Proper 21 / Pentecost 19 / OT 26
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
... Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
-- Philippians 2:12
We should remember that Paul, whose central message was that salvation was a gift, gave this admonition. He was not suggesting that we achieved or earned our salvation but rather that as a community of faith we should live out the implications of our salvation. Since salvation is a gift, we do not respond to it with arrogance. "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit...." In the church, we have the context to explore the implication of looking not to our own interest but to the interest of others. That does not mean that the church is a safe place to explore the implications of our salvation. Rather, it is God's place to explore the mind of Christ, who became obedient to the point of death. What would it be like for a church to have the mind of Christ? Do we first think of the power to perform miracles or do we think of the refusal to use one's power to dominate others? Can we imagine not using any of the abilities that we have in order to gain advantage for ourselves? How would our church be different if the goal of its members was not to use any of their power for selfish ambition or conceit but, in humility, to regard other members as better than themselves? Would that not be a very concrete way of "working our faith out with fear and trembling"? We would be practicing what it would mean to believe that God is at work in us not through our exploiting others but in our continuing to will and work according to God's pleasure. The "God community" is the community that lifts up Christ despite itself, and God offers us a saving experience within it.
-- Philippians 2:12
We should remember that Paul, whose central message was that salvation was a gift, gave this admonition. He was not suggesting that we achieved or earned our salvation but rather that as a community of faith we should live out the implications of our salvation. Since salvation is a gift, we do not respond to it with arrogance. "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit...." In the church, we have the context to explore the implication of looking not to our own interest but to the interest of others. That does not mean that the church is a safe place to explore the implications of our salvation. Rather, it is God's place to explore the mind of Christ, who became obedient to the point of death. What would it be like for a church to have the mind of Christ? Do we first think of the power to perform miracles or do we think of the refusal to use one's power to dominate others? Can we imagine not using any of the abilities that we have in order to gain advantage for ourselves? How would our church be different if the goal of its members was not to use any of their power for selfish ambition or conceit but, in humility, to regard other members as better than themselves? Would that not be a very concrete way of "working our faith out with fear and trembling"? We would be practicing what it would mean to believe that God is at work in us not through our exploiting others but in our continuing to will and work according to God's pleasure. The "God community" is the community that lifts up Christ despite itself, and God offers us a saving experience within it.
