Opening illustration: Bill, a college student, was a new Christian. According to author Rebecca Manley Pippert, one Sunday he visited a church near campus. He walked in barefoot and was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The service had already started, so he walked down the aisle looking for a seat. Finding none, he sat down cross-legged on the floor-right in front of the pulpit! The congregation became noticeably uneasy. Then, from the back of the church, an elderly deacon got up and with his cane slowly made his way to the front. Every eye followed him. The minister paused and there was total silence. As the old gentleman approached Bill, he dropped his cane and with great effort lowered himself and sat down beside him so the young man wouldn’t have to worship alone. Many in the congregation were deeply moved.
Paul wrote that Christ, being equal with God, set aside His reputation, and became obedient unto death - the ultimate act of humility (Philippians 2:6-8). Why? To come to us in our loneliness, to forgive our sins, and to teach us a new way to live and worship. When we learn to think as Jesus thought, we see people through the same eyes as that godly deacon. May we learn how to humble ourselves for the benefit of others. (Dennis J. De Haan, ODB)
Let us turn to Paul’s letter to the Philippian Christians in chapter 2 and meditate and apply the humility Christ showed through His life in ours.
Introduction: Our text was NOT primarily written as a warning to unbelievers; it was intended to be an incentive and an example for Christians. It was meant to teach us about humility, using our Lord Jesus Christ as the supreme example of humility. Have we thought of our Lord as subordinating His interests to ours, and His happiness to ours? Have we wanted to think of God as serving me, rather than we as His servants (remember Paul’s words in 1:1).
Now our Lord did come to serve, rather than to be served (Mark 10:45), but our whole focus and orientation in looking at this text has been wrong if I think only in terms of the benefits I have received from our Lord’s incarnation, suffering, and death on the cross of Calvary. Paul’s words remind us that our Lord put His Father’s interests above His own, and the fruit of this is seen in His obedience to the Father’s will, even unto death. The result is that our Lord is exalted, but the primary aim of our Lord was to bring glory to the Father. He did not subordinate His interests to the interests of the Father in order to further His own interests. He subordinated His interests to the Father’s; so that the Father’s best interests would be served. Our Lord’s exaltation was a fringe benefit, as we see it now, and not His primary goal.
How can we imitate Christ’s humility?
1. Walking in UNITY - SUBMISSIVENESS (vs. 1-2)
The apostle introduced his comments on submissiveness by giving his readers four incentives. He stated each one in a conditional clause that he introduced with the word "if." He assumed each one to be true for the sake of his argument (a first class condition in Greek). The translators have supplied the verb that Paul did not state. The NASB has "there is," but the NIV gives a better sense of Paul's meaning with "you have." We could read each of the four clauses, "Since you have …"
(i) The first reason Christians can and should be submissive to God and to one another, is that Jesus Christ has exhorted us to do so ("encouragement in Christ"). His teachings while on the earth, as well as those that followed through His apostles after He returned to heaven, especially Paul, encourage us to be humble. Similarly, Jesus' personal example during His earthly ministry also encourages us.
(ii) Second, Paul's love for the Philippians, which came as an encouraging (rather than comforting) gift from God ("consolation of love"), should impel them to respond positively to his request also.
(iii) Third, the "fellowship (of the Spirit),"that the Holy Spirit creates, should also make Christians submissive. It seems best to take this reference as including both our participation in the Spirit, and the "in common life" (fellowship with other Christians) that He has created for us. We should probably regard the genitive as both objective and subjective rather than just objective. The former incentives also come from being in Christ and from love. Another interpretation is just our participation in the Spirit.
(iv) Fourth, the tenderness ("affection") and "compassion," or the affectionate sympathy, of God and Christ toward the Philippians would make unity normal and expected for this congregation.
Paul stated his exhortation for submissiveness in the first part of this verse, and then elaborated on it. The apostle wanted his readers to be "one" in their attitude ("of the same mind") and "purpose," so they could fulfill God's purpose for them, both individually and as a church. To accomplish this, they would need to be humble and submissive in these aspects of their lives. The result would be that Paul's "joy" because of this congregation, which was already great, would become "complete." Four participial phrases elaborate on this exhortation. The first is that the readers should maintain "love" for one another. The second is that they should maintain unity "in spirit" and in "purpose."
Illustration: Here's an illustration of the effect you are having on the body of Christ if you are playing "out of tune": A high school orchestra was preparing for a concert that featured a pianist in a rendition of Grieg’s a-minor concerto. Before the performance, it was customary for the orchestra to tune up with an “A” sounded by the oboe player. But the oboist was a practical joker, and he had tuned his instrument a half step higher than the piano. You can imagine the effect. After the pianist played a beautiful introduction, the members of the orchestra joined in. What confusion! Every instrument was out of tune with the piano. What would it have been like if half the orchestra insisted on playing in one key and the other half in a different key? How much worse is it when everyone in a local body is "doing their own thing?” (Horse pull in Canada)
2. SELFLESSNESS (vs. 3-4)
In contrast to these worldly ways, Paul says that Christians must “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit” (2:3). Selfishness means to have a party spirit, or to campaign for office. A politician tries to build a following for himself by building himself up and, if need be, by putting his opponents down. It’s the same word Paul used in 1:17 of those who were preaching out of “selfish ambition.” In Galatians 5:20 it is a deed of the flesh, “disputes.” Many churches suffer because some of the leaders view their position as a way of promoting self. But, Christians are not to do anything from this self-seeking motive.
Thus, we are not to act from selfishness or empty conceit. Instead, with humility of mind, we are to regard others as more important than ourselves. “Humility of mind” is literally, lowliness of mind. Our problem is not that we think too lowly of ourselves, but that we regard ourselves too highly. Even the person who goes around dumping on himself is too self-focused. He needs to get his thoughts off himself and onto the needs of others. The non-Christian philosopher, Allan Bloom, saw this when he wrote, “Everyone loves himself most but wants others to love him more than they love themselves” (The Closing of the American Mind [Simon and Schuster]).
Maybe you’re wondering how we can practically apply verse 3. You think, “I study my Bible and try to obey it. But the person I have conflict with doesn’t know the Bible or live by it. How can I honestly regard him as better than myself? Am I supposed to see myself as a doormat?
Just as I need God’s grace, so does the other person. Maybe his problem isn’t one I struggle with. But, I have problems he doesn’t struggle with. Rather than proudly looking down on my brother, as one sinner to another I need to show him God’s grace and help him toward victory in Christ. And, not thinking too highly of myself (the tendency) but truthfully, I also need to recognize the other’s unique giftedness (Romans 12:3-8). Thus, in any conflict, I must lower my view of myself and esteem others. Disagreements come about because we so often are just thinking about ourselves. If we admit it honestly, our universes revolve around us.
Illustration: I’d like to paint a word picture for you. Remember when you were in Junior High School, and at the science fair, there was always a kid who’d made a huge model of the solar system? Papier mache planets suspended by fishing line from a framework of bent coat hangers rotated around the sun. I want you to picture making a massive hat out of this contraption. Put a skull cap where the sun used to be. Now, you have a picture of being the center of your own universe. But wait - here comes someone else with the same hat! They are the center of their own universe! And as soon as the two of you get anywhere near each other, you’re going to collide - your universes will come crashing down!
And so it is when Christians who are self-centered come into contact with others of the same nature. So often, our solution to solving conflict is avoiding the people we’re having conflict with. We move out of the neighborhood, we change churches, we stop going to the service that they attend. We figure that our universes can’t collide when we’re all by ourselves! But the right solution, the godly answer, to this problem is to bring the other person into the center of your universe. Paul says, Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not {merely} look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. If you begin to put other people into the center of your universe, and they put you in the center of theirs, then there is unity. Why should we bother? Why can’t we just avoid people we clash with? Let’s read the next few verses.
3. No SELF-AMBITION (vs. 5-7)
Now this attitude becomes an action here. The attitude said I won't hold on to these things, I don't clutch them, I am ready to let go of them if for the sake of others I must stoop. The attitude then led to the action and He emptied Himself. This is a profound statement. We will try to plumb some of its depths next time. All you need to know for this morning is that He divested Himself in some way of His privileges. He let go of some things in the process of coming down. He didn't cease to be God, that's abundantly clear from the New Testament. He even claimed while on earth to be God saying things like, "If you've seen Me you've seen the Father." He was still God but He had set aside and emptied Himself of some of His privileges. Why? To come all the way down for the sake of unworthy sinners because their need was so desperate. That's how humility works. Starts at a lofty point, has an attitude that doesn't clutch what it possesses and releases those things, emptying oneself and coming down to meet the needs of others.
Illustration: (a) Here is the best illustration that comes to mind. Let’s suppose that a very successful businessman - Bill Gates, for example - decided to run for the office of President of the United States. Let’s further suppose that he is elected to that office. You can imagine some of the ways that a businessman could seize the power of that office as the opportunity to further his own business interests. He could insist that all government agencies use his products. He could punish foreign countries (trade agreements, tariffs, customs inspections) for not using them. He could use his position and power to destroy his competition. This is why a man who runs for office divests himself of his business interests, usually by placing his business in a kind of blind trust that leaves decisions and control to someone else, making it difficult (if not impossible) to further his own interests by the misuse of his position and power as a public official. The businessman does not give away all that he owns; he simply divests himself of the power to profit from his position.
(b) One of the biggest examples of no self-ambition and humility in our contemporary situation was Mother Teresa an European who went to India and served the outcast and downtrodden folks in one of the worst cities on the face of the earth – Calcutta which is also called the ‘City of Joy’ and from no angle it testifies to that notion. Mother Teresa emptied herself out to the folks in that city.
So it was with our Lord’s “emptying” of Himself. He did not cease to be God; He divested Himself of self-interest, so that He could glorify the Father and bring about the salvation of lost sinners. Our Lord did not reduce His deity by taking on human flesh; He added perfect, sinless humanity to His deity, and this was prompted by His humility.
4. SELF-SACRIFICE (vs. 8-9)
Jesus Christ appeared to other people just as any other man. This was another aspect of His humility. There were no visual clues in His "appearance" that He was either sinless or divine. Jesus further "humbled Himself by becoming obedient" to His Father's will, "to the point of" laying down His life in "death." Beyond that, He was willing to undergo "death on a cross," by crucifixion, a form of execution that was without equal in its pain and humiliation.
All these centuries the cross has been a sacred symbol for Christians but during the time of Paul it provoked horror and loathe. The Phoenicians and Persians practiced crucifixion before the Greeks and Romans adopted it. It was a form of execution from which Roman citizens were exempt. Only the worst criminals among the slaves and foreigners underwent crucifixion. Hanging on a tree was a sign to the Jews that the person disgraced in this way was under "the curse of God" (Deut. 21:23; cf. Gal. 3:13). The advance on Christ's example, in this verse, is the extent to which He was willing to go in humble submissiveness - in obedience to His Father's will. All believers should be willing to do the same (v. 5).
He who stooped so low in His humility was elevated to the highest possible place of honor by the Father. Here Paul turns to the glorification of our Lord by the Father, due to His humility and obedience. As a result of our Lord’s humility and obedience, God highly exalted Him, giving to Him a name above every name. He who dwelt among men, and who was rejected and crucified by men; is the one to whom every knee will someday bow. Every tongue will confess Him to be Lord of all. It does not seem to be only men who will acknowledge Him as Lord, either. Every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will confess that He is Lord - all of this achieving what our Lord intended, the glory of God the Father.
Application: "Well, boy, I wish we had unity in our church." The price is high ... the price is high. You say, "What's the price?" Humility and humility is defined in the model of Christ. That's the pattern we have to follow, people. There are no shortcuts, no quick fixes. We'll have unity when we have humility, we'll have humility when we do like Christ did, and we come all the way down. I hope that every time you read that passage you'll not only think about Christ but you'll compare yourself to the standard because that's the standard of humility.
