Joy in Unity

Intro

Recap last week

So, last week we started our series in Philippians, called ‘the book of joy.’ We saw that joy isn’t tied to circumstances but to Jesus.

So, tonight we’re going to shift and talk about how we can have joy in unity.

Illustration

Let me ask you, have you ever noticed how selfishness can ruin a moment? Think about it. When everyone wants to be first in line, when everyone is fighting for the spotlight, or when a friend group turns into a competition, there’s no joy, just tension.

One of my favorite books I’ve read recently is called “Unreasonable Hospitality.” It’s about running hospitality for leaders. The book is written by Will Guidara, who ran hospitality at a fine dining restaurant called “Eleven Madison Park.” There was a family having dinner on their last night of their trip, and the server overheard that they hadn't tried a hot dog in New York, so they were bummed about it. They tried all these nice restaurants, but they wanted a New York hot dog. Hot dogs aren’t on the menu at a fine dining restaurant. But hospitality mattered most, so the server ran to the street, bought a hot dog, and brought it back. The chefs plated it beautifully, and that small act of humility brought joy to everyone. They still tried a New York hot dog, all because the restaurant went out of their way to give them good hospitality. A simple act of humility created joy for everyone involved.

To serve someone well, we need humility. Humility takes the focus off us and puts it on others. And when we live that way, joy multiplies. I’ve never met someone truly joyful who wasn’t also humble.

In Philippians 2:1-11, Paul says the secret to joy isn’t chasing recognition, winning arguments, or being first. True joy comes from humility, putting others first, and no one shows us this better than Jesus Himself.

MIT: Paul teaches that joy comes through humility, modeled perfectly by Jesus.

MIM: True joy is found when we live like Jesus.

Text: Philippians 2:1–11

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 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, 2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

CHRIST’S HUMILITY AND EXALTATION

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

7 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,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow—

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth—

11 and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

1. Joy comes from Humility (v. 1-4)

Explanation

Verses 1-2

Paul opens chapter 2 with four rhetorical ‘if’ statements, things he knows are true for believers. “If then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy.” The word “If” in English brings some doubt to our mind, but in this context is more of assuming something. Paul mentioned these things in a manner that suggests to us that they should all be obvious parts of the Christian’s experience. Then in verse 2, Paul gets to the unity part. He starts by saying, “Make my joy complete”. He’s making a personal request here to them. Paul had a great relationship with this church, and they made him joyful, so he’s saying do these things to help continue to make me joyful. He goes on and says, “By thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” These together all speak of the same idea: a deep, abiding unity among them. This unity is the goal. It is not found in the same lifestyle or personality. It is found when people have the same values and love. Paul sought that in this church. He was motivated to be one.

Verses 3-4

Paul goes on and shifts a little bit to descriptions of how to achieve and practice unity. In verse 3, he says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit.” Both of these attitudes stem from a self-centered mindset. Remember, we mentioned “Selfish ambition” last week. Conceit means ‘empty glory’, chasing attention that doesn’t last. This relates so much to today. We’ve all seen this in others: attention seekers who want to be in the spotlight. Then we’ve all dealt with this at some point in our lives when we want something so bad. We look at others as rivals because we want to do better than they do. We strive for that attention and glory for ourselves. But what does Paul tell us to do with these motives? At the end of verse 3 and verse 4, he says, “But in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” Humility is how we deal with our selfish motives. Now, this doesn’t mean looking at yourself poorly, but it means that we value ourselves more than others. To value others above ourselves does not mean to look down on us, but rather means to look up to those around us, not to hate ourselves, but to love and serve others even more. We do not reject ourselves but place our brothers and sisters on a pedestal above ourselves. We have this servant mentality. Look at verse 4, “Everyone should look out for not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Do we truly care about others? Do we truly listen when someone is talking? Do we go out of our way to help someone like the lady at Eleven Madison Park?

Illustration

I once played with a teammate on my soccer team who never passed the ball. What’s crazy is that I played with him from middle school to high school. So, it felt like I couldn’t get away from him. People would literally call him a “ball hog.” One time in particular, he tried to take three players on the same team at the same time. I got so mad, but thankfully, the coach said something, and he realized he was wrong.

What’s so beautiful about serving others is that when you do it, you can only think about others.

Application

So, how do we grow in humility? There are many ways, but one of the biggest is by serving others. Sit with someone who seems alone at school. When someone is talking, let’s make sure we’re listening. Letting someone shine, instead of being a competition.

Transition

2. Follow the example of Jesus (v. 5-11)

Explanation

Paul had just spoken of the issues of selfish ambition and conceit, and then he’s going to directly talk about Jesus. Christ is the ultimate example of humility that we should follow. He will describe the attitude of Christ, but first, he tells them what to do with the information in verse 5. It’s easy to read about the description of Jesus and admire it from a distance, but God wants us to be awed by it and to imitate it. So, in verse 5, Paul uses the word “Adopt” and says, “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus.” They were to imitate him because, in so doing, the problems of disunity would be solved. When we imitate Christ, we’re showing the love of Jesus to others. We can have unity when we all have the same attitude as Christ. We can have joy when we have the attitude that Christ did.

In verses 6-11, Paul speaks on the deity of Christ. Now, we’re going to get deep here, but in the words of Shane Pruitt, “If teenagers can learn algebra, they can learn theology.” Paul, in these verses, means that Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, was an eternal being and that Jesus was God. Jesus had no beginning and no end. He was not created, but he was the creator. Jesus didn’t begin in Bethlehem; He is eternal. Verse 6 says He existed in the ‘form of God’, not shape, but essence, the very nature of God. When Paul says Jesus was in the ‘form of God,’ it means Jesus has God’s very nature; He’s fully God, not just a reflection of Him.

Paul goes on in verse 6 by saying, “Did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.” What does this mean? It means that Jesus did not cling to the privileges of who he was as God. It wasn’t that Jesus was trying to achieve equality with the Father. He had it and chose not to cling to it. He didn’t have this prideful mentality; instead, he humbled himself. Paul says another interesting phrase in verse 7, he says, “Instead he emptied himself.” Now, what does this mean? He didn’t become a lesser God or less holy. Jesus did not empty himself of his character, any of his attributes, or his equality with God. As the end of the verse tells us, “By assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man.” This describes how Jesus emptied himself. The emptiness is that God became human, the Lord became a servant, and obedience led him to death. He left his position, rank, and privilege for us.

How did he do this? Verse 8 says how, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross.” It’s simple but powerful. Jesus seeks humility, refuses glory, and takes the lowest place for us on the cross. And what happened because of his humility in going to the cross and dying for our sins? Verse 9 says, “For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.” Jesus did not crown himself, but his Father crowned him. He did not elevate himself to the throne, but his Father lifted him there and placed him there. His humiliation led directly to his exaltation. Now, in the last 2 verses, we see why. Verse 10, “Every knee will bow,” and in verse 11, “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Chris is Lord.” This should be our response to what Jesus did on the cross. These 2 verses should make us just want to praise Him for who He is.

But what does all this have to do with joy in unity? Why did Paul want to write this part? Why did Paul go from practical to theology? Paul did not give this description of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11 simply for theology. Theology is important, but it’s not the only reason he said this. It’s not for an argument with someone, but for adoration. It means to bring us together under our creator. He gave this to help them practice real unity at any time in their life. When we have that humility mindset like Christ, we can have joy in humility.

Application

In our day-to-day lives, how good are we at following Jesus? How good are we at following his example? The example he set for us. Here’s where we start: believe who Jesus is, not just ideas about Him, but truly as Lord and Savior. Do we truly know him as Lord and Savior? Second, follow his ways, by how he lived, spoke, treated others, and carried himself. He is the perfect example for us to follow. Lastly, tell the world about this passage. Again, do your friends know Jesus? Do your classmates or teammates know Jesus? Let our actions and words reflect Him.

Closing

Let me circle back to that restaurant story for a second. What made that moment so joyful wasn’t just a hot dog. It was someone choosing humility, putting someone else’s joy above their own convenience. That’s what Paul is saying here. When we stop fighting for the spotlight, when we start lifting others, when we live with the humility of Jesus, that’s when unity and joy come alive.

But here’s the truth: on our own, we’ll always drift toward selfishness. The only way we can live this out is through Jesus. He humbled Himself all the way to the cross for us. He took our sin, our selfishness, and our pride, and He died in our place. And now He is exalted as Lord. That means two things: first, we can be forgiven and saved if we turn to Him in faith. Second, we now have His Spirit inside us, giving us the power to live with humility, unity, and joy.

So tonight, here’s the challenge:

Do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior? That’s the first step.

If you do, will you live this week with His mindset, serving, listening, and putting others first?

Imagine what would happen if we lived like this. Imagine the unity. Imagine the joy. That’s what Paul is pointing us to. And that’s what Jesus is inviting us into.

Prayer