that the church, even though it was a work in progress and far from perfect, could still take heart and hope in the faith that God was at work in them.
And then I stopped. Because in that moment it occurred to me that what Paul was saying to the Philippians, he is also saying to Ilah. She is a work in progress; God is at work in her. And so, even in her difficult condition – and its hard to know what the future may hold for her – she can take hope in the undying compassion and care and love of Christ. I told her, “Ilah, we can’t be sure where this is going, but you are a work in progress,” and she simply nodded her head.
And therein lies the hope for us, for our churches, for our life together. “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing of the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy…then let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Take heart, people. These qualities listed by Paul are not wishful thinking. These are realities, the very power of God, already at work within us, as Paul proclaims. The good news is that it doesn’t all depend on us. God knows we are a work in progress, or as our bulletin cover suggests, a work of faith still under construction.
Will we have conflicts and disagreements, will we lose patience with each other and ourselves, will we have doubts, will we fall short in our efforts to be compassionate and caring, will we sometimes just plain mess up? You bet we will. There may be times when the world looks at us and sees nothing of Christ. But know this. There is power already present both within us and among us, a power that can bring us far closer to the mind of Christ and to living in his way than we could ever do if left to our own devices.
Ilah isn’t giving up; I hope we don’t give up. Yes, we will fall short, but still we must not waver in our efforts to be more loving, caring and understanding; in our efforts on behalf of peace and justice and an end to human suffering; in our efforts to grow in discipleship and faith. Because through it all, Christ will still be here, all those qualities listed in Paul’s great “if” will still be here, the power will still be here, we will still be here; a work in progress to be sure, but a work that, by God’s grace and our own faithful efforts, is moving us ever closer to being the people Christ would have us be.