Formed to Have the Mind of Christ

Beloved in Christ,

The collect appointed for this Sunday opens with the phrase: “O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity. God's center of gravity is compassion and mercy. The demonstration of divine power is in acts of loving-kindness. 

St. Paul doubles down on this in our reading from Philippians, quoting that soaring ancient hymn about Jesus’, “who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.” Rather, he emptied himself fully, and it’s on this basis that God has made him Lord of all. In Jesus, the merciful heart of the universe looked with wide-eyed sobriety at the world’s horrendous evil and did not flinch or fight, but poured out more and more loving mercy. 

That’s all very different from how we normally imagine power works. In the landscape around us, power is shown through winning. It is demonstrated by being right. It is exercised by imposing our will and getting our way. Almost all of the brokenness and injustice in the world is rooted in this distorted view of power. From the small interpersonal conflicts that are ever present in our lives, to the massive global and political winds that shape the world we live in. 

It’s easy to spot and denounce this distortion in those on the other side of any line we draw, and just as easy to deny it in ourselves. On all sides, we tend to imagine that the world is an ever revolving game of thrones between the good and the bad, the powerful and the weak, and our job is to topple the bad ones and install the good ones. 

But following Jesus calls us to play a thoroughly different game. Following Jesus means joining up with the merciful heart of the universe, and living fully from its power. It means recklessly sowing mercy in a world bent on vengeance. It means willing good for others in a world bent on getting its own way. It means throwing open wide arms of embrace in a world of lines of exclusion. 

Paul tells us: “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. . .” That’s how we measure our days. That’s the purpose of our lives. Don’t ever think that saying your prayers each day, gathering for Bible study, or celebrating the sacraments in all our small gatherings across a vast diocese doesn’t make a difference. What’s happening in each of those gatherings is nothing less than all of us being formed, little by little, to have the mind of Christ, so that each of us forms some small part, not of toppling the world’s evil, but enfolding every broken, hurting child of God more fully into God’s infinite embrace of love. 

Grace and Peace,

The Right Rev. Craig Loya