Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 27, 2026
Philippians 2:1-13

The only thing that’s constant, is that things change. And for as much as that might bother us, or for as much as we might embrace that, this is especially true of the English language. It changes, constantly. The problem with reading Shakespeare, or the King James Bible, is that English then isn’t English now. The meanings of words have changed over time. They just do.

Or take the little word “you.” Like, “you.” Today we use it for one person, for many people; we use it to refer to people and to God. Four hundred years ago, English had three separate words for this. First, there was “thou.” For your grammar nerds – “thou” is second person singular familiar. “Thou” was how you referred to friends. Now, I know that we think of “thou” as a formal word, but it wasn’t back then. “Thou, thine, thy” was how one spoke to God in prayer, because prayer is intimate, and friendly. That’s why all the old prayer books, and all the old worship services use “thou, thine, and thy” because it was familiar. 

“You,” actually, was the formal version back then. Second person singular formal. When speaking to someone you respect, or an elder, it was appropriate to use “you.” 

And there was “ye.” Like “hear ye! Hear ye!” For groups of people. Second person plural. 

Like I said, English changed. Strangely, “thou” became formal, ceremonial language. The opposite of what it once was. “Ye” was dropped altogether. And we are left with “you” to mean all those things. 

Now why am I going on about one little word? Because this is one of the trickiest pieces of translation of the New Tesatment from ancient Greek into modern English. “You” has too much work to do. Just take this passage we read from Saint Paul, from his letter to the Philippians. Look back at in your bulletin if you want to follow along. “Let each of you look not to your own interests.” “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you.” So, who is you? 

In walks our old friend – “y’all.” You get it. English dropped “ye” long ago, but there was a gap that we needed to fill. Some ambiguity that needed clarifying. So we made up new words, because English is always changing. There’s “y’all” in the south. In the northeast, they’ll say “youse.” In the ozarks, it’s “you-uns.” I’m sure you’ve said, “you guys,” when it was really men and women together. In British English, they’ll say “you lot.” And of course, my favorite, “all y’all.”

Anyway, that’s the word that Saint Paul is using here. Ancient Greek had a specific word for you, plural. He is not writing to an individual, he’s writing to an entire congregation. To a group of people. This changes things. “Let each of y’all look not to y’all’s own interests.” “Let the same mind be in all y’all that was in Christ Jesus.” “Work out y’all’s own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you lot.” See what’s happening there? 

For Saint Paul, the church is a Body of believers. A corporate entity. People bound together not by blood, or by family, or by race, but by Christ. And so instructions to the Church are not intended for individuals, but for the whole group together. All y’all. This is what Saint Paul was trying to do throughout his ministry. Trying to get groups of people working together, ministering together. To be of the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Think of what he says.

“Let the same mind be in y’all that was in Christ Jesus, 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.”

This is the point. Not that we as individuals are supposed to live that way, to live like Christ. But that we, as a church, as a whole, are supposed to live this way. As a church, we empty ourselves out to the community. As a church, we take up the cross and follow Jesus.

I’m also pushing back against so much of what we assume about Christianity. That it’s about you, singular, and Jesus. That it’s about you, singular, going to heaven when you die. American Christianity especially is hyper-individualized. Not only is that a grammatical error, I think it’s a theological error. Christians are supposed to live in community. We’re supposed to depend upon each other. We’re supposed to worship and pray together in such a way that all our minds, all our hearts, become one in Christ. That’s Christian unity. 

Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that we’re all supposed to be the same. Unity is not the same as uniformity. Actually, what makes us stronger, what makes the Church amazing, is that so many different people from so many different walks of life choose to live together in Christ. Unity is that we all worship and pray together, despite our differences. Uniformity, all being the same, would be so boring. Thank God there are people of every age, of every persuasion, of every ideology, who all show up on Sunday, all committed to Christ. This is what Saint Paul had in mind. The Church is stronger when we’re all different. Then the Church can be a sign of Christ’s love to this sinful and broken world, that unity may overcome estrangement. Then the people of this world can look to the Church, can look to y’all, and see something that the world out there cannot offer. A community, a Body, people living together that would otherwise have no reason to even be in the same room. It’s not about you – it’s about all y’all. All of us.

And while we’re at it, while we’re thinking about language, and about the problems with an individualized Christianity, I want to look at one more word back in that passage from Philippians. It’s the word “salvation.” Paul tells the church in Philippi to “work out y’all’s own salvation with fear and trembling.” Now, salvation does not mean “being saved.” Salvation does not mean “going to heaven when you die.” Salvation, comes from the same English word where we get “salve.” Like an ointment you put on a burn. “Salvation” here, in the New Testament, really means “healing.” Healing. 

The Church, the Body of Christ, y’all, we’re in this to heal each other. Because goodness knows, we’ve all been wounded. We all hurt. Each of us walks into church with some wound, some trauma, some hard memory. The call then, is that we, as a Church, are supposed to be in this for each other’s healing. This is why we have a prayer list, this is why women from the church take the altar flowers to people who need some cheering up, this is why we’re committed to having a safe place for kids at church, this is why we show up on Sundays. This is why we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, it’s medicine for our souls. This is part of our healing. Our salvation. Through the power of the Holy Sprit, this is what we can give to each other.

The outside world should look at the church and marvel at how different people can live together in Christ. Inside the church, we should look at each other and commit to helping heal each other.

This, this is the purpose of the Church, the Body of Christ. Inside and out. “Let each of y’all look not to y’all’s own interests.” “Let the same mind be in y’all that was in Christ Jesus.” “Work out y’all’s own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in all y’all.”