Sept. 28, 2-14

Philippians 2:1-13

I introduced a lecture series at my former church where I invited mostly Yale Divinity School professors to come talk for 45 minutes or so on subjects related to their particular expertise; subjects that were also relevant and applicable for folks in the pews who were trying to live a thoughtful faith.   Not knowing most of these professors, I remember being particularly worried when one sent me his lecture title: “Walk with the Spirit, St. Paul’s Vision for Eschatological Ethics.” …Eschatological Ethics… tell the truth, is that a lecture that you would find yourself just dying to go to? My concern was that people had already discovered that they could live well enough without knowing what that word meant.

In the end though, I have to say that those who skipped it missed out. The professor was interested in discussing what Paul thought it meant to live a Christian life, what was right and what was wrong, how as people of Christian faith we are to behave. His point, however, was that Paul didn’t give many clear answers. He gave a few, but for the most part when addressing ethical questions Paul had a bigger point to make.

 

That’s where this “eschatological” word comes in to play. Eschatology is the study of the end of times, and in particular how the end of times is to influence this present time. According to Paul, the ultimate End of time and victory of God had been assured and initiated by Christ’s conquering of the cross and rising from the dead. In his resurrection something of the End had been made present now.   And, because Christ willed to share it with God’s people, his resurrected life was poured out through the Holy Spirit in the form of new life, abundant life, eternal life (whatever you call it) to the Church. Paul proclaimed it for himself, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” And, what was true for him was true for all who had come to faith. They were literally now a new creation!

 

So, when they asked Paul what to do he often wrote them back with responses that didn’t specifically answer their questions. Instead he said, Do you want to know what to do? Be the new creation that Christ has made you to be. Be who you are: dead to self and alive with Christ. Do that and your ethics will fall right into place!

 Today’s passage is a good example. The NRSV doesn’t translate it as well as it might. The word it uses is “If.” “IF there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, etc… make my joy complete.” But the Greek makes it clear that the “IF” assumes the reality of those things. A better word would be “since.”   Since these things are already there, since they are a God-given reality, act that way! Be who you are. Be the kind of community that you already are in Jesus Christ.

 

Then Paul goes on to quote a hymn. “Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus: though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit. But, he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and becoming like human beings… Therefore, God highly honored him and gave him a name above all names so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow.”

 

This hymn would have been well known to the church in Philippi. It would have been to them like a creed, something they owned prior to Paul’s writing, prior to Paul’s advice. In essence, Paul reminds them of a Divine drama that has happened for their sake, one they recognize, and one that changes everything about them. Remember who you are, Paul says, and you will do the right thing.

 

I once read, (the source only said, “- an unknown monk,”) that the root of all evil is forgetfulness. I bet you Paul would agree. I would agree too, I think. It is so easy to forget who we are. It is so easy to forget the calling that we’ve been given, the Spirit that breathes within us, the grace that has claimed us, the love that’s poured itself upon us. We get so caught up in the realities of life that the God of all reality, Reality itself, becomes for us a hard reality for us to see.

 

I hope I always remember this moment. It was the moment when Todd, a member of my youth group from many years ago, was struck for the first time by the gift that Christ had given him. We had just witnessed a skit together, somewhat questionable and even a bit manipulative in my opinion. So, when the skit was over we talked for a while about the theological implications, what God was like and what God wasn’t like. Then Todd put his beautiful mark on the discussion. “You know,” he said, “I’ve heard it many times. Christ died for me. Christians always say that. But, tonight it hit me. Christ actually died for me! That’s pretty amazing. He did that for me.”

 

I’m not pointing out that Todd got saved. I’m sharing this because Todd’s epiphany was a gift to all of us. It was a reminder that there is a truth about ourselves, a grace that’s claimed us, that’s there for us to discover and rediscover and discover all the more. The problem is that it is so easy to forget this truth.

 

Another one of the lectures offered at our lecture series was given by a Mathmetician at Fairfield University. The only non-theologian in the group, his lectures tended to be the most popular. (He began with a list of words that he would not be using, which of course included “eschatological.”) He told us about an experiment that Hubbel did. Using a telescope they took a picture of the night sky and they found a patch that was dark – no stars, planets, moons, nothing! And they zoomed in and took another picture. What they found way off in all that dark space wasn’t just a vast spread of stars, but was actual galaxies. Well, in that picture they found some black space and they zoomed in one more time to as far as they could reach. Again, what they found were more galaxies. They then pointed their scope in the opposite direction and they found the very same thing. A creation that is vastly more expansive and mysterious than we can comprehend or imagine, and a God who is behind it all, within it all, and who holds it all together! A God so transcendent and beyond us, who emptied himself out for us, became one of us, died at our hands only to return to us and share with us God’s very Spirit, calling us into fellowship with God.

 

There’s an infinite world around us and a divine drama happening to us and for us, and yet most of the time we are mostly blind to it. We forget the reality of our lives, which makes it hard to be the people we already are.

 

I was reading a reflection by Richard Rohr the other day. He was talking about the Eucharist, and all the great arguing we’ve done to give words to the “real presence” of Christ in the bread that we break and the wine that we serve. We’ve talked about how it is done and who can do it, but if we haven’t cultivated an ability to be present to the presence of Christ, it won’t be real for any of us.

 

Being present in a way that changes us, being present in a way that reaches both head and heart and shapes our lives according to the divine grace and mystery and truth that has claimed us takes a bit of work. It takes a people who are willing to practice, a community that makes it their goal. Think about what an awesome and life changing community that might be!