Series: Letter from a Jailbird text:
Sermon: Imitating Jesus Aug. 27, 2006 BFUMC
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
About 600 years ago, a Dutch monk named Brother Thomas wrote a devotional book called The Imitation of Christ. He wrote it to help Christians take Jesus as their model for how they live: to ask with real intention, what would Jesus do? This book became the best selling book in history apart from the Bible itself.
One of the first passages says: Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern their whole life on that of Christ.
Do you take seriously your calling to pattern your life on the image of Jesus Christ. If you take your faith seriously, if you truly are filled with the spirit, this is your calling and challenge. This is your life mission. This is what Paul is asking the church to do, individually and collectively.
I use this as an introduction because Paul is saying some very similar things in Phil. 2:1-12. What does it mean to take Christ as our model? This is perhaps the most critical passage in the book of Philippians! Paul is saying here something like this: the Gospel is to produce a certain humbling of the mind for which Christ provides the model. If you follow Jesus, you are humbled by Jesus, confronted in your prideful tendencies. If you are pushing for your own way, you are not exhibiting the spirit of Christ. Christians should get along because in the church, Jesus sets the model, and our humility keeps our self-serving attitudes in check. This unity itself exhibits the goodness of the gospel.
IF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE, THEN. . .
Paul starts working a series of conditional statements: “if this is true, well then you have very good reason to do the following.” Why does Paul ask if these things were true? Clearly, he knows that they are. Clearly, he means something like, “If these things are true – and you know they are, you’ve experienced them to be true – then, do this as a result. What things does Paul assume the Philippian believers know to be true. If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, then . . . Paul points out these four things as signposts of the fundamental change, the overwhelming spiritual transformation and salvation that the Philippian believers have experience which have logical results.
Let’s look only at the first: the encouragement from being united with Christ. Paul knows that their lives are better. Being a believer has filled them with encouragement. They are, as a Christian community, amazed at how the Holy Spirit was working among them. They were encouraged with life in general because the joy of the salvation of the LORD filled all their lives. Life has meaning comprehensively because Jesus is now my Lord. I hope you know the encouragement that comes from Christ. This impacts your attitude toward your school, toward your work, toward you relationships, toward everything that seems sordid and out-of-sort – being in Christ makes all the difference. I believe this now more than ever in my life!
MAKE MY JOY COMPLETE!
Paul is saying, “If all these things are true, then do this! Make my joy complete.” Again we see a sign of how closely Paul is bound in spirit to the church. First, he knows that they want him to be joyful. You can only expect the words “make my joy complete” to be meaningful if you have a positive loving relationship with a person. When you love your kids, you are motivated to sacrifice to make their joy complete. Second, what Paul asks for is not for things of personal benefit, but for things that were actually for the good of the church. Paul’s joy was bound up with the welfare of the church – that is what made him happy. This again shows the degree to which Paul himself exemplified a Christlike love – the very love he goes on to challenge them to emulate.
How exactly can the church make Paul’s joy complete? “Be of the same mind.” Let me translate the Greek literally here: Complete my joy: think the same thing, have the same love, as people with one soul think the same thing exactly. The word translated in the pew Bible as “same mind” means: two people with one life/soul.” In an archaeological dig, a gravestone was found which has the graves of a husband and wife: it uses this same word for them – like “soulmates.” It says: we spoke the same things, we thought the same things, we go together into death.”
Paul uses a word here that could be used to describe the perfect marriage. He wants the church to be like a perfect couple - the type that has loved each other for years, and has learned to think alike. How in the world can Paul say this thing? Doesn’t he know that the church hardly thinks the same things? If Paul could only see the complete fragmentation of Christian churches in the West, years of heated, spiteful, mean-spirited debate between Christians. Should babies be baptized or only adults? What happens when we take the Lord’s Supper? Is it just a memorial service, or is there a sacramental presence which cleanses from sin? Does God choose who will be saved from before the beginnings of the world, or do we choose God? Should people speak in tongues today? What about people who claim to be prophets today? Does the Bible have any historical errors? Are all the stories in it really true or is the Bible full of myths and legends?
There were controversies in Paul’s day, some mentioned in this book. Main controversies came between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Should Christians be circumcised to show that they are in Christ? Do Christians need to follow Jewish dietary laws?
TWO THINGS
Is Paul simply naive? What is he asking? On the most obvious level, he is asking for two different things. First, the Christians think the same thing (not things but thing). Second, that Christians love one another. Classic case of: More easily said than done. How can Christians: Think the same thing? I think Paul has in mind what is coming up – the basic Christian truth. It comes up in a matter of verses: 2: 6-8.
Of course All Christians everywhere are not going to agree on everything. But, all Christians everywhere believe this truth, and people who are not Christians do not believe it. Not only do we confess Jesus as the Lord of the Universe, but as Our Lord. We also receive the Spirit of God to empower God’s presence to us. Really two basic things unite all Christians together. The confession that Jesus Christ is Lord and the experience of the Holy Spirit. Those two elements unite you together with all other real Christians and unite us together as a body of Christians.
Because of this basic unity these two elements provide, Paul believes it is possible for Christians to forge real Christian unity. Paul also knows that the greatest barrier to real unity isn’t doctrine, it is much more sinister than that: it is sin. People are prideful, they want to think that it is their way or no way. People don’t like to admit that they have something to learn from someone else. Paul does something here that is quite brilliant.
He uses the idea that God came to us in the person of Jesus in two ways. First, as we have already seen, as the basic Christian confession. Second, as the model for the kind of attitude we have to have.
THE KENOSIS PASSAGE
This is in biblical circles The Kenosis Passage – v. 7 he “emptied” himself (ekenosen). (Read through vv 3-5) Paul commands a new kind of humility, selflessness. Think about this command: regard others as better than yourselves. Paul knows that human pride is the greatest barrier to real unity. What example can he draw upon for the kind of humility he wants. Of Course, Jesus himself. Paul wants you and I to take this same attitude that Jesus took in coming to be with us. Not that we self-destruct with self-abnegation, but that we give our selves to others. Don’t simply take this as pious, well-meaning talk. This is a life-time agenda for personal development. I want to talk about a specific manner in which this can be put into operation.
Paul is basically asking the Church be have a unified missional attitude that is based on the attitude of Jesus Christ and his incarnation. Don’t think of church as a place for you to exercise your influence. If you do that, you’re already not exhibiting the spirit of Jesus. The church is a place for you to learn to be like Jesus in humility – for you to be transformed – so the church can remained unified in mission. Let me explain.
Have you ever been in a situation in which someone had a fabulous idea – one that was doable, with minimal resources, and would be a real benefit to all – but people started critiquing it and adding to it and watering it down to the point that all its momentum was lost? Good ideas, without unity of direction, and without a cooperative spirit, are going to be useless. Mediocre ideas, on the other hand, which demand lots of effort and have little end-game value – can be fabulously successful. The difference is in attitude. If people all say “Well, this isn’t exactly what I would choose, but let’s make it happen anyway” and throw themselves into it – then mediocre ideas can work very well. The key is in the attitude and in the unity of mission effort.
WHEN WE DISAGREE
Even the best leaders in the world are of minimal value if people are constantly critiquing, constantly fault-finding. A very poor leader can be of tremendous effect if everyone simply rolls up their sleeves and gets to work.
Imagine that you are in a church situation like this. Someone has come up with an idea for a church missional objective that you just don’t agree with. You think it is a waste of time and money. You really feel strongly. I think Paul is telling you how to behave in this verse. You can raise a ruckus and say, “I’m in completely disagreement and I’m not supporting this.” You can decide not to support the idea but keep your opinion to yourself. Or you can say, “I really am not sold on this, but I’ll support it for the good of the church.” Paul is telling you to take option three. You don’t have infinite knowledge. Be humble. Consider other person’s opinions higher than your own. Learn to express you opinion charitably but then to also work hard on the things you don’t agree with. That requires the spirit of Jesus and exemplifies the spirit of Jesus – humility.
If you take this course, you enter a win-win situation. If the plan succeeds, you can rejoice with those who rejoice and say, “I was sure wrong, but I’m so happy for the church!” If the plan fails, without saying “I told you so” you will gain greater respect from all involved. Your opinion will be more highly regarded in the future. That is the higher road that Paul is calling each of us to walk down. If we are serious about our Christian discipleship, plan to journey down this path.
OUR MISSIONAL OBJECTIVE
Paul’s objective in all this was that “at the name of Jesus every knee would bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father” (2:10-11). Why should we sacrifice our personal ideas, and submit to the ideas of others? Not for our own gain but for the glory of God. We all know that God gets no glory when churches are in internal turmoil. The great tragedy of churches in decline and strife is that their eye gets off the central eternal missional goal of the church – to glorify God and to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ. More specifically, to introduce others into the Lordship of Jesus.
I feel like this needs to be said. We need to remember why we exist. We exist to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. We are together for the gospel, united for its proclamation, driven to tell the world of the God who sacrificed for their redemption. I think we need to say to ourselves periodically, “how is what we do missional?” How are we reaching out? How are we engaged in this calling, this vision, this eternal glory – that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
How can you do that? Take the Alpha course and invite someone to come with you. Don’t tell me you are too busy. We’re all busy. But we’re alive for the glory of God. This is why we are the church – to spread this glory and grace in Jesus. You come up with a better way. But let’s have a unified attitude, a driven desire, a redemptive purpose. This is what Paul is calling the church to do – to get on board even if it isn’t to their personal taste. I’m asking you to do the same. Make my joy complete. Be of one mind, one soul, one purpose. Let’s do the Alpha course and do it with joy and enthusiasm. It may not be the greatest thing in the world, but it can be if we all decide to come with a friend.