Sunday, August 9, 2015

Today’s Reading  |  Philippians 2:1–11
If then there is any 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. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NRSV)

Reflection
I have generally thought of Paul as someone who was always shaking his finger when admonishing the early church. What struck me when I read this passage is that he is not scolding the Philippians. Instead, he is reinforcing what it means to follow Christ: let the community be in agreement; love each other; don’t be selfishly ambitious; be humble; regard others as better than yourselves; be of the same mind as Christ. What is that mind of Christ? Becoming authentically human, not claiming special privileges.

It is nice to have this list of what it takes to follow Christ laid out so clearly, but when I actually take time to really think about it, the thought of actually living this message is often overwhelming. In the words of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, “For one human being to love another, that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks.”

So where should we start with this worthwhile struggle? We can remember age-old Christian practices, such as being part of a church, that challenge us and feed us. We can realize that spiritual formation is a lifelong process and continue to study. We can pay attention to God through the practices of prayer, meditation, and contemplation. We can find friends with whom we can share our faith journeys and struggles. We might draw upon words attributed to St. Francis: “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

Prayer
Good and gracious God, help us to remember and engage in the practices that will keep us growing in love and humility as we seek to follow Jesus while we go about our day-to-day living. Amen.

Written by Martha Brown, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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