Mindset of Christ

Good morning, everybody. If you have your Bible on you or your Bible app, you may wish to keep it open.

We're going to keep referring back to the passage throughout. And this morning I have been tasked with continuing our sermon series on being centered on Christ, focusing today on the mindset of Christ.

A big task when the Bible actually repeatedly tells us that no one can know the mind of God except the spirit of God himself.

God tells Jeremiah, feel that my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

And yet, by the grace of God, we can begin to know God. His mindset, his ways, through his word, through the person of Jesus, God incarnate, through the Holy Spirit as he speaks to us today.

So much so that Paul, when he's writing to the Philippian church, says,

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, any comfort in his love, any common sharing in the spirit, any tenderness or compassion, make my joy complete by being like-minded.

Being of one spirit and mind.

In other words, when we meet the Lord and we give our lives to him, it should make a difference to the way we live our lives.

We should give ourselves to the spirit's transformation process in us, living for him and like him.

And so we need to ask ourselves, what does it mean to be like-minded with Christ?

What does it look like on a day-to-day basis?

In the highs and the lows, the stress, the fun, in the resting and the working, the socialising and the retreating, the waking, the rising, the living, the breathing.

In all of that, what does it mean for us to have the mindset of Christ?

As we read on in the passage in Philippians, we read in the next breath that Paul tells us,

To do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, looking to others' interests rather than your own.

I think this thing of humility is really key here.

It's an intrinsic part of who the incarnate Jesus, the Son of God, the fully human and fully divine Christ is.

Humble.

But we so often conflate humility with self-deprecation.

Putting ourselves down, ignoring our strengths and even our God-given gifts.

I once heard a really good explanation of humility.

And I'm going to try and demonstrate it.

Adam, would you be able to give me a hand on this?

Sorry, I didn't warn you about this.

Can you hold the cup?

Thanks.

Okay, I've got some orange squash here, so hopefully everyone will be able to see it.

But we've got this cup here, a glass.

And if the glass is less than full...

Adam, do you remember what this is?

If it's less than full, it's false humility?

Yeah, it is.

It's false humility.

It's being down on ourselves.

It's batting away well-intended compliments.

It's making ourselves small.

And that's not what God intends for us.

But if I keep on filling it...

If it overflows, it's pride.

It's puffing ourselves up.

It's thinking of ourselves above others.

It's pushing others down so that we can lift ourselves up.

And that's not what God intends for us either.

But when the cup is perfectly full,

full to the top, not overflowing, not less than full,

it's taking up the space it was made to own.

And that's true humility.

It's knowing who we are and whose we are.

It's appreciating the space that we were made to own

and that others were made to own.

It's not puffing ourselves up.

It's not putting others down.

It's thinking of ourselves well and thinking of others well.

Choosing to serve.

Choosing to view others in equality and love.

And that's real humility.

Adam, thank you.

My glamorous assistant, everybody.

So, Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church

in about AD 60, 30 years after Jesus had died.

And there was so much to praise the Philippian community for.

Their generosity, their commitment to the gospel

were two key things.

But there was also an infectious lack of humility

at work in the community.

And Paul was trying to squash it out.

I've just finished reading a book called Lydia

in which theologian Paula Gooder

creates a well-researched,

creatively licensed story about Lydia,

the purple cloth seller of Acts 16.

Really, really recommend it if you can get a chance to grab it.

But it's a book about how those early church Christians

found it, living the Jesus way,

in a society that was still largely rejecting

Jesus Christ as the Messiah,

as the saviour of the world.

And as I read the book,

it became more and more clear to me

that social life in those days

was all about elevating the self.

It's, you know how Jesus said,

exalt yourself and God will humble you,

but humble yourself and God will exalt you.

Well, in those days,

they weren't quite so good at that.

Lowering themselves,

to lower oneself,

was literally the most un-Roman thing

that someone could do in this Roman society.

And amongst those both inside and outside of the church,

culture was all about elevating the self,

proving your worth,

improving your status,

flaunting everything that you had

to elevate your reputation,

even at the expense of other people.

But Jesus says this isn't the way.

And Paul knows it too.

And he's reminding the Christians,

and he's reminding us today,

to live differently,

to live like Christ,

to be Christ-minded.

And how much do we need to hear that word today?

In a world that is obsessed with self-image,

climbing the ladder,

being influential,

having the right stories to tell our social groups,

doing the right hobbies,

having the right car,

the phone,

the clothes,

the holiday,

and goodness knows what else.

I'm not sure we're entirely different

almost 2,000 years later.

And yet we're called to be different.

We're called to be marked with Christ-likeness.

As Paul continues,

we get this beautiful piece of poetry.

In your relationships with one another,

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus,

who, being the very nature God,

did not consider equality with God

to be something used to his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing

by taking on the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness,

and being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

In a society where lowering oneself

was the most unnatural thing to do,

Jesus humbled himself by becoming one of us.

And as he humbled himself

to dying a criminal's death for us,

he loved us.

And I wonder if it's humility

from which the mindset of Christ grows.

When we humble ourselves,

we're able to better see other people around us,

the situations that need our attention,

the people who need a little bit of extra love.

And I think there's a pandemic going on

where we have become so short-sighted,

so focused on ourselves

that we've lost the ability to see beyond ourselves.

We can watch the news and see acts of war,

violence, sexual exploitation,

and so many atrocities

led not just by our global leaders,

but individuals as young as school children

and as prestigious as the royal family.

And we think to ourselves,

well, at least I don't live there

or at least my life doesn't look like that.

But there are so many other ways

in which we are short-sighted.

When we get consumed by our own lives

and our business,

that we overlook the needs of our friends

and our neighbours near and far.

when we take our bad day out

on a cashier at the supermarket,

when we walk past someone in the street

who maybe just needed someone

to smile at them today.

And if we look a bit bigger,

we only need to look at the state of our earth.

We should all know by now

that those who are affected the least

by the climate crisis,

the climate chaos in our world,

are those who contribute to it the least.

Every decision we make in this country

are making other countries inhabitable.

Our support of unethical branding,

our lazy decisions around consumption

are making communities on the front line

of the climate crisis suffer more.

For example,

our irresponsible use of AI and chat GPT

is using more water

than the bottled water companies,

the bottled water industry as a whole.

Our fast fashion habits

and use of single-use plastics consumption

is filling up landfills

and washing up on shores across the world.

Underwear from Marks and Spencers

is washing up in beaches in Ghana en masse.

Plastic pasta packaging from Tesco

is washing up in Turkey and Thailand.

And it makes us uncomfortable to hear those things

because probably a lot of us shop at M&S

or Tesco or other similar brands

and it's unsettling to be challenged

about things that we're so used to.

I've recently been having conversations

with my mum about how as Christians

should we be maybe just boycotting

chat GPT altogether

because of its overconsumption

of the world's resources.

So we've been researching,

we've been finding out

if generating images through AI,

drawing up risk assessments

and using it to smarten up emails

as a responsible use of the program

and how that compares to

flights to go on holiday

or an hour-long video call

or Google searching wedding resources.

Because we need to allow ourselves

to be challenged.

This AI stuff is just one example

and maybe it's a bit extreme

but we need to allow ourselves

to be challenged.

We need to not get stuck in our ways

without questioning our methods,

without thinking about the consequences

beyond ourselves,

beyond what we see in front of us.

Because when we're called

to live like Jesus,

to have the same mindset as Christ,

I believe that we are being called

to think beyond ourselves

in the everyday way we live our lives.

And that's as much to do

with the practical part of our lives

as it is to do with

the spiritual part of our lives

because we can't separate the two

when we're called to live like Jesus.

We see this point clearly

in Luke 14

when Jesus goes to the home

of a Pharisee for a Sabbath meal.

These very high profile,

very elitist social occasions

were about showing off status

and worth,

clothing yourself in expensive cloth,

presenting yourself as ceremonially

and ritually pure

and making everybody else around you

know that you kept the law.

And so Jesus finds himself here,

potentially in the host's courtyard

where other less elite,

less important,

less holy people

could listen in to the conversations.

And Jesus sees a man

with abnormal swelling

in his body.

And knowing that if you healed this man

then the religious leaders

would take offense,

they'd jump down his throat,

they would plot to kill him

as they so often did.

Jesus asks them

whether or not

it's lawful to heal somebody

on the Sabbath.

And they stay silent.

He reaches out,

he touches the poorly man

and he's healed.

And he turns to the others

and says,

well wouldn't you do the same thing

if it was your child,

if it was your ox

who needed help?

See in this very strange story,

Jesus habitually,

he shows us what he habitually does.

He puts his reputation at risk

in order to tend to those

who need his help,

his care,

his healing.

Jesus doesn't wait for people

to approach him,

he goes out of his way

to approach them.

The Samaritan woman

at the well,

he didn't have to walk

through Samaria.

Every other Jewish person

would walk around the country.

But Jesus made a point

of going through the town

where most Jews

would walk the long way around

to meet her.

All those lepers

that Jesus healed,

well,

they were excommunicated.

They had to live

on the outskirts.

They wouldn't just bump into Jesus

on their wanderings.

Jesus went out of his way

to meet them.

The woman who had been bleeding

for 12 years,

who touched out

and reached Jesus' cloak

and was instantly healed.

Jesus might have just brushed it off

as a job done.

But he stopped in order

to look her in the eyes,

to call her daughter,

to name her healing

and give her a sense

of being seen,

of belonging,

something that she wouldn't

have had for a really long time.

All of these things,

being touched by ill people,

talking to people

who were living sinful lives,

talking with women

full stop,

it all put Jesus at risk.

And yet Jesus,

as Paul writes,

being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be used

to his own advantage.

Rather,

he made himself nothing

by taking on

the very nature of a servant.

Being made in human likeness

and being found

in appearance a man,

he humbled himself to death,

even death on a cross.

The message version

puts it like this.

Think of yourselves

the way Christ thought of himself.

He had equal status

with God,

but didn't think

so much of himself

that he had to cling

to the advantages

of that status

no matter what.

Not at all.

When the time came,

he set aside

the privileges of deity

and took on

the status of a slave,

became human.

Having become human,

he stayed human.

It was an incredibly

humbling process.

He didn't claim

special privileges.

Instead,

he lived a selfless,

obedient life

and then died

a selfless,

obedient death.

And the worst kind

of death at that,

a crucifixion.

In coming to earth,

Jesus lowered himself,

something so counter-cultural

to the place he was born.

He didn't live

a holier-than-thou life,

giving us

an unattainable example.

Yet,

in his very true godness,

he humbled himself

to very true humanness.

He might not have come

like everybody thought

the Messiah was going

to come,

on a stallion

wearing battle armor,

deposing kings

and governors

who oppressed

the Israelites.

Instead,

he came to earth

as a baby,

born in an animal shelter,

laid in a feeding trough.

He grew up

as a carpenter's son

and when it was time

to enter Jerusalem

to die for us,

he came humbly,

riding on a donkey,

not coming in

on a red carpet,

but coming in

on a carpet

of palm leaves.

And then,

the sinless son of God,

the perfect one,

without flaw

or blemish,

looked beyond himself

to the rest

of humanity.

He humbled himself

as far as it is possible

to humble oneself,

becoming obedient

to death,

the worst kind of death,

a criminal's execution.

He was killed

under the charges

of treason,

rebellion against God

and blasphemy,

claiming to be God,

thus encompassing

all of our sin,

all of our rebellion

against God,

all of our trying

to be God

in our own lives.

In the greatest act

of humility,

Jesus died for us

so that he could

restore us to himself.

He took our sin

and our shame

and our brokenness

and therefore,

God exalted him

to the highest place,

as it says

in our reading.

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 earth

and under the earth

and every tongue

confess

that Jesus is Lord

to the glory

of God the Father.

We don't have to make

our own reputations.

Jesus tells the Pharisee

that those who exalt themselves

will be humbled

and those who humble themselves

will be exalted.

A good reputation

comes not from a life

lived for self-affirmation

but for the glory of God.

I've recently been struck

by the story

of Mother Teresa

who was called to work

with the poor,

the vulnerable,

the destitute,

the drug-addicted people

of Calcutta.

She laid down her life

for the sake of God's

calling on her life

and when she was given

a Nobel Prize

for her work,

she said anyone

who thought her life

was about social work

or even compassion

had it backwards.

She simply lived

her life in prayer

and everything

that happened then

was an accidental response

to her answered prayers.

She prayed

and she was open

to God

using her

as an answer

to her own prayers.

And as she did,

lives were changed.

Never living

for self-glorification,

the irony is

that Mother Teresa

is a greatly

renowned name today

because instead

of looking

to her own need

or even the approval

of the people

around her,

she gave her life

to God.

She acted out

of response

to her relationship

with Him,

having the mindset

of Christ,

not concerned

with her reputation

but humbling herself

in obedience

to Him

when that led her

to the slums

of Calcutta

where there was

a great need

for someone

with the heart

and mind

of Christ.

Having the mindset

of Christ

is so countercultural.

It's a pivot

from a me-first

society that we live in.

But when we call ourselves

the body of Christ,

that's inseparable

from the mindset

of Christ.

If we're to be

His followers,

we need to be

leaning into Him,

to His word,

to His heart

so that we

can adopt

the mindset

of Christ.

Choosing love,

choosing obedience,

choosing humility.

And so,

as we come

to the end,

I wonder what it looks

like for each of us.

What does it look like

for us to have

the mindset

of Christ?

how will we

look beyond

ourselves

to the lives

of our neighbours,

both near and far?

How will we

humble ourselves

in obedience

to the one

who humbled

Himself

in obedience

to death?

Jesus promises

us

that those

who exalt

themselves

will be humbled,

but those

who humble

themselves

will be exalted.

He doesn't

promise

it will be

an easy ride,

but He does

promise that

when we live

for Him,

trusting and

submitting to Him,

choosing to adopt

His mindset,

He will do

the work

of raising us

up at the right

time,

to the right place.

And isn't that

such a beautiful

promise?

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.