Living A Humbled Life (Palm Sunday) Version 2

LIVING A HUMBLED LIFE (Palm Sunday 2020)

Text: Philippians 2:1-11

Philippians 2:5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (6) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ESV)

Until 1543, our ancestors were convinced the world revolved around us. Nicolaus Copernicus revealed the opposite point of view. He revealed that the earth revolved around the sun citing the change in the seasons and changes between night and day as proofs to his argument. Then along came Galileo who got locked up by the throne and kicked out by the church because he confirmed Copernicus’s theory. “People didn’t take well to demotions back then,” nor do they receive them well today. (Max Lucado. It’s Not About Me. Nashville: Integrity Publishers, 20024, pp. 3 - 4). We all have that inborn quest for being right and taking offense when we are proven wrong.

Years ago popular music artist Carly Simon wrote a song entitled, "You're So Vain" during the 70,s. I once heard it said that she wrote that song about Warren Beatty because of the way that he thought that he was God's gift to women. Some of the lyrics to that song go like this: "You're so vain, you probably think this song's about you." Yet, when we become Christians, hopefully, we come to the realization of our own vanity when we realize how the world really does not revolve around us!

The day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Today, the three things we will focus on are selfish-ambition, humility and love.

SELFISH-AMBITION

How well do we handle yielding to others? When we feel like we have something to prove, we are a lot mess likely to yield to others. The world is full of people who are trying to make a name for themselves.

1) Defeated while taking first place: During the days of World War II, there was a fighter pilot who was trying to make a name for himself. His name was Greg Boyington. He was trying to beat the record of a World War I renown pilot whose name was Edward Vernon Rickenbacker. (Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. Baa Baa Black Sheep. New York: Bantam Books Inc., 1977, p. 215). Rickenbacker had a record of shooting down twenty-two planes and four observation balloons. (Robert S. Phillips ed. Funk And Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Volume 20. "Rickenbacker. Edward Vernon". New York: Funk and Wagnalls Inc., 1979, p. 301). It was the goal of the late Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of the United States Marine Corps to beat Rickenbacker's record. In his autobigography, Boyington wrote, " … most of the things for which I had been given credit for bravery were nothing but daredevil stunts. I was trying to build up my own ego, trying to imitate the bravery of people I had read about or had been told about in the years gone by". (Boyington, Baa Baa Black Sheep, p. 284). Although Boyington accomplished his goal, it proved to be costly because once he had completed that goal, he wound up as a prisoner of war in a Japanese POW camp.

2)The moral of Boyington’s story: If Boyington's story were to have had a moral, then I am sure that the moral would have been that some of our goals in life cost much more than they are worth. According to Paul, vanity such as that comes from when someone thinks more highly of himself/herself than he ought to think (Romans 12:3). James 4:6 says "... God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (NIV).

Is it possible that people misunderstood Jesus’s triumphant entry as ambitious?

1) Triumphant entry: In the Gospel section of the lectionary today, Matthew 21:1-11, Jesus told two of His disciples to go into the village, find a tied up donkey and a colt with it. Jesus told them to say “The Lord needs it” if anyone asked. Later Jesus was riding that donkey There is symbolism in Jesus’ triumphant entry.

2) Prophecy fulfilled: It was a prophecy fulfilled (Zechariah 9:9) that Jesus rode into town on a donkey---a symbol of peace. The crowds greeted Jesus as if He had come riding on a horse. The entrance that Jesus made should have gotten their attention because horses were a symbol of war whereas donkeys were a symbol of peace. (https://sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary/zechariah-99-12-exegesis/). It was ironic that the crowds were shouting Hosanna which means “save now” (Matthew 21:9).