Making It Work
The Rev. Dr. John Judson
September 25, 2011
Philippians 2:1-13
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 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,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of 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.
Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
So where did it all go? So where did all the grace go? I ask that question because throughout most of Paul’s letters there is grace abounding. In almost every letter he wrote Paul fills them with the love and grace of God. Statements such as you are saved by grace through faith; the promise comes through faith that it may be by grace; For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace; What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?; I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. Paul could be referred to as Mr. Grace. So where did all of this grace go in this letter to the Philippians. In the section we read this morning telling us what we should and shouldn’t do, lifting up the work of Jesus and then concluding with one of the most un-grace like passages in all of the New Testament. Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. So where did all of the grace go?
The answer to that question is that it did not go anywhere; that in fact this passage is one of the most grace filled in all of Paul’s letters. However in order for us to see that we need some help; and that help is coming from a very unlikely source, Project Runway. First how many of you even know what Project Runway is? I thought not. So let me explain. Project runway is a television show about fashion design. In it a group of would-be fashion designers are brought together to compete against one another. Each week they are given a concept of a piece of clothing. Then they are given one hour to sketch their design. Next they go to a fabric store and purchase all the material and notions they will need. Once the material is purchased it is back to the sewing room where they create their designs, fit them to their models and send the models down the runway…all within 24 hours. The only real assistance they receive is from a man named Tim Gunn (doesn’t he sound like a 50s detective) who offers positive and negative critique and then as he walks out of the room says, “Make it work.”
So you might ask what does this have to do with the text? My first response is that one of the most widely used metaphors for the Christian life, is clothing. We are told to put on Christ. We are told to take off our old life and put on a new one. We are told to put on the full armor of God. Paul speaks of being fully clothed only when he encounters Jesus after this life. This image is so potent that in the middle ages when adult Converts made their profession of faith on Easter morning they would literally take off their old clothes…every stitch of them, and then as the sun rose, they would put on a new white robe. My second response is that in this section of Philippians Paul is not just waxing theological about Jesus, which is where most of our attention is drawn, but he is offering us a vision for creating the Christ-like life; or if you will for creating the Christ-like set of clothes that we are to put on. What I ask you to do with me this morning then is to walk through Paul’s creative process and see where grace is at work in each step.
The first grace point is that we are given all of the material needed to create our new covering in Christ. Paul begins by telling us that we have the raw materials to create the perfect Christian garment. We have encouragement in Christ, consolation from love, we share in the Holy Spirit and we have compassion and sympathy. I realize that it sounds as if Paul is asking if these things are present, but in reality he is reminding the Philippians that they are already present…and I say that because in this case while the Greek sounds like it is asking a question, it is in reality making a statement. This then is grace point one; Paul tells us that we already possess the material we need for the task. We do not have to go and earn it some place through good works, or perfect living, God has already given it to us.
The second point of grace is that Paul offers us both positive and negative advice. He tells us what we ought to have and not have in our design. What we are “to be of the same mind, having the same love, be in full accord and be of one mind.” In other words we are to be a community that loves and cares for one another. We are to see ourselves as part of the whole work of God. He then tells us what we are not to have in our design. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to his or her own interests, but to the interests of others.” What we are not to have in our designs is a self-centeredness that puts the interests of the community behind our own interests.
The third grace point is that we are given the pattern upon which to create the garment. We are given the pattern of Jesus Christ. While the church has spent centuries mining this part of Philippians for theological insights about the nature of Jesus, it is, in the end a very practical kind of hymn. It reminds us not simply of who Jesus was but how he chose to exist in response to God. Jesus did not grasp at power. Jesus emptied himself like a slave or a servant. Finally Jesus humbled himself in obedience…even dying on the cross. Notice that this pattern conforms to the advice Paul had just given. We are called to be willing to do whatever it is that God calls us to do…not allowing our own pride and interests to get in the way. Fortunately for most of us our calling is not to die on a cross. Yet this does not mean that God does not have a particular calling for our lives that will interfere with what we want to do, when we want to do it, and how we want to do it.
The fourth grace point is that we are given the freedom to figure out how we are to work out the salvation we have already been given. As we read verse 12 we need to be careful not to read into it what is not present. It does not say, work for your own salvation. It does not say work toward your own salvation. It assumes that salvation is ours. It assumes that through the very grace of God in Christ, the one who humbled himself, that salvation has already come; that we are living in this new and amazing relationship with the God who created us. Our task then is to figure out how we are to figure out what kind of garment we are to put on. The wonderful thing about Paul is that he does not insist on a mass production Christian life. He understands that we are all differently gifted, differently called and thus our Christ clothing will be different. What he is telling us, is the same as Tim Gunn tells the designers on Project Runway…you have everything you need, now make it work; make it work out beautifully.
The fifth grace point is that we do not do our work alone. Paul tells us that it is God who is at work in us, enabling us to both will and work for God’s good pleasure. That is, that unlike project runway where the designers are given no assistance, God is present with us giving us both the ability and the will to create the appropriate Christ like life.
Finally I do not want to leave without commenting on the fear and trembling. The fear and trembling here is not fear and trembling that we will either not earn or will lose our salvation…remember in this passage Paul takes our salvation for granted and tells us that God is helping us with our task. The fear and trembling is that one day we will stand before God, the judge, and be asked…how did you work out your salvation? How did you make this ultimate gift of grace live? What kind of garment did we make and put on?
You and I have been given a great gift by God, we have been brought into a living relationship with God as a gift of grace. The question before us then is how will we live out that salvation? What kind of a Christ life will we put on? The challenge that I would offer you for this coming week is this, to ask, how am I working out my salvation in a way that gives glory and honor to God.
