SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:5-11
TEXT: 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, THEME: Dignity available to us through the imaginative love of God. INTRODUCTION God takes on the form of flesh and blood in Jesus. The incarnation is getting down to our level to love us. Its like when we play on the floor with a child. God is not a spectator to our lives but an involved participant. Jesus exemplify how to live our lives informed by God’s love and what it means to be so loved by God. SCRIPTURE Paul’s description of Jesus, in his letter to the church in Philippi, takes the grandeur of the Creator of all things, and places ‘the form of God’ in the confines of a human body, not for power’s sake, but for love’s. God, through Jesus, shows us another way to live; where our priorities are focused on human lives over personal wealth, where we act to bring wholeness to broken lives over our own self preservation, where our stewardship of the things that we have creates a current of resources instead of amassing of goods, where our actions bring a revival to the soul instead of an oppression and denigration of others. Glory showcases God’s presence among us, instead of accolades for ourselves that distant us from others. I’ll use my memory of what Tony Campolo said at one of the early HIM Conferences, “Jesus who is all powerful, gave up power to be all loving. People withhold love in order to have power. When we use the silent treatment, saying, ‘I am not going to speak to you until you do what I want.’ It is a way of withholding love, to have power over someone else. Jesus does the opposite, as he humbles himself to die on the cross, giving up all power to be all loving.” Here we are with Palm waving, shouts of ‘Hosanna’ as we commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but don’t go to Easter to quickly. Wait and journey with Jesus from the prayer in the garden, to the arrest, the betrayal, being falsely accused, the torture, death and committal in the tomb. In all of those times when Jesus could have exhibited power, he chose love. I listened to an ‘On Being’ pod cast where Krista Tippet was interviewing Padrag O Tuama on prayer. He said that he prayed the stations of the cross, everyday for ten years. 14 stations of abduction, torture, and murder through which he discovered; hope in protest, hope in truth-telling, hope in generosity, by seeing the character of Jesus revealed. He began to see the kind of dignity that might be available to him through the imaginative love of God. I’ve never heard the end of Jesus described in such a way, but true. Abduction, torture and murder, then to have eyes opened to how Jesus was not victimized by these actions, but instead in the midst of evil we find in Jesus; hope in protest, hope in truth-telling, and hope in generosity. Jesus’ love for us, takes him into the shadow of evil. Those who feared this itinerant preacher from Nazareth wanted him killed. The Roman Empire was being threatened by a man who preached love over violence and loving each other, over the Peace of Rome. The Jewish ruling class was threatened by a rabbi who liberated people’s thinking, so that they could bonds with God in a way that is describe in the Law and not by being regulated by it. The dark shadow of fear, insecurity, greed, motivate these structures of Empire and Religion to join forces to abduct an innocent from a garden, and exercise power over him, by treating him less than human, with violence and torture. Then they commit murder, because of their inability to create life, the only power they have is to take his life away. Be present with Jesus in this shadow of evil, not to see how much he suffered, but to see how we are the passion of Christ. We are what Jesus is passionate about. Love expresses hope in protest of the present evil. Love give hope in telling the truth of God, of who we are, of God’s love for us, of forgiveness, of renewed relationships, of life and how we are to live. Love speaks hope of using the gifts of God in ways that enjoy these blessings and bless each other, beyond our possessions but of our dominion of them. Love that gives us hope in Jesus so wrongly treated by evil but never gives up in living love over power. It is in the example of Jesus, that we can find ourselves in our shadows and discover Jesus present with us. Padrag O Tuama’s parting words of this interview were that these shadowy parts of Jesus’ end, have become a shelter for him. APPLICATION The incarnation of God, enables us to see Christ in the shadows of our lives. God’s love through Jesus, enters every darkness we can image. We begin to see a kind of dignity that might be available to us, through this imaginative love of God. Where is God is taking us, as we go into this week, called holy, that could turn a shadowy place of our world, into a place sheltered by Jesus’ love? Our American Culture does equip us for dying. We all know that we will someday come to this end, but we fight it. In fact, we approach death with violence, chest pounding, valiant efforts, extreme measures, being oblivious to the soul of a person that might be at peace, a spirit who is weary from the journey and has done what God has required of them. To be able to slip away, to be let go from those whose love holds on to them so tightly, for grace to let them be embraced into the arms of God. In the shadow of death, God comes along side us with comfort. Grieving our loss. Consoling us in our pain. Helping us heal with the suffering love of Jesus. The shadow of greed blinds us to competition. We are against our neighbor to make sure that we won’t be denied of what we think we need. Love makes our fear reasonable. It enable us to see beyond our own fear and into the fear of others. Then we can respond with reassurance and comfort. We listen to the truth rather than the rumor, We shelter the shadow of fear with compassion and wisdom. We have anxiety of an unknown future. We worry that this maybe the new norm. A shadow of uncertainty looms as no one can predict the future. The God of Creation, the Love of God that cannot be removed from us, the forgiveness of God of any sin, the certainty of God’s presence with us is our shelter in the shadow of not knowing. No matter what may befall us, God is present with strengthen, help, guidance and the Holy Spirit to enable. CONCLUSION God is on the floor with us participating in our lives. God takes on the veil of flesh and blood in Jesus, to show us how life can be lived and the power of love. Pull up a version of the stations of the cross and walk them this week until next Sunday. Human beings sometimes have to endure shadows of evil. We are not alone as Christ endures these shadows with us. God’s imaginative love is there for you. You are meaningful, sheltered and loved by the passion of Christ, which is the passion of God.
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April 2024
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