A Servant Spirit
page detail from Philippians, 1611 KJV Bible (Replica Edition) photo by jch
Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 74, Philippians 2:1-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus . . . –Philippians 2:5
Today, our journey through the Bible brings us to Philippians. Like other books of the Bible we have examined from Romans forward, the text takes the form of a letter. Generally speaking, scholars accept that it is a genuine letter of Paul, penned while he was in prison at Ephesus or Rome. The informal salutation and the warmth with which Paul frames the content tell us that Paul was familiar with the Christians in Philippi. He considered them friends and partners in the work of the early Church.
Perhaps the most quoted and studied portion of the letter is the second half of our text, verses 6-11. Scholars believe it quotes one of the Church’s earliest hymns. Theologians have spent a lot of time trying to understand the kenosis or “emptying” the hymn describes. What does the kenosistell us about the person and work of Jesus?
There are more profound ways to say it, but I think it tells us something like this. Jesus could have focused attention on increasing personal power and privilege. Instead, he chose to focus attention on the needs of this planet and its people. He gave up power and privilege to serve and and to give his life for others.
It’s valuable to know what the text means about Jesus’ service. But it’s also valuable to know what it means for our service.
Fred Craddock once wrote that regardless of the hymn’s background, “in the foreground lies a church distracting itself from its witness by discord and individualism …. In Paul’s judgment, what the church needs is … a reminder … that which makes the church the church is an attitude similar to the one displayed by Jesus.”[1] Some have labeled this attitude a “servant spirit.”
When I thought for a while about how to illustrate “a servant spirit,” what came to mind first were examples of its opposite. I thought, for example, of the time when I tried to get warranty service on our washing machine, at that time only five years old. Each call to customer service led to a transfer to a “technician,” who would read from a script of troubleshooting ideas involving many steps. Each call, I was told we would have to work through one more troubleshooting chart before a technician could be dispatched. Finally, my time and patience were exhausted. The not-so-old washer was hauled away. Today we have Speed Queen commercial washer, no fancy electronics, steel gears, looks like my mom’s Maytag, made in a Wisconsin factory. I want to hold on to my Speed Queen washer until I’m ready for assisted living, just so I never again have to speak to washing-machine customer service.
I’m not the only who has experienced “service” that wasn’t service. Everyone in this room probably could share a similar story. Corporate America talks about the virtue of good service. But the number of books and seminars about the topic tell us it’s not so easy to provide.
The Church is not exempt from the need to learn more about a servant spirit.
Paul, in this same letter in which he quotes the hymn about Jesus’ self-emptying service, goes on to address disagreements were threatening the church’s mission, and its witness to God’s grace and peace. In chapter four, he encourages Euodia and Syntyche, who represented different factions, to live in harmony. Probably Paul is thinking of them when he says to “be of the same mind,” and “with humility regard others as better than yourselves.”
In Paul’s writing, he consistently calls Christians to practice humility, a characteristic at the core of Christian unity. Humility is another aspect of Jesus’ self-emptying. When you think about it, humility seems to go hand in hand with a servant spirit. The church’s best servants are among its most humble.
In our gospel reading Jesus teaches a similar lesson to his disciples. Those who are officers in this church will remember that I read this text at the conclusion of officer training every year. As the disciples needed this lesson, we need a reminder of it – I need it – on a regular basis.
Robert Wuthnow is former director of Princeton University’s Center for the Study of Religion. In one of his articles, Wuthnow explains that Christians in the mainline denominations, like we Presbyterians, tend to be more involved in service to the wider community.[2] Compared to other denominations, service has been, in a greater way, a primary expression of Christian faith. They have known how to organize for service, and found ways to network in order to get the job done.
I need only look around this room and to find many examples of a servant spirit. The fact that we’re installing a new officer when I’m preaching on these texts is a happy coincidence. Like many of you, Ron has served previously as an officer, and is entering into service again. For him, as for many of you, service is not just a term in office but also a way of life.
Charles Swindoll is a pastor, now 89 years old, who wrote the most memorable meditation on a servant spirit that I’ve ever read: “I am like James and John (who wanted choice seats of honor in Jesus’ kingdom); I size up other people in terms of what they can do for me. How they can further my program, feed my ego, satisfy my needs, give me strategic advantage. I exploit people, ostensibly for your sake, but really for my own sake. Lord, I turn to you to get the inside track and to get special favors, your direction for my schemes, your power for my projects, your sanction for my ambitions, your blank check for whatever I want. I am like James and John. Change me, Lord. Make me a person who asks of you and of others, ‘What can I do for you?’”[3]
May God grant to us a servant spirit.
NOTES
[1] Fred B. Craddock, Philippians, a volume in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985, pp. 42-43.
[2] Robert Wuthnow, “The Changing Face of American Society: How Congregations Must Adapt to the Challenges Ahead,” “Congregations” Jan./Feb. 2001, pp. 14 ff.
[3] Charles Swindoll, “Improving Your Serve.”
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