The Messiah Poem

In the Letter to the Philippians is a poem or a hymn that may be older than the letter itself. The Christ Hymn, some call it. Or the Messiah Poem. It summarizes the whole gospel message, as the Wednesday bible study is learning.

Down is up. Loss is gain. Losing is winning. Empty is full to overflowing.

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus," Paul wrote, then the poem:

who, though he existed in the form of God, 
    did not regard equality with God 
    as something to be grasped, 
but emptied himself, 
    taking the form of a slave, 
    assuming human likeness. 
And being found in appearance as a human, 
     he humbled himself 
    and became obedient to the point of death— 
    even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly 
    and gave him the name 
    that is above every other name, 
so that at the name given to Jesus 
    every knee should bend, 
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
and every tongue should confess 
    that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
    to the glory of God the Father.

The poem resounds with Jesus's image of the single grain falling into the earth and dying to become an abundant harvest. With Jesus's promise that the first will be last; and the last, first. With Jesus's insistence that he came "not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Discovering this endlessly self-giving love of Jesus, Paul joined Jesus in this downward journey—counting his achievements, status symbols, and privilege as much less than garbage. Emptying himself of status and esteem, safety and security, power and control, Paul rejoiced in his imprisonment and suffering, because through them, others would come to know Christ too. He found the secret to contentment: cherishing the other and thus finding himself in Christ.

Meeting Christ set him on this journey. And on the way, he was also knowing Christ. And yet he wanted more—an even greater fulfillment to come.

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

This message could not be more timely or urgent. We might wish our nation or our nation's leaders had this same mind in them that was in Christ Jesus. And by all means, let's pray that they and we all will! And hear again Paul's invitation:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus...

It's personal for Paul, this transforming mind of Christ. Let it be personal for us too.

Let's not wait for it to manifest in the world. Let's keep showing the world what it looks like—the joyful, courageous, imperfect fall ever deeper into the love of God and into love with all God's children and all God's creation. In the struggle is opportunity.

Thanks be to God.

Pastor Clark Olson-Smith