Phil 2:1-11 | Strength through humiliation

Intro

Hey y’all, hows it going? Good.

Anyone else not sure how to dress today? It was like cool, but then muggy and humid. It’s too early for all that.

Anyways.

So this pasty weekend, I did a DNow with my home church, and it was a part of a student conference in the area called the Lift Tour. It was good. But the church was trying too hard to be cool. I did this last year, and it was good. the goal was the gospel. This year the gospel was the goal, but they new youth pastor at the host church there was trying way to hard to be cool.

They brought in this DJ to do a pre-show. And dude is just blasting 2010’s greatest hits, all secular music, and random tiktok sounds. It was pretty cringy, and as a 34 year old man, it was cringe, but I knew that the the kids also thought it was cringe where after the first song most of them were just standing there. Not like vibing. just awkwardly standing there for 20 mins before every session.

It was super cringy, because they were trying to turn what was supposed to be a worship service in to a rave. The students and adults showed up to worship jesus and they were met with the noise of the world. Everyone but the people making the noise saw this as weird. There is something off.

I know what they were trying, they wanted to be relevant. But they sacrificed authentic worship for relevance.

So some of the best relational advice I ever got was from a guy in New York from my summer spent up there. We were tasked with going around and researching the neighborhood we were assigned and figure out who or what makes the neighborhood tick.

Who was there, and how could we get the gospel into that neighborhood? We call it contextualization. Contextualization is a good thing, but it can be difficult to do well.

So this was the advice, that has stuck deep inside my mind.

“Authenticity is the new apologetic.”

He told me that talking about specifically in New York City. The ability to sniff out a fake is really good. If you are trying to be something you are not they are gonna know.

He wan’t telling me this to negate apologetics, but he told us this because if we will never get to apologetics if you aren’t authentic.

So I’m telling you this because there is this vein in church culture to try and be this super cool, cutting edge thing.

And it worked in the past, it started to break down in my generation, it has hit a wall in your generation.

Here is what y’all are good at, Gen-Z soon to be Gen-A, y’all have a serious nose, to sniff out from a mile away some one who is fake. Someone who is pretending.

And good for you. Y’all know when someone is trying to be something they aren’t. Don’t lose that.

For the most part y’all don’t care if something is cool. Y’all crave authenticity.

so this is where I want to live tonight.

We cannot sacrifice the authenticity of the gospel for the sake of worldly relevance.

context

So last week, we hit the famous verse “to live is christ, to die is gain” we talked about what that means in the context of the gospel. that Paul is writing this from Prison. Suffering for the gospel. That if there is breath still in his lungs, he will carry the message of the gospel.

That our hope is found in Christ and that we have hope in his resurrection. That because of Christ we can endure.

That we are going to endure suffering. not if you suffer, but when you suffer.

And when we do we suffer in community, walking together.

So tonight, this passage has inside it what we call the Christ Hymn. What Bo read a few moments ago, is the Christ Hymn. It was a phrase or creed that the early church would recite to each other, telling them what they believe and telling who Christ is and what he has done and where the world is headed.

Our hope is found in the finished work of Christ, that He is making all things new.

So tonight we are going to keep with some of those themes.

If you have a bible, we are in Philippians 2:1-11, if you need a bible, throw a hand up and we will get one to you.

Cool,

So here is the main idea of this text, go ahead and tell you the take away. The gospel takes this worlds wisdom, the way this world would do something and flips it on it’s head.

the Pastor and Theologian Tim Keller would talk about this calling it an upside down kingdom. That when we look at the kingdom of God, it is upside down. you have the king dying for the enemies. In death there is life.

SO the gospel takes the ideas and thoughts of this world and flips them on it’s head.

SO let’s read this together, whole thing, and then we let’s talk about it, but before we do that, let’s pray for our time in the word.

Pray

Read this with me.

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

p1 - We Endure in Community - Servant

Okay, so the first thing I want you to see here is that Paul is linking this idea to the idea he just fleshed out in the last chapter.

We are going to suffer, and that we get need community to walk with us in suffering.

I won’t repreach that, but this is what he is saying.He’s encouraging them that they need to be in this together. He has just told them that suffering is going to come their way and that they need to walk together.

Here he starts by doubling down on the idea. Basically, this is what you do, this is what it looks like.

We endure in community. In community we endure for the sake of the gospel.

And so look at the example just in the gospels of this.

The early disciples were each other’s family. The early Church was built on this idea of a familial community. Look at acts

Acts 2:44–45 ESV

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

They took care of each other spiritually and physically.

So what is Paul calling for in this first part? Unity.

in verse 2 he says have this same mind. Like mindedness. So what is that?

sometimes when we see likeminded we are thinking people who all think the same way. exactly the same way.

But that’s not it. Paul is telling them to all be kingdom minded and put yourself second. There should be no power hungry people in the church, no one out to make a name for themselves. The whole is more important than the individual.

In the 97 NBA finals, the Utah Jazz have taken the Reigning Champs, Chicago Bull and Michael Jordan to game 6. The game comes down basically to the final possession. Bulls get to drive down the court in the final seconds. Who has the ball. If you‘re on a team with Michael Jordan, who are you giving the ball to? Michael Jordan. right. duh. Who do you want to take the final shot to win another championship? Michael Jordan. right. So who takes the final shot of the 97 finals?

Not MJ. If you’re the jazz you’re thinking MJ. but

Steve Kerr. The now head coach of the Warriors, took the final shot to win the 97 NBA Finals. and here is what happened. Michael did have the ball, drives down the right side, get’s double teamed, and in stead of saying, I got this, on my own, I can win this, and if anyone could have made an incredible play to score, MJ could have but, dude passes it, to a guy named Steve. Who drains a 17 foot 3 to give them the win.

MJ cared way more about winning than being the hero that night. Lot’s of nights where he was the hero, he’s MJ but. In realm, all that matters is the win.

So this is what Paul is saying, you all have the same goal, so at the baseline, you all need to be working towards that goal.

take the posture of a servant. That is what Paul is setting up in verse 2 and 3, Phil. 2:2-3

Philippians 2:2–3 ESV

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

In humility serve one another. You know what this does to a church if everyone is taking the role of a servant? It kills pride. That’s what he saying, kill your pride. Serve one another.

When I was still in school in New Orleans, the current president of the seminary now, was brought on. In his first sermon to us as students in chapel. He preached this passage and when he got to this part. He asked us to think of a peacock, how they have huge feathers, they want you to know they’re around. They are very proud creatures. He told us in ministry there should be no peacocks. He told us, to kill the peacock. Kill your pride.

When you start to fell like you’re a better church member, when you start to feel like you’ve got this Christian life down. That is when pride wells up in us. That’s when you start acting on your own power and stop relying on the Lord for strength. You stop following Jesus, and start following yourself and we in our own power do not make good people to follow.

Paul says kill it.

p2 - Our Strength comes from His Humiliation.

And if you need an example to follow, look at Christ.

And this is where Paul drops the Christ Hymn in here. Remember this is an early form of a creed. a shared belief. let me read it for you again.

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Remind yourself of this passage if you ever start to feel your pride bubble up. And it will.

Paul is telling them, if you need a reminder to be a servant, look no further than Christ.

This is literally God, who humbled himself. God on the throne, the only one who’s pride could be righteous, because He is God, humbled himself.

Think about that word Humble, it comes form the word humiliate.

Remember the upside down kingdom, The King came down and died a death reserved for slaves and rebels.

If you ever need a reminder to kill your pride, remember the King put his crown to the side, and died for you. The rebel who deserved the cross, he died for you.

And this is the beauty of the gospel, in the biggest most humiliating moment for Jesus, on the cross, we find our hope. This is where the gospel flips all the conventional wisdom and throws is out. The King dies for the slave. the king dies for the rebel. the king dies for the enemy.

And so this is where our strength comes from. Not in our own ideas, but in the cross.

A tool meant for humiliation, an instrument of execution, where all other stories end, the Christian life begins. it begins at the cross and goes to the grave. And then, the King rises and is victorious. Our strength starts at a grave. Our strength is found in the empty grave, not in anything else.

p3 - He will Reign. Christ wins.

Then in the Christ hymn, Paul shows them where the world is heading.

The only one who has raised himself from the grave, this is what it means.

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This gives us a Christological truth, at the end of all things, Christ is going to rule and reign. Christ wins.

Revelation 21:6 ESV

6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Christ at the end off all of this, will be Lord, weather you like it or not. Christ is Lord. at the end of all things Christ is Lord. We have this hope as brothers and sisters in the kingdom.

p2Christ

So what do we do now?

Remember the main thing, the gospel takes our conventional wisdom and flips it. You want to lead people to the cross, serve.

Serve this world, who could hate you. Serve this world in spite of the world.

In Christ’s humiliation, we find our strength. and when the world pours it on you, come back to the family, we walk this together.

Serve. and get this in to your mind we don’t have to make jesus cool, we don’t have to make Jesus seem like he is of the world. Preach the gospel, preach Jesus not as this cool idea but as risen form the grave. That is where we find our hope.

The gospel turns humiliation on it’s head. In Christ’s death we have life.

So here is the invitation. Two invites,

If you are a follower of jesus, I want you to invite you to serve. If you don’t have a church home, make this one yours, join us in our mission to make Jesus known. I want to invite you to serve the people you are around who don’t know Jesus. Who need to know Jesus. If you don’t know how to start sharing the gospel start by serving, people will listen. Be a follower of jesus.

IF you don’t know Jesus. I want to invite you to the family. Invite you to see Christ. Here is the reality, Paul paints at the end of this passage. Jesus is on the throne anyways, he is giong to reign. But do you know Him? That is the real question. Do you know Jesus as Lord, as savior? I want you to invite you to follow Jesus. If you have any questions, if you have never taken that first real step in follow Jesus, come talk to me. I’ll be right over here. snag me after wards.

I’m gonna pray, we are going to confess, and then we are gonna sing, and while we are doing that, answer the question if you truly know Jesus.

y’all pray with me