Though I’m not sure there’s been a good news week yet this year, two stories this week were particularly sobering. First, officials announced that over 200,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19, and deaths worldwide are rapidly approaching one million. Additionally, a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, announced that there would be no charges brought for the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in March during a botched raid on her apartment.
To make matters worse, upon hearing these stories, it seems that we quickly lose sight of the main thing and spiral into argument, denial, and anger. We do not hold the grief of 200,000 families whose loved ones have died, often alone, isolated in hospitals because of the risk of contagion. We do not hear the pain and anguish of our Black siblings, who are again and again victims of a system built on white supremacy. Instead, we quickly jump into the contrived push and pull between economic well-being and physical well-being; between the value of life and the value of property.
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| Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash |
It is against this backdrop that we hear the Apostle Paul’s words to the Philippians: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
We are “of the same mind” about very little, these days. Division and discord are even more heightened as we wade more deeply into election season. Our own interests are, all too often, placed front and center. I don’t know about you, but I am left feeling quite discouraged most days. I have a sense that all of this will get worse before it gets better – how do we move ahead from here?
The latter portion of the Philippians reading includes what is often referred to as the “Christ Hymn”, thought to be the earliest Christian hymn still in existence. Its lyrics point to the surprising ways that Jesus chose to be revealed – with humility, rather than might; in a human form, rather than the form of God; by willingly giving up his place of power and honor, rather than exploiting it for his own gain; and through a shameful death on a cross, rather than the immortality of a god.
It is this mind with which we are called to be aligned. To choose the way of humility. To think first of the needs and well-being of others, rather than ourselves. To identify with the vulnerable, rather than those in positions of power. To choose solidarity with the suffering over our own privilege.
De-centering ourselves is uncomfortable work, certainly. The Christ Hymn’s depiction of that is quite clear. Emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, humbled, obedient, death on a cross – none of that seems like the sort of thing you’d choose, on purpose. We like winners, greatness, success, wealth, power – and once we finally claw our way to the top, why would we willingly give it up? Why would we choose to stand alongside the sick and grieving and vulnerable and oppressed? Why would we speak out against unjust systems when they seem to be working just fine for us?
Why? Because that’s where Jesus is found. Jesus is found among the sick and suffering. Jesus is found with all victims of injustice. Jesus is found alongside the hopeless and despairing.
Yes, Jesus is found in the places we don’t expect, with the people we often disdain. We’re called to show up there, too. To love our neighbors, care for the vulnerable, upend systems that work against God’s purposes for the world.
The work is difficult, but we do not do it alone. Having been raised with Christ from death to life in the waters of baptism, we know that God is present and at work in us. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we look not to our own interests, or privilege, or rights, but to the needs of others. We weep with those who weep, and seek justice so that we might have peace. Together, made one in Christ, we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Together, we will and work for God’s good pleasure.
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