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There was once a man who decided he was dead. He was actually quite alive, but the man insisted he was really dead. The man's friends were quite concerned over this attitude, and tried hard to persuade the man he was actually alive, but nothing seemed to work.

Finally, one friend with a scientific turn of mind tried to convince the man of the error of his insistence. The friend pointed out that dead men don't bleed. After some time to consider the possibilities, the man who said he was dead agreed. At that point his friend took a pin and stuck the man's finger. Blood began to flow slowly from the wound, and the man stared at the drops of blood forming on his finger. Then, quietly, he said, "Well, what do you know? Dead men do bleed."

In this letter Paul speaks of death as something he regards favorably. Not in some strange way like that man who was convinced he was really dead, but in a healthy way, as the only way he could begin to live with Christ. In the greater scheme of this letter, the desire of Paul for death is only a little thing, something that can be ignored quite easily. It is easy to overlook the little things.

The lesson today begins with another little thing, a phrase it is easy to drop or skip past when we read the text, a phrase that can be forgotten quickly by the time we get to the end of Paul's sentence. "If then.... " Or, perhaps more precisely, "If...."

It is a simple little word, but one which makes everything that comes after it different than it might otherwise be. Instead of a statement of fact or even a command, the sentence that begins this lesson is more of a question and a hope.

Paul does write in long sentences, and this is not only a long one, but also a complicated one to understand. "If," Paul begins, "there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy." The Greek begins each clause with the word "if," which heightens the effect. If there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation from love, if there is any sharing in the Spirit, if there is any compassion and sympathy. If, in other words, those who receive this letter, if those who hear these words have any of these things, then Paul wants them to do something for him.

If people feel any encouragement in Christ, any strengthening from the body of Christ in the church, any appeal to that part of us which is good and true, any calling of us by Christ to be a part of his work here, then Paul has a claim on them to do what he wishes.

If there is any consolation from love, any encouragement for us from our fellow believers, any comfort in our times of sorrow and loss from the body of Christ, then Paul has a claim on us to do what he wishes.

If there is any sharing in the Spirit, any fellowship with others, any generosity in our time of need, any participation in our grief, then Paul has a claim on us to do what he wishes.

If there is any compassion and sympathy, if there is any affection, love, deep feeling, pity, or mercy, then Paul has a claim on us to do what he wishes.

And that is the critical point - what Paul wishes us to do. He states it simply: He wants the people who heard his words to make his joy complete. In the Greek, the word translated as complete can also mean fill up, be well supplied, fill completely to the brim, or even give true meaning to. In some ways this might sound difficult to do, especially to something like joy.

Our joy is not often thought of as something concrete, something to be filled up, and even the idea of being well supplied with joy is a little jarring. Most often we think of joy as something that is fleeting, something we have briefly, and then the real world intrudes and our joy begins to fade. All too often joy is not something we find in our lives every day, all the time. The idea of complete joy is something we have trouble grasping.

Paul speaks of our actions as something that will make his joy complete. At least, that is one way to paraphrase what he writes in this lesson, allowing for some issues of centuries and distance. It is with our actions that we will make his joy complete. It is fair to ask what actions Paul had in mind.

The answer is to be found in the four items that complete the first sentence. Paul tells his hearers to "be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." These actions sound almost like the directions a church official might give to a congregation that is split by various problems and issues. But that, at least as we understand the situation in Philippi, is not what was happening in the congregation.

In fact, later in this letter Paul instructs two women by name, Euodia and Syntyche, "to be of the same mind in the Lord." Then he reminds the rest of the congregation of their obligation to help these women. This rather brief reference, in the beginning of chapter 4, is the only indication we have of the situation that existed in the congregation. It seems that there was a disagreement of some sort, most likely a fairly small matter, with two important members of the congregation choosing sides and attacking each other in some ways.

This is a situation that is entirely too common in too many congregations today. It is also one way to understand the proliferation of congregations in a single locale. One congregation grew until there was a disagreement over something, then one group, one side of the argument, left and organized another congregation.

Consider the small congregation that was exploring options for the floor in the parish hall. Everyone agreed that the old floor needed to be replaced, but the argument came when the subject of covering the floor was raised. The lowest cost covering was the carpet on sale at the warehouse outlet nearby, but one member of the council objected strenuously. While the objections were heard, the council eventually voted to purchase and install the carpet.

The person who objected commented, "Well, you'll install a carpet over my dead body."

Another member of the council was heard to mutter, "That's gonna make one heck of a lump."

Paul was well aware of the potential for this sort of disagreement in a congregation. It is quite likely that he had personally witnessed such flare ups both in the congregations with which he had been associated and, quite likely, in the synagogues he had known as he was growing up. It is easy for people who care deeply about the church to become quite passionate about what happens in the church and about things the church does.

This should probably not surprise us. In every other part of our lives, wherever there are people working with each other, there are some frictions and small disagreements and mild arguments about how things are being done. The church is full of the same sort of people as we find in the rest of the world, and in the church they have the same sorts of frictions and small disagreements and mild arguments about how things are being done.

Knowing this, Paul wants those who hear his words, those who are presently involved in some of those frictions and small disagreements and mild arguments about how things are being done, to work on doing three things.

First, he wants them to be of the same mind. That sounds vaguely uncomfortable, as if everyone should think the same way, never express any ideas other than what a leader says, or else suffer the consequences. In point of fact, Paul was certainly not suggesting that everyone had to have only the same thoughts. However, he was encouraging everyone to have the same attitude and approach to possible dissension.

Paul wants us to have an attitude that is willing to hear both sides of an issue and to listen with an open mind, actually and honestly searching for a resolution of the problem that is appropriate. This, of course, is what many people insist they are doing, even when what they are really doing is insisting on their opinion and trying to force everyone else to accept what they have to say.

Paul was involved in many controversies during his life, including some that led to councils of the early church to settle the issues, near riots in the Temple, and, finally, his arrest and transportation to Rome for a final trial. With this record, it is no surprise that Paul recognizes the dangers of conflict in the church and in a congregation. It should be no surprise that Paul has figured out a way to reduce the danger of conflict in a congregation.

The first step is for the members of the congregation to work to be of the same mind. The second step is similar: The members are expected to have the same love. The same love is an interesting concept. Not that everyone should love exactly the same things and people, but that everyone is equally beloved of Christ, and because of the love of Christ, everyone recognizes the others in the congregation as fellow members of the Body of Christ. In many ways, the idea of sharing the same love is the foundation that makes it possible for us to share the same mind.

The final thing we are to do is to be in full accord and of one mind. Once again, not every person in the congregation is to be identical, as if there were no way that people could differ. Rather, the members of the congregation should work together to attain consensus within the congregation.

Not that differences of opinion are never going to happen, because they will. Not that members will never disagree over what needs to be done, because people do disagree. Not that there will never be doubts and concerns, because people often have doubts and concerns.

To be of full accord and one mind is Paul's way of reminding those who hear his words that with all the problems and disputes and difficulties we encounter within the church, we do come together with the other members and work with each other completely because we are all a part of the Body of Christ.

This sounds very difficult, and it can be quite a challenge. But Paul does not leave things there. He does not simply present some hopelessly optimistic statements of how things should be, and then move on. He goes on to offer some very practical ways to do what will make his joy complete.

First, Paul suggests, "In humility regard others as better than yourselves." It is such simple advice, and such a difficult thing to accomplish. But, if we think about it, regarding others as better than ourselves is quite a practical way to ensure that conflicts rarely get out of hand. In fact, following this advice usually means that what conflict exists is truly centered on questions that matter, never on questions of one person's ego, another person's position, and someone else's pride. If we consistently regard others as better than ourselves, and each person regards others as better than themselves, then it is much easier to do those things that will make Paul's joy complete.

If that advice isn't enough, Paul goes on to say, "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." Of course each person has one's own interests, but the interests of others are not only important, their interests should be of primary concern to us. Consider, as an example, the manner in which one of the most potent military formations of the ancient world was organized. The Greek phalanx presented a wall of spears and shields and swords to the enemy, with virtually no room for the enemy to penetrate and attack the men who made up the wall of shields. However, the structure of the formation required that each man hold up his shield to protect the next man in the wall. No one protected himself.

An extreme example, certainly. But every soldier who ever served in a phalanx understood perfectly what this advice meant. "Look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." Once again, Paul's advice works itself out precisely within the church, because when we each look out for others, then the interests of all are taken care of. Just like the shields of the ancient phalanx, each person protects and cares for another, and thus each person's interests are taken care of.

Finally, Paul offers the last part of his advice, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." This is probably the most difficult piece of advice to follow. Paul expands this advice by quoting an early hymn, and the words of the hymn point out the difficulties we face in trying to follow the example of Christ. The verse of the hymn ends with the reminder that Jesus "became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross."

That can be the difficult part, that obedience. So long as Paul is giving advice, the situation is only uncomfortable. If we don't manage to follow everything, then we can be uncomfortable, but it isn't really something that could be helped. After all, lots of advice is never acted on. But when we start talking about obedience, things get much more serious.

Let the same mind, an obedient mind, be obedient even to the point of death.

Things are really quite serious with this instruction. Suddenly we are speaking of obedience, even to the point of death, obedience to that advice to "do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus."

Paul closes this lesson by re--emphasizing the idea of our obedience. "Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

And so, we work to obey what Paul wrote, to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, to be obedient, even to the point of death. As we struggle with God's call on us to be obedient, we also know that God is at work in us and among us helping us to obey his commands. Amen.