Monkey See, Monkey Do
This morning our scripture is a description of a concept.
To be a bit more specific the idea that I hope we focus on is called community. That is a word that we may all know a definition for.
We talk about our church community, and the silver creek community all the time.
A clinical definition might go something like, a group of people joined by similar beliefs or area or interest. Community might be centered around baseball or church or music or Golf…
I have a friend named John. (He us unaware that he is a wealth of sermon illustrations. If I want him to find out about that detail I will tell him.) John years ago was on the Pepperell Football team. It was easy to believe because he is about 3 inches taller than me. He works out and has huge arms. That my give you a hint of why I would not want to upset him…
He talked about his High School Sports days a lot. I remember him telling me about a game that they were not expected to win.
He was one of the front line guys whose job it was to protect the quarterback. John described facing some monster of a guy that made him look average size. He said that the QB called the play and John banged into this guy and nothing moved. The harder he tried to drive him backwards the longer the guy’s arm seemed to get. He said that this guy just kept jamming him in the chin. He said the play seemed to last forever.
Finally, the whistle blew and his team huddled up and the QB spent the whole time saying, John you let your man through, John it is all your fault. John you let me down. John agued, saying, it wasn’t my man over and over again. With time up the QB said “same play” and they lined up again.
He said the story was exactly the same, except this time he never really got close to this guy except for the end of his arm and this other player pounded him backward.
The QB was down again and started shouting at John about him letting his man through and how he had to stop him this time. John, softly and slowly through clenched teeth, said, It wasn’t my man.
He did not argue with his QB this time, the just listened to the verbal reprimand. Basically, He sucked it up and with a determined look on his face and teeth still clenched, they were back on the line again.
This time it was different. When the play started the other players arm came up and he started toward John under full power and John stepped aside and let him pass. In an instant the play was over. The QB was flat on his back gasping for air.
John walked over leaned down to where the QB lay and said… “That was my man!”
While that was satisfying to John, he was not acting in a way that was best for the community or any individuals in the football team community.
He was only willing to go so far when his efforts went unrecognized….Ultimately he acted in a way that satisfied him at the expense of community.
-- Paul is writing a letter of encouragement to the church in Philippi. In chapter 1 - He speaks of his imprisonment and attacks against him caused hardship for him personally. However, this hardship causes Christ to be preached.
He encourages his readers to live in a way as to be faithful to the gospel especially in their own time of hardship. He encourages readers to stand firm as one spirit and a united body.
Our text offers a little different definition of community than we might think of:
Phil 2:1-4
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
So, after Paul set the stage of being united and standing firm when being punished for your faith, he then supports his position with a series of ifs…
In my study on this passage there was a common point about the pattern of the words and sentences…
The Ifs are not passive for the reader to decide, they are not an expression of doubt.
The (Ifs) are building a strong argument from the writer. He is building a case to persuade the readers.
The emphasis Paul is using is said to be missing something in translation…The common opinion on this passage says that Paul is saying, “if this is true…and I know it is…”
If you are encouraged in your relationship with Christ and I know you are,
IF you have any comfort from his love, and you do …
IF you have a fellowship in the Spirit and you do….
IF you have experienced tenderness and compassion and you have.
Paul calls on the Philippians relationship with Christ. Not with each other., not with the outside community. If Christ has encouraged, comforted fellowshipped and given affection and compassion THEN! Then Paul offers a proper response.
-- As a kid I remember a phrase, Monkey see, monkey do…
-- Anyone else remember that….
As a definition – it refers to learning a process without understanding why or how it works or why needs to be done in a certain way.
It is suggested that it comes from how monkeys mimicked the motions and actions of people.
Basically, it implies mimicry, simple copying of another person.
I remember in a movie how some guy was invited to a fancy household to dinner and when seated there were knives and forks all around the plate and he was lost. He was outside his comfort zone.
He did not want to be embarrassed and survived the event by watching every move of the person across the table. He copies every move, every selection of fork and spoon. He ate what they ate and held the utensils exactly as the other person did. He did everything slowly and deliberately.
His mimicry got him by ….. until he could learn table manners for himself.
Paul is point out what we can see and mimic as Christians. If you have experienced the relationship Christ offers, “, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”
Paul hopes his readers will respond to this reminder of what Christ has done and make HIS joy complete….He is not disappointed in them but hopes to over flow with Joy because of their response. He experiences joy as they commit to unity with Paul and each other because of what they SEE in Christ.
He seems easy to make happy….to be like minded….to agree does not seem so hard.
I don’t think that he is saying that we have to agree on everything. This passage is about unity not uniformity. He is not saying that we dress alike and speak alike those would be controlled form an outside source. Unity is something that comes from inside.
Unity comes from the inside it is fed by something that we desire or love, which guides us to cooperate, to be team players and to have the same team spirit and the same objectives.
Community is a group of individuals that have a passion to act as a team and share interest and goals of the group more than their individual preferences.
Paul mentions that the community is to maintain the same love, which I think most of us know enough to be able to say that we are to love one another.
But most of us also have met people that are hard to get close to. They may try to keep us at arms length and push us back….and that makes this maintaining love things pretty hard.
We have a tendency to be satisfied that there are Christians that we have to love but we hope heaven is a really big place and we won’t have to see them that often.
That is not a community attitude. That is not a concept that is pleasing to Christ. Community is not satisfied with tolerating others because we are told to love everyone.
--- Monkey see Monkey do… Mimicry!
Paul is describing something more, he is describing community as a group of people that see what Christ is doing in them and live in a way that offers the same relationship to others. You offer encouragement, compassion, and fellowship from you because, you have received them.
Instead of Monkey See, Monkey do, simply mimicking Christ…
It is something more…..we live in ways that we become Christ for other people.
As we grow in our relationship with Christ and live in a community of believers we offer that community to everyone not as a choice but as a way of life…
This is Deep stuff….This kind of extreme living is frightening to most of us.
But our culture is drawn to extreme….
Extreme sports where skiers jump from helicopters on top of mountains.
Extreme makeovers where people work out to exhaustion and deprive themselves of food and even have surgery to change their appearance.
In the church the most extreme we will consider is extreme Doritos at Wednesday night supper.
If we, a church community, live as Paul is suggesting we will risk being extreme because that is what Christ did. Because we do not live for ourselves.
Christian’s SEE, and respond by being … Christ!
IT is not What Would Jesus DO, … It is how can I be Jesus today?
Being Jesus is extreme and sounds impossible. The only it is possible is because we have the holy spirit as our helper. It is our guide. It is the Spirit of God that makes us the living body of Jesus Christ and if we will allow it to work, allow it to freely lead and mode in and around us. Then Christ can live and work through us. Not by Choice or copying… but by being real and genuine.
Monkey see, Monkey do is a lot easier than giving in to extreme….But it seems that Paul offers warning about doing instead of being.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Doing that is connected to recognition or because we know we can do something better is acting. Being is just who we are….being loves and values others… Christians, non Christians, Buddhist, IRS agents, Politicians, used car salesmen and being valuable and important in our eyes to the point that we consider what they need more that what we might want need and desire.
IF we are acting and we treat the jerks in our lives better than ourselves then we will develop a little pride when we do well.
Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble when we ACT like Jesus…But if we are being Jesus we will also be humble and not even realize how good we are being. And outsiders will feel invited into our community.
Folks this stuff is not easy… Let’s look at the last sentence in our reading,
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
This statement sounds similar but instead of ACTING for our recognition we ACT out of what we might gain. The key point is that we ACT out of personal motives…
-- That is not community…That is individual desire and wants.
My friend John, also told me a story about when he was in the marines.
He told me he was a # 1. That sounded pretty good to me.
Being #1 sounds like an accomplishment. He had to explain it a little further for me to really understand. John served in the First Gulf war. He was on a 4 man fire team that went into buildings looking for enemies. John told me that being#1 meant that he got to wear two flak jackets.
What being #1 meant was that it was his job to step through the door of a room and be the biggest target possible. It was his job to draw the fire from an attacker in the room.
He acted as a human shield so that #2, #3 and #4 could step in and take out the enemy.
Folks that is an illustration of the kind of community that Christians are called to.
We are called to care about others and their needs more than our personal position or desires.
Our one mission is to be willing to face suffering and hardship to provide invitation and opportunities so that others can be drawn into a relationship with Christ.
Comparing bullets to what we face may be a bit extreme, but we know what it is like.
But everyone in here has made the choice for someone in our family or friends to get what they wanted instead of maybe how we would have chosen to spend our time or money. All based on our relationship with another person.
The key concept of community is related to an impossible standard. Being Christ is only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit and our Love of Jesus Christ.
When we see and choose to try to be Christ Image, are choosing to offer the encouragement, comfort, fellowship, love and compassion in the name of community.
The more Christians see what Christ has done and is doing the easier to become able and to live as He did in all situations. It becomes more and more natural to be Christ to this world.
It is not monkey see, monkey do it is Christians see, Christians be…Be Christ in community
All Glory be to God!
