“The Christ Hymn” Phil 2: 1-13

 Twice a month, I gather with brothers and sisters from around the United States to prayerfully read God’s Word together. Over the course of an hour, we read the same passage four times to listen for what God is saying to us, and each other, through a particular passage in a spiritual practice called Lectio Divinia, or Divine reading. 

A few months ago, this particular passage was the one that we focused on together and one of the women said something that that is still with me today. She proclaimed “this is my statement of faith.” This is what I believe about Christ. And I want to live in such a way that reflects Christ’s heart and love with the world. 

That is what the Apostle Paul is trying to get across to the Philippian church. If you joined online last week, you heard about the first chapter in this particular letter, where Paul is so incredibly thankful for this particular church, this group of believers, who are partners in the mission to make Christ known throughout the world. 

But not everything is perfect in the Philippian community. While the church is the vessel that God has chosen to spread the good news of the Kingdom, sometimes we are not very good bearers of that message. We are not always great representatives because of how we act. In the words of Ghandi, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are unlike your Christ.”

That is true even in this Philippian church. Whenever we find Paul writing to a community about a particular value, it is usually because it is lacking. Which is true here as well. While the majority of the believers are unified in purpose, there are two folks (who are named in a later part of this letter) who are causing a distraction. So Paul wants to take this opportunity to remind the church about who it is that they follow and what’s the work they should be about in the world. 

So Paul starts out by telling the people to be united. But untied in what? United in the wonderful reality of who Christ is and what Christ has done. See the church, the body of Christ, friends, it is not about us. It is about our head, our Lord, the one who we seek to proclaim - Jesus Christ. Paul wants to lift Christ up above all others - especially at this moment in time when he is imprisioned and facing possible execution. If these are his last words to the Philippians, he is going to make them count. And for him those final words are this “In Christ Alone”. 

However, Paul also realizes that these are easy words to proclaim with our lips, but much harder to claim with our hearts and even harder still to live into with our lives. So he has to take the Philippians back to the beginning. Reminding them what it looks like to live as Christ’s representatives in the world - as those makes by love and joy. As those who do not put themselves and their ambitions above others. 

And then Paul tells them why. This may be the what and the how - but the why behind our living is this - all of those characteristics are the very essence of God. 

This particular statement of faith found in Philippians is often referred to as “The Christ Hymn” and is thought to be one of the oldest pieces of writing in the New Testament. It clearly states for the earliest believes who Christ is and then is followed by a call for us to live in a similar manner in the world. 

Easier said than done. 

If it was easy, we would all be about the work of reflecting Christ in the world with what we say and do. But all too often our ego, our “me”-ness, it gets in the way. We are quick to want to make our way and will known, and much slower to become focused on the needs, pains and hopes of others. 

The call that Paul is giving to the Philippians is to be imitators of Christ. But I fear that we don’t really know how to do that today. To imitate someone to strive to live like a person that we look up to. But often we fail because we are trying to make ourselves into them. Perhaps a better way to think about being an imitator of Christ is to be one who adopts a Christ-like attitude so that people see Christ in us. 

When we adopt a Christ like attitude, we seek to serve other people first. And not just serve those that we like. We pour ourselves out. We do not do anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. And we are humble at our very core. 

The problem is that often it is easier to recognize that we should have these characteristics than to actually practice them. Take humility for example. Its easy to recognize that Christ was humble, to the point of giving away his life on the cross. Its easy to realize that we also should be humble, but often that is not our first, or even fiftieth, response. 

And yet. And yet, when we choose to be humble. When we choose to adopt the attitude of Christ Jesus, it allows us to have the opportunity to reflect Christ in the world. An every day example - I was talking recently with someone about folks in stores. Not the workers, but the shoppers, and how rare it is anyone to see someone who is kind. Who says “thank you”. Who speaks with kindness. Who is patient. It’s so rare that it catches us off-guard when we see it. Or catches other off-guard when we live into it. 

What would it look like for us to have this attitude of Christ that spills over into our actions and causes people to stop and wonder why in the world we are doing what we are doing. Not so we can lift high our own name, rather so we can be a reflection of Christ out in the world. 

This adoption of a Christ-like attitude, it is an ongoing, life-long process that we choose when we follow Jesus Christ. Paul is telling the Philippian church that some of them have lost the way, so they need a reminder, a re-orientation to Christ like living so they do not become a distraction from the Kingdom mission and vision. 

Friends, we, too, spend a lot of time being distracted, and yes, at some times, even being a distraction. How many of you have heard stories about churches that are marked more by fighting than by grace? Or places where people are not treated in ways that are marked by Kingdom values? 

All faith communities are one step away from becoming like this. If the Philippians, this community that Paul praises as being so committed to the Gospel, can become distracted, so can we. So we need to keep the course, keep making the decision to put on the attitude of Christ until it becomes so ingrained in us, that we shine the light of Christ into the world. 

Does that mean it will be easy? No. Does that mean that it won’t be costly? Absolutely not. For Paul, it cost him his life. For the Philippians, it cost them their own wants and desires. For us, it may cost us our wealth and worldly power. But it is the way we choose when we take on the name of Christ. Let us live, not for our own sake, but for the sake of Jesus - the one we love and imitate. Amen.