Philippians 2:5 says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” This is Paul’s wish for those who follow Christ. Let us have the same mind. That is, let us have the same focus on God and love of others. Let us have the same unshakable faith. Let us not consider ourselves as more righteous than another (Phil 2:6). Let us be the spark that causes others to come to Jesus (Phil 2:10-11). People will want to know Jesus by the way that we live our lives, because of how happy we are able to live it. This is what marks a true Disciple of Christ. You are unshaken. And when you are shaken, and ask God for the cup to be taken from you, you keep the faith even when it is not. That is what Jesus did, and that is what each of us are called to do. In the face of violence and terror, as was described on the faces of those in Boulder, Colorado this week, we can still have faith. We can still ask God why. We can still lament. But we still have confidence that God is here for us, no matter what happens.
You may feel peace with God now, or you may not. Our history has shown that neither one lasts. We long for the peace, but we will not find true peace until we are with God in heaven. What we can find here, however, we can cherish. What we can find here is enough to wave our palm branches in the air and shout Hosanna, which means, “Save us, we beseech thee” in the Hebrew. We are excited for a homecoming, but the excitement will not last. We are excited to travel to a place we love, but we cannot always stay there forever. We are excited when Jesus is born and when Jesus is raised, but even then, the feeling does not last. When you find that your excitement for Jesus is not lasting, there is something that is causing it. I challenge you to continually walk through the journey that we have gone through in this series this Lent, because Lent is not the only time to try to understand how to be a better Disciple and how to draw closer to God. There is enough at work in this world to tear you away from this relationship, or this peace, even an hour after you attain it, if you do not continually ask God to search your heart to improve your relationship and faith. Turn to God in joy. Turn to God in terror. Turn to God in confusion, and in everything. The prayer of Paul is my prayer for us all: Let the same mind that was in Christ Jesus be in us as well (Phil 2:5). Then, we will turn to God on Friday too. Then, we will be as excited to see God work in the world as we are when our team wins and our family comes home. Then, we can handle anything, because we have God on our side.
