Humility, the path for unity

Introduction:

Pacific Rim is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Guillermo del Toro. It tells a story about giant monsters invading Earth from another dimension. These monsters are called “Ka-i-ju”, they begin emerging from the Pacific Ocean, attacking cities along the coast. To protect the world, humans build gigantic robots called Jaegers, these robots are operated by two pilots whose minds must be linked through a neural bridge (A neural bridge is this imaginary space where thoughts and memories are shared by the pilots).

The key detail is this: the Jaeger (the Robot) will not function unless the pilots are mentally and emotionally united acting as one. The pilots must open themselves up to one another, share memories, and trust deeply to succeed.

Thesis: Tonight, we will explore how, like the pilots in Pacific Rim, we must humble ourselves and walk in unity—embracing our identity in Christ and living as the visible representation of God’s image in the world.

Transition point: Tonight, as we reflect on Paul’s message in Philippians 2, we’ll explore four key truths that help us live as one body—for the glory of Christ and the advance of the gospel. We will consider:

1. Unity: Reflecting what we know. Philippians 2:1–2 “Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, complete my joy, so that you are in agreement, having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose.”

2. Humility: Reflecting a Selfless Life Philippians 2:3-4

3. Jesus: The perfect example humility Philippians 2:5-11

a. The humble man

b. The obedient man

c. The exalted man

Point number one: Unity: Reflecting the work of the gospel in us

Philippians 2:1-2

Writing a letter is a tough business. I remember the first letter I sent to Yuliana. It is filled with so many emotions, the idea of talking to her, seeing her again, the image of her face while reading it. It was awesome. Even though we had many other means of communication, it just felt different.

I imagine Paul while trying to condense all the love he had for this church in one letter. While in prison (Pri-zn), he wrote this letter with gratitude for the things they did from him. In addition, he wrote this letter to invite them to keep working in their unity as means of giving glory to God and as a recognition that Paul's time was not in vain. He wanted them to be united in the love of Christ, having Christ as the principal example of humility, obedience, and love.

In his first part of the letter, we see how Paul was:

· Giving praise to God for their testimony in the faith. Phil 1:2-6

· Giving them encouragement because unity in the gospel is a progressive work that is already happening in their lives Phil 1:6-11

· Giving them encouragement that despise of all challenges, persecution, prison (Pir-zn), cold, hunger, among all difficulties, he found contentment in Christ.

Paul was happy for the things God was doing in their lives, and part of that was the love this church has for Paul. They knew the gospel, Paul in this letter was encouraging them to bring fruit, to act accordingly.

He says at the beginning of this chapter “THEREFORE”, which means: Knowing all of these”, he goes on to say:

· If there is any consolation in Christ

· If any fellowship of the Spirit

· If any affection and mercy

When we see these three sentences, we might think that Paul might be doubting of their understanding of the Gospel of Christ, he was indeed challenging what they already know was in their lives.

If you know all of these, please “Fulfill my Joy”.

I know this text will feel different if you read it from the perspective of a pastor. You see how Paul is focusing the attention on his teachings while he is with them. There were many using the gospel in divisive way. The gospel was preached, but many were using it for their own purpose, to fulfill their own agenda. Paul wanted them to act and behave in such a way worthy of the Gospel. For any pastor, counselor, leader, it is not enough that people can repeat their teaching, there is joy when they can live according to the teaching.

Paul said, “Fulfill my joy” my joy is that you can live as people love Christ, how?

· Being like-minded (having the same mind)

· Having the same love

· Being of one accord of one mind (united in spirit, intent on one purpose)

We see Paul telling them my joy is that you can be one in Christ

· Having the same mind

· Having the same love

· Having the same purpose

Transition point: And that’s why we have stop thinking about ourselves, we must think about others, share our lives with our brothers and sisters in Christ. So we can be united for the same purpose. And that’s what we call, Humility.

Point number two - Humility: Reflecting a Selfless Life

Philippians 2:3-4

Humility is a uniquely Christian virtue, which, like the message of a crucified Messiah, stands in utter contradiction to the values of the Greco-Roman world, which generally considered humility not a virtue but a shortcoming.

Gordon Fee

Humility goes against everything we see as culture. Nobody wants to be perceived as week, we want to express control, we want to secure our lives, our agendas, and sometimes. Unity is only possible if we are willing to give up our interest and seek the interest of others.

The “Gospel of according to me” is popular in our churches: My time, my life, my enjoyment, my goals. Paul is telling us: Anything you do, don’t do it, as to please your own life, as for thinking about yourself.

· Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit

· Let each esteem others better than himself

· Let each look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others

Application: Think about the impact of your actions, your work, your studies, your life. Think about your life in light of the Gospel and the effect it has for your local church. It does not matter how good you can be at anything, if it does not edify the body of Christ we have to stop doing it, or if you able to do something and you are not doing it because you don’t feel like it, please think about this because this is not a conduct worthy of the gospel. How so? Yes, because the Christian life is not a “Solo Journey”. We have a God given responsibility to each other, to think about each other, to take care of each other.

True humility is therefore not self-focused at all but rather, as further defined by Paul, considers others better than yourselves.

Who was like that? Who is a perfect example of: suffering, loving, humility and obedience? Jesus Christ is that example.

Transition point: 1 John chapter 2:6. They say they know Christ, we say we love Christ, let’s have his mind, let have his vision, let’s think about what he cares the most. Because Jesus was and is the perfect example of humility.

Point number three - Jesus: The perfect example humility

The ultimate paradigm of a genuinely Christian mindset is Christ himself, who is the premier manifestation of the character of God, which God is trying to reproduce in his people so that they might also therebybe truly human

a) Jesus The humble man

Christ is God, he took our form, lived our lives, walked our streets, but he did not do it thinking about himself. He could have done that, but he didn’t, he could just do what he wanted but he didn’t. Paul in this session gave us a wonderful revelation of the nature of Christ. Jesus became like one of us.

b) Jesus The obedient man

Christ is the ultimate of what it’s to be obedient. He gave it all to save us, he took the form of slave to accomplish something that none of us could have ever done, died on a cross for those who he came to save. A slave surrenders his will to please his master. I know the in our age, especially in the US, the concept of slavery is a polemic thing, and even for us the idea of being a slave of someone is just repulsive. But my brothers, being a slave of Christ is the best title we could ever have. It is either being slave of sin or being slave of Christ.

Christ became a slave, he made himself a slave, nobody turned him into a slave, he gave up his glory, he made himself of not reputation. He is the ruler, the creator of all things, who became the lowest possible form, he became a man and took a form of a slave to please God.

Have this mind, Paul said, have this mind. Jesus had many reasons on not to do what he did, but he did it, he made himself a slave for the sake of others. Even Paul calls himself a slave of Christ, He would do whatever Jesus calls him to do.

c) Jesus The exalted man

What was the result of Christ self-humiliation? Christ was not exalted for being poor, which today is considered being humble, he was not exalted for using a donkey instead of a Powerful horse, he was not exalted for giving speeches to the multitude or for being a good son, a good friend. Christ was exalted because he was obedient.

Questions to reflect:

· Are we willing to do that?

· Are we willing to give up our titles, our background, our status?

· Are we willing to humble ourselves and give for our master to give us instructions?

· Are we willing to ponder the lives of our brothers and sisters ahead of ours?

· Are we willing to step out of our comfort zone to desperately seek for the lost?

If not, we are not having the same mind of Christ, if not we are not living according to the gospel, if not, we are not being obedient to our master, which means that we have another one, that we think is bigger and more important that God, and it is called ourselves.

Jesus is our example in many ways, and this why Paul is telling them with such a candor love, to have this mind, move in the same direction that Jesus moved, following the path humility and love. It is easy to see Jesus as a mare example of morality. If we are doing that, we are denying his divine nature. In fact, we can be humble just to be perceived as such, we can pretend to love the people around us, but the idea of becoming a slave, being obedient to God is hard, because it goes against our natural inclination of doing what pleases us. If we do something, we are thinking about ourselves, and what we can get out of it. We cannot be united with that kind of mindset, a humble heart is needed, a true humility example is needed.

Paul was as worried for the proclamation of the gospel as he was for the unity of the church. Yes, the Gospel was preached, but it must be preached in unity, for us to function as a one body, we the same blood running through it.

We are not united in Christ to push for a movement, our own sense of purpose, we must be united in Christ to glorify God, so the people can know our Lord and savior, so the people can understand that life is only worth living, if we live it as Christ lived it.

We are not called upon simply to “imitate God” by what we do but to have his very mind, the mind of Christ, developed in us, so that we too bear God’s image in our attitudes and relationships within the Christian community—and beyond.

In the movie Pacific Rim, they were fighting monsters, as followers of Christ, we are not fighting monsters, we are not saving the world, but we are called to present the Savior, we are called to work as one living organism. To do this, we must humble ourselves, allowing Christ to be seen through our lives and relationships. By doing this, we will grow as church and outside of these doors we will, as Paul says “shine as lights in the world”.

Final application:

· As a church, we must care for the spiritual well-being of all our members.

· We must pray, love, and visit those who are not like us, those who think differently, have less education, have better education, or come from different backgrounds.

· Our unity is not based on musical preferences, skin color, national flags, political affiliations, or even language.

· What truly unites us is the work of the Exalted One—Jesus Christ, his humility, the same we must have. If we lose sight of Him, if we lose sight of what true humility means, our unity becomes superficial, and one day, it will fall apart.

· Let us be a church that reflects the mind of Christ—loving, humble, and united for His glory.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be in front of these people, part of our church. There are so many things that make us different. God, we are always looking for the things we might have in common, and sometimes we don’t find any, forgive us for that, because while looking those things, we forget about the only thing that can keep us as one, that’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Help us to group as church, to have the same mind, the same love, the same goal.

In Jesus Christ I pray.Humility the path for unity

Bible Passage: Philippians 2:1–11

Introduction:

Pacific Rim is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Guillermo del Toro. It tells a story about giant monsters invading Earth from another dimension. These monsters are called “Ka-i-ju”, they begin emerging from the Pacific Ocean, attacking cities along the coast. To protect the world, humans build gigantic robots called Jaegers, these robots are operated by two pilots whose minds must be linked through a neural bridge (A neural bridge is this imaginary space where thoughts and memories are shared by the pilots).

The key detail is this: the Jaeger (the Robot) will not function unless the pilots are mentally and emotionally united acting as one. The pilots must open themselves up to one another, share memories, and trust deeply to succeed.

Thesis: Tonight, we will explore how, like the pilots in Pacific Rim, we must humble ourselves and walk in unity—embracing our identity in Christ and living as the visible representation of God’s image in the world.

Transition point: Tonight, as we reflect on Paul’s message in Philippians 2, we’ll explore four key truths that help us live as one body—for the glory of Christ and the advance of the gospel. We will consider:

1. Unity: Reflecting what we know.

2. Humility: Reflecting a Selfless Life

3. Jesus: The perfect example humility