Rev. Nick Cheek
Romans 12:1-3, 9-17 and Philippians 2:1-11
Someone once joked, “Put two Southerners in a room and you’ll get three opinions.” It’s true. Southerners can debate barbecue for hours. Eastern North Carolina or Lexington style. Vinegar or tomato. Pulled or chopped. We can also argue over whether Duke or Carolina is God’s favorite basketball team. (The NC State fans are just hoping to be included in the conversation.) And let’s not even start with sweet tea? I didn’t even know it existed until I moved to Charlotte for College. Around here, tea is not just a beverage; it’s also practically a religious conviction. Some folks think it should taste like syrup… others want to barely taste the sugar… while the sane ones like it somewhere in the middle. (I am one of the sane ones) And I think we can all agree that instant tea… tea that is not brewed isn’t really tea? Amen? Can I please get an amen? And let’s not forget mayonnaise. Some of us put mayonnaise on everything. For others, just the smell of it is enough to end a friendship. And then there are the arguments over the brand of mayonnaise… but, lets be honest… we all know which is really the best… and I think we should prove it this morning. On the count of three…I want you to say the name of the best brand of mayonnaise… ready?… 1… 2… 3… I must say, however, if you didn’t say, Dukes… I am here to tell you as your pastor… I’ll be praying for you.
We like to challenge each other… to prove our points… to disagree… It’s an American trait. Most of the time, it’s harmless. But disagreements can also grow into something more… they can create deep and opposing beliefs about faith, life, and politics. Gun control… health care… immigration. The definition of marriage… public or private education… refugees. Israel and Palestine. War in Iran. Birthright citizenship. We have some significant disagreements in our nation… and if you’re breathing and have a heart… it hurts. It hurts to see so much anger, so much mistrust, and so many relationships strained by the issues that divide us. Too often, we’ve forgotten how to disagree while still seeing one another as neighbors, friends, and children of God. At the same time… as Americans, we must collectively hold onto the conviction that the vast majority of us yearn for a better way forward. Paul did. In the an effort to hope for a more unified world, Paul writes these words to the church, 2 If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
“Be of the same mind.” [SLOW….] It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? How are we supposed to do that with people who don’t see the world the way you do? We hear the words “Be of the same mind,” and we might assume Paul is saying, “Agree about everything… every issue, every need, every policy, every law. But not only is that illogical… It’s also not really what Paul is telling us this morning. The church in Philippi he was writing to wasn’t made up of people who naturally thought alike. It was wonderfully diverse. Lydia was a wealthy merchant and self-made woman with no husband whose home became the first gathering place for the church. There were ex-Roman guards, whose lives had been shaped by the power and order of Rome. There were Jews and Gentiles, Roman citizens and those with no citizenship at all. Wealthy merchants and working-class families. These were people from different cultures, social classes, experiences, and stories – all in one place. They, of course, didn’t see the world through the same lens, and that most likely caused conflict… within the church and within the community of Philippi to which they belonged. But here is the most incredible part about this letter: Paul never asks them to erase who they are. He doesn’t demand that they give up their diversity. He doesn’t ask Lydia to stop being Lydia and go marry a man; he doesn’t ask the Roman jailer to pretend his past never happened. He isn’t trying to turn Jews into Gentiles or Gentiles into Jews. Instead, Paul asks them to do something even harder. [short pause] He asks them to learn the sacred, difficult work of belonging to one another. To maintain communion, to break bread, and to strive together for a shared life, even amid the realities of their differences. Political commentator David Brooks writes, “The greatest threat to America isn’t that we disagree. It’s that we stop seeing one another as human beings worthy of love and respect.” It makes me wonder, church… on this 4th of July weekend, if that’s the piece we’ve lost sight of in America. How many cookouts this weekend contained people of diverse thought… diverse color… diverse faith… and political party? How can we expect to find common ground… or to try and love each other… if we can’t even share a hot dog together?
Paul’s message this morning reminds me of my friend Dan. We’ve been friends for over twenty years now. We are different in many, many ways, most notably in our theology and politics. I’m more progressive. He’s more conservative. We disagree on quite a bit. In fact, we probably differ on just about every hot-button issue out there, which has led to some serious and heated conversations. Dan and I have always tried to be completely real with each other. We’ve never tried to hide what we actually believe or nod along and pretend to agree just to keep the peace when we clearly didn’t. And, because of this, there have been moments over the years when one of us offended the other. There have been times we’ve pushed too hard or said too much. We’ve even had a season where we didn’t communicate for a little while… out of frustration. But… after a short time… a text would pop up “Hey, let’s grab a cup of coffee,” or, “How’s the family doing these days?”
Dan and I are different…but we also have a great deal in common. We’re both married to incredible women of faith. We’ve each been blessed with three wonderful children. Being husbands and fathers is our highest calling. We’re both pastors who are prayerfully trying to be faithful to what God has called us to do. And we both enjoy a good beer and a good laugh.
My relationship with Dan makes me think that perhaps Christian unity isn’t solely based on what we agree on… perhaps even more so… it’s based on how we seek to love each other, how hard we work and cultivate relationships across the aisle… and how willing we are to stay at the table, even when it’s hard… even when everything in us wants to walk away. Maybe that’s the kind of unity Paul is inviting us into this morning… God knows our world could use a little more of that right now. And I think the Church could too.
This week, in preparation for this sermon, I came across an interview from Presbyterian Outlook with theologian Dr. Willie James Jennings. Jennings is a prominent theologian, author, and professor at Yale Divinity School whose work focuses on the intersections of Christian theology, race, diversity, and community. Jennings suggests that the distinctive witness of the Church is not simply that it gathers people together, but that it creates a new kind of belonging among people who would otherwise remain divided. He writes, “At the heart of Christian community is creating belonging where there had been boundary, border, separation, and segregation.” Jennings goes on to distinguish Christian belonging from the way our culture typically understands belonging. We naturally gravitate toward people who share our experiences, values, assumptions, personalities, and convictions. We build communities around similarity. He suggests, however, that Christian belonging moves in the opposite direction. It finds “ways of intertwining” lives where others would expect separation. He goes on to argue that the Church is not only called to tolerate differences but also to cultivate relationships that cross the very boundaries our world assumes are fixed and permanent. Jennings believes this to be a revolutionary vision because it “pushes against the grain of the way we create alliance and allegiance.” [short pause] Throughout history, we have organized ourselves around tribes, nations, political parties, social classes, and countless other identities that distinguish those who belong from those who do not. And these identities have given us permission to view the other as not only wrong but also as an enemy. The Church, however, proclaims something different. The Church proclaims that before we belong to a political party, a nation, or any other human community, we belong to God and each other through Jesus Christ.
The crux of our passage this morning is found in verse 4 and 5… and it will help us more fully understand what Paul means by being of the same mind. He writes, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
Let the same mind be in you that was in Jesus Christ. That is the unifier for us, church. In the midst of what is going on in our nation… we are called to a higher mind and unity… we are called to embrace a certain attitude… a posture, if you will – the mind of Christ. And the mind of Christ is not merely something we believe or articulate; it is something we embody. It shapes the way we speak and listen. It shapes the way we disagree, the way we forgive, and the way we love. [pause] Our Christian unity is found in the attitude of the one who turned the other cheek… the one who embraced the sinner… who fought for the outcast…who listened to the forgotten, who looked for the good in everyone… who argued with the rigidly religious but loved them anyway… who cared so much for the unity of this world that he was even willing to go to the cross for it. That, church, is the unity we share in. The mind of Christ. [pause]
You know, after more than 20 years of friendship, Dan and I are still not of one mind. Truth be told, I am still right, and he is still wrong. But… because we’ve kept coming back to the table… because we’ve kept breaking bread together… and because we’ve tried to see each other as more than our politics… we are closer today than we’ve ever been… we have refused to let our opinions have the final word.
So here’s my prayer for us. The next time you find yourself debating politics, arguing over Duke and Carolina, defending your favorite barbecue, or disagreeing about any of the countless things that divide us, remember Philippians. Remember that the person across from you is not your enemy. They are someone Christ loves. They are someone for whom Christ gave his life. Remember that your relationship is more valuable than winning the argument. Paul never asks us to think exactly alike. He asks us to do our best to have the same mind…the same attitude… of Jesus Christ.
In the name of the Father, Son, and holy spirit.
Amen