Pastor Jeff Williams: November 28, 2011 Meet the Philippians, Part V: Chapter 2:5-11. Today we’re going to talk about a story of a man who is a weakling but has a lot of courage. He has been chosen by the government as a candidate for an experiment, which will transform him into an elite fighting machine. He is chosen not because of his great strength, but he’s been chosen because of his weakness. He’s been chosen because of his compassion and his humility. Let’s go ahead and watch a little clip from that movie right now, and then we’ll talk about God’s Word together. (The congregation is watching a clip from the movie, “Captain America.”) Likewise, the Bible says God chose us, the weak-not the strong. He chose the foolish in this world to confound the wise. Humility was something that was looked down on with disdain until Jesus came. A servant was not something you wanted to be; a slave was not something you wanted to be. Jesus came on the scene, and He inverted the pyramid. Really, like Alice in Wonderland and the land of the opposites, to be weak is strong. If you want to gain life, you must lose your life. If you want to be great, you must become a servant. Everything is inverted; everything is flipped. In Philippians 2, Paul is going to talk about the virtue of humility and how we might emulate the humility of our Lord. Let’s turn to Philippians 2 (page 1162 of pew Bibles). Last week we talked about the motive of unity. We talked about the marks of unity and the means of unity. This morning we’re going to talk about the model of unity. He says, “When you want to see unity; when you want to see what it looks like; you want to see servanthood; you want to see humility, look at our Lord’s example.” This whole Passage is just full of theology, and we’re going to stop and linger on some of the words and some of the Passages, even as we are talking about humility, because we simply cannot ignore what it’s teaching us about Jesus. By the way, I have been struggling with a cold this weekend, so I’m trying to talk really soft. I’ve not been singing the songs this weekend. I’m trying to preserve my voice. I’m trying to project enough to be heard, but not so much that I’m losing my voice. In the last service, several times I came close to having a coughing spell. Once you start losing it (your voice), it’s hard to get it back. I’m going to be very soft-spoken this morning and try to drink a lot. I have one more to go, and I’ll let it all hang out then. Let’s begin reading with Verse 5 (of Philippians 2, page 1162 of pew Bibles). Paul says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” So today we are working on our attitudes. How many of you are humbled this morning and proud of it? (The congregation laughs.) It’s a bit of a tricky thing, isn’t it-this thing called humility? It begins with an attitude, a mindset. It’s the way we see ourselves, the way we process our world. We are working this morning on our attitudes. He said, “Your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus.” What was that? “Who, being in very nature” or very form “God,” being in very nature or very form God… There are many who debate whether or not the early church believed that Jesus was Divine. This text really should put a rest to that because in this text, Paul spells out in no uncertain terms the Deity of Christ. He said He existed in a form of God. Now what does that mean? There are two Greek words for form. One is the word morphe, and the other is the word schema. We’re going to see the word morphe twice in this Passage-once in Verse 6 and once in Verse 7. We’re going to see the word schema in Verse 8. Morphe has to do with the essence of a person; that does not change. Our schema has to do with our outward appearance which changes all the time. We can explain it like this: Your morphe of a human being does not change throughout the course of your life. You were born into this world a human being; so though your schema-though your outward appearance-changes, little “Nora” as a child is going to look different ten years from now than she does today. She’s cute right now, but she’s going to change. She’s going to grow. Her hair is going to get longer, and she’s going to get bigger. She’s going to grow up. In ten years, you’re going to look different than you do right now. Most of you are going to be thinner and better looking (congregation laughing). Just pandering, that’s all. We’re going to change-our outward appearance is going to change. We don’t end life looking the same way that we did when we started life. A lot of us start life with no teeth and a bald head and end life with no teeth and a bald head; but for the most part, we don’t look the same. Our body changes. We get wrinkles; we gain or lose weight; we get taller; or we get wider. We change, but if we look at a panorama of your life as an infant, as a child with teeth missing, as a teenager with pimples, as a person newly married, as a mature adult, and as an aging senior, we see that our outward appearances change; but the essence of who you are-your humanity-has not changed. You are still you. You are still a human being. In fact, it is impossible for you not to be because that is your form; that is your morphe, according to the Greek. It does not change. Your schema, your outward appearance, is going to change all the time. Guess which word is used of Christ to describe Him when it says He existed in the form of God? Was it the temporary or was it His essence? It was His essence “who existed in the form of God.” He’s talking about His reincarnate condition. Before He was born in Bethlehem, Jesus was/is God. In case there is any question about what that word means or if I’m correct in my interpretation of the word morphe, then look at the rest of the Verse, who “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” So right in that Verse, it says equality with God-equal with the Father. Jesus’ enemies understood who He was saying He was. Remember in John when they picked up stones to stone Him, and He said, “Why are you stoning Me?” They said, “Because You, a mere Man, make Yourself to be equal with God.” They understood what He meant when He said, “I and the Father are One.” Therefore, this Passage teaches us that Jesus is fully God. It is His nature; it is His form.” But He “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…” What does that mean? It means He did not consider equality with God something to be taken advantage of. In the incarnation, He is going to divest Himself of the privilege of Deity. It’s going to talk about that in the next Verse, “...but made Himself nothing…” He made himself nothing or He emptied Himself. That does not mean that He emptied Himself of His Deity. How could He do that? How could you empty your essence? Some have interpreted it this way, “Oh, He made Himself nothing. Oh He emptied Himself of His Deity.” No. Paul says in Colossians 2:9 (page 1166 of pew Bibles), “…all the fullness of the Deity dwells in him in bodily form…” What He did was He emptied Himself of the privilege of Deity. He went from Heaven to earth. I want to illustrate this by telling you a story about a time when I was in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the homeless capital of our country. There are some 50,000 people that are homeless in LA in any given day. I read an article about it, and I just wanted to see it. There was really nothing I could do. I don’t live in Los Angeles; I live here. There was nothing I could tangibly do about the situation, but I thought, “Well, maybe it will help me to make some differences back home in our church and in doing something about the homeless problem where we live with our church. It certainly will help me have a thankful heart about the blessings that I have. It could help me to have more compassion for those who are struggling in this manner,” so I went to see it. I figured it would help me to see this [concern]. It was an amazing phenomenon. There are thousands of people; and every night they roll out their tents, put up their boxes, and they create this makeshift homeless village. The city gives them permission to erect these tents and these boxes on public property, but they have to have them down by around 6 a.m. So I’m driving in this taxi, and nobody is really paying any attention to me. I’m just going through block after block. I told the taxi driver to just drive through this whole neighborhood and go through every block. It was about 11 o’clock at night. Many people had already bedded down, and others were getting ready. Those who were fortunate had tents. Others simply had boxes. And, of course, if it were to rain that night, their shelter that provided protection would be gone. Others weren’t that fortunate. One young man stands out in my mind because he was about the age of my son, and he was wearing clothes my son would wear. He had on tennis shoes, blue jeans, a shirt and a vest. I remember watching him just lay out newspaper on a driveway of an auto shop. That was going to be his bed that night. He was just throwing out newspaper and lying on concrete. That would be his bed. I remember thinking, “How did he get here? What circumstances in life made him end up here? How did any of these people get here?” I’m sure there were some who were crazy or whatever, but most of the people looked like normal people. I was thinking, “Yet, why am I here? I have a meal, and I know where I’m going to sleep. I have a job, and why am I here and they are there?” As I was driving through it, I was just observing the people, but I was thinking how helpless I was feeling. There was really nothing I could do. I just observed. I didn’t make a difference; I didn’t stop and get out of the taxi. I didn’t deem it safe to do so, quite honestly. I just silently observed and then drove off to think about what I’d seen. Let’s use an example and say somebody could do change this situation. Let’s say the mayor of Los Angeles decided he was tired of being the homeless capital of the country. He wanted to make a difference, so one day he tells his cabinet and his staff, “I’m going to do something radical. I want to help relieve the plight of the homeless in our city. I’m going to retain my office of mayor and all my authority and power as mayor of Los Angeles, but I am going to divest myself of the privileges of mayor. I’m going to exchange my limo for a taxi. I am going to exchange my clothes, my suits, for the clothes of an everyday man. I’m going to take my cell phone, and I’m going to take my credit cards, my money, and my checkbook, and I’m going to lay them on my desk. I am going to literally become a homeless person. I am going to live in the streets of Los Angeles. As of tonight, I have no idea where I will be sleeping or what I will be sleeping in. I have no idea what meal I will have, if any. I am going to lay aside my privilege to call the fire department, to call the police department, and I’m simply going to become a homeless person. You are not going to come and rescue me. You’re not going to come and spy on me. I am going to mix and mingle with the population, and they will not know who I am. They will not expect the mayor to be in their mitts; I’m going to do this to serve. I’m going to serve our community, and I’m going to serve the homeless. I’m going to learn what our city is doing right; I’m going to learn what our city is doing wrong, and I am going to make a difference. I tell you what: when I come back, things are going to change.” The mayor divested himself of the privilege of his office. He still retained his power and authority, but he gave up his right as mayor to go and live with the homeless people. Every analogy that we’re going to use is a little flawed in trying to explain what Jesus did, but He did lay aside the privilege of Deity, and He came to live among us-as one of us. The Scripture says that He “made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, and being made in human likeness.” There is that word again-form. He took on the very form of a servant and took on human likeness. Paul is teaching us something else here about Jesus. That became His essence as well. His essence really did become that of a man. He is not half God/half man. He is 100 percent God, and He is 100 percent man. Without laying aside His Deity, He has taken on the essence, or form, of humanity. Paul is teaching us here that He has become a man. This is very rich in its theology, very rich in its Christology. It is telling us the essence of Jesus’ nature. He is fully God, and He is fully man. It’s not an act; He really is God, and He really is man. He’s become like us. He is living in our world. The Bible says the people didn’t recognize it. He came into His own, and His own did not receive Him. They didn’t know who He was any more than the homeless people in our illustration would know who the mayor was. They didn’t expect Him in those kinds of clothes and living in those circumstances. You don’t expect God to be working in a carpenter shop. You don’t expect God to be a classmate in school. You don’t expect God to grow up in the house next to you; so He is there; and for the most part, no one knows who He really is. Think about that. Mary knows and Joseph knows; but until that time, nobody else really did. He looked like us; He talked like us; He dressed like us. This Christmas song we’re going to sing pretty soon, “Away in a Manger,” how does that verse go about the cattle? “The cattle are lowing. The poor Baby wakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.” Nonsense! He was screaming His head off, just like any other baby. He was no different than any other baby. He needed His diapers changed; He needed to be fed; He fussed. When He grew up, He became tired. The One who was the Bread of Life became hungry. The One who through rivers of living water would come became thirsty. He knew the pains of rejection, of betrayal. He knew what it was like to lose a loved one and lose a friend through death. He knew all of the things that we go through. He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He fully entered into humanity; but He entered into humanity, Paul says, as a servant. He’s trying to get us to understand the depth of humility and sacrifice, which Christ made. When He came, He didn’t come as an earthly King living in a palace. He didn’t come as a governor, a head of state, as one with wealth and power. He came, and He was homeless! He came in poverty. The Scripture says, “Though He was rich, He became poor that through His poverty, you might become rich.” So when Jesus came, [He came] into our human condition, but He came not to be served but to serve. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, He tells us in the Gospel of Luke. He came as a servant, Verse 8, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!” Explanation point! He says, “I want you to understand that God has gone from the highest heights to the lowest lows. There was no place higher than the throne of Heaven, and there was no place lower than to die a death of a common criminal on a cross.” Instead of thinking of the mayor becoming a homeless person, think of the mayor becoming a slug in a puddle in the street. For God to become a human being, our minds cannot even begin [to contemplate that possibility]. God has to open a door like you and I. God has to walk with one step after another. God experienced pain when He hit his thumb with a hammer and shed tears when He was sorrowful and broken. He who was the author of life submitted to death on a cross. He is trying to get you and me to wrap our minds around something as amazing as the incarnation. Verse 9, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 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.” Because He has humbled Himself, because He has redeemed mankind, He is worthy of praise and worship. In our story, if the mayor-if this story had really happened-came back and said, “Okay, we’re going to make some changes around here. We’re going to take our resources, and we’re going to build this clinic. We’re going to build this transitional housing. We’re going to start these job programs,” and he began to tirelessly work and allocate everything within his power and ability. He began to change and pretty soon, you could drive through Los Angeles, and there were no more tents, no more boxes, and no more homeless. Those people who were ill or in the hospital, and those people who need jobs had jobs and were working and supporting themselves, would you then say that that mayor deserved accolades and praise? Absolutely. Would he deserve real action? Yeah, [he would probably be commended] by the highest office in the land if he could pull something off like that. You’d say, “What you’ve done is an amazing thing. You came down, you served and you redeemed. You did not come for your own benefit. You chose not to use your office for your own self, but to use your office to better mankind.” You would bestow all kinds of accolades. What accolades do you bestow upon One who redeems humanity? Upon One who removes the barrier and the penalty of death through sin, through His own sacrifice? What kind of accolade is that? You call Him Lord, and you worship Him. Most scholars believe this was an early hymn of the church, that this was one of the first hymns the church ever sang-this Passage right here-because of the way it is structured and the way it is balanced in the Greek like a song. I want you to think about which person you are in this illustration this morning. Remember there are two people in this illustration. One was me staying in my car, staying safe, not doing anything to help, observing and looking on silently while feeling some compassion, but driving on through. Is that you? Would that describe you? Do you just silently look at the needs around you as you’re driving through life, but you never pull your car over to get out and help? You never make a difference. You might feel bad about someone’s plight or circumstances. You might say, “Well, I hope that changes. I hope that gets better,” but you never lift a finger because you have enough to do in your own life, your own circumstances, and your own needs. What did Paul say, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Or, would you resemble the mayor here, the mayor who lay aside some of his privileges and got in the muck and mire or this world to make a difference? Would your attitude be one of humility that’s like Christ’s who divested Himself and emptied Himself? Are you willing to humble yourself and lay aside some of your rights and privileges to make a difference in the world today? That’s the challenge that’s before us. The easiest thing to do is silently observe and do nothing, just simply drive by and say, “That’s unfortunate. That’s too bad.” To actually get involved, to actually serve, to actually humble ourselves and make a difference-that’s hard work. That's not easy; that’s an inconvenience, but that’s what God has called us to do. The church should be different. In the world, we’re only concerned with ourselves and only concerned with our own needs, but that’s not so in the church. “My people who are called by My name should be in the world, in My name making a difference-united in purpose, laying aside their egos, using their talents, time, energies and resources to help the people around them that are in need in My name.” It’s right here (pointing at the Bible). That’s the Gospel. You are to follow after what Christ has done as He sacrificed Himself for the betterment of mankind. You and I are called to make sacrifices-not just stay in our safe bubble and comfort zone, but we’re called to step out and make a difference in our world. You are to say, “God, use me. God, show me,” and He will. We’re going to pray a prayer of repentance this morning. It’s a different kind or prayer. A prayer of repentance means you are praying to change your mind and to change a direction. I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, but I’m going to ask which of you resembled me more in this story? Are you someone who is driving through life looking, observing, and feeling bad, but really not doing anything to make a difference? A lot of you, if we were going to be honest, would raise your hands. I don’t want to embarrass you; I really don’t. Most of us who were listening to this message would say, “I can do more. I can do more than I do.” I think unless you’re the second coming of Mother Teresa sitting out here this morning, you can join me in this prayer of repentance. Let’s pray: Father, we come this morning in the name of our Lord. We offer this prayer of confession and repentance. We have lived selfishly; we have been concerned with our own needs and the needs of those we care for-sometimes exclusively to the point that we have ignored the needs that are around us. We are aware that they are there, but we’ve not taken the time to do anything about it. We have not taken the time to humble ourselves to serve. Lord, You took on our clothes; You came into our skin; You got involved in our world because of Your love, compassion, and humility. Paul has said, “We are to have that same attitude that the world is not here to serve us, but that we are here to serve.” We are here to serve in Your name and to make this world a better place. Lord, I pray that You challenge us today. I pray that You speak to us specifically today, calling us by name, giving us an assignment, helping us to live with a sense of awareness and the desire to make a difference for You. I want you to pray this prayer of repentance with me today. Just confess this in your heart to the Lord. Heavenly Father, I come in Jesus’ name. I pray that You’d forgive me of the sin of selfishness. I pray that I might have a humble heart like You, so I can lay aside my rights and my privilege to serve people as You did. Guide me and direct me. Help me not to be consumed with my own needs. Help me not to follow after the drum beat of this world which causes me not to live for myself but to live for a higher purpose, a greater purpose-to build Your Kingdom, to serve people whom You love and to do so in Your name. I pray this, Father, in Jesus’ name, Amen.