Transcript
Becoming Who We Are Becoming
Philippians 2:1–13
Opening: We’re All in a Transition
Graduation is one of those rare moments where two things are true at the same time:
Something has ended… and something new is beginning.
It’s exciting. It’s emotional. Maybe most poignant of all… if we’re honest… just a little terrifying.
Graduates, you’re stepping into a season where people are going to start (if they haven’t already) asking you questions you may not have the answers to.
“What’s your five-year plan?” “What do you want to do with your life?”
Maybe some of you are thinking, “I just figured out how to do laundry without turning everything pink. Stop asking such massive and intense questions!” But the truth is…that feeling isn’t limited to graduates.
A lot of us feel like we’re in that same kind of transition.
Church looks different than it used to. There are fewer people. Fewer programs that we are familiar with from the times when we were the ones extremely involved.
And more conversations that start with: “Remember when…?” And underneath it all, there’s this quiet question:
What are we becoming?
These moments, where we ask this question… they are threshold moments.
Moments where we pause and recognize that something meaningful has ended… and something not fully known is beginning.
But today isn’t just a transition for graduates. Many of us feel like we are living in that same kind of transition.
Leadership is shifting. Rhythms are changing. The future feels a little less clear.
And somewhere beneath all that, we wonder: What is happening to us? Or what is going to happen to us?
The World of Philippi
Enter the church in Philippi that Paul is writing to in the early years after Christ died, rose again, and ascended to Heaven, leaving people to be led by the Spirit.
This church? They knew that feeling. They lived in a culture full of competing voices…political, spiritual, cultural…all trying to shape who they were. And those voices didn’t just coexist…they competed.
Rome was everywhere.
In statues lining the streets. In creeds carved into stone. On coins that passed through their hands every day. In parades, festivals, feasts…everything pointing back… to the empire.
Loyalty was expected. Identity was shaped. Worth was measured.
Power, success, and status…that’s what defined you.
And the messaging flowed from the top down…definitions of who mattered, who didn’t, and what it meant to belong came from those in the Imperial and cultural driver seats.
And right there, in the middle of it all… was a small Christian community trying to figure out: What is happening to us? Who are we becoming?
It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that’s our question too.
We are a Christian community living in the middle of a culture where messages about identity, value, and success are everywhere… Some loud and proud. Some hidden, subliminal. But all of them are shaping us.
And we’re left asking: What’s happening to us? Who are we becoming?
Different culture. Same human experience.
And I believe Philippians 2 gives us wisdom… if we’re humble enough to actually hear it.
1. Naming Reality Without Panic (Philippians 2:1–4)
Paul begins like this:
“If there is any encouragement in Christ…”
That’s his way of saying: “Yes, things are complicated… but God has not left the building, people.”
It’s important to note that Paul doesn’t ignore reality. He doesn’t choose to downplay it. He doesn’t even choose to paint the harsh realities in a flattering light. He just refuses to let anxiety define it. A lesson we could all learn from in times of transition.
And then he says: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit…”
Because when life feels uncertain, we tend to do the same things: We compare. We protect. We get a little dramatic. *pause to stare around*
You can always tell when a person or community gets anxious, can’t you?
Suddenly everything becomes a crisis. The thermostat is wrong. Every word from the pulpit is parsed to see if they align with our own biases, political leanings, culturally-informed viewpoints (hermeneutics). The bulletin font is different, thus suspicious. And someone moved a table without approval from the deacons, the staff, the team leads, and apparently the Spirit of God.
Paul says Slowwww downnnn.
Choose humility. Choose each other. Choose to remain in Christ where there is no selfish ambition and things are not always about us. If they ever really were about us in the first place.
To the Graduates
Graduates… You are stepping into a world that tracks everything… Your GPA. Your job title. Your followers. But I want you to remember that your life is not a leaderboard. It’s a calling.
It’s something that God wants to continue to shape and mold. Your life is much more than the summation of its parts. It has meaning and purpose, planted there, nurtured there, and hopefully sprouted there by the God who always has more to say about you and more to offer than any scoreboard, bank account, transcripts, or resume ever could.
To the Parents
Parents and Guardians… You raised kids in a world that changed constantly. The apps changed. The expectations changed. The parenting techniques and styles, the amount of research into figuring out privacy and security settings. They all changed. Even the math changed.
Seriously…why does third-grade math look like a CIA decoding exercise?
Your journey of figuring it out as you went along with no full structure of how to do it because no generation has had to do it in this world before? That’s not failure. That’s faithfulness within reality – when you could have chosen to ignore the changes and didn’t. That’s faithfulness within reality.
To the Church
We are not who we were. I’m sorry if that is not what you want to hear or if it completely destroys this celebratory day… But if there is any encouragement in Christ (see what I did there?), not being who we were doesn’t mean we are lost. It means we are being invited to become something more connected to reality and more in tune with the people of today. Perhaps it’s an invitation to become something more clear about what we hold in highest esteem (our idols or the virtues developed by walking with Christ).
2. Letting Go (Without Losing Your Mind) (Philippians 2:5–11)
Now, back to Paul… he continues with something often referred to as the “Christ Hymn.” It’s almost a mantra that helped remind people of Christ’s very nature… “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”
Jesus…who had status. Jesus…who had power. Jesus…who had every right to hold onto it.
…and He let it all go.
Instead, He took on the nature of a servant. He humbled Himself. This Christ Hymn is inspiring… until we realize Paul is saying this so that the person reading it might learn from it, emulate it, and eventually let it become the very same nature within themselves.
It’s a wonderful thing to acknowledge that these words (humble, servant, selfless) describe Jesus’ actions. It’s wonderful! He is so great, isn’t he? But it’s less wonderful when we acknowledge that this is less of a list of descriptive attributes, and more of a reflection of the full essence of who God is. That same God that made you and me in His own image.
We love the idea of Jesus humbling Himself. We’re just less excited about admitting that if we claim Christ as our Lord, it means the essence of God, of Christ, within this mantra must become part of our own essence of being.
Let me put it this way… we, people, don’t just hold onto memories. We don’t just remember lyrics to songs. We hold onto systems. The melodies that make up the tune. We hold on to preferences. Familiar ways of doing things. That’s why we don’t like it when our favorite
songs are re-done by new artists. It’s the same lyrics that spoke to our souls, but it’s not the same voice or even the same melody, therefore it’s inferior! I think of Chris Stapleton singing the Star-Spangled Banner a few years ago and how his own rendition sparked debate amongst people about whether he made it into a completely different song or not.
The things that we hold onto are the things put us in the driver seat, where we have the control and we decide what is best for others based on what is best (or maybe just what’s most comfortable) for me. When that happens, nostalgia… develops ourselves as the idol.
Churches are made up of people who created systems. These systems aren’t perfect. They may have been good for some at one period of time, but they may have ignored others or even been detrimental to some at that same time. Therefore when the church and the people that make it up get caught in the debates of how things are to be done based on how they were done in very specific time periods with very specific people and in very specific ways, we need a call back to this “Christ Hymn.” Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, friends!
“Back in the day, we didn’t have screens in worship spaces.” “I wouldn’t be caught dead singing one of those songs with the loud drums.” “I know exactly what to do in this situation because I’ve done it before.” “If it worked for us then, it’ll work for us now.”
Did it work for all of us, then? Is it working for all of us now? Or did it work for only some then, and it’s more convenient to keep it the way it was so it only works for some now? It’s hard to say when we’re focused on staying in the driver seat instead of letting the essence of God be our essence.
Yes, of course… Don’t hear me negate the past. Of course, things were different back in the day and some of the things that worked then might work now, But let’s be reminded that back in the day, we didn’t have Google Maps, and somehow we all survived those crazy kind of directions…
“Turn left where the old gas station used to be.” “Drive for a bit and turn at the new stoplight.” You get it… That’s not a system. That’s an exercise in faith, my friends. I digress…
Here’s what Paul’s call out to the familiar tune of the Christ Hymn reminds us: What made those past seasons meaningful wasn’t the structure of the church or of school classrooms. It was people. It was presence. It was someone who saw you, knew you, walked with you, made sure you weren’t ignored or even pushed out by the system because that someone was letting the essence of Christ be their own essence. You could probably picture that someone now, if you were asked to.
And you most certainly could acknowledge that they were letting Christ’s essence embody them. And because they did, Christ was with you in the wild n’ crazy Sunday school rooms of children’s ministry, with you in the stinky youth cabin, with you in the hard days working with people who have nothing and have lost hope, with you in the rooms where people were asking for one more chance to simply tell their loved ones that they loved them!
To the Graduates
Graduates… I hope you hear that you don’t need everything figured out. If you do, please come see me after the service…I have questions. Faithfulness is not about having clarity. It’s about taking the next step toward where Christ is moving.
To the Parents/Guardians
Parents and guardians, I hope you hear that letting go feels unnatural. Because for years your job was to hold on tightly and help them grow. But now it shifts to trusting deeply and growing with.
To the Church
Church, I hope you hear this… The danger isn’t change. The danger is clinging so tightly to comfort that we miss Christ moving right in front of us. Jesus didn’t say, “Preserve what was.” He said, “Follow me.”
3. Becoming Through Presence (Philippians 2:12–13)
In verses 12-13, Paul says, “12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Now that does not mean “stress yourself out spiritually.” It’s not like God is standing there with a clipboard, peering over his browline glasses saying, “Well… effort level today was about a 6. Let’s try for more enthusiasm tomorrow.”
What I believe Paul means is this: Faith is something we live into together. It’s a prayer-filled, deeply-rooted commitment to act continually as a faithful community.
And this is where we need each other across generations. Because let’s be honest: We misunderstand each other. Older generations look at younger people wondering: “Why are you always on your phone?”
Younger people clap back asking: “Why do you print your emails?”
We’re all confused. But here’s the truth: Distance creates assumptions. Proximity creates understanding.
I once saw a student on their phone during church and thought, “They’re completely disengaged.” Later I learned… they were texting a friend who was struggling and invited them to come WITH THEM the next week.
Same moment. Completely different story. That’s what happens when we move closer.
To the Graduates
Graduates and young people alike… You are not the “future church.” You are the church. Right now. Lean into it. Own it. Commit to making it a place where the essence of Christ flows freely.
To the Parents
Your influence isn’t over…it’s evolving. Which is a nice way of saying: They may not take your advice anymore… but they’re still listening more than they admit. So don’t stop showing up and caring.
To the Church
The future will not be built by programs and nostalgia.
It will be built by saying “yes” to:
· Showing up
· Learning names
· Asking questions for understanding before you speak out to make your point
· Being patient
And yes…if you want to connect with younger generations, you might need to learn a few things, like how to use emojis correctly, maybe learn what “low-key” means (don’t use it though, that’s going to set you back a few weeks in the connection area), and that apparently everything can now be described as “mid…” And just so you know… If someone says your casserole is “mid,” that is not spiritual encouragement.
Work to keep yourselves honest, your words kind and your heads on a swivel, my friends. There’s always someone in need of connection.
But I hope this humor doesn’t minimize the point I’m trying to make… this isn’t really about language or how people engage with technology. It’s about presence. Not fixing people. Not
judging from a distance. It’s about walking together on the mountain tops, in the valleys, and on the plateaus.
Conclusion: A Shared Becoming
Graduation or staff transitions are not just an ending. They’re a handoff. Because whether we like it or not, we are all becoming something.
The question is: Will we become people shaped by fear… or people shaped by the essence of Christ?
I hope and pray it’s the latter, because here’s the promise of this passage: “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to [God’s] good purpose.”
God is already at work. Even when things feel uncertain. Even when things look different. Even when we don’t have it all figured out. So… we move forward together: Not trying to recreate the past. Not panicking about the future, but by trusting God in the present.
And that future? It’s still within reach. If we can approach it honestly and humbly… we might even enjoy it… I know I know, don’t come after me, but the future years may actuallybe the best years, yet.
Amen.
