The Bethany Bullet Sermon Message - Week of September 27, 2020
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Sermon Message:
Text: Philippians
2:1-11
I
wanted to begin this time together with a very deep and intense theological
question. It is the same question I’ve begun, just about, every Sunday
morning’s message during the pandemic, and the question is this…
What
jumps out at you in this text? What word(s), phrase(s), or idea(s) jump out at
you as you hear/read the text?
I
believe that, as we read Scripture as a community, the Holy Spirit works inside
each of us and points us to what we need to hear in the text. So, I would love
to hear what the Holy Spirit is drawing your attention to. I am also fully aware that this is not the usual
practice at Bethany, to holler out what you’re drawn to in the text, but I
would still love to hear what just jumped out at you at we read through the
Philippians text this morning. If
you would rather just talk to the people around you, feel free to tell your
neighbor what jumped out at you in the text. I’ll give you a few moments to do
this. I am going to ask that you don’t get into a big debate about what should
or shouldn’t jump out for others. Rather, just listen to what jumps out to each
other.
Do
you want to know what jumped out at me in this text? It wasn’t so much a word
or phrase that was in the text, but it was an idea from the text. The idea was…THIS
JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!
Let’s
be honest we live in a very “me” centered culture today. We place a very high
value on individualism and self-sufficiency in our country, I’ve even heard
someone say that we live in a “dog eat dog world.” Have you ever heard that
expression? All the ads we
see on TV focus on what you need to succeed, to look good, to be in style, to
be happy, or to feel like you have your life together. If you listen to people
talk, it’s about my rights, my way of life, my beliefs, my political party, the
way that I interpret Scripture, my Jesus, my comfort, my safety, I think you
get the point. When you watch
political ads, and there are plenty to go around right now, the focus is on how
much of a sleaze ball the other person is, or how you should fear what the
other person is going to do if they win. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard an add
that went like this, “Though so and so is a good candidate, with a good track
record, I believe I would be a better candidate because I have proven myself by
doing ‘X’.”
So,
when I read verses 3 and 4, “Don’t act out of selfish ambition or be
conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves.
Don’t be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about
the interests of others” My initial reaction is, “Yeah, right!? Doesn’t
God know the world we live in? Doesn’t he know how countercultural and
rebellious it would be to live with a humble attitude and seek to serve others,
especially people that I very much disagree with?
Yet,
isn’t that the point? If everyone one of us lived this way, what would you
think would happen? Do you think there would be riots in the streets still? Maybe,
but I also think things would be a lot different in this world. I think there
would be a lot more unity if we all lived with humility. So, how’s that working
out for you?
Did
you know that Paul wrote these verses to a group of people that were probably persecuted
and looked down upon by their neighbors? If you notice, in Philippi, Paul
didn’t go to the synagogue first, as was his custom, probably become there
wasn’t one. That would mean there weren’t enough Jewish men in Philippi to
necessitate one, meaning that there were less than 10 Jewish men in the city. My
guess, is that there weren’t a lot of Jewish men in the city of Philippi
because they weren’t welcome. The Jews weren’t the top rung of society. As a
result, they were looked down upon and persecuted in some places, and
Christianity, until the fall of the temple in 70AD, were seen as associated
with Jews. This book was probably written in the early 50’s AD. So, Paul is
writing to a group of Christians who are being looked down upon by their neighbors
and saying that you should think of them as better than yourselves. How would
you do with that one?
So,
how do we begin to change? The answer is actually in the text and it is the
other thing that doesn’t make sense to me. The answer is also reflected in 1
John 4:19, where it says, “We love because God loved us first.” The
answer is We because He.
The
answer comes from reading Scripture, and then living it out, in proper order.
Here’s what I want you to do. Take just a few seconds, maybe up to a minute,
and go back through the text to answer this question: What does the text
say about who God is and what He has done? Before we can talk about
ourselves, about things that need to shift and change in our lives, we need to
first talk about what God has done. You see, God is the hero of the Bible. This
book is really all about Him, and we simply live in response to the work that
He has done, and is doing, in our lives. So, what does this text say about God?
Well,
if you look at verses 6 and 7 again, you see that the King of the Universe, the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The one who is equal with God. The
one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, who was there before the
world was created, Jesus Christ. He chose to empty himself, taking the form of
a servant, and dwelt among us.
In
a few months, were going to celebrate Christmas, don’t flip out, we’re not
there yet. When we get there, we are going to talk about the lowly conditions
in which Christ was born in: a young couple, not yet married, yet she was still
a virgin, being born in a stable because no-one wanted them in the home or
didn’t have room, and to be announced to, and visited by, shepherds, who were
some of the lowliest people of that day. The King of the Universe, Jesus Christ,
didn’t come as some conquering king in an earthly sense. Rather, He came “to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
The
text goes on in verse 8 to say that “He humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, death on a cross.” The creator of the
world, the King of the Universe, the one who has all power, and glory, and
honor humbled himself; and he subjected himself to one of the most painful and
tortuous ways to die, for you. Why? Because He loves us. Because he wanted our
broken relationship with God the Father, and ultimately each other as a result,
to be reconciled and restored. Because we can’t do that, no matter how hard we
try.
Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
You
see, when God created the earth, He created Adam and Eve, and He set a rule in
place but they broke that rule. As a result, sin entered the world, and that
sin separates us from God. We see the effects of that sin all around us, and
even in our own lives.
Jesus
came to reconcile us to the Father. Through Him, our sins are forgiven, we are
made new, and we are set free. Jesus did what we could not: He lived a perfect
and sinless life, He went to the cross to suffer the punishment for your sins
and mine, and he rose on Easter morning, proving his victory over sin. He
redeems us, changes us, restores us, and makes us new through faith in Him.
“This
is why God has given him an exceptional honor—the name honored above all other
names—so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and in the
world below will kneel and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father.”
“In
ancient times, people were given names to describe them. The name of Jesus
describes the essence of who He is: “salvation is of the Lord.” There is no
other savior or means of salvation.”1 It is only Jesus that saves. It is only Jesus
that restores, and it is only Jesus that deserves all honor, praise, and glory.
Now,
one day, everyone is going to realize this, either on this side of heaven or
the other. My prayer is that it ends up being this side. ;-)
Until
that time, you and I are called to live in response to what Christ has done in
our lives. To have “the same attitude and the same love, living in harmony, and
keeping one purpose in mind.” To not, “act out of selfish ambition or be
conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves.” To
not “be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about
the interests of others.” To “have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
Let
me go back to a question I asked earlier, “How is that working out for you?”
- What would change in our world if, as a result of our faith in Christ, we truly did “nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but humbly considered others better than ourselves”?
- What would change if in our relationships with
the people under our own roof if we lived out of our identity in Christ, who
God says we are and calls us to be, than out of our own selfish ambition?
- What would change in our relationships with those in our community?
- What would change in our nation and world if every Christian, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, lived this way?
Honestly,
I believe a lot would change.
- If I’m being honest, I still have a lot of growing to do in this area. It’s really easy for me to be much more concerned with my own interests rather than the interests of others.
- If I’m being honest, I probably need to spend more time confessing where I have fallen short, where I have given into the culture, than I do pointing out where I feel others are wrong.
Could
you imagine how different social media would be, how different our world would
be right now, if we were all more concerned with understanding the “other,”
than we were about being right? If we sought to love people more than we do to
demean them?
- What would happen if when we came across someone that we disagreed with politically, or even personally, we would invite them over to our home, or out for coffee, and just sit with them for a while, listen to their story, listen to how they came to believe or value the thing they do, and then ask them how we could best serve them? Oh and there was a rule that, unless asked, we wouldn’t share with them our own opinion. (BTW eventually, I guarantee, someone would ask what you think.)
- What would happen if, when we did speak truth to people, we did it with a lot more grace then we typically do? If, before we responded, we stopped to think about how much grace God shows us before we interacted with others?
How
would things change if you knew that God would think of us, speak to us, or
treat us the way you think, speak of, and treat others…especially online? Thank
goodness He doesn’t, right?
We
are going through a lot right now as an individual, as a family, as a church,
as a community, and as a nation; and it is not always easy. There have been
many times I have found myself out of step with Christ and with others during
this time. There have been several times where I find myself, like Paul,
saying, “What a miserable person I am! Who will rescue me from my dying
body?” Yet, “I thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ rescues me!”2
I
thank God that, in the midst of it all, He still loves us for the sake of Jesus.
That he continually forgives us, and that, even when we mess it up royally, he
still calls us His own. I thank God that, through the power of the Spirit, He
continually grows us through what we go through. Amen
Let’s
pray… Dear Jesus, I confess that I have been concerned
with myself more than I have others. I confess that I have been quick to fight
for my own interests and slow to concern myself with the interest of others.
Forgive me, change me, and lead me to reflect the love, grace, and mercy that
you constantly show me in my relationship with others. Fill me with joy and
cause me to have the same attitude and the same love as you. Then I will be
able to live in unity with my brothers and sisters, and with others as well.
Lord, bring healing to our homes, churches, communities, and nation; and may
you get all honor, praise, and glory as you grow us through what we go through
today and every day. Amen.
- Pastor Kyle Blake
1 Edward A. Engelbrecht, The
Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1 2009),
2035.
2 Romans 7:24-25
Worship Resources for Sunday,
October 4th
will be up on Bethany’s website
by
midday Saturday, October 3rd.
posted by Aimee Coleman @ 12:53 PM
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