The Mind of Christ
Bill Lytle, Moderator, 190th GA UPCUSA (1978) was invited to preach at the Meeting of the Presbytery of San Jose on April 2, 2011.Philippians 2:1-8
Paul's letter to the Philippians is not the only one in which he refers to troubles in the churches he had founded. His first letter to the church at Corinth opens with a deep concern: "It is reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, sisters and brothers. I mean to say that each of you says, 'I am of Paul' or 'I am of Apollos', or 'I am of Cephas', or 'I am of Christ'. Is Christ divided?" That question could well be asked today of our Presbyterian family. Indeed, we are divided, and the division could grow more intense in the coming months if Amendment 10-A is affirmed by a majority of the presbyteries. Our quarreling has been going on for some time. Long before we moved to having our General Assemblies meet every other year, we were experiencing heated debates, particularly over this ordination question.. I recall a special GA moment some years ago. A commissioner stood and spoke for an affirmative position, and there was loud applause when he finished. Another commissioner stood to speak for the negative position, and loud applause followed . This went on, back and forth, for some time. Finally, a woman stood up and said, "Mr. Moderator, I move that there be no applause after speeches." She sat down, and the whole assembly broke into applause. When they realized what had happened, the hall was filled with laughter. We are ready for some laughter in the church these days.Now, it is not surprising that we have our differences of opinion. We read the same Bible, but the Bible reads each of us differently. The Word comes to us through our particular filter - what we have learned from our families, our schools, our teachers, our friends, our experiences. I am a preacher's kid, from a conservative family in Pittsburgh, PA. My teenage faith was purposefully shaken by a philosophy professor in college. Seminary days at Princeton were marvelous and renewing. Civil Rights years were spent on a college campus in Arkansas experiencing the likes of Orval Faubus. I spent 18 years in a downtown pastorate in San Antonio, Texas, where I got involved in social justice issues and experienced the struggle of several gay and lesbian families in my congregation. That is some of the filter through which the Spirit of God speaks to me and has led me to my present understanding of what Jesus would have me believe and do.Each one of you has your particular filter as well. The result? We read the same words, but we interpret them differently, and what is more, we are sure that our interpretation is right, is what the scripture means. Yet, we find many of our brothers and sisters taking the opposite position. The voting on Amendment 10-A is but one example. In a good many presbyteries the vote has been extremely close with one or two votes making the difference. At present, 55% of commissioners across the country have said 'yes' while 45% have said 'no'. This is why our Book of Order begins with the Historic Principles of Church Order that includes the following: "God alone is Lord of the conscience", and further , "we also believe that there are truths and forms with respect to which men and women of good characters and principles may differ. And in all these we think it the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other."Today there are many Presbyterians who are tired of the debate. We're sick of quarreling among ourselves and are ready to do what Jesus called to do - 'to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free'. Recently a letter was published by 45 pastors, several of them serving some of our largest congregations, calling for transformation of the Presbyterian Church. The possibility of Amendment 10-A being affirmed is surely one of the motivating factors behind their letter, but it is not their only concern. Jim Singleton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, one of the signers of the letter, is quoted as saying, "Our major concern is we are just in this downward slide, and it doesn't seem like we have a plan or an idea to address that downward slump..." Singleton goes on to say, "I think we have comforted ourselves saying, 'It happens to all mainline churches, it's a cultural shift'. There has been a lot of almost acquiescing in the problem."Our denominational leaders. the Moderator, the Stated Clerk and the Executive Director of the Mission Council responded to the letter noting that our Presbyterian Church is in a time of rich ferment and deep discernment along with other mainline denominations. They point to new strategies that could inspire the transformation of congregations and the creation of new worshiping communities in the Presbyterian Church. They outline a number of efforts underway to generate systemic change. Hopefully, some good things are in the offing as we struggle together to find our way. I remember a statement I read in one of Jorgen Moltmann's books, "Confrontations can shatter a dialogue, but they can also lead participants out of a superficial friendliness into a deeper community."Paul seems to have had a positive way of dealing with troubles and problems in the churches he knew. In chapter 5 of his letter to the Romans, he writes: "Moreover, we boast in our troubles, knowing that trouble produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a great sermon on that text which he entitled, "Starting with Trouble, Ending with Hope." Jack Haberer's editorial in the March 7th Issue of "Outlook" hits the mark when he says,"Most of us have too easily forgotten that the Gospel's best evidence comes not when we reorganize our structures or articulate our statements of faith, but when - amid such complexities - we love one another...."That is what Paul is saying in his letter to the Philippians: He is not giving a theological sermon here. This is a motivational speech for upset people. "If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 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 interest of others.." Paul could have ended by quoting the old hymn: "Lord, help us live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way, that even when we kneel to pray, our prayer will be for others. Others, Lord, yes others, let this our motto be. Help us to live for others, that we may live like thee."I was privileged to serve as Moderator of the 190th GA in San Diego when the ordination issue was first debated. Three years before, a committee of 15 persons had been given responsibility to consider the overture calling for definitive guidance as to whether or not gay and lesbian persons are eligible for consideration to be elders, deacons or ministers of the Word. 1978 was the year their report was to be received and acted upon. The committee's decision was split. Ten members recommended for ordination while 5 brought a minority report. After much discussion, the GA voted to accept the minority report . We have lived for the past 33 years with this position. The sermon that I preached that Sunday morning before the GA had begun to discuss the question, was entitled, "Living Without Answers". In that sermon I said, "Our General Assembly will come up with its answer to the question in these next few days, but, whatever decision is made, whether pro or con, we need to remember that it will not be the final answer. One of Jesus' last words to his disciples was this, "I still have many things to tell you that you cannot bear now. When the Spirit comes, he will guide you into all the truth." Peter learned this that afternoon on the rooftop in Joppa when the Spirit led him to a new understanding of God's love for Gentiles. At any given time, we do not possess the truth. We live into truth. When the tempter told Jesus that he could have it all, know it all, be perfectly safe and secure, his answer was no. He refused to be like God, he emptied himself and was made in the likeness of man. Like our Lord, we, too, are called to live in trust, without final answers. "Have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross...."I close these thoughts with a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, quoted by Douglas John Hall in his book, The Future of the Church: "O God, who has made us the creatures of time, so that every tomorrow is an unknown country and every decision a venture of faith, grant us, frail children of the day, to move toward the future with a sure confidence in your love, from which neither life nor death can separate us." Amen.
