Sermon Cloud

Phil 2:1-11

Welcome-Bob

Beginning reflection time-

Psalm and Song- Psalm 113

We started the book of Philippians a few weeks back- we’re just working through it verse by verse as a community. That’s kind of our style here, to take whole books of the Bible, try to get a handle on what they were saying to the people who first read them in the context in which they were written, but also to work hard at trying to place the message of these books in the context of our community, and hopefully listen hard for what God is saying to us here in Portland, here at evergreen.

Paul is writing from Rome where he’s under house-arrest for telling people about Jesus, and he writes to this young community, this relatively new church in the Macedonian city of Philippi- to encourage them, to teach them, to give them an update on his situation… We ended chapter 1 last week, where Paul had told them: “Whatever happens to me (that is, whether I’m released or whether they kill me), you all need to continue to live your lives in a manner worthy of the Good News about Jesus Christ.”

In other words, if you are following Christ, then live in sync with the Gospel, the Good News, about Christ. The Christian life should be in harmony with the message on which it is based. Makes sense, right?

If God Himself really has come to rescue and renew all of creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, then let your lives be in rhythm with that fact.

But more than just being in harmony with the Gospel… if you follow Jesus, the harmony and rhythm of your life should extend outward… he says

VS 2:1-2

It’s translated here as “If there is” but maybe some of you have in your translations something more like “Since there is”… and that’s probably a bit closer to the mark- He acknowledges, yes- this is a struggle. It’s hard to live counter-culturally, it’s hard to live life in the way of Jesus… but he also acknowledges something else too- it’s not all hard. Since there is some encouragement in following and belonging to Jesus, since the Holy Spirit brings us together, since God moves us more and more towards compassion for others,.. Paul says, do me a favor, would you?

Can you just get along with each other?

Not only should we do all we can to live the Christian life in harmony with message on which it is based, but we should do everything in our power to live this life in harmony with those around us who are also trying to live it, those we are in community with.

You know, it’s bad enough when church people know how to love each other but allow themselves to be completely clueless when it comes to loving those around them, loving those who see the world differently than them, who don’t see Jesus the way we do. That’s bad.

What’s worse, however, is when people who are following Jesus can’t love people who don’t follow Jesus AND can’t even get along with other people who do.

Now don’t get me wrong- there are things debating, even with others who are Christians… I’m not saying there aren’t. But they are few and far between. And traditionally, Church people have done an exceedingly poor job at doing what Paul tells us to do here.

Why do you think that might be?

Ultimately, the answer as to why we can’t get along, is… we’re human. We’re just people- flawed. Hurt people who hurt people. And ever since Cain killed his brother Abel, we’ve been taking shots at the people closest to us.

And that’s why Paul has to write this. And that’s why we have to listen to it.

“Love each other.”

Whoa- that’s deep… Yeah- it is; Three words, so easy to say, so infinitely hard to actually live out.

What does it look like? He gives us a good start here:

Vs 3

Two negative commands and a positive…  What’s the connection between the two negatives? How are they related do you think? Or are they?

It is possible to be outwardly very concerned about others- very giving, very compassionate, very others-focused- and have it simply mask a complete selfishness- giving to get. Giving to get given to in return, whether it’s accolades or respect or admiration.

Once we start getting past what we do and into why we do what we do, we hit some really dark places in the human heart.

So Paul says- “Be humble.”  What does that mean? Can anyone actually define humility??

He kind of defines it here, at least grammatically, by saying “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.”

At first, I had some real postmodern angst about that phrase: “thinking of others as better than yourself.”  I really, really wanted to soften that and say something like, “Of course, we know we’re all equal. What Paul is saying is that in the context of understanding our essential equality, we should experientially seek to place others ahead of ourselves…”

But as I looked through translation after translation… there’s just no way around it. He says, “literally, think of others as better than yourselves. “

There’s no doubt in my mind, telling us to think of others as better than ourselves is a hard thing to hear, a hard pill to swallow. This is strong, strong medicine for the cancer of our selfishness and pride. It cuts right to the real issue that tears families and neighborhoods and nations apart- we really do think we’re better than everyone else. SO why not simply emphasize equality? Because human nature says that if you and I are both trying to maintain some kind of 50/50 balance between us, chances are we will hold back a tiny bit- we are both actually going to be pulling for 51/49. Just trying to get whatever edge we can, all while nodding our head to the concept of equality.

And so Paul says- don’t just consider each other equal- essentially, it’s true, but practically speaking, it won’t bring the deep change that’s really needed.

What we need is to go even farther than “equality”… we need to consider others as better than ourselves. To put their needs not just on par with our own, but ahead of ours. And yes, a community where half the people were doing this and half not would be a very screwed up place… but imagine a community where nearly every person were preferring others over themselves.

He says, and this does sound pretty balanced, I think:

Vs 4

Be concerned about the people you are in community with. Know them. Know their struggles. Care about them. Look out for their interests, not only your own.

Practically speaking, what does this look like, lived out in community?

Just an aside here… each of us want to be liked by other people. Not everyone, however, discovers the secret of being liked by others, so I will share that with you today, free of charge- just gratis. When we’re kids, we think the secret to getting other people to like us is hiding the embarrassing stuff and telling everyone we can the cool parts. In other words, we think the way to get people to like us is to talk about ourselves.

At a certain point, we need to grow out of that, because it simply doesn’t work. Guys especially are prone to this- there are times when a group of guys will be sitting around telling stories- and everyone is not so much listening with a view to understanding each other, but listening with a view to asking themselves “ Hmmm… how can I top that- what story do I have? I know…” Which is okay occasionally, but as a sustainable way to interact and build relationships with other people? Doesn’t work.

You have to, have to, have to show an interest in others. The best interpersonal skill you can build, the one that will make you wildly popular, is the skill of asking good questions and actually listening to the answers. “Take an interest in others, too” Paul says.

But life in the way of Jesus isn’t about just being liked by others… if only it were that easy. It’s about something deeper, something infinitely harder…

VS 5

Not only is the Christian life a matter of living in harmony with the message on which it is based, and not only is it a matter of living in harmony with the ones around you who are trying to do the same… but the deepest level of the Christian life, the real essence of it is this: Living in harmony with the one who first lived it- Christ. Having His attitudes, looking at the world and others and ourselves the way He does. And in this specific case…

VS 6-7

John, the writer of the Gospel of John, is not the only one to speak of Jesus and highlight the mystery, the tension in His person, that He was with God and yet was God. Here, Paul does the same thing. He says “Though He was God, He didn’t consider equality with God as something to cling to. “

Christ did not surrender His deity- that was affirmed throughout the Gospels. What He surrendered was the independent use of His divine attributes, his divine privileges. He was still all powerful- this is the one whom John tells us created the world. He didn’t stop holding creation together, he didn’t stop being God… But He stopped acting like it. He came, He identified with us, with our limitations and weaknesses- taking them as His own.

Sometimes words in English take on meanings over time that they didn’t begin with… one word like that is “condescend”- which, today probably has a meaning of “to look down on from above.” But break the word down into its component parts- “con” which means what? With. And descend, to go down.

In Jesus, we see God condescending in the best possible usage of the word. God descending to be with us. God humbling Himself, and joining the humble, the poor, those in need. God helping those who understand it is impossible for them to help themselves.

God, wrapping a towel around his waist and washing the feet of sinful men. Even washing the feet of his friend who would betray Him, and surrender Him to the authorities to be killed. Only slaves washed feet. And Jesus did that.

Only criminals, non-citizens, non-persons, were crucified, and yet…

VS 8

There’s more than one sense in which Christ “died a criminal’s death.”

Yes, the death of Christ was in a manner reserved for criminals, but in another sense he died that death which rightly belonged to criminals- to all who had broken the law- the penalty which belonged to you and to me. He died a criminal’s death, in the place of, as a substitute for you and for me.

Notice the arc, here though… The Old Testament says God brings down the proud but raises up the humble. Christ humbled Himself for our sake, died a humiliating death for the sake of our forgiveness and freedom and…

VS 9-11

Here’s another passage which might cause a little postmodern angst. It’s easier to say that equality among people shouldn’t really be the goal if you follow that up with saying that we should all think of each other as better than ourselves… It’s entirely another thing to say that equality of religions and gods is an illusion… especially when you follow it up with “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

But in the same sense that the earlier statement of us putting each other ahead of ourselves is the radical medicine for the cancer of selfishness that ruins us, so this is radical medicine for the cancer of pride that infects our world.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- everyone needs Jesus. Hindus need Jesus. Lutherans need Jesus.  Muslims, Catholics, Buddhists and Baptists (especially the Baptists…) all need Jesus. And more than simply need Him, we all will face Him.

God raised Him up once on the cross- and we killed Him. But someday, God will raise Him up again, this time on a throne, and our response will be very different. The only question that remains for that moment is, will we see Him for who He really is?

Oh, I know what the verse says- “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Understand that in the context Paul is writing to- Phillipi was a city in Macedonia that took great pride in their status as a Roman colony, a city in which the Emperor was worshiped, in which all declared at least once a year “Caesar is Lord.”

And Paul writes to these people and says- it will not always be so. Caesar may have the hearts and minds of so many now… but someday, all of that comes to an end as false gods are exposed and Jesus is seen clearly as the name above every name.

So, yes, in a way, someday, every one will see Jesus for who He really is… and yet, I have a feeling that many, or most, won’t. It’s possible to bow the knee and yet inwardly remain standing, defiant, a rebel. And I have no doubt that it’s possible to look right at Jesus, and because of the cancer of our own selfishness, and our own pride completely miss the character of the God-man who humbled Himself for our sake- who because of His great love for us, left everything, was born into poverty in the backwaters of what we’d consider a third-world country, lived a sinless life and suffered a horrible death He didn’t deserve, all for the sake of those who could not save themselves- you and me.

This is the God we serve- The God who doesn’t ask us to do a thing He hasn’t already done Himself. The God who leaves a throne for a cross. The God who doesn’t just look down on us, but comes down and joins us, suffers with us, dies for us. The God who joins the lowly and raises them up, even as He himself is raised up. The God who raised up Jesus, will do the same for those who follow Him.

Break- songs

Reflection time wrap up

What’s the take away from this passage? How do we sum it up?

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

Blessing- Celtic Prayer