There is a striking line in today's reading from Philippians. "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus..." It's from a popular bit of the Bible, and so I've seen it many times. But today I must have been looking from a different angle. I can have the same mind as Jesus?
Of course this question raises another. What does it mean to have the same mind as Jesus? Being "of the same mind" is sometimes synonymous for agreeing with someone, but I don't thing this verse calls us to agree with Jesus. I speaks of something much deeper, more along the lines of Christ dwelling in us. And this seems to be confirmed at the end of today's reading where we are told to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you..."
The same mind as Jesus; God at work in us. Both of these seem to speak of something more than belief, something more than agreeing with certain faith statements. They speak of a God who not only desires a close and intimate relationship with us, but who literally becomes a part of us, present within us so that we become true reflections of Jesus. If God is at work in us, if we have the same mind in us that was in Jesus, then in a very real sense we become God bearers. We become part of the Incarnation, God in the flesh.
This isn't something we accomplish. It is something we open ourselves to when we "let" the mind of Jesus dwell in us, when we "let" God be present in us. O God, be at work in me, and let me show you to the world.
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