It's always a good reminder to the Church that we are stronger together than when we pull apart. And yet human nature seems to always want us to get into competition with each other. And competition brings out the accusations and the nitpicking and the feelings of worthlessness...at least it does in some of us.
I thought it was important to address those things, especially since we've been spending so much time these past few weeks on texts about living in Community. See what you think.
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Text: Phillipians 2:1-13
I came across an interesting story about three American women writers: Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde.
It was 1974.
Each of them had been nominated for a National Book Award in poetry.
Adrienne Rich ended up winning the award.
But in an act of solidarity and radical humility…her acceptance speech began:
“We…Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker…TOGETHER…accept this award in the name of all women whose voices have gone and still go unheard in a patriarchal world.”
The three of them had conspired that… no matter who won the prize…this would be the statement they would make.
They rejected the model of competition that such award ceremonies generate.
For them… it was important to stand together in unity…recognizing that each of them were gifted writers deserving of the prize.
Our American culture…and really all of western culture… puts a lot of stock in individual achievement.
We love to crown winners and sigh and shake our heads at losers…. offering a “better luck next time.”
This type of competition and hyper-individualism are exactly the things that Paul is cautioning the Church at Phillipi to avoid.
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is a love letter.
He founded this church and clearly holds a deep affection for the people. This is one letter where the apostle brings up “joy” and “rejoicing” over and over…at least sixteen times.
So, there are definitely good things happening in that church…things which help lift his spirits as he is writing this letter from one of the many jail cells he found himself in during the course of his ministry.
But there’s also clearly something amiss.
Somewhere… in some portion of the community… there’s been a disagreement…or some deep resentment of some kind… that’s threatening to rob the Church of Philippi of its joy.
Scholars have tried to figure out exactly what was happening there…but they can’t quite put their fingers on it.
What we do know is that in some of the other churches around the Mediterranean region in Paul’s time…there were outsiders who would come in and question customs or beliefs…or…in the case of the Corinthians…there were those who thought their particular gifts made them better than others.
The Bible is a couple thousand years old… but human behavior…with jealousy…envy and rubbing each other wrong way… are still things which plague us.
To address this under-the-surface trouble that’s rippling through the Church of Philippi… Paul writes this letter and encourages them to remember who they are and whose they are.
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”
(Y’all remember him, right? You remember Jesus?)
And then he goes on to quote what many believe are the words of an ancient hymn:
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited…but emptied himself…. humbled himself…and became obedient to the point of death…”
The example Jesus gives to us is that of a person who understands that true power doesn’t come from “winning” or “conquering” in the way we’re encouraged to think about it.
True power is when we bring our full selves… our skills…our experiences… and our wisdom… and join with others who share a common vision.
Together…a unified church works toward creating a world where all people… no matter who they are… are reminded they are valued and given the dignity and respect due to everyone.
Hallelujah! There’s power in humility!
But not humble to the point of being a doormat.
For reasons that are among the great mysteries of English translations when it comes to the Bible…the line
“Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others”
lacks a critical word.
In the Greek…there is a “kai” inserted into the sentence… “kai” meaning “also.”
So the line should actually read:
“Let each of you look not to your own interests but ALSO to the interests of others.”
In other words… do take care of yourself.
But not to the point of narcissism…because you must still have appreciation for others’ gifts.
People who are narcissistic becomes hoarders of the love they are expected to extend to their kinfolk and even the stranger.
They are the takers without ever giving back to the community.
Narcissism has no place in the Christian community.
At the same time…Paul’s reminding us of Jesus’ humility…and how he emptied himself…didn’t lord it over others that he was on equal footing with God.
So…what does that mean…”to empty ourselves”?
Liz Cooledge Jenkins… in writing for The Christian Century magazine… suggests that when we think of this type of humility…the thing that needs “emptying” are the extremes of how we view ourselves…especially when we get into that place of viewing ourselves and comparing ourselves to other people.
We can get caught up in that mind game of seeing other people as less than our idea of perfect or even so much better than ourselves.
The extremes can lead us to become really arrogant…
Or we collapse ourselves into the tiniest ball of self-belittlement.
In both cases… these extremes can damage the church community.
So then it’s on the church to keep us from falling into one of these destructive behaviors.
Those who become too arrogant… need the community to hold them accountable in love.
Those with that tendency to think they’re a nobody…and take humility to the point of thinking they’re of no worth… need the community to remind them that they do matter.
Not only does God value them as much as the lilies of the field…so does the church.
I think this letter to the Philippians couldn’t come at a better time for us at St. Barnabas…especially as we are engaging in a listening process as a congregation.
It’s the reminder that each one of us plays an important role here and each one of us contributes gifts of this community…gifts which come from that love of Christ that brought us here together here in the first place.
We each have a variety of skills and smarts.
We come from diverse experiences and backgrounds… all of which matter.
No one here is a greater than or less than in this church.
We all have something that we can contribute toward our stated vision for a world of “health, healing, and hope with unconditional love.”
Paul’s letter encourages us to see ourselves rightly as beloved children of God…and give mutual respect to each other.
We need that reminder early and often.
To take the time to acknowledge the work each of us is doing to help grow and sustain our community.
It’s number crunching the budget…creating and folding bulletins…cleaning up of the grounds…watering plants…visiting the sick…working with community groups…serving on diocesan committees…or preparing coffee.
Each of us is doing something that contributes to our community.
It’s about living into this ethic of love which keeps the ego in check and puts aside self-centered righteousness.
And it takes practice.
Because it’s counter to our culture which lures us into wanting to shine the spotlight on some but not others… and demands that there must be winners…or heroes…while others are losers and villains.
If we’re going to claim unity in Christ…if we’re going to follow in Christ’s teachings…then we have to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.”
Regard others as people also worthy of praise…dignity and respect.
If we do this…we’ll show others a side of Christianity that seems to have been lost in all the noise of culture wars and such.
And we might show God at work in us…shining like a lamp in the darkness for those seeking to know this God who loves so deeply.
In the name of God…F/S/HS.
