It's Not About Me

 In the Gospel lesson for today we have jumped ahead in Matthew 

to the day after Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey

                                    and cleansed the Temple, cleaned it right out.

Jesus then has the chutzpah to return the next day 

            and immediately start teaching whoever was there.

            

Quickly the chief priests and the elders are all over him.

           Who gave Jesus the authority to come in on their territory – the temple –                                                 and preach to their congregation?!

 

But their question backfires on them,

            because Jesus was the kind of teacher 

who answers a question with a question  (the sign of a good teacher!)

 

They can see that whatever they answer 

about the issue of John the Baptist’s authority, 

will authenticate Jesus, rather than stifle him, as was their intent.

 

But Jesus is not done with his questions to them.

He does them the service of continuing to challenge them to face up to truth, 

when he says:

“What do you think?  A man had two sons.

One son lips off, and the other gives lip service.”

 

Whatever those boys said in response to their father’s directive, 

the important thing is: did the will of the father get done?

 

Is the work of the chief priests and elders lip service 

to doing the will of the father?

Can it really be that tax collectors and prostitutes 

are the real ones doing the will of the Father? 

 

Notice that once again Matthew, former tax collector, now Gospel writer,

             makes a point of saying – 

it is the tax collectors and other sinner-types, those unlikely characters,

who are realizing the Kingdom of God 

            ahead of those who think they know what God wants,

                        but have missed the point. . . . 

 

Now I want to turn to the Epistle reading for today.

 

There is tremendous Gospel good news in the Epistle for today,

            a beautiful hymn of praise and adoration 

that overflows from the heart in response to the example of Jesus.

 

“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… “

 

Jesus emptied himself.  

 

What does that mean, 

            and why would we want to have the same mind as Christ,

and how in the world could we have that same mind too?  

                                    I honestly ask myself these questions.

 

Jesus emptied himself.

            He acted always for others, not for himself. 

His continual focus was on serving those who came to him.  

He did not exhibit a personal agenda that would in any way bring 

power to himself 

or rock star fame 

or wealth 

or recognition in the eyes of the world, 

because the humility of Jesus is not what the world admires and values.  

 

Jesus showed us what is truly meant by the expression, “It’s not about me.”  This is a key ingredient in describing the Kingdom of God, 

where the value system is the inverse of the world’s value system.

Despite how explicitly this is expressed here in the Philippians passage 

it seems that we, the Church, inevitably end up 

trying to make things work in the church 

by using the world system instead of the Kingdom of God system.  

It’s just a bit too risky to trust, and there’s where we get off track.

 

But Jesus emptied himself.

 

He consistently seemed to prefer referring to himself 

as the Son of Man/Humankind rather than Son of God, 

Son of Man being a title that indicated servant, 

the one waiting on the others, serving their needs.

 

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

 

“…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.”

 

Death!  Obedience to the point of death!

 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…

There is a giant assumption made here, 

that one would want to have the same mind as Jesus

                        even if it included obedience to the point of death?

 

If we dared to say yes to that assumption, 

if we were willing to take on the discipleship of obedience

out of an intention to exhibit in our own lives the Mind of Christ,

then the actions of life that would be expressed 

might look more like the son in that parable who didn’t want to work, 

but went and did it anyway.

 

Now here’s the application that would fit just beautifully 

for this congregation here right now 

with all the sorts of concerns and issues

currently a part of our life together and our life in the broader community:

Dealing together with COVID and how to be safely with each other in the building

working together as we start the search process for a new rector 

and checking what our own sense of identity has been and now is 

            and how that informs the vision we have for the future.

 

And at the same time we are each dealing with so much,

            like grief, 

            or personal health issues

or economic uncertainty, 

or concerns regarding civil unrest, 

or all of the above.

And how we all relate to and trust one another here in this faith community.

                                    Have I missed anything?                                     

 

St. Paul’s words to the faith community in Philippi 

could be the same words any priest or pastor would say 

to any congregation they served:

 

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, 

if there is any consolation from love, 

if there is any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,

make my joy complete – make me happy: 

be of the same mind, 

have the same love for each other, 

for those you can least get along with as well as your favorite friends, 

have the same generosity of love for one another,

            with the kind of love that sees all as one,

be in full accord,                                                            be of one mind. 

 

AND do nothing from selfish ambition – for this is not about you.

Do nothing out of an attitude of 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. 

Can we really try that in listening to each other?

 

I would like to point out that

to look not to your own interests but the interests of others 

is a good description of what it is to really listen to another.

How often when we are listening to another person 

are we already forming in our own minds 

the answer we are going to give 

or the comment we want to make on the topic.

Our attention is divided between what the other person is saying 

and what I am about to say.

Listening with your own agenda running 

is not really listening.

It’s using the other’s words as a launching pad for your own speech.

 

The gift of listening is a rare gift 

that when encountered is deeply appreciated, 

as I think you can attest to 

recalling such an experience of talking with someone 

and knowing that you have really been listened to. 

How affirming that is!

How much that gives a sense of worth and value to what is said!

And how much that opens the way for the one listened to 

then to also truly listen and be open to hearing from another.

 

What we observe about Jesus in the accounts in the Gospels 

is about the way he treated others 

            and how in all cases he was serving them            

even when asking them pointed question that would make them wince. 

 

Even when he was confronting people with hard words of truth, 

this was in profoundest service of love, 

for the sake of their very salvation.

 

So then, how can we have the Mind of Christ?

 

It is already there, but we are unaware of it.

Cultivating mindfulness to the Mind of Christ present in us 

would seem to be an approach.

We can do that right now by being mindful 

            of the readings and the words of the liturgy.  

Just pay attention                        right now.

 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…

And the Epistle reading ends with these sobering words:

             “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 

            for it is God who is at work in you, 

            enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

 

We have a paradox of working out our salvation on the one hand, 

but on the other hand this is impossible 

because really it is God who works out the salvation in us.

 

Indeed it is God who puts in us 

the very motivation and intention of our own efforts.

Yet we are admonished to try.  

            It’s a way to get us to cooperate with what God is trying to do in us,

so that we can be like the son who changed his no

                                                into going to do the will of the Father.