Normally, Ray and I spend a lot of time digging around in the Gospels. Then this past summer, we decided to focus on the Old Testament readings about Creation, Abraham’s family, and Moses. So what about those poor Epistles (“letters”)? What about those twisty-turny passages of Scripture snuck in-between the two big readings that are sometimes so theologically opaque and sometimes so amazingly on-point?
This Sunday is the perfect opportunity to let the Epistle shine. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (members of a church in Philippi – today Filippoi, Greece). Philippians is actually a sort of love story: in Paul’s words you can detect the depth of friendship between him and the church, despite some conflict. But you can also read about the depth of love that Jesus has for the world in the portion of Chapter 2 that we read this week, which is sometimes called “The Kenotic Hymn.”
Excerpt from Philippians 2:1-13:
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death--
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Why is this called a Hymn?
In certain passages of Scripture, notably in Paul’s letters and in the Gospel of Luke, it’s possible to pick up on sayings, phrases, and repeated statements that have a different ring to them. People who study the history and effect of worship (liturgical scholars) can identify some of these passages as hymns, liturgical responses or statements, doxologies (formal expressions of praise), etc. Though we don’t know for sure whether Philippians 2:5-11 was actually a hymn, it may be an example of a component of early Christian worship buried in our Scripture.
What is “Kenotic”?
Kenotic refers to kenosis, a Greek word that denotes emptying. The classic idea here is that Jesus emptied himself of divine attributes in order to assume human form. It’s a way to describe the Incarnation, or how God became human. A modified version of kenosis – and one that I think is more helpful – suggests that Jesus didn’t actually shed himself of divinity, but had an attitude of complete humility. Humility here has more to do with regarding others as great rather than regarding yourself as insufficient. Jesus emptied himself of self-regard and self-seeking, pouring himself out in love and service to others.
The opposite of kenosis is pleroma, which means “fullness.” Having emptied himself in service to others, Jesus was nevertheless full of God’s grace.
Why does it matter?
Philippians is about patterns. Paul in general is about patterns. Jesus is a template and we pattern our life on him not by looking at what he did and imitating it, but by joining ourselves to him and becoming one body with him. Baptism is the way we begin to do this and the Eucharist sustains us in it. But the pattern of that life is emptying and filling; kenosis and pleroma; death and resurrection. We begin to see Jesus’ life laid over everything and we begin to feel our own lives taking its shape: emptying and filling; kenosis and pleroma; death and resurrection.
(Danielle Thompson)
