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.
