Let the same mind be in you

Being one with Christ

Some reflections on Philippians 2 and the Litany of Humility

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. Philippians 2

We can barely begin to imagine what it might be like

to not use all our power

and influence

to get people

to do what we think

is the right thing.

Yet we are told that Jesus

THOUGH HE WAS IN THE FORM OF GOD

did not use his Godliness

to get people to do what he wanted

He chose rather to stand before them

as himself

and say

Here I am

take me or leave me

as we think today about our human relationships

who is of most concern to us.

Is it our friend, our child

our husband or wife

Our brother or our sister.

Perhaps it is some powerful person

who we think could and should make a difference

Are we disgusted, embarrassed, ashamed

disappointed

that people haven’t done what we think they should have done?

The critique of this passage is that we have to have the sort of courage

that says

I need to let go

I need to be brave enough

to allow others to be themselves

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...Deliver…

From the desire of being extolled Deliver..

From the desire of being honored .Deliver..

From the desire of being praised .Deliver..

From the desire of being preferred to others. Deliver…

I need to let go

to be brave enough

to allow other to be themselves

and to allow myself to be me.

This Litany of Humility that we might reflect on today

invites us to remember

that the model of Jesus

is to understand that we do not come into our own

by being self-centred

but rather by seeing that

we are at our best when we help others to realize their own potential

As we think about Peter, about Nicodemus

about St Mary Magdalene

we see that Jesus’s concern for them is not that they should become

like him

but that they should become the people God wants them to be

That Peter should be able to accept his own inadequacy

that Mary Magdalene might confront her own immorality

that Nicodemus might move beyond

religious formalism

to true relationship

with God

I need to let go

to be brave enough

to allow others to be themselves

and to not desire that everyone

and everything

might be what I want or think it should be.

From the desire of being consulted .Deliver..

From the desire of being approved ... Deliver..

From the fear of being humiliated ... ... Deliver

From the fear of being despised..... Deliver…

From the fear of suffering rebukes ... Deliver..

I need to let go

to be brave enough

to allow others to be themselves

So much of what I want others

to be

is often about the way I think about myself

When I disapprove of someone else’s behaviour

am I actually seeing in other’s what I dislike about myself

When I feel I am humiliated

am I doing to others what I accuse them of doing to me.

Do I despise in others what I most readily see in myself is less than it should be?

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. Philippians 2

I wonder if we actually appreciate

how important the name of Jesus is

in a world that so often mocks him directly

and indeed that even uses his name as swear word.

Why should we be surprised

that the world continues to do to good people

what it so clearly did to Jesus.

The hatred, bitterness

that so often characterizes anti-Christian sentiment

is also an invitation

to decide that we will not be like that ourselves.

St Paul reminds his fellow Christians

that We have been made for freedom.

Freedom to decide that we will not just respond

but that rather we will

choose

to be different

to act differently.

It requires courage

and may expose us to bitterness

and hatred

but it is, nevertheless, a choice

From the fear of being calumniated ... Deliver

From the fear of being forgotten ... Deliver

From the fear of being ridiculed ... Deliver

From the fear of being wronged ... Deliver From the fear of being suspected ... Deliver

Much of our poor behaviour

is driven by fear

St John tells us that the antidote

to fear

is love.

Perfect love casts out fear

Where ever we feel hated, overlooked

ridiculed, wronged

or picked upon

may we have the courage to pray for love

for the very one who hurts us

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I Jesus, grant…

That, in the opinion of the world, others may, increase and I may decrease Jesus, grant..

That others may be chosen and I set aside Jesus, grant…

That others may be praised and I unnoticed Jesus, grant…

That others may be preferred to me in everything Jesus, grant….

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should Jesus, grant…

Our prayer might be that we might

allow a deep and radical transformation

to take place in our lives

that we will want to love more than be loved

that we will put the needs of others before our own narrow concerns

and that I may do better than seek my own personal glory

In the end

as a person who seeks holiness

my deepest desire should not be that I draw close to God

but that others are drawn into God’s love.

Jesus died…not that he might be good

but that we might know God’s love.