Can you imagine Palm Sunday without “All glory, laud and honor to thee Redeemer King” which we sang as we processed into the church? That hymn has been around since the 9th century; it was written by Theodulph of Orleans. It has been sung ever since and I suspect has been sung in much of Western Christendom this day. We would feel very cheated if it were omitted. Hymns are an important liturgical component and convey theological and poetic insights.

But in the second reading today we heard an even more ancient hymn being quoted by St Paul in that second chapter of the Letter to the Philippians. Quote the whole passage. It is generally agreed that Paul did not compose this passage but that he quoted an already existing liturgical hymn used in the Christian communities when they gathered for worship. Given that Philippians probably dates from the 50s or early 60s of the First Century that makes this quoted hymn among the earliest extant Christian texts. It is really a sung creed or statement of faith in poetic form. It is one of the earliest interpretations of the work of Christ and therefore provides a helpful lens for us to interpret this week which we call Holy.

Let us look at the hymn for a moment. Its context is interesting in itself. Paul is imploring the Philippian Church to be united: “Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish concern or conceit” and so forth. Paul is addressing a divided Christian community. The contemporary church is not the only church to face internal conflict. It was present in the Church of the New Testament. It is to address that conflict that he quotes a well known hymn. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” Paul says and then quotes the hymn. When you face conflict within the Body of Christ look to the model we find in Jesus: “who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself.”

This self emptying of Christ is often called kenosis after the Greek word used here which gives rise to the kenotic theory of salvation. But this poetic hymn form uses metaphor upon metaphor to amplify this understanding of kenosis, this self-emptying of Jesus. “So he( who was in the form of God) 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.”

It is important to note this literary form because it reminds us how hard it is sometimes to effectively catch experience in a form of words. Anyone who has tried to get a group of people to write a statement say at the end of a conference (just witness the close of the G20 this week with President Obama with the Chinese President in one corner and the French in the other going to and fro to reach agreement on one sentence) knows how hard it is to craft the right words. For that reason it is the poetic form like Paul uses here which uses a variety of metaphors to describe what was quite novel: one who is God becoming human and giving himself in love even to the point of death in order to bring us new life.

So the hymn continues that because of what Christ has done “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” and so on. This hymn if you like captures the “shape of our salvation”: from Incarnation through Passion and Crucifixion to Resurrection and Exaltation. That is it in a nutshell. Here we have perhaps the earliest form of credal statement in hymn form. It is a shape which we can demonstrate physically and it is a shape we can recognize at work in so many aspects of our life. For instance it is the shape of Baptism: we die with Christ; literally we drown with Christ in the waters of baptism in order that we may be saved from them and given new life. It is also the shape of Christian discipleship. Jesus speaks about “losing one's life in order to gain it.” It is certainly the shape of Christian compassion: it as we give to others; as we identify with them in their need or loss or pain; it is there that we truly find ourselves and find God.

This hymn acts as a lens through which we can begin to interpret the “work” of Christ; what Christ has done for us. It helps us to make sense of this week which we call holy. It helps us hold together the “hosannas” of the Palm gospel at the opening of today's liturgy as well as the “Crucify him” “Crucify him” of the Passion which we have just heard as well as the “Alleluias” of Easter at the end of the week. They are not separate, unrelated incidents but rather aspects of this “shape” found in this ancient hymn. This shape really helps us see this week as a whole with a shape or structure to it. If it is at all possible it really helps to experience the whole of the liturgical week rather than only parts.

Today's liturgy along with those of Maundy Thursday, Good Fiday and the Easter vigil next Saturday evening are all part of this shape. They are several acts of the one great drama which is the drama of our salvation. If we miss the second or third act we really lose something in the dramatic build-up. Over the years I have had parishioners who say quite seriously that they do not attend on Good Friday because it is “too sad”. While respecting their right to hold such views I would do all in my power to persuade them otherwise. Good Friday it is not a sad day as such otherwise why call it Good! It is a solemn day for sure because it celebrates Christ's death on the Cross.

But we are not simply rehearsing a series of historical events here. No we are celebrating the whole saving work of God in Christ, the shape of our salvation, as illustrated in this hymn quoted by Paul. So as we mark each major day of Holy Week we focus on different events and aspects of Christ's final week but always in light of the whole. That is why on Good Friday we sing those Passion hymns like “Lift high the Cross” and “When I survey the wondrous Cross” hymns which celebrate the victory of Christ on the cross. We do this precisely because we are always people of the Resurrection.