October 1, 2017
/The Rt. Rev Jeff W. Fisher, Bishop Suffragan of Texas
Philippians 2: 1-13
My wife and I met each other in the Young Singles group at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church here in Houston.
And when we were in our 20s, my wife and I even volunteered together to be adult sponsors of the youth group at St. John the Divine.
And in our youth group was an exceptional little junior high kid, a kid named – Jimmy Grace.
{Jimmy is now the rector of St. Andrew’s.}
Anyway, at St. John the Divine, my wife and I went to the 9am worship service most every Sunday.
We participated fully in the liturgy:
Sitting to listen to the sermon,
Standing to affirm our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed,
Kneeling to confess our sins.
On one Sunday, the priest said the familiar words:
“Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.”
And immediately, everyone got down to kneel.
I pulled the kneeler down.
And, to confess our sins, my wife and I hit our knees.
Except on this Sunday, my wife then proceeded to move away from the kneeler and to sit her bottom back on the pew.
Silently, I gave her the look, and I whispered:
“What are you doing??”
And she mischievously whispered back:
“I think I’ll just sit this one out.”
To which I spouted back:
“Get back down here on your knees!”
The Apostle Paul teaches us in his letter to the Philippians:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend.”
Take a knee.
In the age of Twitter, this little phrase, “take a knee,” has become a hashtag.
Yet for two thousand years, Christians have been taught to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.
Christians have been taught to look not to our own interests, but to the interests of others.
For at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend.
Take a knee.
Because when we take a knee, we are not sitting out the confession of our sins, sins against God and our neighbor.
When we take a knee, we have the same mind as Christ Jesus, who humbled himself, humbling himself even to death on a cross.
When we take a knee, we look not at our own interests, but to the interests of others.
In the last five weeks, our lives have been changed – by Hurricane Harvey.
In Houston and in Southeast Texas, we have all witnessed destruction and tragedy.
At various levels of intensity, many of us are feeling the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.
We know this because when we now hear rain falling, we hear that sound with different ears.
We have watched the nation and the world focus on us – and on our vast tragedy.
And now we have watched the nation and the world move on to the next crisis du jour.
And in the midst of all of the sadness and destruction, we have also witnessed human beings rise up to the best of our nature:
We have witnessed salvation – rescuing people out of rising waters in bass fishing boats.
We have witnessed sacrifice – leaning out of helicopters to pluck people up off roofs.
We have witnessed service – mucking out our neighbor’s home.
We have witnessed human beings –
Take a knee.
For when we take a knee, we have the same mind as Christ Jesus, who humbled himself.
When we take a knee, we look not to our own interests, but to the interests of others.
Lately, for good or ill, the phrase “take a knee” has become wrapped up in football, and racism, and nationalism.
And yet the Apostle Paul teaches us in his letter to the Philippians:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend.”
In my own life, I am also entangled in this soup that we live in –
A soup that is a mix of football, racism, and nationalism.
And all the while I am striving to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.
I want to look not to my own interests, but to the interests of others.
I want to take a knee.
And I love college football, especially the Texas Longhorns.
And on Saturday morning, I like to get pumped up for the day by watching College Game Day on ESPN.
On College Game Day on ESPN yesterday, they had a story about football at the University of Iowa.
And next door to the football stadium at the University of Iowa, is a brand new, towering 14-story building.
The new building next door to the stadium – is Iowa Children’s Hospital.
Some of the kids who are patients at Iowa Children’s Hospital have cancer and are under going chemotherapy.
Some of the kids are in excruciating rehab.
Some of the kids are terminally ill, with their parents trying their best to provide hope.
And on football Saturdays, these kids and their families can look down out of their hospital window and watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play football in the stadium.
The University of Iowa has started a new football tradition.
At the end of the first quarter of every game, everyone in the football stadium, including the players and the coaches, they all turn their gaze away from the football field.
Everyone in the stadium then turns around and faces the towering Iowa Children’s Hospital.
They look up.
And they wave to the children, who are gazing out the windows with hope.
In a recent night game, at the end of the first quarter,
The people in the stadium all took out their smartphones, turned on their flashlights, turned away from the field, and waved up at the patients in the children’s hospital.
On College Game Day on ESPN, several of the patients at Iowa Children’s Hospital were interviewed for the story.
One of the teen-aged patients explained how this gesture in the stadium has now given him hope.
This teenager explained:
“It makes me feel good.
It makes me feel good when people turn away from their own interests.
It makes me feel good when I know that they are interested in others,
When I know that they are interested –
In me.”
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Take a knee.
AMEN.