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Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1-2)

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Today is the completion of yesterday\u2019s phrase. \xa0As Pastor Michael noted yesterday, the Philippians have received many gifts from Christ: union with him, comfort from his love, a sharing in the one, single Holy Spirit that he gives, and the tenderness and compassion that he offers. \xa0What should they do with it?

\u201cMake my joy complete\u201d says Paul. \xa0That\u2019s what they should do with these gifts given by Christ. \xa0Now that may come off as rather selfish in our ears, but I do not think this is intended as emotional manipulation. \xa0Paul\u2019s joy (as he has alluded to a few times already in chapter 1) is to see Christ and to see Christ preached, even if that means his death. \xa0Paul\u2019s desire then, is to see Christ in the church at Philippi and for others to see the same. \xa0I would imagine Paul also believes the church\u2019s own joy will be found in this way.

When an outside world looks in at a church fighting against itself: they do not see a Christ who reconciles all the world to the Father through the putting to death of sin, flesh, and the devil. \xa0In fact, they don\u2019t see any good news at all: they see a train wreck that one does well to steer clear of. \xa0A quarreling church witnesses to a Christ who is just as ineffective as any other over-promised, under-delivered product on the market. \xa0It doesn\u2019t matter how good or correct the theology is if it cannot put on flesh and walk around in the neighbourhood of our real world lives.

So, says Paul\u2014if you have received the gift of union with the One Lord Jesus Christ and the One Spirit he gives\u2014and you have\u2014then respond by being what Christ has made you! \xa0Be of that One Spirit, standing together in that union in Christ\u2014of one mind, soul, and heart! \xa0If you have received the gift of Christ\u2019s comforting love\u2014and you have\u2014then respond by offering to one another what Christ has offered to you: his agape love.\xa0

Paul begins and ends this second phrase with a similar word: like-minded, of one mind. \xa0I have found in reflection on the letters of Paul that when he uses words that refer to \u201cmind\u201d (and there are a few different ones that he uses), often he is making reference to the cross of Christ. \xa0The mind/attitude of Christ, ultimately, was the cross. \xa0It was a mindset of humility: dying to self, emptying oneself, submitting oneself to God, and offering oneself for the sake of another.\xa0

In some ways I feel like a broken record player, repeating the same thing over and over and over and over again in most every devotion I write. \xa0But I think there\u2019s a lot of that in this letter. \xa0The cross of Christ is the way of Christ. \xa0It is the mindset of Christ. \xa0It is what Paul is attempting to live, and it is what Paul attempts to invite the Philippians to live, especially as an antidote to division.\xa0

So if any of us have any sharing in Christ or any receiving of his gifts\u2014and we do\u2014then this cross is ours as well. \xa0Paul\u2019s invitation everywhere and always is to make his joy and our own joy complete by taking up this cross and following Jesus. \xa0In doing so, we learn what it is to love and what it means to be united in Christ, even in our diversity. \xa0Is it a hard road? \xa0Sure. \xa0But Jesus walked it first. \xa0And: I believe that Jesus walks it still with every disciple who desires to respond in kind to him. \xa0

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