With Interest

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Sermon

Oops - God is looking for partners to change the world, Genesis 1-11 recap…

During a recent prayer time, a phrase stuck in my ear. I wish I could remember who prayed it. “Let us be the kind of church you can use.”

What a powerful prayer. I echoed in over and over. Yes Lord, let HCC be the kind of church you can use to reach this community, to transform lives, a church that can partner with you.

Which got me thinking about what kinds of people God likes to use. That’s good info to have.

Once more I go to Genesis. Because we know God created us to be his partners. Partnership IS the default setting of humanity. But in Genesis 3 we lost the plot and decided to go our own way.

Instead of multiplying God’s love and power in the world, we sought to capture love and power for ourselves.

Cain, and then a whole line who get progressively more selfish and exploitive.

So God is grieved and ultimately sees greater good in stopping the harm we were doing to one another with the flood.

But he chooses Noah’s family and starts over, makes a promise not to take this road again. So what is God’s plan now?

After the flood, humanity isn’t looking better. It all culminates with a city we call Babylon now that went to work to gain greater levels of control and power than ever before.

If the Bible was a novel, this first 11 chapters is the preface. It’s setting the stage for the story we are being invited to.

We learn that God is good

We learn that his creation is good

We learn that we were created good to partner with him in expanding his creative goodness, multiplying his character in his creation.

But we are left seeing humanity fixated on itself…worse, each human fixated on themselves.

Then…God starts telling his story. With one man and one invitation.

Ugh - Abram isn’t perfect…but he’s got something

Genesis 12:1-4 “The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.”

God chose Abram. Why? Well, we get a hint in the call.

“I will bless you, and you will be a blessing”

Immediately we see Abram really mess up in Egypt, and we wonder why him? Clearly he’s no better…but right after I think we get a taste of the real reason God chose this family.

At the very end of that introduction we heard that Abram took Lot, his nephew with him.

Genesis 13 tells us that each of them had pretty substantial flocks and possessions. And their herdsman began to quarrel about who could graze where, who got to the water first, who knows what sheep herders quarrelled about a few millenia back, but we know it was doing harm.

They needed to separate.

Genesis 13:8-9 “So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.””

Abraham had the right as the family head to choose. One side was a lush well watered plain, the other side hills. This was a substantial choice. He allowed his nephew to choose instead.

He chose the benefit of another instead of his own. This is a pattern we see in Abraham that is unmatched.

Talking with those who have traveled in the middle east, both Jews and Muslims who trace their lineage back to Abraham practice RADICAL levels of hospitality…and it’s all looking back to Abram and the way he did the same. It’s the family distinctive.

Next time you read Genesis, make a note of every time Abram, later called Abraham chooses to give up his rights for the good of another. Then watch his family. Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph…They aren’t perfect. They on occasion are selfish and bitter…but it isn’t their dna. They are givers.

Aha! - This is mirrored in Paul’s call in Philippians 2:4 - Not to their own, but to others. Where does that come from?

So this leads us to a “One Another” that is a hinge for all the rest.

Philippians 2:4 “Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.”

That’s where we’ll land, on this remarkable statement.

Don’t look out for your own interests, your own needs, protection, benefit…but rather…one another. That is so backwards to our culture and every piece of advice you’ll find on the internet.

Even a lot of Christian writers will work to soften that. Obviously, with balance. But that’s not what Paul says! And it doesn’t look like Abraham either. In fact, Paul will back that statement up with a passage I quoted last week as an example of a Christian hymn, that in essence says, LOOK at JESUS!

Just a few highlights

emptied himself

humbled himself

to the point of death

That’s not a balanced life.

So how do we get to a point where we live with:

Whee! - One Another Interest - 1. Trusting the Story, 2. Thinking the Story, 3. Living out the Story and so we 4. Look to other’s interests above our own.

One Another Interest

Well we back up to verse 1 of chapter 2.

Philippians 2:1 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,”

It starts with an assumption built from chapter 1, but now amplified.

Paul is calling the church to:

Trust the Story

If you have looked at Jesus, the fulfillment and embodiment of God’s word, and you have seen who God is and what his plan has always been...

This should give encouragement, be consoling, put you in fellowship with the Spirit and prompt affection and mercy.

I think this is where for most of us the issue begins in our struggle to actually live an others centered life.

A couple weeks back I was helping my sister change her brakes. And I see she is still alive, so I guess they work.

At one point, with the van jacked up and a good part of my body just under the whole thing, she says, “I guess this is a prime example of faith, huh?” I looked back wondering, and she pointed at the jack.

I hadn’t thought about it. But I was trusting that jack so much I put myself under a 2 ton people carrier. Not to mention, the trust in my sister who had the jack handle ready at hand...

Faith is like that. You know you have it fully when you aren’t thinking about it. You just take action.

I ate lunch yesterday without fear of the next meal because we have a track record of buying groceries.

I put gas in the car yesterday knowing I would be able to do it again later.

We put faith in so much. It’s one of the reasons people got scared during the pandemic, when supply issues ramped up. There wasn’t always the stuff. It’s scary to get our faith shaken, even faith in trucks to keep store shelves stocked.

James in his awesome blunt way tells his readers:

James 2:14 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?”

You will never be able to live an others centered life, never be able to look to the interests of others over your own, if you don’t trust the story.

Abraham did. In fact, if you look at why God called Abraham righteous, it is this idea right here:

Genesis 15:6 “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

What keeps you from trusting the story?

What makes you struggle to believe God?

That he is good. That his creation is good. That he wants to partner with humanity to do good. That this includes you. That God is the kind of God who loves so deeply, he is willing to pay the price of forgiveness.

Here’s some possibilities. Things I have seen in myself when I am getting hooked on self interest:

We don’t know the story. God called Israel to talk about the law, write it down, read it, listen to it, wear it, know it know it know it. why? Because we can’t trust a story we don’t know.

And church, God’s word never never never runs out of things to show us. When do you think you get to the end of the knowledge of an infinite God?

Know the story

Pay attention to others who trust the story. Observe them, read about them, get to know them. My kids learned to trust the swimming pool in part as they saw me trusting and enjoying it. They were willing to take the risks, because they knew it was possible.

And when we learn to trust the story, we can start:

Thinking In Line With the Story

Philippians 2:1-2 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

That is thinking the same way as Christ.

If you have encouragement in Christ…then what can you be?

If you have consolation in his love…then what can you offer?

If you have fellowship with his Spirit…what can you extend?

If you have affection and mercy from the Son of God who died and rose for your salvation…I mean, c’mon.

And this should lead to a change in the way you engage as a part of the church.

“Same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

When you become a part of the kingdom, your thinking changes.

Where it used to be about you, your family, your political tribe, your sports tribe, your agenda...

You’re a part of the kingdom now, and there is a unity beyond all those things.

I’m going to pause a moment and just acknowledge that we are once again on the cusp of presidential primary season.

Church, hear me. You can and should vote. You should understand the issues, pray, and seek God for his wisdom, and participate.

But your hope and allegiance is NOT and can NEVER be political.

Isaiah warned the Israelites not to dwell on those things where they saw conspiracies.

Does it mean there weren’t any? Of course not. People are always plotting.

HERE IS THE POINT. your hope and despair are not at all connected to those things. IF the world is against the church…duh. Jesus told us it would be. Then he said to pray for and love those who persecute.

Jesus is the one who brought Simon the militant conservative on to the team with big government Matthew and religiously pious Peter.

If you use your time and energy and thoughts to worry about who gets elected, what might be going on behind the scenes, and what’s wrong with the “other” side...

You will never accomplish God’s kingdom purposes in your life. Because you aren’t thinking the story.

You are fixing your mind on your story.

God’s story has Elisha’s servant panicking as the army surrounds them, until Elisha prays that his eyes would be opened and he sees the army of God surrounding them.

God’s story has three young men standing firm in their unwillingness to bow to an idol thrown in a furnace with the knowledge that God can save, but is under no obligation to do so.

God’s story is packed with moments to remind us that GOD IS ALWAYS bigger.

So engage the process, but do so as citizens of a higher country.

And engage life that way.

But again, you have to know the story…then you have to let it change the way you think.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus calls to this change in thinking:

Matthew 6:25-27 ““Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?”

Most of our worry, most of our anxiety, fear, defensiveness, stress…It’s literally all in our head...

And Jesus says, don’t.

Trust the story and think about it.

Paul will say later in Philippians:

Philippians 4:8 “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.”

I love that verse. Memorize that verse.

What you worry about, what you think, if it isn’t in line with the story of God’s kingdom will control you and ruin you.

Your own life, the lives of others, and most important, the impact you might have had for the eternal kingdom of God.

So Knowing and thinking the story, we then can start:

Living the Story

Philippians 2:1-3 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.”

Now that you are changed by the story, you do NOTHING out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

What does he mean, selfish ambition?

Is this like, trying to gain power or wealth?

Simpler than that. Is the aim your own benefit? Are you self seeking?

That is the opposite of the call

And the call is to humbly consider others as more important than you.

This is radical. Living the story is so counter to our sin nature, but it’s COMPLETELY in line with the nature God created us to have. This is why we find peace when we finally surrender.

I love what CS Lewis says about a humble person:

“Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”

He will not be thinking about humility, he will not be thinking about himself at all...

Cheerful…took a real interest in what YOU said…How hard we work to get our words out…what if we worked harder to get other’s words in. To really hear and listen.

If God designed us to thrive when we are working for the benefit of others…why is this a surprise?

Imagine it. Others speak ill of you…your response isn’t stress or wrath, but concern for them, and a desire to know how you can grow.

I love what Tim Keller said on this matter of self-forgetfulness. In essence, the response to the critic is, They don’t know the half of my issues. I’m far worse than they think I am.

and then he emphasizes that he can lovingly respond, listen, and learn because he’s not fighting for acceptance, he has that in Jesus…he’s fighting to care for the heart of another.

When you are not focused on your own need, you can truly see others and their needs. IMAGINE a whole community living this way.

The problem…we usually spend most of our time noticing how someone else doesn’t do this. Rather than paying attention to how we don’t.

You might be thinking, yea, hopefully “they, that person, that group” learned this…Then things would get better.

Stop it.

In humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Quit scrambling for comfort, but embrace hurt for the sake of others and through the miracle of the cross (and the fact that we were designed to operate this way) you will find the peace you seek.

One more note on this: This is a huge part of why the church should practice confession…and huge part of the reason we don’t is because we don’t trust the story, think the story, and so we can’t live it.

James says

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.”

When we keep our sin secret, it eventually becomes a secret from us. We can’t see it anymore. Instead we defend it. We protect our rights to it. And it poisons us from the inside out.

our life group is just starting a study in Hebrews, and in preparation I have been diving in and I keep seeing the idea of Christ’s work healing not our sin in a legal sense, (that’s in other places) but in restoring our conscience. We are the greatest condemners of ourselves…

and because we don’t trust the story, we keep it in, we hide that, we protect that. And Jesus wants to set us free. But that only happens when we stop and confess it.

And on the flip side, it means we are ready to give grace to those who do, that they can fully experience that cleansing and be able to walk in the new life of self-forgetfulness Christ died to give us.

What changes? God can use us, we can step out of anxiety and fear, we can joyfully relax…Not easy, it is the way of the cross. But the result is your joy and God’s mission fulfilled. All the other “one another’s” hinge on this.

Conclusion

Let me have the worship team and prayer teams up.

If you need to pray following the service, we have people ready to do that with you here at the front.

Philippians 2:1-4 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.”

This is hard. I can’t help but go back to Good Friday. We heard Jesus give directions to the Father by saying, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”

The WAY of Jesus…is the cross. It’s self-denial. It’s choosing to take pain instead of give it. To give love instead of take it. To show grace, to love mercy, to be a peacemaker and to walk in humilty.

Church, this matters. This matters so much. We want to be the kind of people God can use. There is a world in darkness waiting to see light. God will find people to use to engage that world. We want to be those people. We want the joy of following him in his mission to reach the lost, to restore families, to bring his peace, justice, holiness, all in the knowing of Jesus...

I want to do something, I want to read together that hymn I read last week, the conclusion to Paul’s statement that we re to look not our own interest, but the interest of one another.

As we read, pray and lift our voices to the lord in praise, Consider taking action.

As I said, our prayer team is up here.

Maybe you need to confess a sinful attitude, words, or action. I know that’s scary…trust the story.

Maybe you have someone you need to go to specifically. You need to get humble. Commit to doing so this week…trust the story.

Maybe right now you are waiting for someone else to come confess to you. Let it go. Take away the obligation for them to fix it and let grace rule…trust the story.

In doing so we are adopting the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus...will you stand with me as we read together:

Philippians 2:6-11 “who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Pray - becoming those God can use…beginning with one another.