Sunday, April 9, 2006
Sermon: “Changing Mind-Defaults”
Scripture: Philippians 2: 5-11
Reverend Larry Gerber
Resetting our mind-defaults to the mind of Christ is an ongoing goal of the Christian life.
The Daily Show on TV’s Comedy Central is a fake news program that reaps laughs by playing fast and loose with each day’s news. As the show’s Web site describes it, it’s “a nightly half-hour series unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity or even accuracy.” What it is, to some people, is funny. And the host of the show, the “anchorman,” if you will, is comedian Jon Stewart.
During a recent interview with the comedian on NPR, he was asked if there was a point growing up where he realized he was funny. Stewart responded that what he realized is that his brain works in a certain way — that his mind defaults to a joke. In fact, his mind defaults to a joke so readily that for him, there is nothing else to do but to see the humor.
His developmental task related to that was not to try to stop seeing the humor, but to learn when and where it was appropriate to share what he was seeing with others. As he put it, he had to learn to turn obnoxiousness into wit.
The apostle Paul thought about mind-defaults, too. After learning about some sort of internal disagreement among the Philippian Christians, he wrote urging them to come to a cordial settlement. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus ... ,” Paul said.
Does this mean that our minds are like toasters, TVs, computers, word-processing programs, cameras or digital car radios?
Maybe. They all have default settings, or pre-sets, that are activated when we get them so that the toast is a nice brown, the TV has the right tint, and so on. We can change the default settings, if we don’t like the setting they are on.
By the time we’ve matured and become adults, we’ve got some serious mind-sets, faults and defaults in our brain. And just like the pre-sets on the car radio, a mind-set is not easy to change.
Of course, Paul’s mind-set did not limit his call to have the mind of Christ set to that single situation. In the verses preceding this reading, he says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit” (2:3, italics added). And when he says, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (2:4) we can hear the echo of Jesus’ instruction to “love your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus clearly meant this to be the default setting for the Christian life.
Paul was telling the Philippians to change their mind-defaults to the outlook of Christ.
Okay, but how? How can I change how I think? Aren’t the things to which my mind defaults inborn traits that are unchangeable aspects of my personality? How can I possibly change those?
A recent ministerial poll brought these responses:
• One pastor said, “While I enjoy humor, my mind does not default to a joke. Many is the time when I’ve been in conversation with someone who has said something outrageous to get a laugh, and I have taken them seriously, only realizing belatedly that they were just kidding
• Another said, “My mind tends to default to whatever I happen to be preaching that week. From Monday on, it’s as though my brain automatically makes every encounter I have or thing I read a possible sermon illustration.”
• Still others said their minds went to questions, sarcasm, suspicion and cynicism (especially about people in power), optimism, and to creating something — like a new banner for the next liturgical season.
• One said she had a cultivated default — gratitude.
Obviously there are times when any of those mind-defaults are helpful, but there are also times when none of them are. Nonetheless, whatever mind-defaults you possess are part of your reality.
But now, here comes the apostle Paul, writing to the Philippians, and by extension, to all who are trying to serve Christ, and he says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” In other words, reset your mind-defaults — reset the way your mind works — to the way Jesus views things.
And again, we ask how?
One way is by direct experience. A Jewish man who was the only member of his family to survive the Nazi death camps explained that before the camp, he had been a happy person with a positive view of life. Afterward, though, his outlook was never the same. His mind now defaulted (though he didn’t use that word) to sadness, pessimism and a sense that life had no meaning. The death camp had reset his mind.
But that can happen in a more positive direction as well. Think about people who perceive the world as an unfriendly or unlucky place, who meet someone and fall in love. When they are loved in return, truly and deeply loved by another person, that is often enough to change everything, including the person’s gloomy outlook. Positive experience can change how we think.
Our experience colors the way we think and therefore the way we experience! Paul argues that we need to “just do it.” That is, we need to begin doing, or practicing, our faith in concrete, tangible, observable, experiential ways. When we do that, it’s likely to alter the way we think about what we’re doing.
You might not normally be charitable. Then serve supper at UMOM some Thursday evening, or give an “out-of-the-blue” gift to a needy person. You get the idea.
You might not normally say a lot of positive things. Then determine to bestow the gift of affirmation on at least one or two people a day.
You might not normally think about how others are doing. Then, think of one person each day about whom you can inquire. Look at the list of persons needing prayer. Call one or more of those persons, even if you do not know them. Tell them that you saw their name on the prayer list and just wanted to assure them that you are praying for them.
And so on. Paul doesn’t seem to be too much into explaining the “how” of having the mind of Christ. He assumes that if one looks even slightly at the person of Jesus Christ, we’ll get it.
In case we miss it, however, he does say that when we live with humility, we get close to a Christ mind-set. Jesus “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” (Philippians 2:7-8).
Paul’s message is clear: No one can have a mind that defaults to Christ unless he or she has learned how to live selflessly.
There’s no button to push to reset the humility default. It’s tough. It requires the “practice” of putting others’ interests above our own. It means that we put others first, rather than ourselves.
if it seems impossible to change thought patterns that have been ingrained throughout a lifetime, Paul adds: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (4:13).
And in closing, let us remember how steadfast Jesus was during his last week on earth. His was a mind set on His Father’s plan. He was not about to change to worldly wishes and demands. His was not a selfish plan set on personal survival. His was a plan to bear witness to His Father. On that night in the Garden he prayed for steadfastness: “Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done.” Jesus did not have a mind-default. This is a crucial week in the life of the church, and in the life of each of us. We are called to look at our mind-default. We are corporately and individually called to set our eyes upon Jesus and walk in his way. Let us pray….
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Sources:
Begley, Sharon. “Racism studies find rational part of brain can override prejudice.” The Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2004, B1.
“Jon Stewart, Faking it and making it,” Fresh Air from WHYY, July 22, 2005. Archived at npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4766348.