Pentecost 19 Phil. 2:1-13 9/25/05
“What Would Jesus Think”
If I was asked for one Bible verse that best describes how a group of believers is to be THE CHURCH, I’d choose Phil. 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
The church is to be a group of people with diverse gifts, training and experiences brought together by the Spirit, to do God’s will according to His plan, just as Jesus did. God gives each person specific gifts for ministry. It is up to each individual to consider what his or her gifts are, develop them and find ways to use them in God’s service, particularly in the church.
The using of our gifts can come about primarily in two ways. First, an individual may feel a passionate desire to use his/her gift (including a particular interest). This passionate desire may well be the Holy Spirit speaking in a person’s heart.
I once read of a man who collected toy trains and developed a strong desire to start a group of some kind related to his hobby at his church. Some people didn’t see this as very churchy or an appropriate activity for a church group. They’d never had a hobby club before and felt the man’s energies would be better spent in an establish group or committee. The man persisted though and with the pastor’s support started a group whose interest was model railroading. Word of the group spread throughout the area and over the next several months, model railroad enthusiasts from all over joined the group. A number of these people started coming to the church and ultimately joined.
The second year of the group’s existence, a request was made to the church council for use of part of the church basement to set up an elaborate Christmas garden. One of the members was even planning to build a model of the church to put in a prominent place in the garden. Publicity would be done and people from all over would be invited to come see the garden on the weekends leading up to Christmas.
Once again there was muttering from some people who said, “this has never been done before”, but the council after prayerful consideration of what would Jesus think agreed to the garden. Things got into gear after this. The women’s group set up a plan to have cookies and drinks for sale with the money to go to missions, a box was decorated to look like a train car and people were encouraged to bring a child’s gift for a local charity and to put it in the train car, and the evangelism committee handed out special invitations to come worship on Christmas Eve to everyone who came in the door.
The congregation grew and so did its unusual ministries, because the people learned to let the mind of Christ that is in individuals lead the way.
A second way of letting the same mind be in a congregation that was in Christ is to make the discernment of mission and ministry be the main focus of the church council. Instead of conducting business, a council immerses itself in Scripture and prayer, seeking to discern what is the will of God for the congregation. It develops and continually refines its mission statement and goals based on a vision given them by God. This vision and mission/ministry plan is presented to the congregation. Using the motto, “What would Jesus think”, the congregation tweaks the plan and adopts it. Then each committee or group in the congregation uses the plan to develop its ministry, seeking those members of the congregation whose gifts will move the plan forward.
Whichever system is used, the foundation is: seeking to have the mind be in the group which was in Christ. First and foremost this means studying what the mind of Christ was. Scripture is studied to see what Jesus thought about life, people, ministry and most of all, God. In prayer, personal reflection and group discussion the question, “What would Jesus think?” is regularly asked. People then put themselves at Jesus disposal to act in his place, doing ministry within the congregation and beyond.
This all may sound rather complex and burdensome. Everyone is overwhelmed with busyness today and it takes all the energy of those who are involved in activities of the congregation just to get what has always been done accomplished.
But,
consider this: The church at
If each member of the church named for St. Paul, at Drakes Mills, would spend just a few minutes each day seeking in prayer to have the mind of Christ in them and would commit to act on what Christ puts into their minds, we could also find what Paul writes in Vs, 13 is true for us, “for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” The work God gives His church is not onerous or more than regular humans can accomplish. Even the person who feels most overwhelmed will find they can complete all their tasks with less stress and with a greater sense of peace and joy when they consider “what would Jesus think” and then do what He would have you do.
In the end we would find that the ancient Christian hymn included in this lesson, Vss 6-11, is not just a confession of faith in the Person of Jesus Christ, but it is also a promise of the power of God to accomplish His plan through us. It then becomes our hymn to recite,
Let
the same mind be in you that was* in Christ Jesus,
6
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Let us have the mind of Christ in us as individuals and as a church, so that we can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives as we are called and empowered to do. Amen.