“Enemies at the table of God”

Philippians 2:1-13If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (NIV) As time moves on, we see great new things in our culture, and we also grieve over the loss of other things.

One thing that is nice for parents today is that kids in the car have hand held computer games, and phones to keep them occupied on long trips. Many have DVD players in the cars so the kids can watch movies on long trips. Oh how I wish they had been around when my son was younger.

I wonder – do kids still yell out from the back seats, “Daddy, how many more miles?”

But with that great new thing, we also grieve over the loss of other things. When I was a child, we would tell stories in the car on long trips – and we would sing.

Today no one sings on long trips, but that was one of the highlights of family vacations in the 1950s and 60s. Singing in the car.


I still like to sing – much to my wife’s dismay.

Every morning while getting ready for work, I’ll break out in song. Do you ever do that?

Well, that is basically what is happening in our New Testament lesson.

Paul is breaking out in singing, singing the words of what is a familiar
hymn to that congregation in the city of Philippi.

Part of our Scripture lesson for today is actually a hymn that Paul is quoting.

Scholars know this part of the letter to the Phillippians is a hymn for several reasons. It has, in the Greek language, the meter and style of music.

Now, why would Paul do that. It is more than just a simple point he wants to make. Why quote a song?

Well, whenever you quote anything, music or otherwise, it conveys facts and information. They also convey something emotional.

For example.

In Texas, if you hear the phrase, "Remember the Alamo," that conjures up not only a historical remembrance, but an emotional one as well, as people remember the soldiers who fought at the Alamo.

Or take the phrase, "Read my lips, 'no new taxes,'" and what comes to mind is a recollection of a presidential candidate and broken promises. And perhaps the emotion that is evoked is that of cynicism.

And that is what Paul is doing. He is not just communicating some facts, or information. He is trying to convey something emotional.

He writes a letter to the church of Philippi, and in the middle of the letter, he begins to sing a familiar hymn.

Oh, it's not familiar to us. The tune has long been lost. But it would have been familiar to these Christians.


Let's imagine for example, a young man leaves home and goes into the Navy. He is far from home and is having a difficult time. He misses his home. He misses his family. He misses his friends. In a few days he will be going to sea and will be gone for a long time, and this magnifies the loneliness.

Day after day he waits for the mail, hoping for a letter from friends and family, but on most days, there is none.

Then one day, gets a letter. A real letter.

The letter is from his youth leader back in his home church.

"Dear Jimmy," the letter begins. "I know these are difficult times for you. I know you feel lonely and far from home. I want you to remember that I am praying for you, and so are all the other members of the youth group. As you begin your tour at sea, remember our prayers are with you.

Eternal Father, Strong to Save,
Whose arm has bound the restless wave,
Who bade the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep.
Oh hear us when we cry to thee,
For those in peril on the sea.


Now, what that does for Jimmy is that it transports him back into the worship service. It produces not just a picture, but feelings of being back in his home church, standing in his own pew. In his mind, she can hear the organ cranking out the notes. He can hear his great Aunt Lucille singing beside him. He hears the song. He's back in worship. No matter what Jimmy does for the rest of the day, he has that tune of the Navy Hymn stuck in his mind.

When Paul begins to sing a hymn in the middle of his letter, he is not just trying to convey information. He is transporting them to the worship service.

At this point in the letter of Paul to the Philippians, the apostle is addressing concerns he has about the conflicts and divisions that are taking place in the church of Philippi.

We're not sure what these conflicts and divisions were all about, and I'm not sure they matter. Because on one level or another, almost every church has them at times.

So Paul tells them, "Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ... Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:"

And then Paul beings to sing.

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

What Paul is doing is telling the Phillippians to treat each other as if they are always in the midst of worship.

That's good advice.

Imagine how differently we would treat each other if we always acted as if we were in the House of God.

I had an interesting experience in a church sanctuary some time back.

I had been asked by the Presbytery to visit a church that was in serious conflict. I was part of a team of several ministers who attended a congregational meeting. The meeting was very intense.

The sad part of that meeting is that Presbytery had sent us into that church not only to try to resolve the conflict, but to fire the pastor.

The congregation was clearly polarized with half the members on one side of an issue, and the other half on the other side. Each side had collected a long list of grievances against one another and had built up resentment and bitterness and anger.

Well, we tried our best during the meeting, but I'm not sure we accomplished anything.

I was thankful when the meeting was over and was walking past the Lord's Table, on my way toward the closest exit, when one of the church members walked right up to me and blocked my path.

He had become angry because I had refused to take his side during the congregational meeting. He was one of the supporters of the pastor and he was angry that Presbytery had stepped in and terminated the pastor's job. This member not only expressed his anger verbally. He actually began to threaten me.

For a brief moment, I knew this man was going to assault me, physically, right there in the Sanctuary.

The thought went through my mind that I could try to defend myself.

But we were right there beside the Lord's Table, and the picture of a minister and an elder fist fighting in the Sanctuary was so offensive, I decided to follow Jesus' mandate to turn the other cheek.

Besides, I consoled myself, if I don't hit back, maybe he'll only hit me once and it'll be over with.

Just then, in an instant before the elder hit me, the very pastor whom I'd been responsible for firing a short time earlier, stepped between us and came to my rescue.

All he said was, "You are in the Lord's House. He is watching every move we take. He is listening to every word we say. He is aware of every thought we have."

With those words, my adversary stepped back and let me leave.

Paul tells the Philippians, "think about being in the worship service. Listen to the organ music. Imagine the feel of the pews as you sit. Hear the words of the songs the choirs sing.

"And once you imagine that you are in the House of God, experiencing worship, remember this...

"Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

That's a tough order Paul gives the Philippians -- and us.

We have to be like-minded?

We have to have love for one another?

We can't do anything out of selfish ambition?

We have to consider others better than ourselves?

That's easy to do, in here.

We're not breaking out in fights, in here.

We're expressing love for one another, in here.

We're considering other peoples interests, in here.

But, out there in the world, it is different.

Look at the way we drive. We don't drive defensively. We drive offensively. We drive selfishly.

Look at the way we treat our neighbors. If they are in need, we ignore them. If they are different from us, we ridicule them.

We are driven by anger, selfish ambition and vain actions.

But Paul says we shouldn't do that.

We should treat each other the same as we treat each other in here, in worship.

I had two elders in my first pastorate who had some sort of a falling out. I was never sure what happened between them, but they absolutely detested each other. It was awkward because during session meetings, they would often ignore each other. When they didn't ignore each other, they were putting each other down and being very insulting and degrading.

Finally, one day they were both scheduled to work together in serving Communion to the congregation. This was quite by accident, because they usually refused to serve together, and the worship chairperson knew this and never, ever scheduled them together.

But one Sunday, by mistake, they were both scheduled to assist in the Communion service. They both came forward to help pass out the elements, without noticing each other until they were actually at the Table.

When I saw them both come forward, I became very anxious, because I really believed one or the other of them would actually walk out, and refuse to serve with the other.

But neither made a scene. Neither one walked out. They both picked up the plates and passed the bread. Then they both took the trays of wine and passed them around the congregation.

With much relief, the service went smoothly and when it was over, everyone went home.

Except for the elders. Because in that church, we had session meetings on Sundays after church. And it so happened this was the Sunday the session was meeting.

And a strange thing happened that Sunday. It was the best Session meeting we'd had in months. The two elders who hated one another, began to talk to one another, and work with one another.

They weren't about to hug one another, but it was a definite improvement.

As time went on, the relationship continued to slowly improve.

A few months later, the two of them came to the church office together and began to tell me about this idea they had been working on to start a new ministry. They wanted to organize a monthly outing for the youth of the church, and they wanted to be the ones to organize it.

Well, I couldn't contain myself any more. I asked what had happened to change their relationship.

"Well, preacher, it all started one Sunday when the two of us were scheduled to serve Communion together. It suddenly dawned on me that when we are both dead and gone, and sitting in heaven, God would probably make us sit together at every Communion Service. So we'd better start working things out."

That was Paul's point entirely.

We need to treat each other OUT THERE, the same way we treat each other IN HERE, IN WORSHIP.

It is a tough order.

We'd rather live out our lives out there, as if God is in here, and not out there.

As if God doesn't see us.

But he does.

When you are rude, hateful, or disrespectful of someone out there -- would you act that way if the two of you were standing next to the Lord's Table?

When you are selfish and vain and self centered out there -- would you be that way when you are standing at the Lord's Table?

It's easy to behave yourselves as godly people while you're in the Lord's House.

We need to carry that attitude out there, into the world.

As Paul said, "Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."






Copyright Maynard Pittendreigh, 2011
All Rights Reserved