Rev. George Miller
August 18, 2019
Philippians 2:1-5, 12-18
“I feel sad.” “I feel angry.” “I feel great!” “I feel so sleeeeeeeppppyyyy.”
Author Elizabeth George shares a vision of people in the pews. Each person is listening to the sermon, but they are each thinking different things that appear as a cartoon thought bubble over their head-
“Fix me.” “Teach men.” “Comfort me.” “Support me.” “Understand me.”
It is with this vision that she delves into the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippian church.
To catch up- Paul is imprisoned. He’s shackled to a guard; his physical freedom taken away.
Yet he takes this sour situation and uses it to create something sweet.
He shares the Message to those he’s chained to. He writes this letter to one of his favorite congregations.
Though he is ready to end his journey, he is encouraging others to keep on keepin’ on.
This is the church Paul helped to cook up when he sat beside Lydia by the river.
It’s the church that’s been there for him during his times of need. They don’t just offer thoughts and prayers; they serve up care and deeds.
This is a church bursting forth with so much spirit, so much energy, so many ideas that they’re starting to struggle with having too much to do and too many people suggesting the best way to do it.
In other words, Paul is aware that there are a whole lot of cartoon bubbles coming out of folks’ heads, and if not handled correctly, everything is going to go POP!
So Paul addresses this reality by using the very template he provided in chapter 1- the use of theology, history, knowledge and common sense.
He encourages them to stay focused on the Light; to be blemish free in a society that can be so sour.
Now, we’re going to stop right here, because I don’t know about you, but this sort of scripture causes my head to hurt.
Paul has given us what appears to be a list of what to do.
An agenda.
A step by step recipe of how to achieve that blemish-free, same mind, same love, pie in the sky kind of spiritual thang.
And us modern day Americans tend to love our lists that move through linear, sequential order that is all absolutes with no place for wiggle room or improvisation.
But- these sorts of lists can scare folk from even trying.
One may struggle with what’s laid out, allowing doubt to creep in, followed by the fear of doing it wrong, causing one to give up or judging themselves for not following the set way.
When read in such a style, this portion of Paul’s letter reads like Roberts Rules of Order or baking instructions for a delicate soufflé or decadent pie-
you know what we mean- that kind of recipe in which you have to use exact measurements, in the exact order, at the exact temperature, for the exact time, otherwise it falls flat, or is too fluffy, or too firm.
Be of the same mind. Have the same love. Be in full accord.
Don’t do anything out of selfish ambition. Don’t murmur. Don’t argue.
And if you do all these things in this way you will be the most perfect confection on earth.
Read in this way it can seem like Paul is saying don’t be human, don’t be flawed, don’t be imperfect.
But the thing is this: we are imperfect, we are flawed, we are human.
So maybe there is another way to read Paul’s portion of this letter. Maybe it’s more like a gumbo recipe.
Anyone who prefers cooking over baking, you know what we mean.
To make a good gumbo, or a good soup, or a good spaghetti sauce, you got the recipe, you got the ingredients, you got the spices, the seasoning, the time frame, the cooking container.
But the recipe is more like a guideline; suggestions.
You may want more of this, you may need less of that; you may want to add; you may wish to subtract.
You may have forgotten to put in the beef before you put in the seafood, but that’s OK; it’ll still work out.
You may need to add in more water, you may need to spoon out the pepper that poured in when the lid popped off.
Unlike a souffle or pie or perfectly baked cake, a pot of gumbo or soup or sauce is something that you can let simmer, stir, remove from the heat, put away, freeze, reheat, add too.
Maybe this portion of Paul’s letter is not meant to be read as a step by step guide or agenda to being practically perfect and blemish free, but more like a recipe to be your sweetest self.
That’s why I am personally thankful for verse 12. Paul writes “Beloved…work out your own salvation with awe and wonder.”
I don’t know about you, but this notion of “work out your own salvation” sounds so much more realistic and doable to me.
Instead of sounding like such a stringent agenda or step by step manifesto, it sounds more like an opportunity, or a journey.
It sounds like a recipe that has worked into it all the falls, all the failures, all the successes, and all the unexpectedness that can be.
When Paul sweetly says to us to “work out your own salvation”, I hear an opportunity.
A chance to do something. A chance to try.
Even more than that- a chance to succeed.
“Work out your own salvation” sounds like an invite, and as an invite it empowers one to make choices, to accept or decline, to try or to say “not today.”
“Work out your own salvation” sounds like there is room for success, there is room for failure, there is room for trial and error, there is room for human and divine to cook and create together.
And it’s not as if Paul is giving us a blank recipe book. It’s not like he’s forcing us to forage for our own ingredients.
For throughout this entire chapter, Paul keeps us very focused on the main theme- Jesus Christ.
For Paul, Christ is the perfect example to follow; Christ is the recipe of all recipes.
Though Paul is confined to chains, he encourages us in our freedom to start with Christ.
To recall Christ’s relationship with God. To remember how he was humble in his faith. To remember how he followed what he was called to do.
Such memories provide the ingredients we need- the encouragement, the sharing, the compassion, the sympathy, the joy, the humility, the interests of others, the gladness and the ability to praise, praise, praise.
Today’s reading is yet another look into the early church and into one of our earliest leaders, but it is also a look into who we are, and what we can be.
Today’s reading could be read as a litmus test or an agenda or a congregational review.
Or it can be read as a recipe, an opportunity, a challenge that can engage us, encourage us, and continue us on the path we are all on, as individuals and as a congregation.
Paul may have been speaking to the church then, but he is also speaking to us now.
What he seems to be saying is “Keep stirring, keep simmering, and for Christ’s sake, keep being sweet.”
And for that, let us say “Amen.”
A UCC Pastor's walk through the spiritual waters of Scripture, pop culture and life.
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