Philippians 2:1-11 unity in the body

The necessity of unity in the body of Christ

read in voice during service.

Foot Washing

Dominant theme: To have humility is to reflect Christ

Function Statement: I will contemplate what Christ has done for me and do for others.

for communion

Similarly, in the culmination of worship in the Eucharist, we are invited to sit down for supper with the Creator of the universe, to dine with the King. But we are all invited to do so, which means we need to be reconciled to one another as well. Our communion with Christ spills over into communion as his body.

There is a social, even political, reality enacted here: there are no box seats at this table, no reservations for VIPs, no filet mignon for those who can afford it while the rest eat crumbs from their table. The Lord's Table is a leveling reality in a world of increasing inequalities, an enacted vision of "a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine" (Is 25:6 NIv). This strange feast is the civic rite of another city--the heavenly city -which is why it includes our pledge of allegiance, the Creed. In this communion our hearts are drawn into the very heart of God's triune life. James K. A. Smith becoming a pastor theologian

we reach our hands to every blood washed one.

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. 9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11 NASB

intro

It is well known that humility as a virtue began with Christ. In fact, before Christ humility was looked down upon, considered ridiculous. The greek word for humility Paul uses in this passage actually means lowness of mind, or someone who is crushed. It has a very clear and present negative tense. I have also seen the word described as to be brought low. The idea comes from, you would never knowingly, willingly, bring yourself low.

for the congregations in Philippi this taking on humility would not be easy. As Roman citizens, as an important city both for the greek and Roman empires, as many of the people here were wealthy and came from military background, humility would be contrary to everything they knew.

The eminent Roman historian Edwin Judge recently put it this way:

“Humility in Greek and Roman ethics would be a degrading thing. To put yourself down to a level that you were not born to, or that your standing in life did not require you to be in, was disgraceful and debasing. There was no virtue in it at all.”

You would never knowingly bring yourself down. Why would you?

In the city of Delphi, centered on the temple of Apollo, there lies 147 proverbs and there is not a single time a mention of, a theme of, or any semblance of humility.

Instead the core tenant for greek life according to Aristotle was honor and love of honor.

Finally, there is The Achievements of the Divine Augustus, written by the emperor Augustus himself, who hand wrote a list of all of his accomplishments, moral and intellectual aptitudes, and had them inscribed on bronze tablets and set them up in mausoleum and distirbuted throughout the empire.

But Jesus changed all of that. Humility went from being a thing of scorn and shame to a virtue to be sought after. He literally changed the culture. Now the United States, often informed culturally by the values of the Bible, even if unknowingly, for several decades seemed obsessed over humility and servant leadership. in the 90s AND 2000s you didn’t see a single leadership that did not talk about how to be a leader through serving.

But now? now it is hard to find humility, especially true humility, any where.

Theodore Roosevelt despite being a very well decorated military leader and had every right to be prideful, understood every great leader had to lead through their smallness, not their egos.

It is said when Roosevelt was president and had foreign dignitaries visit he would take them out to the back lawn. There he would be found gazing at the night sky for hours, eyes cast heavenward. Back then it was easy to see the full breadth of the stars undimmed by our array of endless city lights. Over time everyone there wuld be left in awe of creation, and After a long moment, Mr. Roosevelt would say, "Gentlemen, I believe we are small enough now. Let's go to bed."

We are small enough, now the important stuff can begin, because we are in the right frame of mind to decide life and death, war and peace, freedom and tyranny.

Is that something you would ever hear from our leaders today? Would you ever hear a prominent CEO say lets go go look at the stars and say great, now i am in the right mindset to work. When is the last time you heard a politician of any party gladly say they are now humble and small enough to make decisions in the right frame of mind?

It isn’t something I hear anymore, but it is something I long to see once again.

BODY

though much of our culture as been for decades awash with christian values and a Christian framework we have now reverted and have begun to look a lot more like the Roman empire than the Christian one.

Paul writes to the church in Philippi for two things. You already know the first one, Joy in suffering. To find joy even in the midst of prison bars and shackle chains.

But the second reason is not quite as apparent. You have to look a little deeper in some of the texts. The second purpose was unity and humility in Christ. Paul shows his hand a bit in the final chapter of Philippians as he wraps his letter up. In the first few verses he writes,

Philippians 4:2–3 “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” ESV

See, There is some kind of conflict between these two ladies among the Christians in Philippi. They are clearly Christians, the way Paul talks about them it is easy to understand they are likely House church leaders, but they have conflict. And basically Paul is says to them, cut it out, be of the same mind, have humility, and work for the Lord.

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:1-4 NASB

And that is what Paul is saying in more words in the beginning of chapter 2. He starts by saying, if these things are actually present from your faith in Christ, Then please, complete my joy, make me happy, do this personal favor, by being of the same mind, maintain the same love, be unified in the Spirit of God, and have the same purpose among you.

If you are in Christ, if he is working in you, this is what is expected of you. This is the foundation of how christians should interact with each other.

Then Paul goes on, so if you do these things, you must also avoid these things. A different translation calls it selfish ambition. The greek word here is of someone who is a mercenary. Some who goes out in the world playing every side and doing whatever ittakes to get ahead without any cares in the world of who might get caught in the crosshair.

And in humility, Consider others more important than yourselves. This is the key. Nick Wallenda, the famous hire wire acrobat, you know the one who walked a hire wire across niagara falls, the grand canyon, and a literal volcano in Nicaragua.

The day after walking across Niagara falls Nick returns to… pick up trash. Here is what he said about it, “My purpose is simply to help clean up after myself. The huge crowd left a great deal of trash behind, and I feel compelled to pitch in. Besides, after the inordinate amount of attention I sought and received, I need to keep myself grounded. Three hours of cleaning up debris is good for my soul. Humility does not come naturally to me. So if I have to force myself into situations that are humbling, so be it …. I know that I need to get down on my hands and knees like everyone else. I do it because it's a way to keep from tripping.”

why does he do this? I will give you a hint, it is not because he read some book on servant leadership and how it will propel you to greater heights.

Here is why humility and the unity present from having humility is so important.

 5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. 9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11 NASB

have this attitude, this frame of mind, that was also present in Jesus Christ. These next few verses are considered by many to be one of the earliest hymns in the church. at this point it had likely been spread and well known among the many churches and Paul uses it to remind them of who Jesus was.

Paul tells us plainly, Jesus has always been God. He existed as God before time itself existed. But, even as God, he chose not to cling to his divinty. instead, emptying him of his divine attributes. Basically Paul is saying here that Jesus in choosing to become human, FOR US, he put his divine elements behind a veil.

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians B. The Humility of Christ (vv. 5–11)

Charles C. Ryrie explains it well, “Christ didn’t become any less God, but he chose not to use some of his divine attributes. This involved a veiling of his pre incarnate glory

Sure, it would be easier for us to only focus on our spiritual, physcial, mental well being. It would be easier to only hang out with compassionate people who are already put together, who can help you grow in Christ. It would be wonderful if we could just isolate ourselves to people we like. It would be easier to only exist in the church rather than venture out with the message of the gospel to unbelievers.

Yes, it would be better for you to only hang out with people smarter, kinder, and more generous than you.

But Jesus, our model, our rabbi, in obedience to God, said though it be far easier for me to just watch them die in their sins, chose become human, subjected himself to the same desires, needs, and necessities we all live through. So instead of being selfish and sitting on his throne looking down in righteous justified judgement, he chose to take on flesh.

Like, have you considered what it was like to go from being omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being that stood outside of physical reality, lived outside of time, never had any needs, never needed sleep or food, and had never felt pain to… suddenly become human?

I mean Jesus goes from being a self reliant being to literally a baby needing milk, being rocked by his parents, and sleeping every two hours. For the first time in all of history Jesus is restrained by flesh and bone. he has to walk everywhere and gets blisters on his feet. he has to sleep and get rest. he has to eat and drink.

He has aches, pains, and scratches. He fell down and hit his head as a toddler, He skint his knee playing games as a teenager, He pulled muscles as an adult. He felt pain just as we do.. He was fully human. But because of his care for others he chose to experience temptation and all that is common to us in order to give us freedom from sin.

Like it would be for us, it would have been easier for him to just pick the most righteous, most holy, most developed thinkers of the day.

Instead, He went out of his way to invite radical extremists, tax collectors, doubters, and fisherman, and not even good ones!

Then He goes around and challenges the religious leaders, the people with the most power, He saves prostitutes from stoning, healed roman Soldiers children.

Jesus chooses to keep the same disciples with him even though they fail him again, and again, and again. Jesus goes so far as during his last night alive to wash his disciples dirty feet… something only slaves and servants would do… and then..

well, he says this in

John 13:12–16 “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” ESV

Go and do likewise. But greater than even that, Jesus subjected himself to the humiliation, shame, and mockery of baseless arrest, a crooked trial, a Roman flogging. beaten with rods and whipped, mocked by people who passed him by, a crown of thorns to anoint the divine king.

Were you picked last on the playground? Well the Jews chose a murder and rebel over him. chanted for his blood to be spilled.

He allowed himself to carry his own cross, crucified naked between two robbers with his clothes gambled away.

The Son of God died the most inglorious death known to the world… for you.

Now Paul says, Have the same Spirit he had. Choosing to serve rather than be served, choosing to give rather than recieve. Choosing to love rather than hate. Jesus told us in

John 13:34–35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

You know, I never did finish that Nick Walenda quote, you want to know how it ends? why he went and picked up trash the day after the most successful high wire walk of all time?

“As a follower of Jesus, I see him washing the feet of others. I do it because if I don't serve others I'll be serving nothing but my ego.”

That is the Spirit of Jesus. That is living and reflecting Christ.

this is why Andrew Murray aptly says

“Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” Andrew Murray

And isn’t that ego the thing we hate the most about the church? the hypocrites, the holier than thou pharisees, the know it alls, the dividers and the gossips who look at us and scorn like they have never messed up, let a word slip, or made a mistake?

is the division of the church, the bickering over worship styles, and the arguing over carpet colors not the worst representation of Christ there is? The tattle tales to the pastor, the heated arguments of minute differences in theology and interpertations, or God forbid a preference over a Bible translation?

It is like the story of a man who seeking meaning in his life. He is not sure where to find it, he doesn’t think he will find here but he walks into the bar for a cold beer to watch a game.

Immediately he senses a level of unity and camaraderie. They welcome him; one guy wins a bet on the sports game and buys everyone a drink. 

He chats with the bartender about life. 

He doesn’t get challenged to be a better person; it doesn’t make his life any better. But he enjoyed his time. The next day he goes to church for the first time. Thinking this is where I am supposed to find meaning and eternal purpose right?

Immediately, he hears two guys arguing over the type of doughnuts the church provided. Then he notices there are two colors of carpet, apparently there was a big debate over which color was best, so they split the difference. 

He sits down at the first seat he finds, but a few minutes later, a couple shows up and says that it is their seat and forces him to move. 

Though the church is crowded, no one sits within 3 seats of him. The pastor preaches on gossip, but he hears 2 old ladies whispering about the pregnant woman who has no wedding band on. 

He feels a call to stay, to learn, that maybe there can be joy and purpose found here, but the church stands in such contrast to the bar that he decides to go back to the bar instead. 

If that is the reality of so many churches Imagine with me what it would look like instead be to be apart of a church where we say, I disagree with you, but I love you more than I disagree, lets work together to accomplish your goal.

Imagine a world where instead of fighting over the same people in the pews churches actually worked together to feed the poor, reach the lost, and feed God’s sheep?

Imagine a world where big churches helped small churches instead of lording over their size. Imagine a world where people were generous, imagine a church where denominations rather than choosing to be divided chose to cooperate. can you imagine the church looking like that?

I can,

Acts 2:44–47 “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Contemplate what mindset Christ has and the things he did for you, Observe what he did and how he did it, and then go out and do what he did in the the same Spirit that empowers all of us. For together we are one church, we have on Spirit, We serve one God.

Notes:

if there are two reasons paul writes to the church in philippi it is unity and joy. chapter 4

these verses are really the brass of what it means to live a lfie worthy of Christ

comfort here is parakletis - root word paraklete which is the word for helper, comforter, for holy Spirit

if there 4 things are true, do this.

If your faith has encouraged you from Christ, if you have had any comfort from his love,

selfish ambition - mercenary for hire. do nothing out of just your own good. *

same mind as Paul? Christ? church?

what is the one purpose?

consider others as more important. difference between golden and silver rule. (recap it?) do it through humility.

more signficant or more important?

v4 is not to say don’t look out for your own, but don’t look our for just your own. it is not about being selfless. *

view others how you view your children. not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of others more.