“Unity Through Humility”
(Philippians 2:1-11)
Worship in the Park Service
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
I love this service, meeting outside as we are and worshiping and fellowshipping together. And I am so grateful for the men and women who have given their lives to safeguard our freedoms such as our First Amendment right to freely gather together for worship.
I realize many of you do not have a Bible with you so I’ll read our passage while you remain seated. We’re breaking from our Hebrews series in light of our fellowship here in the park—to talk about fellowship. I want to read from Philippians 2, a passage that came to mind some days ago as I was considering this fellowship service. The passage of verses 1-11 divides nearly evenly and I want you to listen for two things as I read this passage, the first half of the passage gives us the right attitude and the second half gives us the right altitude. Easy enough—the right attitude and the right altitude. Okay here we go.
- Let me read to you from Philippians 2:1-11.
1 Therefore if there is any consolation (or encouragement) in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form (true and exact nature) of God, did not consider it robbery (a thing to be grasped or held onto) to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- Let’s pray.
Memorial Day leads us to reflect historically on a number of victories past that are woven into the fabric of our freedom. Most memorable for many of us are the events of history from just a few decades ago.
June 5, 1940. The evil forces of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany invaded France. So devastating and overwhelming was their military might that only two weeks later France would be forced into an unconditional surrender. But of course, it was another day in June—four years later—June 6, 1944, the liberation of France was set in motion with the D-Day invasion of Normandy by the allied forces. Hitler’s reign of terror would soon come at an end.
2,000 years ago another invasion took place, the significance of which continues to be felt today. It was an invasion from above. And the enemies to be subdued were sin, sorrow, and Satan. Those needing liberation were you and me. This Deliver did not storm the beaches of Normandy, but he came down from heaven and was born in Bethlehem. And His name is Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord of all (illustration appropriated from Danny Akin sermon on this text).
This passage is one of the great passages that teaches us about Christ’s invasion, Christ’s coming down to us, living among us, defeating sin by dying for us, and rising from the dead for us, and being exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on High, for us.
And this theology, this study about God, or better Christology, study about Christ, is life-changing and life-transforming. It changes our relationship with God and our relationship with others. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today, how Jesus Christ changes us such that we may have these two things: the right attitude, and the right altitude. What do we mean by this? Well, let’s just go through the verses and let me invite you to listen as we take them each in turn. First:
- We Must Have the Right Attitude (1-5)
The key verse in this passage is the hinge verse, verse 5. Many of you know it: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Same mindset. The New Living Translation has, “Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” The right attitude.
And the right attitude is shaped by what precedes verse 5 as well as by what follows verse 5. So let’s look first at the verses preceding verse 5, verses 1 through 4.
1 Therefore if there is any consolation (or encouragement) in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
“Therefore” recalls verse 27, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ…” So Paul is writing to the church to instruct the church regarding godly conduct or behavior, right attitudes. And he does so by using these conditional statements:
If there is any consolation, like if you have any encouragement or if any comfort of love, and so on. If you have these things, verse 2, then fulfill my joy by being like-minded and so on.
And what Paul is doing is drawing upon the Christian’s blessings in Christ as the foundation for the Christians behavior in Christ. Blessings lead to behavior. If, or better, since, you have these things like encouragement in Christ, comfort of love, etc. The conditional statements are an assumption. Paul assumes every Christian reading this letter does indeed enjoy these blessings. So the “if” is more like “since.”
Rhetorical. Like, “Don’t you enjoy these things? Encouragement from Christ, His love, fellowship with the Spirit of God and therefore fellowship with others? Don’t you know something of these blessings?”
Like my my mother when I was younger and living in the house. She wanted me to clean my room or something, she’d call attention to my blessings: “Do you live here rent free? Do you have two arms and two legs? Then fulfill my joy by cleaning up your room!” That’s the idea.
Our blessings in Christ lead to right behavior in Christ. Since we enjoy these things in verse 1, these blessings will lead to the behavior of verses 2 and following. Look at verse 2:
2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Do you hear the unity in that?! Paul says, “Fulfill my joy, make me joyful, how? By being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
Unity! Not uniformity—which is force from the outside to conform—but unity, an inward, God-focused, God-motivated desire for togetherness. Because of Christ, we have this desire within us that programs us for togetherness.
Like a bunch of clocks all striking the hour at the same time, all chiming together. A healthy church is a bunch of Christians all “chiming” together, in love working together, serving together, praying together, believing together, worshiping together. Togetherness.
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit…”
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit.” That’s pretty straight-forward, isn’t it?! The picture here is one of rivalry and competition. Like the mean-spirited rivalry that often occurs in politics. Two parties continually working against one another, looking out only for their own selfish gain.
Someone said, “If we don’t come together, we’ll come apart.”
Like the two cats from Kilkenny Ireland. You’ve heard about them, right?
There once were two cats from Kilkenny
Each thought there was one cat too many
They fought and they spit,
They clawed and they bit,
‘Til instead of two cats there weren’t any
It’s not classical verse, but it sure is practical poetry! If we don’t come together, we’ll come apart.
There was a problem in the church at Philippi. It was needing the reminder of unity that comes through humility, “lowliness of mind” as Paul puts it in verse 3. Humility leads to unity. Or unity comes through humility.
You turn a page and you read about a couple of ladies who were not getting along. We’re not told what the disagreement was over, but it’s pretty clear these two were sideways with each other.
Philippians 4:2, “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” You ladies work out your differences. Togetherness.
Togetherness and otherness. Verse 3, “…in lowliness of mind (or humility) let each esteem others better than himself.” Continuing into verse 4:
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
That solves any relationship problem, doesn’t it? “Each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
JB Phillips has, “…learn to see things from other people’s point of view.” Too often we default back to a me-centered way of thinking, speaking, living.
We’re guided not by “theology,” but “me-ology!” What’s in it for me? Looking out for me! It’s all about me.”
You say, “I’m not like that.” Good. Because for a moment there I thought maybe I was talking to you. I must be talking to the person next to you. Bump the person next to you and say, “He’s talking about you.”
Someone has suggested these two verses—verses 3 and 4—as required reading at wedding ceremonies. I wouldn’t disagree with that.
Husbands, wives, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you—husband, wife—look out not only for his or her own interests, but also for the interests of one another. That’s good!
Our grace marriage gatherings are about doing just that. Motivated by grace. Motivated by the same grace God shows us in Christ. When I fail to act in ways I should, does God walk away from me in a huff? No. He doesn’t abandon me. He loves me still. He showers me with grace. So when a husband or wife doesn’t act as they should in marriage, we extend to them the same grace God extends to us in Christ. That’s liberating! That’s marriage as God intended, otherness.
William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. Booth was getting up in age and older and more feeble. The Salvation Army was having some kind of grand convention. They said it’d be great if William Booth could be present, give an encouraging speech of some kind. Well, he wasn’t well and couldn’t travel. They said, “Well, maybe write a speech in a letter.” He couldn’t do that. So they said, “Send a telegram.” —and for you younger people, a telegram was an old-fashioned text. Telegrams were the first text message.—So William Booth sent a telegram. Just one word. Know what it was? “Others.” Others.
Life is about togetherness and otherness. About having the same mind, or same attitude as Jesus. Verse 5:
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
We must have the right attitude. And then, the right altitude.
- We Must Have the Right Altitude (5-11)
Altitude has to do with height. It is a distance measurement in the vertical direction.
Paul is using verses 6-11 to show us that “the way up is down.” The way up is down.
As G Campbell Morgan said: “All of God’s thrones are reached by going downstairs.” The way up is down.
That’s the main point of verses 6 through 11. See there’s a lot of great theology in verses 6-11. And if you’re going to study anything about Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done, what we call in Christology, Christ’s ‘Person’ and ‘Work,’ then you will study Philippians 2:6-11. There’s so much here. You could take a whole year, studying these same verses each week and discover fresh insights in the treasures of Christ.
But the main point of Paul’s teaching here in these verses is to teach about our having the right altitude. Knowing that the way up is down.
He has just said in verse 5, “Let this mind (or attitude) be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Then Paul points to Jesus as the Supreme Example of what this attitude looks like, an others-focus. He talks about Christ Jesus, verse 6:
6 who, being in the form (true and exact nature) of God, did not consider it robbery (a thing to be grasped or held onto) to be equal with God,
In other words, Christ’s wonderful status of being in the very presence of God the Father and being “one” with the Father, was not something that He held onto as though He would never give up that privileged position. The word “robbery” in the NKJV is there because this word could be used to describe the snatching of something and the selfish hanging on to something. Christ did not selfishly hang on to His privileged position in the glories of heaven.
Rather, He looked out for the interests of others. Verse 7:
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
He “made Himself of no reputation.” Literally, the Greek has, He “emptied Himself.” What did He empty Himself of? Well, He did not empty Himself of deity, of any divine attributes. The Son of God is eternally God. The true and exact nature of the Father. Whatever it is that makes the Son God is that which is found in the Son.
He did not empty Himself of anything divine. Rather, He emptied Himself of privilege and status thus, as my translation has it, He “made Himself of no reputation.” He gave up the glories privileges of being in heaven at the right hand of the Father.
Here is the incarnation, the taking on of flesh. He “took the form of a bondservant,” a servant, and came to us “in the likeness of men.”
Verses 6-11 are like a symphony in three movements: incarnation, atonement, exaltation.
Verse 7 is incarnation. God came to us in flesh, in humanity, in Christ Jesus. So the “emptying” of Himself was not a subtraction of deity, but an addition of humanity. God came to us, invaded this world, if you like, to fix our sin problem. He came here to take on flesh, emptying Himself of the glorious and wonderful status and privileges that were His.
It’s much like Paul teaches elsewhere:
2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
He “became obedient to the (very) point of death.” He obeyed the Father perfectly. Obeyed the law perfectly. His obedience can be credited to us by faith. That’s why He came. He came to obey perfectly in life and in death. Obeying the Father in God’s overall Master plan to redeem sinners like you and me.
He came to reverse the effects of Adam’s disobedience.
He became obedient so that (…as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19).”
“Even the death of the cross.” Again remember the greater context here. Humility. Lowliness. Not exalting oneself, but humbling oneself.
Roman crucifixion the most humiliating way to die. Crucifixion meant excruciating suffering and public shame. It was used only for slaves, rebels, and anarchists. The Roman orator Cicero warned his contemporaries to neither speak of it nor think of it.
Humiliation. That’s what Christ did for us. The way up is down. See that in verse 9:
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
The Son of God came down. The Father exalted Him. He humbled Himself and the Father has exalted Him and given Him “the name which is above every name.” What is that name that the Father has given Him? Well, it’s not Jesus. He already is Jesus. No the name “of Jesus,” means the name “belonging to Jesus.” Verse 10:
10 that at the name of (the name belonging to) Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth (everywhere),
11 and that every tongue (every person) should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (there’s the name given Him), to the glory of God the Father.
He is highly exalted as “Lord.” The Highest One. He is Lord. And all will bow before Him as Lord, either willingly in this life as Savior and Lord. Or regretfully, at the day of Judgment by those who scorned Him and refused His offer of salvation. He is Lord.
We must have the right attitude and the right altitude. The way up is down.
Now, here’s the problem. If unity comes through humility—and it does—if the way up is the way down—and it is—then how can we humble ourselves without focusing on ourselves?
Because, you know, you can’t really “work” on humility. Someone said humility is something that when you think you’ve got it, you’ve lost it again. Because it’s an over-focus on self. Right?
Like if you go up to someone and say, “What’s the secret of your humility?” If they answer that question then they don’t have it!” Like, “Hmm, you know, I’m glad you asked. I guess I’d have to say that the secret of my humility is….” Then, it’s gone (heard in Tim Keller sermon, “Humility”).
The key is not focusing on ourselves, but always focusing on others, the Lord and His people. Someone said, “Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.” That’s it.
If we focus on self, then we’re focusing on something that is apparently not healthy, our ego. If we’re focused on our self, then we admit there is something wrong with us. Something isn’t working correctly. Our ego needs to be stroked, or affirmed, or valued, or coddled.
I heard Tim Keller talk about this in relation to our bodies (from same sermon, “Humility”). When you’re body is healthy you don’t really focus on it.
If someone comes up an says, “My elbows don’t hurt today.” That would be a weird thing to say, right?! Unless of course there was something wrong with his elbows before today. The statement assumes that there was in fact something wrong. His elbows hurt yesterday, but not today. You don’t focus on something when it’s healthy.
Or, “Man, my knees are really bending well! I sit down and then bend perfectly. I stand up and they unbend. This is fantastic!” Well, again, we would assume that before today there was some problem with his knees. So when part of our body isn’t healthy, we’re overly focused on it.
But when our body is healthy, we don’t focus on it. It’s just working like it should. You don’t focus on your self when you’re healthy.
So what about your ego? If you have a healthy ego, a healthy self, you don’t focus on your self. You’re looking everywhere else, looking at God, looking at others. If you don’t have a healthy ego or self, you focus inward, focusing on your insecurities, your lack of worth, your need to be valued.
Look to Jesus Christ. God accepts you in Christ Jesus. God loves you perfectly in Him. God accepts you not on the basis of your performance, but on the basis of Christ’s performance for you. God sees you in His Son. And He loves you and affirms you, and values you. You are secure in Him.
When you know that, you’re not looking inwardly at an unhealthy self, always feeling insecure, longing for the approval of others, yearning to be accepted by others, defending your reputation. No. When you know this about your relationship with God through Christ, you are healthy. You’re not focused on self. You’re focused on Him and you’re focused on others.
And like Jesus, when you humble yourself, God will exalt you in due time as Peter says in 1 Peter 5:6: “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time (1Peter 5:6).”
Years ago a young man went into a little British town to climb the mountain right behind the town and they all said, “Oh, no, look it’s higher than you think and the weather’s worse than you think.” But the young man was overconfident, and he didn’t go up with appropriate gear and he thought he knew what he was doing. So he walked out of the village one morning to go up the mountain with his head held high. And several hours later he came back crestfallen and dejected. He hadn’t even gotten halfway up. There was an old lady who saw him come back and said, “Son, if you’d gone up the way you came down you would have come down the way you went up,” which is another way of saying, “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time (1Peter 5:6).”—(Heard in Tim Keller sermon, “Humility.”)
Or as Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).”
Pray.
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