Introduction:
A. Welcome to Friend Day!
1. If this is your first time with us, then we want to extend a warm welcome to you!
a. We hope you are inspired and encouraged, and will come back again.
2. If this is not your first visit, then we want to welcome you back!
a. It is so good to see you again, and we hope you are inspired and encouraged as well.
B. Look at this Peanuts cartoon with me.
1. One day Linus and Lucy were in a deep conversation and Linus was telling his big sister: “Charile Brown says that brothers and sisters can learn to get along.”
2. Linus continued: “He says they can get along the same way mature adults get along.”
3. Linus continued: “And he says that adults can get along the same way that nations get along.”
4. Then Linus concluded with a look of despair: “At this point the analogy breaks down.”
C. Both history and experience tell us how hard it is for people to get along with each other.
1. Nations have difficulty getting along with each other.
2. States and communities have difficulty getting along with each other.
3. Families and individuals have difficulty getting along with each other.
4. Everyone, in every place, in every time has had difficulty getting along with each other.
D. But doesn’t it feel like things are getting worse rather than better, in this regard?
1. We live in a time when our nation is so fragmented and there is so much conflict and so much harm being done to each other.
2. There is the weekly and almost daily reports of sexual abuse allegations, and incidents of mass murder and terrorism.
3. There is the ongoing divide and animosity between political parties and all kinds of disputes along economic, racial, religious, nationality and gender lines.
4. Collectively, we wonder what can be done to fix all this.
E. For thousands and thousands of years, the answer and fix was wrapped up in knowing God and seeking to put God’s principles into practice – God’s principles of love and justice and value for all people.
1. Until the modern age, our main sources for meaning in life were found in religion and family, and were tightly interrelated and were public matters.
a. In fact, it was not thought good or possible for individuals to find a meaning in life of or on their own.
b. Harvard philosopher Josiah Royce in 1908 wrote a book called The Philosophy of Loyalty, in which he sought to answer the question of why human beings need meaning.
c. He wondered why it wasn’t enough to simply work, eat, sleep, and do the normal activities of daily life.
d. His answer was that human beings could not live without dedication to a cause more important than their individual interests.
e. Royce concluded that humans need a cause for which they are willing to sacrifice greatly.
f. He wrote that we are happy only if we make our meaning in life something greater than our happiness.
g. Royce argued that individualism undermines individual happiness, saying, “We need devotion to something more than ourselves for our lives to be endurable. Without it, we have only our desires to guide us, and they are fleeting, capricious, and insatiable.”
2. But now, for the better part of a century, many of the leaders of our country have been saying that the answer is not found in religion.
a. And so God has become unwelcome in our public consciousness and in our government and schools.
b. Secular Humanism has become the new religion and consciousness for our modern sensibilities.
3. Many people in our day would describe themselves as “liberal humanists” who are committed to science and reason, to progress and the good of humanity, and to the rights, equality, and freedom of every individual human being.
4. Secularity is marked by a call “to take active responsibility for the progressive improvement of the world…to work for the betterment of other humans, even strangers beyond our shores.”
a. And it is argued, that removing the influence of religion in the world will help us realize those values.
b. These values of rights, equality, freedom and betterment of other human beings are wonderful values that we, Christians, embrace.
F. But the question that I would like to raise and the point that I would like to make is: Where did those values come from?
1. Not only can none of these humanistic moral standards be proven empirically, but they don’t follow logically from a materialistic view of the world.
2. This problem and inconsistency seems invisible to many modern secularists.
3. For example, a commenter on a New York Times article about the meaning of life wrote: “When the Hubble space telescope pointed to a black spot in the sky the size of an eraser head for a week it found 30,000 galaxies over 13 billion years old with many trillions of stars and many many more trillions of inferred planets. So, how significant are you?...You are not a unique snowflake, you are not special, you are just another piece of decaying matter on the compost pile of this world. Nothing of who you are and what you will do in the short time you are here will matter. Everything short of that realization is vanity. So celebrate life in every moment, admire its wonders, and love without reservation.”
4. The first part of that statement provides a bracing, no-hold’s barred materialistic view of the world. A materialist view of the world says:
a. You are made strictly of matter without any soul.
b. You were not created for any special purpose.
c. The world will eventually burn up in the death of the sun.
d. Nothing you do here, be it kind or cruel, will make any difference in the end.
5. But then, with the word “so” indicating a logical sequence, the article says that we should therefore live a life of celebration and love.
a. That does not make sense! It is not a logical sequence.
b. If we are nothing but a decaying piece of matter in a decaying universe and nothing more significant than that, how does it follow that we should live a life of love toward others?
c. It doesn’t. If all that is true, then why shouldn’t we live as selfishly as we can get away with?
d. How do beliefs in individual freedom, human rights, and equality arise from or align with the idea that human beings came to be what they are through the survival of the fittest?
e. The answer is, they don’t.
6. Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov sarcastically summarized the ethical reasoning of secular humanism like this: “Man descended from apes, therefore we must love one another.”
a. The second clause does not follow from the first.
b. If it was natural for the strong to eat the weak in the past, why aren’t people allowed to do it now?
c. I am not, of course, arguing that we should eat each other or not love one another.
d. Rather, I’m saying that, given the secular view of the universe, the conclusion of love or social justice is no more logical than the conclusion to hate or destroy.
7. If the values of secular humanism cannot be inferred or deduced from a materialistic universe, then where did they come from?
a. Jurgen Habermas expresses the growing consensus of many scholars that the modern ideals of freedom of conscience, human rights and democracy come from the Bible’s teaching on justice, love, and that secular society has found no good alternative way to ground these ideals.
b. None of this denies that science and reason are sources of enormous benefit for human society, but the point is that science alone cannot serve as a guide for human society.
c. This was well summarized by these words from a speech that was written for but never delivered at the Scopes “monkey trial”: “Science is a magnificent material force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine…Science does not [and cannot] teach brotherly love.”
G. So where, then, can we find the help that we need to improve and fix our fragmented world?
1. Answer: The help that is needed is found in an understanding of who God is, who we are as God’s creation, and what instructions God has given us for life and for well-being.
H. We are in a sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians that we are calling: Joy for the Journey.
1. The struggle of human beings to get along with each other is not only a problem out there in the world, it is also a problem right here in the church, because Christians are people too.
2. In our text in Philippians 2:1-4, Paul shared with the Philippians God’s prescription for unity.
3. As we will see, God’s prescription includes both the motives and the methods for unity.
I. Motives for Unity (2:1-2)
A. Paul began his presentation of God’s prescription for unity with an appeal to them by all their deepest experiences as Christians.
1. Paul wrote: If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (2:1-2)
2. You will notice that verse 1 contains four “if” statements.
a. Typically, when we use “if” in the English language, we are conveying a degree of doubt.
b. But in the Greek language and in this particular grammatical form the “ifs” are used to express certainty – it is simply a rhetorical way of forcefully saying “since.”
c. Paul was basically saying, “If such-and-such is true – and I know that it is true, then.”
B. So Paul’s point was built on the fact that he knew the Philippians would attest the truth and reality of each of these things.
1. Yes, they had been encouraged by their union with Christ.
2. Yes, they had experienced God’s love.
3. Yes, they had enjoyed the fellowship of God’s Spirit.
4. Yes, they had received an outpouring of mercy from God.
C. Well, then, Paul said, “In light of all that, it shouldn’t be such a great thing to ask that you maintain the unity that God has given you.”
1. An important underlying principle should be noted here: All Christian response and duty flows naturally from God’s goodness and kindness toward us.
2. Who we are and what we should do and be begins with who God is and what God has already done for us.
D. The unity that Paul appealed to is described in three ways.
1. First, it includes being like-minded – being unified in mind, having our thoughts fixed on God.
2. Second, it includes having the same love – being united in heart, having the same love for God and having God’s love for others.
3. Third, it includes having the same spirit and purpose – being united in purpose, having the mission and focus that God desires.
E. This kind of unity is not uniformity, meaning that we aren’t all meant to be alike in every way.
1. We are a diverse people – God created us to be different and yet to be unified.
2. And so our goal must be to have unity in the midst of diversity.
3. In the church, we have the freedom to be unique, but not the freedom to be divided.
4. So how can we be united in mind and heart and purpose?
5. Let’s look at the next verses, where Paul gives the method for unity.
II. Methods for Unity (2:3-4)
A. Paul wrote: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)
1. To summarize the real cause of division and strife among people we would need only one word – selfishness.
2. Selfishness is the root problem, and the cause of selfishness is pride.
3. For most of us, bringing our “self” under control is our greatest challenge.
a. Evangelist D.L. Moody said, “I’ve had more trouble with D.L. Moody than any man alive.”
b. The late screenwriter and musical composer Samuel Hoffenstein said, “Wherever I go, I go too, and spoil everything.”
c. Former Tonight Show host, Jack Parr’s classic line was, “Looking back, my life seems to be one long obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.”
4. Paul declared that we must learn to deal with our “self” in relation to others.
a. Let’s examine Paul’s three suggestions for keeping our “self” in check.
B. First, Paul suggested that to keep “self” in check, we must put away selfish ambition and vain conceit.
1. The word that Paul used that is translated “selfish ambition” is the same word he used back in 1:17 when he described some of his rival preachers.
a. The word denotes a person who is only out for their own self-interest.
b. By definition, the Christian should always have greater concern than just for oneself, but sadly, there have even been some Christians who have been driven by selfish ambition.
2. The second thing Paul said that we must not have is vain conceit.
a. This is the person who does everything for personal prestige or vain glory.
b. They try to appear as something they are not, or simply want to be admired by others.
3. As Christians, our goal should be to advance God and bring glory to Him, not to ourselves.
a. Our goal should be to direct people’s eyes toward God rather than to have their eyes on us.
4. So, the first way to work toward unity and to deal with our “self” is to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
C. Second, Paul suggested that to keep “self” in check, we must practice humility.
1. Humility is a hard thing for most of us to understand and to practice.
2. Our world teaches us to compete against others and to end up on top and it starts early.
3. One day a woman was babysitting a 5 year old and they were playing “Go Fish.”
a. Like a typical adult, the babysitter made sure the child won the game.
b. After winning several rounds, the 5 year old began bragging about how good she was.
c. Jokingly, the woman said, “I’m going to have to teach you a little humility.”
d. The 5 year old asked, “How do you play that?”
4. That’s a good question – how can we put humility into practice?
a. For starters, we must realize that humility is not self-abuse or self-hatred.
b. Andrew Murry said, “The humble person is not the one who thinks meanly of himself; he simply doesn’t think of himself at all.”
c. I prefer the statement, “The humble person is not the one who thinks less of himself, but one who thinks of himself less.”
5. The humble person is the person who thinks of himself or herself accurately – they know they are a special creation of God, and they give all credit to God, and yet they yield themselves to God for God’s sake and for the sake of others.
6. When Paul says, “In humility think of others as better than yourselves,” I believe he means to think of others ahead of ourselves.
a. He didn’t mean that they are better and we are worse, rather Paul suggested that we prioritize others ahead of ourselves.
7. The classic J.O.Y. acronym works well here: Jesus first, others second, yourself last.
8. Which leads to Paul’s last point…
D. Third, Paul suggested that to keep “self” in check, we must place other’s needs ahead of our own.
1. The “Me Generation” in the United States is a term referring to the baby boomers generation and the self-involved qualities that some people associate with it... It is distinct from “Generation Me”, which has been used to refer to the Millennial Generation.
a. But whether it is the “Me Generation” or the “Generation Me” it is too much about “me.”
b. We have no trouble defining and pursuing our own interests, but we can have real trouble considering the needs of others.
2. Often when conflict arises in a relationship, the parties begin to take up their own positions and begin to protect their own interests.
a. In marriage troubles, we often hear “he/she doesn’t meet my needs” rather than “how can I meet his/her needs?”
3. We note that Paul was not saying that we should never be interested in our own needs, but that we should be at least equally interested in the needs of others, and that based on the prior verse, we should many times put other people’s needs ahead of our own.
4. The greatest example of all was Jesus himself.
a. We will talk about this more in our sermon for next week as we will note that Paul says in verse 5, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
b. Jesus certainly was not after selfish ambition or vain conceit.
c. In humility he did considered others better than himself.
d. He put others interests and needs ahead of his own.
e. And we are called to be like Jesus!
Conclusion:
A. God has called us to unity – in the church, in the home and in the world.
1. Unity is possible with God’s help and by living according to God’s prescription.
2. But without God and without God’s motivation and method, unity and harmony are not possible.
B. I want to end with a story called The Parable of the Long Spoons.
1. One day a man said to God, “God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”
2. God showed the man two doors.
3. Inside the first door, in the middle of the room, was a large round abyss with a large pot of stew rising in the middle of the abyss.
a. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the abyss were thin and sickly - they appeared to be famished.
b. They had spoons with very long handles attached to their hands and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
4. The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, “You have seen Hell.”
5. Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same.
a. There was the large round abyss with the large pot of wonderful stew rising in the middle of the abyss that made the man’s mouth water.
b. The people had the same long-handled spoons attached to their hands, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
c. The man said, “I don’t understand.”
d. God smiled. “It is simple”, He said, “Love only requires one skill. These people learned early on to share and feed one another. While the selfish only thought of themselves.”
6. Life on earth can be like heaven or hell depending on our selfishness or selflessness.
a. Sometimes, thinking solely of our personal gratification, we forget our interdependence with everyone, so much so that we stop caring about others and their needs.
b. But, as the parable makes it clear, by doing so, we not only don’t help others overcome their suffering and meet their needs, but we also unconsciously harm ourselves.
C. In the end, unity and harmony in the church, the home and in the world is only possible as we love and value our neighbor as we value ourselves and as we practice J.O.Y. – Jesus 1st, others 2nd, yourself last.
1. Those values and principles do not come naturally nor obviously through secularism or humanism, but are given to us by our Creator and are spelled out clearly in Christianity.
2. We need both God’s prescription for unity and God’s empowerment to make it a reality.
3. When we unselfishly love one another, we experience a little bit of heaven on earth.
Resources:
“Getting Along with Cantankerous Christians” Sermon by Ray Pritchard, http://www.keepbelieving.com
Making Sense of God, Timothy Keller, Viking Books, 2016
