Turn and Live with the Mind of Christ

(Final message in the “Living Faith Together” series, based on Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32 · Matthew 21:23–32 · Philippians 2:1–18)

This post wraps up our series asking what it means to live our faith together. That’s the lens we’ll keep using as we walk through this week’s three readings.

God & Sour Grapes

Ezekiel starts with an old proverb that was floating around Israel: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” I’ll admit I had to look that one up. If you bite into a sour grape, your teeth are set on edge, right? But in the proverb, the father eats the grape and the kids feel it. Whatever the father does carries down to the children, including sin and guilt and punishment.

God says that’s not how he works. “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” You are responsible for you. You’re not holy because your mom or dad is holy, and you’re not guilty because they’re guilty.

Then God tells us how he thinks about you: “Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

God isn’t trying to shame you here. This is good news. If you’re in the hospital and the doctor walks in and says, “Oh, we have a medicine for that,” you like hearing it. God is not looking for a chance to punish. Even the wicked are important to him, and he isn’t rejoicing when they die. What he wants is for them to turn and find life.

Does My Heart Reflect God’s?

This is a question we should all ask ourselves: Does my heart reflect God’s heart? Or do I sometimes feel a little tinge of pleasure when things don’t go well for people I don’t like?

We’ve seen it in America on both sides of the political aisle. Whenever there’s an assassination attempt, some people on the other side either celebrate the attempt or express disappointment that it failed. God says that is not his way.

Martin Luther talks about this attitude in his explanation of the Eighth Commandment. There is the part the commandment forbids: “We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor…” and then the flip side of that coin that reflects God’s heart toward people: “…but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.”

So are we doing that? God’s desire is redemption, not ruin. Is that our desire for people on the wrong side of whatever line we draw? And “I hope they turn and end up seeing it my way” doesn’t count!

A Tale of Two Sons

In his Gospel account, Matthew records this episode in Jesus’ life. Jesus is teaching in the temple, and the chief priests and elders come up and confront him in front of everyone: “By what authority are you doing these things?” They’re not really curious whether Jesus might be legitimate. What they mean is, “We’re in charge here, and we didn’t say you could do that.”

Jesus is such a master at this. He answers with a question of his own, one that exposes their hearts: “The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And remember, there’s a crowd watching, so they can’t just refuse to answer without looking weak.

So they huddle up and talk it over. If they say heaven, Jesus will ask why they didn’t believe John. If they say man, the crowd will turn on them, because everybody holds John to be a prophet.

What’s missing from their deliberations? Truth. The whole conversation is about what each answer will cost them in position and status. So they go with the only safe answer they’ve got: “We do not know.” And Jesus says, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Which is just perfect.

Then Jesus tells a parable. A man has two sons, and he asks them to go work in the vineyard. Remember, these are sons, not slaves. It’s the family field, and they’ll share in whatever it produces. The first son says, “I will not,” and marches off, but afterward he changes his mind and goes. The second one says, “I go, sir,” all respectful, and then goes off and does whatever he wants. Which one did his father’s will? Obviously the first.

Your words can say whatever you want them to say. What you do shows what you really believe, and the leaders showed that what they really valued was their status. Meanwhile the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John and turned their lives around, and even after the leaders saw that happen, they still didn’t change their minds.

Which Son Am I?

This parable turns into a mirror for us too, because turning toward God takes more than the right words.

Honestly, according to this parable, you’re better off getting mad at Jesus and saying, “I’m not doing what you want,” than paying him lip service and going off to live your life. When you tell Jesus no, at least you’re being honest. You’re not manipulating the situation.

So the first lesson for living our faith together is that we need honesty. Bring your actual self forward, because until you’re honest about what you think, you won’t grow. Don’t try to think the right thing. Think what you think, and let the Holy Spirit work through the Word to bring your mind around to Jesus.

In Christian Community, Grace Comes First

What does it look like when that turning happens? That’s where the Philippians passage comes in, and it’s vital that we get the order right. The grace of God comes first. Paul begins, “If there is any encouragement in Christ…” Christ has already died and risen, so everything grows out of what Jesus has already done for us.

Then Paul describes following Christ in relation to others: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

We treat each other as important. And there’s a little tidbit in there worth catching. Paul says “not only.” You still have interests. They just don’t get to override everyone else’s.

Paul continues by giving us the foundation for this way of thinking: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.”

Whenever I hear “grasp,” I think of grasping an idea, like getting it or understanding it. That’s not what Paul means. This grasping is clinging. Jesus was the eternal Son of God in glory, and in the face of our need, he didn’t cling to his status. He let it go, all the way to the cross.

The world says cling to your possessions, your status, your power. Jesus didn’t cling, because you needed him. And that’s how we live in relation to others as his followers.

Work Out, Not Work On

Paul then writes a critical and carefully worded sentence: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

There’s one little word that isn’t in there. Paul doesn’t say work “on” your salvation. He says work “out” your salvation. God gives you forgiveness and new life, and now you’ve got to figure out how that works its way into every area of your life.

Let’s say I’m cruel and I give you a 2,000-piece puzzle. (I don’t like puzzles.) You don’t have to work on getting the puzzle, because I’ve already given it to you. But it isn’t put together yet. You have to work it out.

That’s our salvation. “By grace you have been saved through faith… not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). It’s the same salvation for all of us. But you have your own wiring, your own talents and experiences, your own family and community, and you have to work out what that salvation means for you.

It’s already done in Christ, at the cross and the empty tomb, so you’re not working “on” it. You are working it out, living out its effects. How is salvation blooming in your life? Part of that blooming is discovering that your interests aren’t the only ones that matter.

That work is never finished on earth. We live in mortal, sinful bodies, and Paul knew it as well as anybody: “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).

So what does the mind of Christ mean for your marriage? For your relationships with your teachers or students, your coworkers, your children, your parents? Keep working it out!

Turn and Live

All through these readings, God has been saying that you are you. You won’t ride your father’s coattails, and you won’t be punished for what your father did. So the word to you today is the same: turn, and live. Trust the grace of God in Jesus Christ enough to let his grace and his Word form the mind of Christ in you.

There will be times when part of you knows what God wants, because the mind of Christ is forming in you, and another part of you says, “No, no, no, don’t make me do that.” That’s real, and it’s part of being human. But when you hear those two voices, at church, at home, at work, I urge you to release that other voice and follow the mind of Christ.

We’re saved by grace through faith, not by works. God’s grace gives us peace that the world cannot give, and it’s also given to us to change us. It fills our hearts with gratitude and builds in us a desire to be like the one who gave his all for us. So be open to the mind of Christ forming in you, the mind that looks not only to our own interests but to the interests of those around us. That’s how Jesus lived for us.

Redeemer Lutheran Church and Preschool