Text: Philippians 2:1-8<\/p>\n

Arches National Park is perhaps one of the most iconic and picturesque of the spots we will visit.
\nThree hundred million years ago, give or take, this land lay beneath an ocean. With the ebb and flow of the waters, salt deposits built up hundreds of feet thick.
\nEventually, pressure turned some spots turned into sandstone. But as water eroded away the salt but not the harder rock, sandstone was left hanging over these empty gaps, leaving nearly 2,000 arches (America\u2019s Holy Ground, page 31).<\/p>\n

But as we mentioned as we began today, these arches are not sturdy or solid.\u00a0 Landscape Arch has seen a number of collapses and Wall Rock Arch fell apart one night in a huge pile of boulders in 2008.
\nThey were formed under pressure and eventually pressure from the elements and human interaction will cause these connections to crumble.<\/p>\n

When we planned this series, I wanted to focus on the strength of our connections, but I must confess that yesterday as I was thinking about this sermon I spent most of my day weeping.
\nBecause the connections between us in this nation have never felt more fragile.
\nBecause the tension in the air is palpable.
\nBecause every post or story feels like to fans the flames of division.
\nAnd while I try to do better, and be better, I\u2019m guilty of it, too, as I think about conversations I\u2019ve had this week.
\nI so desperately want to be able to find words to make things okay, to soothe the wounds of our relationships, to seek peace, and there isn\u2019t anything I can say.
\nI can\u2019t make it better today for my neighbors who are black, indigenous, or people of color.
\nI can\u2019t make it better today for my neighbors who are law enforcement.
\nThere is too much that is broken and has already crumbled.
\nWe can\u2019t look away and pretend we didn\u2019t see.
\nThere is too much work that has to be done to acknowledge the pain and to hold one another accountable before we can even begin to live in peace.<\/p>\n

This Sunday is Peace with Justice Sunday in the United Methodist Church.
\nOur Social Principles remind us that, \u201cAs disciples of Christ, we are called to love our enemies, seek justice, and serve as reconcilers of conflict. \u201c \u00b6165.C
\nAs I have heard chanted at various rallies\u2026 not just this past week after the killing of George Floyd, but anywhere faithful people show up to seek change:
\n\u201cNo Justice. No Peace.\u201d
\nAs we state for this day, \u201c\u2026political and social turmoil can be caused by a number of issues including economic disparity, environmental degradation, gender inequality, racism and xenophobia, and illness and disease. If we want peace, we must be committed to disrupting these conditions and systems that perpetuate injustice.\u201d (https:\/\/www.umcjustice.org\/what-we-care-about\/peace-with-justice)<\/p>\n

Next week, our confirmands will stand up and claim their baptismal vows.
\nNot only will they take responsibility for turning away from their own sin and failings\u2026
\nThey will claim the freedom and power God gives them to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.
\nWe wrestled together with what that means, and all of their questions really got me thinking about what it looks like for me to claim that freedom and power, too.<\/p>\n

What does it look like for us to resist those systems of injustice?
\nHow do we begin?
\nHow do we create the conditions for peace?
\nHow do we seek justice?
\nHow do we strengthen our fragile human connections?<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t anything I can say in one sermon that can undo or fix systemic racism.
\nBut we can talk about what each of us can do right now in our own personal relationships.<\/p>\n

I found myself turning to Paul\u2019s letter to the Philippians.
\nThe church was experiencing a quarrel between two of their members \u2013 Euodia and Syntyche. We don\u2019t know the details, but it had the potential to tear the church apart.
\nAnd so Paul writes to them these words\u2026 this is the Message translation:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ,
\nif his love has made any difference in your life,
\nif being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you,
\nif you have a heart,
\nif you care \u2013
\nthen do me a favor:
\nAgree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.
\nDon\u2019t push your way to the front;
\ndon\u2019t sweet-talk your way to the top.
\nPut yourself aside, and help others get ahead.
\nDon\u2019t be obsessed with getting your own advantage.
\nForget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
\nThink of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself\u2026
\nhe set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave\u2026\u201d (Philippians 2:1-7)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When there is conflict and division in the world, the only way we can overcome it, Paul writes, is by putting ourselves to the side.
\nWe have to start focusing on what is good for the other person.
\nWe have to humble ourselves.
\nWe have to stop and pause and focus on the love we have for Christ and other human beings FIRST.
\nThat is the agreement that Paul is talking about\u2026 that we would agree in Christ. That we would agree to be like Christ. That we would agree to look upon one another with love.<\/p>\n

I find it interesting in the message translation that Eugene Peterson uses the word \u201cprivilege\u201d to describe how Christ emptied himself of his status as equal with God.
\nThe Greek word Paul uses here, rooted in kenosis, describes what it means to divest yourself of what rightly belongs to you.
\nThe only way that God in Christ Jesus could reconcile with us\u2026
\nThe only way that God in Christ Jesus could repair the broken connection with humanity\u2026
\nThe only way\u2026
\nWas for Jesus to set aside his privilege and power and status and to become one of us.
\nAnd then, to set aside his life and to die for us.<\/p>\n

Paul sees the division in that community, sees the conflict between these two women, and he asks them to be like Christ.
\nThe only way we can have reconciliation and peace is if we let go of trying to be right.
\nWe have to stop focusing on what is best for ourselves and start asking what is right for others.
\nI think it is important to note here that not all power and privilege is equal.
\nJesus took on the status of a slave\u2026 and for slaves, for the oppressed, for those suffering injustice\u2026 there is no lower for them to go. There is no power to relinquish.
\nSo part of adopting the mind of Christ is becoming aware of the systems in our society that have created differences in the way people are treated and the advantages they have.
\nWe have to look at the ways inequalities are slowly but surely eroding the connections that we have built with one another.
\nHow are our health systems, education systems, economic systems creating the conditions for life for our neighbors?
\nWhere we benefit unequally from those systems, we are not called to dig in deeper, but to work to help others get ahead.<\/p>\n

When Paul asks us to put on the mind of Christ, he is asking all of us to equate ourselves, to humble ourselves, to make ourselves lowly.
\nTo walk in the shoes of those who have nothing left to lose.
\nTo listen.
\nTo learn.
\nWhen we live this way\u2026 putting others first, setting ourselves to the side\u2026 it has a transformative impact on the rest of the world.
\nAs Paul goes on to write in the next verses, again this is the Message translation:<\/p>\n

\u201cGo out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night\u2026\u201d (2:14-16)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are to carry this mind of Christ with us everywhere we go.
\nIn the letters we write to legislators.
\nIn the attitude we strike towards those who disagree with us.
\nAt the ballot box.
\nIn the places we chose to shop.
\nWith our families.
\nIn the ways we stand up for those who are crying out for justice.<\/p>\n

Think of yourself as Christ thought about himself.
\nAnd think of others the way Christ thought of them.
\nIf we can start there, we have taken one step towards peace and justice.
\nAnd every step strengthens our connection.
\nMay it be so. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Text: Philippians 2:1-8 Arches National Park is perhaps one of the most iconic and picturesque of the spots we will visit. Three hundred million years ago, give or take, this land lay beneath an ocean. With the ebb and flow of the waters, salt deposits built up hundreds of feet thick. Eventually, pressure turned some…<\/span><\/p>\n

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