Brothers and sisters in Christ, listen again to the start of our Epistle reading from Philippians chapter 2: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
St. Paul make a beautiful appeal through the work of Jesus in our lives that the church should be all together in every way. He yearns for the church to be of one mind. The same mind, the same love, being of full accord- which means agreeing fully in matters of life purpose.
It seems St. Paul did not get the memo about the wonders of diversity of thought. Instead of encouraging every church to have its own unique perspective about who Jesus is and how to worship Him and proclaim his salvation to the world- the scripture instead is describing what is the same- the same mind, the same love, the same purpose.
How can Christians be of the same mind and the same purpose? If we are honest we can observe that there are always things we find to disagree about, whether the color of the carpet on a local level within a congregation, or divisions regarding the meaning of the sacraments between different denominations- there always seems to be disagreement.
In the 1950s and 60s many seeds of differences grew in American Christianity. Some traditions bought into historical critical methods without looking back. These were ideas from Universities that tried to use scientific rational methods and historical research theories to reinterpret Christianity through a lens of skepticism as far as what actually happened in Old Testament history. People began to think they were being of service to society by questioning what is recorded in scripture, questioning what Jesus actually said as compared to what the church came to believe and recorded in the scripture.
Our own LCMS needed to face this cross roads in the history of the church. The same questions were asked within the learning institutions of the LCMS, culminating with a poorly reasoned student walk out of seminary in a day in February of 1974.
The students walked out because they succumbed to a group think where they felt the need to defend the professors who they spent time with and looked up to- even though these professors were teaching false doctrine. They were foolishly following false teachers who questioned things like whether Jonah could really have survived in the belly of a great fish.
Professors who tried to make distinctions over what is that which Jesus taught and that which is more of a teaching of the early New Testament Church that collected the gospel accounts- as if there is a difference between what Jesus taught the disciples and what the church confessed throughout the Apostolic age by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But in the end as a church body the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod determined to be of one mind that the Holy Scriptures are indeed the inspired Word of God and that we will be a church that seeks to follow Jesus alone, and not the whims of cultural movements from one generation to another.
The reason why the church was able to choose the truth of scripture over the academic historical methods of the day, was because of the faithful beliefs of the members of congregations throughout the synod who sided with the president of the Synod in his resolve to fire the professors who had departed from the right teachings of the church.
Because the church had been of one mind in doctrine for so many years, the LCMS was able to choose orthodoxy of practice over a departure of the faith. As a result of being in one mind at this crossroads in the church nearly 50 years ago, we are now of one mind in doctrine today as a church body- as we mark another three year period of the church’s history through the LCMS convention that met over the summer.
No matter how much division our society has over the cultural issues of the day, we can count on the congregations of the LCMS to always choose the side of what is taught in God’s Word- not what is popular with man.
And that is the gift and blessed intention of the Lord for us, that we are of one mind as the church- so that God’s Word can continue from generation to generation without changing. It is indeed vital for the church’s confession to the world that we give a clear witness to the world of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him.
The reading clarifies this: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition, or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” The seat of false teaching always comes from individuals who are self serving in what they are teaching, those who seek to change what the church teaches for the sake of their own ambitions to remake the church in their own image.
History teaches us that the town of Philippi was populated with a high concentration of retired Roman soldiers. As Paul was writing to the Philippians church he was writing to a population who valued being citizens, who are proud of their nation and the service they gave. As a result their ears would have perked up as Paul writes about a deeper and more true citizenship- our citizenship in God’s Kingdom. He was giving them instructions on not just how to be a good citizen in the land you live in, but how to be the perfect Christian citizen, being of one mind in Christ.
Being of one mind does not mean that the church is agreeing to blindly stand together without understanding what we are standing together on- just for the sake of saying, look we agree, look at our unity! No, instead the reason for being of one mind is entirely from the model of who Jesus is for us.
We look out for others and not ourselves based on the model that Jesus gives to in looking out for others and not advancing himself in the form of his role as a servant who has nowhere to lay his head, who came to serve and not be served, who lived to die for us, obedient to the will of the Father, even to the point of death on the cross.
By sharing in the mind of Christ we can truly be of one mind as a church, we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling which means that living our faith as something that is of first priority in life. We can do this as the rest of the sentence goes in the scripture, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And God’s good pleasure is for his kingdom to come.
We are of one mind in Christ so that we can be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in a crooked and twisted generation among whom we shine as lights in the world!
It is true that as a congregation we have many different personality styles, one person is outgoing, another is more quiet. One person likes upbeat fast hymns, another hymns that are more meditative, slow, and almost somber. But the differences don’t mean anything in light of the mind of Christ.
If we agree that Jesus is our source of life, then we are of one mind as a congregation. Last week I changed the letters on the church sign to capture as much as I could fit on the sign the short hymn “On My Heart Imprint Your Image” The hymn summarizes what we all have in common- the desire to reflect the image of Jesus from our heart. “On my heart imprint Your image, Blessed Jesus king of grace. That life’s riches cares and pleasures, never may your works erase. Let the clear inscription be, Jesus crucified for me, is my life, my hope’s foundation, my glory and salvation.” What a great summary of being in one mind in Christ.
The world is always busy and it is easy to feel overwhelmed or feel insignificant in comparison with all of the different things that matter to this world. It is in fact impossible to be of one mind with the world, because the world is in rebellion against God and is going in countless contradictory directions.
In my work as a counselor, I have heard from many people who describe how they don’t feel like they fit in with society very well, “I am different, I move by a different wavelength and people don’t understand me, and I am not sure I want to understand them.” It is almost like people are making a testimony to the fallen nature of the world and their own awareness of their fallen nature as individuals.
In Christ, we are a new creation and we are citizens of a New Creation, the kingdom of God. In Christ, no matter how different the way we relate may be, we are of one mind in Christ. And we are of one purpose to live by his mercy, and to rejoice in the place of service he we have in his kingdom. Amen.