26rh Sunday of the year 25 Sept 2011

Dr Lutz Ackermann (Christ Church, Polokwane) in St Peters, Tzaneen

The roller-coaster Gospel (Phil 2: 1-13)

I am sure, most of you know what a yoyo is. If you havent ever seen one before, let me tell you that a yoyo is a little toy on a string that goes down and come up again. (I meant to bring one and demonstrate this, but it would be too embarrassing, because I am not very good at playing it. Just imagine) So, the yoyo goes down and comes up again. As a scientist I am tempted to put this into a diagram. It starts up here, then it goes down; and when it has reached the lowest point, it goes up again. It is a bit like a roller-coaster; you start up here, you go down (quite rapidly!), you reach the lowest point (at high speed), and then it goes up again. So you get this U-shaped curve. Now I am not here, of course, to tell you about the joys of yoyos and roller-coasters; no did I want to present the physics, the kinematics and dynamics of either yoyos or roller-coasters. What I do want to talk about is a roller-coaster theology (or maybe one could also call it a yoyo theology). Now I dont know what you think of theology, or how you would define or describe it. I would like to suggest that theology is a way of thinking and reflecting about our Christian faith; a way of putting our faith into words, ideas and concepts. It allows us to speak and write about our faith and to discuss its claims. But I think that faith and theology belong together. [In academic settings you can sometimes
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find excellent theology, which, however, is strangely remote from any living faith; but in the Church you can sometimes find an attitude that embraces and expresses faith, but has little room for any theological reflection;] some also see theology as something static, unchangeable. But I believe that good theology does not only have to go hand in hand with faith; it also needs to be something dynamic, something that can grow and develop, almost like a tree. The Apostel Paul gives us some very interesting examples of how he was doing theology in his letters. And the passage from the letter to the Philippians that we read a bit earlier demonstrates that nicely. This letter is directed to the first church Paul planted in Europe and you can feel in many places throughout those four chapters, how closely he was connected to them. Even while he is far away, he thinks of them, he prays for them and he gives them advice, expecting them to take it to heart and to live accordingly. In the passage that we read earlier, Paul starts to speak of all the good things that are happening among the Christian believers in Philippi: they love each other, care for each other, they strengthen and comfort each other. But then, Paul immediately pushes the boundaries. He does not only speak about what is, but about what could be: you know, he says to them, I would be totally happy if you guys were of one soul and mind. Unity among those who follow Christ is something that Pauls stresses again and again in his letters, not only here. But he is also aware of all the obstacles that get into the way: selfish ambitions, the desire to boast and so on. But in all this, what he really criticises is an attitude problem: that people think, they are the centre of the universe, that it is all about them. Against that he puts some strong words of advice: always consider(ing) others better than yourselves. And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own (v3b,4)
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So, Paul begins this discourse by explaining, how we should or shouldnt liv as Christians, as people of faith. But he doesnt leave it at that. He then moves straight into a section of pure theology for the next couple of verses, and the reason for that is simple: he does not only want them to receive his council or advice or even his orders (so they can obey, while he is there but do their own thing once he is away); no, he actually wants them to understand the underlying theology. So, Pauls interest in theology and his motivation for presenting his theological thoughts are not abstract or academic. It is for a very practical reason; he says the attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had, and that acts almost like a colon to introduce what comes next. Lets turn to the roller coaster now and lets see, how Paul presents theology to us: He starts up here {upper left side of U shape}, from above, as it were. He starts with God (in a biblical way, Genesis starts with the words In the beginning, God). He starts by presenting to us Jesus Christ as the one who is completely moulded and formed by Gods presence. The one who is connected to God the Father in a unique way. But this Jesus Christ, he continues, does not stay somewhere up there: he emptied himself, taking the nature of a servant {show in diagram}. This implies, that Christ could have decided to be like God; Christ could have clinged to all the divine privileges, almost like a thief clings to the stolen good. Instead he is willing to become a fully human being. He is not only willing but determind to be with us, where we are; not just like a visitor, not a God in disguise (Jupiter?).

2011 DR LUTZ ACKERMANN CHRIST CHURCH, POLOKWANE

No, incarnation means that in the human being, Jesus of Nazareth, God-self is present as the God-with-us. It is amazing how Paul puts in these few verses, what later lead to endless debates about how much, exactly Jesus Christ was human and how much divine. The various church councils eventually decided to speak of Jesus Christ as true God and true Human. But lets get back to this roller-coaster: not only did Jesus Christ become fully human he even died, and died a terrible death, the death on the cross {draw cross}. On the one hand that completes the downward movement: Christ emptying himself could not go any further than that. And on the other hand, the cross marks the turning point. What looks like complete defeat God turns it into victory! For this reason God raised him to the highest place above (v9). I can hardly think of a better image for this than that of the roller coaster. Yes, you go all the way down, but all the energy that you get then explodes into a rapid upward movement. The cross is not complete without the resurrection. And like the roller-coaster car, which you cannot stop when it is at the lowest point, so we cant freeze time, we cant freeze what God did through Jesus in his death, without moving into the new resurrection life. The final point that Paul envisages he often calls it the day of Christ is this state {indicate upper right}, where he whole creation bows before Christ. So in these few verses the Apostel covers a theology of everything, from the beginning to the end. But lets remember, these seven verses of systematic theology as one could call it, are not just a nice, academic exercise. They are given to the original readers and listeners as a motivation and explanation: so that the attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had. And that is, of course, where we can apply this passage to us. We, who do not live in the city of Philippi; we, who
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have never met Paul; we, who live in the 21st century in South Africa: if we want to be followers of Jesus, we still need to hear these words: the attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had. Of course, we are not up here, we are not God. But so often we are in the temptation of glorifying ourselves or of abusing power given to us. Or to look down on others, thinking just how much better we are. In short, we just love to be like God. But Christ is calling us to follow on a way of self-emptying; a way of humility. And just like him, we are invited to find our full humanity exactly in this way of humility. So the humility we talk about is not something de-humanizing; it doesnt mean becoming everyones doormat. It is the humility of caring not just for ourselves but for others; it is the humility of patiently listening to others instead of rushing in with or own advice. It is the humility of walking an extra mime with someone, and possibly even walking in their shoes. It is the humility of living in a world, where things are not always perfect; where things dont always go the way we would like them to be. But it is not a way that we have just made up for ourselves; God-self, in Jesus Christ had given us the example. In Jesus, God-self has taken this approach, this path of humiliating God-self, and in that becoming truly human. So all we do is we follow Jesus. But as we die with him, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. May we, in the footsteps of Jesus find ourselves, not only becoming fully human in humility but also taking on Gods likenes, in which we are created, to his glory. Amen.

2011 DR LUTZ ACKERMANN CHRIST CHURCH, POLOKWANE