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Psalm 145:1-7, Philippians 2:1-13
There are many ways to
describe what emptiness means. What first comes to your mind?
We all have to address
the ever present “E,” the one on our vehicle dashboards. The one constantly guzzling everything we
feed it and at significant cost. This
empty is fueled by fear … fear that it’ll run out and that our schedule, and
perhaps even our lives, will be in jeopardy.
This emptiness is a very practical matter that can usually be managed
very well.
Somewhat related, of
course, is the sensation that our stomach is empty. Hunger is certainly an empty feeling. It indicates that our bodies need to be
refueled. If done so in a healthy, high
grade way, this emptiness can be held off for a long while. If filled with cheap, low grade fuel … then
there is very little lasting benefit.
At home, Stefanie and I
now use a refillable K-cup to reduce household and world waste. But this means each time we go to brew, we
need to empty the soggy coffee grounds into a small container we keep next to
the Keurig. This then gets dumped
outside where it participates in natural organic processes. Emptiness, in this case, means making room
for the next daily grind, while also taking seriously our part in the
stewardship of God’s good creation.
Google has a wonderful
software application called Skymap. You
open it, hold your phone up to sky at night and it reveals in graphic form all
of the constellations and planets right above and all around you. It’s been tremendous fun to use. Yet even though so much gets identified, I
always notice all of the unknowable empty space. I wouldn’t want it all filled up. This emptiness is inviting. It’s mysterious and stirs my imagination. It reminds me that we’re all an important but really
miniscule part of an eternally deep reality.
Depending on my mood, though,
some nights the emptiness of night sky can cause me to feel a bit lost and
alone. That’s another kind of
emptiness we experience, isn’t it? The
emotional kind that causes us to feel hollow and isolated. Even the loving, abiding presence of God can
seem in a much different galaxy during such times.
This is what I think most folks would consider
“spiritual emptiness.” It’s an emptiness
that gnaws at our soul, hungry for a truly substantial and life-sustaining
feast of faith. It’s the emptiness that
gives us great grief as it yearns to be made completely whole.
I’m talking about the
kinds of emptiness because it is at the epicenter of this morning’s passage
from Philippians. Not just the center,
the epicenter, as in where everything
shifts and triggers seismic waves of sacred truth all across the landscape of
our Christian faith. What makes this teaching about
emptiness most powerful is that it’s about filling up by emptying out. Only by emptying out can we have the energy
needed to go out fill up the world with the love of Jesus Christ.
If this sounds
confusing, it’s because in our culture we mostly understand fulfillment as
something we develop by and for ourselves.
We develop our character, our abilities, our achievements. We value the constant striving to fulfill
our dreams. If managed well, this is
healthy. If managed poorly, however, it
can make us sinfully fat with personal pride.
Self-fulfillment becomes our god.
And this god ultimately fails us because it runs strongly on the stale
gasoline and junk food of fear, distrust, anger, apathy, and prejudice.
The Apostle Paul knew how
destructive this kind of fulfillment was to the mission of the Church. And running on it was especially damaging to
the church in ancient Philippi. This was
a congregation in the city founded by Philip, the father of Alexander the
Great. He had done so around 368 B.C.
because he believed there was “no more strategic site in all of Europe” with
its “chain of hills” which divided Europe from Asia, east from west. The city was settled in a dip between these
hills, and so it had command of the roadways.
It is said that the powerful future of the Roman Empire was decided
after Marc Antony won a decisive victory in Philippi.[i]
The Apostle Paul fully knew
the strategic importance of Philippi to spreading the victorious message of the
Gospel far and wide. Acts 16 tells of
Paul’s establishing the congregation there by helping our Lord open the hearts
of three different people of three different nationalities and three different
grades of society. Church diversity and
inclusivity was a hallmark from the start.
He was in a Roman prison
when he wrote the letter we know as Philippians. It’s a letter of thanksgiving and of encouragement
for the external trials that congregation was living through. It’s also a letter that addresses some
significant conflict within the congregation.
Now let’s imagine
ourselves in Paul’s leadership shoes.
You are writing while languishing in prison under the reign of Emperor
Nero, awaiting what historical evidence suggests was a beheading. Talk about a horrifyingly empty situation to
be in. What words would you have offered to help
keep the church running well? To
faithfully refill and refuel the Body of Christ as conflict worked hard to
empty it of hope, love, peace and unity?
It was not a time for
fast food and low-grade fuel! Not a
time for self-help catch phrases and self-improvement strategies. It wasn’t
time to waste precious energy by empowering his brothers and sisters in the
faith to take up arms against the Romans or cast out church members with whom
there was tension.
It was time to fill any and all emptiness threatening
the heart of the faithful community with just one thing – the example of
Jesus. And
what life-sustaining strength did Jesus demonstrate as he was being put to
death by world power? He emptied interest
in himself and deprived himself of his power so that he could minister to the
needs of others and fulfill the divine plan of salvation.
In that prison cell,
deeply concerned for his Philippian friends, Paul lived for Christ by running
on empty. He emptied himself of his pride,
selfish ambition, thoughts of self-advancement.
He emptied himself of his fears.
In doing so, he was then able to fill up on the trust, energy, joy and
passion for justice that comes from humbly looking after the welfare of the
whole community of God’s children just as Jesus had modeled. This is the “love that burns with the desire
for the flourishing of others, a love whose joy can be made complete only when
all are included.”[ii] Paul exhorted his friends to have the mind
and love of Christ by cultivating the bonds of unity for the greater good … especially
in the midst of unholy worldly oppression.
His joy would be complete, he would die a happy man, if they would run
on empty too. This is the ultimately
indestructible joy of living in and for the Lord.
Across the years of your
life, in what ways have you run on empty for the sake of filling and unifying the
world with the love of Jesus? How has this been modeled throughout the
life of Fairmount Presbyterian Church?
What needs emptying in
your heart and mind today so you can live a more faithfully fulfilling life in
the global company of Christ?
Is there a person in your life that is a role
model for how emptiness, from a Christian perspective, is filled with love for
God and for one another?
I ask these questions as
I run on empty here at the end of this sermon … Amen.
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