I have been reading an article from the Australian newspaper. It appeared last Tuesday, (The Australian Tuesday September 20th, page 21, Features) and it is about an advertising campaign by a group of churches in Australia. The group of churches began with all the research that has been done over the past few years. The research looked carefully at what goes on in churches, what people outside the church think goes on and whether it is possible to bring the two together.

They found that most people think that the church as out of touch, oppressive, boring and pointless. Religion is seen as something for losers - people only go to church if they have failed to find satisfaction and personal fulfilment in their lives. Most people don't think they need the church at all - they can find all they need to live a good life in other places.

On the other hand, these same people find the life of Jesus very attractive. People see value and power in what Jesus taught, such as peace, forgiveness and acknowledgement of the sin of pride. Some people who took part in the research thought that "Jesus would be disgusted by the way the churches carried on." The message that came from the research is that Jesus is cool but that the church sucks.

So, and I quote from the article, "The new marketing strategy keeps the church, the Bible and religion well out of the picture. Instead, the spotlight falls on just one star. Jesus is played not as the Son of God but a tough-talking, no-nonsense philosopher who makes life easier and, incidentally, eternal."

I can't help thinking that this is a good starting point. After all, Jesus, as we hear in today's gospel, was often in conflict with the religious leaders, the chief priests and the elders of the people. St Paul always concentrated on Jesus as a focus for his preaching, and we know from his letters to the churches that he, Paul, was often frustrated and driven to despair by the behaviour of the church leaders. In every stage of the church's life there has been a struggle to keep Jesus Christ central to the life of the Christian community.

This is exactly what St Paul is saying to the Christians in Philippi. He tells them to concentrate on one thing only, and that is to be a follower of Christ, to be a person who lives their life in the same way Christ lived his. Look at Jesus, says Paul, Jesus was in the form of God, equal to the power and majesty and authority which makes all that is and without which nothing could exist. Jesus had all that power at his fingertips, but he set it aside. He could have ruled the world, but he chose to live life as a human being. He could have been a great rabbi, a revered prophet. He could have been king of Israel, even Emperor of Rome, he could have exploited his equality with God to control the universe. Instead he chose to embrace all that it means to be human - birth, life, suffering and death. His life was completely and absolutely human, in every way. This is the most wonderful thing about Jesus - because he chose to be so perfectly human, we can see our own human perfection in him. What would the world be like if each of us could be like Jesus and live lives of absolute integrity and authenticity? What would the world be like if we, like Jesus, could be truly human?

Well, this is what Paul is asking the Philippian Christians. "Take the encouragement that there is in Christ, take the consolation of love, share the spirit," he tells them. "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." This is what makes Christians Christians, this is what makes humans human! To be a follower and imitator of Jesus Christ is to be fully, authentically and truly human. And every woman, man and child has the potential to be fully human. To be part of the Christian community is to be committed to this ideal.

At St Luke's we seek to share God's unconditional love and acceptance of all people. This is our mission, our goal and our aim. But if we hear what St Paul is saying to the Philippians, we are also committed to the task of growing ourselves and helping each other grow to be fully Christ-like, that is, fully human.

And let me tell you that this is not a task for losers. For Jesus obedience to the task led to his death, death on a cross. From his anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane we know this was not easy - Jesus went to the cross without the certainty of the resurrection - he went to the cross because he trusted God and he trusted himself, that he was doing what was needed. Jesus went to the cross because of his integrity as a human being.

It is because of this integrity that we call him Lord. It is because of this integrity that he was raised from the dead. In the words of the first Christian hymn, which Paul quotes, "God has highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

When we say, "Jesus is Lord" it means that we are committing ourselves to the same life of integrity, a life of mutual encouragement, of sharing in the spirit, a life of compassion and sympathy, a life which will make us rethink all the values that the world holds dear, a life which will be an example to others, and which will challenge people to look at their own lives.

When we say, "Jesus is Lord" it means that we are turning to him for our inspiration, our strength, our hope, our joy and our fulfilment as human beings.

Let us pray as individuals and as a Christian community, that we may have the courage, the single-mindedness and the love to say, "Jesus is Lord" and really mean it.