Joy in Humility

The Joy-Filled Life  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Scripture Reading

Susanne Methvin, Scripture Reader
Philippians 2:5–11 NIV
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 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 acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Sermon

Good morning! My name is Brandon Morrow, and we’re so glad you’re joining us this week!
If you have not already, please open your Bibles to Philippians 2. This week we’re in our 5th message through Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, a series we’ve titled, “The Joy-Filled Life.”
As you’re turning to Philippians 2, I wanted to update you on a couple of things:
This past Thursday we had our Men’s Ministry Kick-Off where over 70 men joined us! It was a really encouraging evening, and my encouragement is that you’ll join us, starting this Wednesday evening from 7 to 8:30PM.
Also, as we’ve had to make some recent adjustments to our staff due to rising insurance costs that the church has incurred, we wanted to remind you that this is the final Sunday for both Alan Koenigsberg and Elizabeth Wolfe. Next week we’ll be telling you how we plan to appreciate them in mid-October and how you can partner with us in that.
And finally, I wanted to update you on how we plan to keep you updated about the changes at the church. In mid-October we’ll also be calling a Family Meeting for our Members so we can update the church with more specificity. Until then, we’re encouraged by your generosity, by your willingness to serve, and by your prayers.
Let me pray for us and then we’ll transition into our time with the Word. Pray.
Isaiah 40:8 NIV
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
This morning we’re focusing on Philippians 2:5-11 where we’re focused on Joy in Humility, and here’s the premise: there’s joy in taking the lowest place.
The whole premise for joy in humility is what happens when we stop grasping for power and status, that there's a freedom that comes with it.
Think about it through the life of Jesus. Jesus, who had every right to Lord Himself over us, chose to serve instead. And in John 15:11, right after He talks about laying down His life, He says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." There's a joy that comes when we stop trying to play God and start serving like Jesus. It's counterintuitive, but it's real.
Humility is a concept that popped up for us last week as we were talking about how Paul wants the church to see the joy that’s available in their unity, their shared mission and shared suffering, as a result of following Jesus.
We left off last week by just finishing up with Philippians 2:1-4 where Paul wrote these words:
Philippians 2:1–4 NIV
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Paul’s concern was what unity looked like on the inside of the church. There are lots of things that fight us for a unified spirit on the outside, but the inside is trickier — there’s deception, disguised intentions, pride — those things kind of sneak in, in terms of human relationships.
Paul is hoping for the work of the Holy Spirit to be on display. His hope is that God will be the one to bring the church together in harmony. Unity is miraculous. Unity doesn’t happen on accident. Unity is always God’s work, and while we can work on being unified, unity is first a work of our hearts — that’s why Paul talks about doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. I need to have first encountered Jesus in a profound way for that to be possible.
Paul’s concern is with how Christian’s live out their identities together. If we’ve encountered Jesus, if we’ve responded to the truth of the gospel, not only will it impact us eternally, it will impact us relationally.
Paul says at the end of verse 3 on what he would prefer over selfishness and vanity: humility.
In verse 5, Paul begins to explain the context of humility.
He says these words, “In your relationships with one another…”
Where?
In our relationships.
Humility happens in a relationship.
And towards the end of chapter 1 in verse 27, Paul’s already been vocal about how followers of Jesus should live their lives: they should live their lives, or conduct themselves, in a manner worthy of the gospel. If you remember last week, the idea of conducting yourself is citizenship language.
The church always has to remember where it comes from, who it belongs to, who purchased its life in death, burial, and resurrection. Our life isn’t our own, it belongs to Jesus, and that’s one of the greatest core truths of the Christian live.
How we live does matter.
And how we live also implies being in relationship with others.
So Paul’s encouragement in verse 5 is that humility, is done in relationship with others, is it’s done as we model our lives after Jesus. Other translations say, “having the same attitude as Jesus,” — and this is another area in which we are partnering with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is making us more like Jesus, and the encouragement, is to join in on the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in the life of the church.
We’re all undergoing a process of formation, or what’s been called spiritual formation, this is the way in which every action, whether ours or the Holy Spirit’s, every act of intention, every thought, every habit — is forming us into a kind of person.
The Sunday school answer is “Jesus,” we’re being formed into Jesus. But if I’m being shaped towards something, if I’m partnering with God in this respect, then I should have a pretty clear idea on who I am supposed to become like — or rather, what I am becoming.
In verses 6-11, Paul shares what’s been considered by many scholars, to be a song, or a hymn, that likely existed before Paul wrote these words, about who Jesus is, what He did, and how God responded.
Every word is important for us in who we are becoming, and Paul is exposing one of the key traits of Jesus: His humility.
Humility, in the eyes of Jesus, is taking the lowest place. That’s what I want to work from as our definition.
I think humility, in our passage, can do two things:
It can turn graspers into givers.
It can move us from being concerned about status to being concerned about service.
Let’s start in verse 6.
Who” — Meaning Jesus, “being in very nature God,” — Paul is communicating the belief that Jesus is FULLY God, — and this implies that Jesus has all of the same privileges as God.
If Jesus is God, then He alone has unreserved power and control. The same power that spoke all things into being, the same power that placed the stars in the sky, the same power capable of raising the dead.
But listen to Paul’s explanation in verse 6:
Though He has every power and privilege at His disposal, Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage,” or as the English Standard Version says: Philippians 2:6
Philippians 2:6 (ESV)
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Jesus does not cling to, does not hold onto, He is not reaching for — the power that is actually His.
Jesus, in His death, burial, and resurrection, does the opposite of what we’re prone to do. If we look back at verse 3, we often do things out of selfishness and conceit.
Jesus could have.
He could have commanded fire down from heaven, He could have crushed His opponents using legions of angels, or He could have leveled everything just as He spoke simple words from the cross. The Pharisees and the Roman Government could have been caput in a second.
He could have strolled into the Temple in Jerusalem, and announced Himself not only King in Israel but King over the whole world.
He could have used Pontius Pilate as a pawn, initiating a full-blown campaign against the Roman Empire, using their own engineering and ingenuity against them.
He could have bent the wills of nations for His own wealth and prosperity.
Jesus could have.
And He doesn’t.
Just think of what we would do if we had a little more power…
We’d stop corrupt politicians for running for office.
We’d stop crime in the Bay Area.
We’d use it to get by on our taxes.
We’d use it to make Partner at our law firm.
We’d level up and get a bigger house, a second home, or an investment property.
We’d use it to win friends and influence people.
We’d use it to fix the traffic in the tunnel.
I’m sure we’d use power to do a whole lot more notable things than just for ourselves, and I know we all just went there in our heads. We’d try and make a difference. We’d use to accumulate wealth and give it away. We’d channel the inner Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne that’s in all of us and we’d do something good for the world.
Except we wouldn’t, because we don’t… that’s why Jesus’ exercise of power, all power and authority, not for Himself, but for others, is so amazing, it’s so counter cultural, it’s so profound against the backdrop of human history.
He takes what is power and privilege, what we only grasp for, and He gives it to the world as the generosity of God.
Jesus takes every ounce of power, and uses it not for Himself, but for us.
The power we grasp for is the blessing He gives away in His death on the cross.
What He doesn’t grasp for becomes the most amazing gift we’ll ever experience in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is inviting us to become like Jesus in this way… What power we do have, is not meant to be used for our own advantage — whatever influence, wealth, means or relationship — it isn’t to be exploited, it’s meant to bless the world, to be given away to others.
Becoming like Jesus in humility is going to be evident that when we have power, we use it as a measure of generosity for others.
Look, we all have some level of power or influence, whether at work, in our families, or among friends. This week, I want you to do two things:
First, identify where you have influence. Then, use that influence for someone else's benefit. Maybe it's advocating for a coworker who's often overlooked, or ensuring everyone in your family gets heard, not just you. It's about giving away your power, not hoarding it.
Second, intentionally step back in a situation where you'd normally take charge. Let someone else make the decision or lead the project. This isn't about being a doormat; it's about mirroring Jesus' willingness to set aside His power for others' benefit.
Humility won’t just move us from graspers to givers, it also takes status and can transform it into an opportunity for service. Look with me at verse 7.
Again… Jesus does not cling to, does not hold onto, He is not reaching for — the power that is actually His.
Paul explains this in verses 7-8… Jesus, Paul says, “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
Verse 7 has become the center of a lot of theological debate, and look, we could dive deep into fancy terms like "kenosis" and "hypostatic union," but here's the bottom line: Jesus, who is fully God, became fully human. He didn't stop being God, but He got down on our level. Why? To serve us. To save us. That's humility on a cosmic scale. Jesus went from the highest height to the lowest low - all the way to the cross - because that's what it took to rescue us.
In the first century, the cross was a source of shame for the world, implying that if you died on a cross you were cursed from the get-go — Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus “endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Writer Martin Hengel described it like this, “It is certainly the case that the Roman world was largely unanimous that crucifixion was a horrific, disgusting business.”
Jesus, in His humility, has moved from the highest status to the lowliest position imaginable… all in the name of service.
Mark 10:45 (NIV) says this well…
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I get it… there feels like there’s still a disconnect because we're not saving the world on a cosmic scale. But here's the thing - we have opportunities every day to choose humility, to choose service over status.
Every time we choose to serve instead of grasp, every time we lift someone else up instead of ourselves, we're echoing what Jesus did. We're bringing a little bit of heaven down to earth. And let me tell you, that's where the real joy is found.
If you're here at Moraga Valley, you likely have some status or connections. Here's how we can use that for service:
First, think about who could benefit from your network. Maybe it's a young person needing career advice, or a newcomer to the area. Make that introduction, write that recommendation, invite them to that event. Use your status to open doors for others.
Second, find a way to serve that has nothing to do with your professional skills or social status. If you're an executive, read to kids at Harbor House. If you're a lawyer, hold babies in the nursery. Put yourself in a position where your worldly status doesn't matter. It's humbling, but it reminds us that our true identity in Christ isn't about what we do or who we know.
This week, choose one way to give instead of grasp, one way to serve instead of seek status. It might be uncomfortable, but that's where you'll find real joy. That's where you'll experience Christ's power in you.
We've covered a lot of ground today, but here's what I want you to remember:
We started with this idea: there's joy in taking the lowest place, it's the heart of what Paul's telling us about Jesus.
We saw how Jesus, who had all the power in the universe, chose not to grasp it for Himself. Instead, He used that power to serve us. That's humility in action. It turns graspers into givers.
Then we looked at how Jesus moved from the highest status to the lowest - all the way to the cross. He showed us that true greatness isn't about climbing to the top; it's about being willing to serve at the bottom.
So, what does this mean for us? It means we've got a choice. We can keep playing the world's game of grabbing for power and status, or we can follow Jesus' example. We can use our influence to lift others up. We can step down from our pedestals to serve in ways that might seem "beneath" us.
Remember, this isn't about diminishing ourselves. It's about recognizing that true power - the kind Jesus demonstrated - isn't about grasping or controlling. It's about giving and serving.
This week, I'm challenging you: Find one way to give instead of grasp. Find one way to serve instead of seeking status. It might feel uncomfortable. It might even hurt a little. But I promise you, that's where you'll find real joy. That's where you'll experience the power of Christ in you.
Because when we humble ourselves like Jesus did, we're not just changing our actions, the Lord is using it to change our hearts. We're becoming more like Him. And in that process, in that journey of becoming - that's where we'll find the joy-filled life Paul's been talking about all along.
Let's pray.
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