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Pentecost 17A
September 27, 2020
Matthew 21:23-32
Philippians 2:1-13
INTRODUCTION
Hypocrisy and authority and the possibility for repentance. These are the issues taken up in today’s readings, and they are very much issues to consider in our daily lives as well! Some important context for the Gospel reading – the elders and chief priests (both people of authority) ask Jesus about where he gets the authority to do “these things,” so you may wonder, which things are these? This text takes place on Monday of Holy Week. Jesus has just marched triumphantly into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, where he promptly turns over the tables of the money changers in the Temple. So my guess is they are probably talking about these things – which undermine the power structures that are and have long been in place. I can understand why they are upset (no one likes their power to be threatened!), and Jesus’ crafty way of turning their trap back on them likely doesn’t make them feel better!
But I’m actually going to be talking today about the epistle, Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This is a beloved text, where Paul quotes one of the earliest Christian hymns. In it, Paul is writing to a church community that is experiencing some tension and fears, and offering some guidance for overcoming that division (sounds familiar). The text has some beautiful imagery about emptiness and fullness. So as you listen to that one, think about what makes you feel empty, or depleted, and what, these days, is making you feel full. And where do you find God in that? Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I really tried this week to write a sermon on the Gospel lesson. In this story about Jesus in the Temple, he has just disrupted the prevailing power structures of the religious and political systems of the day, and is now having a conversation with those who hold the power about authority and where it comes from. The parable Jesus tells reveals the dangers of hypocrisy, of saying one thing and doing another, of not being true to your word. It all seemed too timely to pass up, in a week where the power struggles over filling an incredibly consequential Supreme Court seat have been excruciating, and the news came that none of the police officers involved in busting into Breonna Taylor’s home in the middle of the night and shooting her six times would be charged for killing her, and then the president wouldn’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses in November. Hypocrisy and struggles with authority and where it comes from were on full display in our country this week. Surely, I thought, the Gospel will have a hopeful word to say to all of this.
Well I wrestled and reflected and prayed… but where I was led instead was to this beautiful and beloved text from Philippians. And in particular, I was drawn to the images of emptiness and fullness. “Make my joy complete,” Paul writes. “Christ emptied himself… and God exalted him.”
I admit, the reason I was likely drawn to these images is because I am myself feeling pretty empty a lot of the time. The personal demands are many, yet I never feel like I am doing enough for this hurting world. I read the news and my heart breaks all over again. I do one thing that fills me up, only to have something else happen that drains me again. And the things that would normally fill me up –worshiping together, singing with others, social gatherings, visiting my family – are all currently on hold. I resonated with a friend of mine who recently posted on Facebook, “Anyone else feeling depleted and full of despair?” Yup! So where’s a lifeline that will keep us from drowning?
Philippians delivers. The first lifeline comes right in the first few verses. Actually first, look at those first two words. In English, these words, “if, then” are conditional, like there is some question about it, but in Greek, they are more like, “because.” So it’s not “if there is encouragement in Christ,” but rather, “Because there is encouragement in Christ, consolation from love, sharing in the Spirit, compassion and sympathy… make my joy complete.” You see, he starts with describing the fullness of God in our lives – encouragement, love, sharing, compassion, sympathy. “Be like this,” he says, “be like Christ, and notice the ways the Christ is present in and around you, and you will feel the fullness of joy.” Full. Complete. Ahh, these are words that I love!
So our first lifeline is to find these things around us, notice them, and practice them. God has promised that they are among us through Christ, so find them! This may mean taking a few minutes at the end of each day to reflect back on the day and ask, “Where did I see compassion today? Where did I see encouragement? Where did I see love expressed? Where was there joy?” I would suggest you write these things down, perhaps in a journal or even more publicly like on social media (others might need some help to see them, too!), and at the end of each week, read over them. Are there are any patterns? Did you consistently see encouragement, or compassion, in a particular place or form? If so, you’ll know where to watch for it in the future! This, I believe, will make your joy complete.
Lifeline #2 is recognizing where that fullness comes from – and of course, the answer is Christ. Paul goes on to quote an ancient Christian hymn, describing how Christ once had the fullness of divinity, he says, and all the power of that, but instead of staying there, he “emptied himself.” So now we have the contrast between the fullness of God and the emptying of himself to become human. But because he emptied himself, what happens? He is exalted, experiencing once again the fullness of God, and bringing all of humanity with him. In giving of himself, emptying himself, Christ was not only able to fill us up – with love, encouragement, compassion, all that – but also to be exalted himself.
It’s an image that I can sort of grasp, but that I don’t particularly like. I mean, it’s fine for Jesus, but I don’t like that Paul prefaces this by saying, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” and then describes all this emptying business. Because as I said: I feel empty enough as it is. I don’t need anything more to empty what already feels like a rapidly dwindling heart gas tank.
But when I’m able to take a step back from this initial reaction to emptiness, I also realize: not all emptiness is bad. There are some days when I come home spent and exhausted – but it is the exhaustion that comes from serving others, and making a meaningful difference in the world, or at least for one person. That sort of emptiness fills me with joy! There are times when my car’s gas tank is empty – because we have just had a family adventure together. Good emptiness! There are times when a table, once laden with an abundance of food, is empty – because its contents have gone to feed and nourish those gathered around, giving them physical sustenance and an opportunity to gather for conversation and laughter.
These instances of emptiness are different because even though I have given of my time and energy resources, that giving has been a joyful experience, an experience in which I felt God being glorified. At the end of this passage from Philippians, Paul tells his audience, “It is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and work for his good pleasure.” Like that table, once full of food, Christ emptied himself so that we could be full, so that God could work in us, giving us the energy to work for God’s good pleasure. Indeed, the word translated here as “work in you” is energeo, the Greek word from which we get “energy.” When we get out of our own way and let Christ’s own life take over, we are energized; we spend energy in service, emptying ourselves, but we also receive the energy that comes from joy in Christ.
So here is where the lifeline comes in. When we get to the end of the day and find our hearts broken and bleeding, and our energy dwindling, and feel ourselves increasingly empty… we remember that Christ’s own emptiness is for our fullness. When Christ emptied himself to leave his divine post and put on some skin to walk around with us for a while, when he came to feel our human needs, to express compassion, when he came even to suffer and die for us and rise again, not only was he exalted, but we were also filled by his life.
And so we are given sustenance for our journey, given Christ’s own energy, to make it through another day. Perhaps this energy strengthens us to fight the good fight, to “make good trouble” – and indeed there is plenty of good trouble to make right now. There is so much important work to be done. And sometimes, that energy is better used just to keep our heads above water. We don’t have to save the world every day. The lifeline comes in knowing that this energy is continuously offered to us by our life-giving God. And when we can empty ourselves of all the expectations and guilt that are put on us by society (or perhaps even more, by our own selves), and leave room only for God’s love and life for us, we can find what we need to go another day.
Perhaps this is what Paul means when he says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” It is to empty ourselves, so that we might in turn be filled with the fullness of joy in Christ Jesus. Even that joy can sometimes be hard work. But we can trust that Paul’s words are true, that God is at work in us, enabling us and giving us the energy to will and to work for God’s good pleasure.
Let us pray… God of encouragement and love, these difficult times demand so much of us, and we often feel empty in a bad way. Help us to empty ourselves in a good way, getting rid of all that would drain life from us, and then fill us up with your energizing love, light, and life. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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