“A Riches to Rags Story”
Philippians 2:1-13
You wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult.
As a matter of fact, you’d think it would just come naturally.
I mean, think about it.
We are all born as little babies who don’t know a thing and are completely dependent on our mothers.
We are all made of the same stuff—flesh, blood, bone.
We have arms, most of us.
We have legs.
We all have fears, flaws and insecurities.
We all get lonely.
We all hurt.
We all bleed red when we cut ourselves.
We all get sick.
We all die.
So…why is it so hard to be humble?
It makes no sense.
The story is told that one evening a man in a Dearborn, Michigan restaurant bumped into, no less, the man who was, at the time the CEO of Chrysler—Lee Iacocca.
“Oh, Mr. Iacocca,” the man exclaimed, “what an honor to meet you!
Say, my name is Jack and I’m having a business dinner with some colleagues over there at that corner table.
It would really impress my friends if you could come over in a few minutes and say, ‘Hi, Jack,’ like you know me!”
Iacocca good-naturedly agreed and so a few minutes later he went over to the table and said, “Hello Jack! How are you?”
Jack then looked up and snapped, “Not now, Lee. We’re busy!”
To say the least, the sin of Pride can lead us human beings to do some of the most awful things.
I think our culture tends to train us from childhood that life is all about ME, MINE, and MY WAY.
And that is so sad, is it not?
It’s a bondage.
It’s antithetical to the Way of Christ.
It’s Satanic, really.
Pride means we want to look more powerful and impressive than we really are.
Or at the very least, we want to take what we already have in life and use it as a pedestal from which to look down on as many people as we can.
Pride is all about self and trying to make ourselves look good or better than others in order to try and impress people.
The great irony and truth of our Christian faith is that the One Being in the universe Who really is more exalted, more lofty, and more powerful than anyone is the same Being Who, far from using His lofty position as a platform for pride, has stooped lower than low so as to humbly save us.
As Philippians Chapter 2 helps us to see, Jesus had to give up a lot in order to join us on this fallen planet.
At a minimum, He had to give up the glories and splendors of heaven in favor of a world of indigestion, stubbed toes, dirty fingernails, and backaches.
I sometimes forget what an enormous sacrifice Jesus Christ made, not only when He died, but every step along the way.
Day and night, and not only during those famous 40 days in the wilderness, the devil hounded Jesus with temptations, hoping against hope to derail God’s salvation before it was too late.
Day after day Jesus had to look into the eyes of people He had created only to see not even the faintest glint of recognition that their Sovereign Creator was standing right in front of them.
Day after day Jesus had to live on a planet He Himself had lovingly shaped at the dawn of time, only to see all around Him signs of decay, death, sorrow and sin.
“He made himself nothing,” Paul says in verse 7.
He not only was no longer living in exalted heights, He even ended up dying the worst, most public of all deaths: crucifixion.
And He did it all out of a humble love that goes beyond anything we can ever wrap our brains around.
“If you want to get the hang of the incarnation,” C.S. Lewis once wrote, “just imagine how you’d feel if you woke up one morning to discover you had turned into a garden slug.”
And it is in the face of all this that Paul says to us, “Ok, got the picture?
Good, now go and be like that!”
And, let’s face it, few challenges in life could top this.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” Paul writes, “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
We need to remember that, in the ancient world, death by crucifixion was the worst that could happen to anyone.
Crucifixion caused more than just excruciating pain and led to a slow, cruel death; it meant a public display of such pain and death that caused those walking by to mock the person being crucified.
To say the least, crucifixion meant someone had hit ROCK BOTTOM.
There is no lower you could get.
There is no further you could fall.
There is nothing more inhumane; nor is there anything invented that causes one to feel less human than crucifixion does.
And for Jesus Christ, Who had been one with the Father in the glory of heaven, His death on the Cross shows us the extreme extent of His humility—of His emptying of Himself.
And He did all this to save us!!!
And that is what humility and self-emptying is all about—taken to its inevitable conclusion—it leads to a Cross.
Because, it is born of a love that desires, more than anything, the flourishing of others.
And this love is the essential character of Who God is.
We, human beings have been created in the image of this selfless, humble God.
But something has broken in us.
And Jesus has come to earth as one of us to restore our image.
He didn’t grasp after equality with God because that is not God’s nature.
Instead, Jesus, being in the very nature God emptied Himself completely.
Now contrast that with Adam, who grasped after equality with God and power, and thus, took on a nature that is diametrically opposed to God’s nature.
And so, Jesus Christ comes to earth and becomes who we were created to be, dies the death we but not He deserves in order to save us from the consequences of our sin.
Wow.
I know that is a lot to take in, but it is the truth!
And it is what our God is all about.
And it is the key to our salvation.
It is the key to life and everything!!!
It is the most beautiful thing in the world.
“What wonderous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul”
Think about it, why did Jesus tell those who wanted to follow Him, that they must “take up their cross”?
Because it is the truth.
That is what it takes.
This is what it is all about.
This is what it means to truly follow Christ.
This is what Christ did and this is to be our goal if we want to be like Him--If we want to truly be those who are being re-created into His image.
And it’s not easy.
It is radical.
It means a total emptying of self.
It means we lose ourselves and are then filled with the love of God instead.
It means we do nothing out of selfish ambition, nothing out of vanity, but rather, in humility value others above ourselves, looking out for the interests of others.
Impossible?
What do you think?
I don’t think I realize how prideful, how unlike Christ I am until I think of it on this level.
Pride is interested in the self at the expense of others, whereas humility is interested in others at the expense of self.
Pride seeks glory for itself but rarely gets it the truly proud end up collapsing in on themselves…
…humility is always extending itself toward God and others in a life of service that finally results in a self that is open toward others like a flower in full bloom and so, as with Jesus, is glorious for all to see and come in contact with.
Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
And it’s true.
We are called to be imitators of Christ, to live in ways that allow other people to see Christ in us.
We might ask, “What is an imitator?”
“Is an imitator and impersonator?”
Well no, there’s a big difference between an impersonator and an imitator.
Impersonators try to make people think they are something they are not.
On the other hand, imitators strive to be a reflection of the One they look up to.
Now, deep down inside, many of us have a pretty clear understanding that we will fall short of a perfect imitation.
And that’s alright.
Ultimately, what we are called to do is to seek to adopt Christlike attitudes in all aspects of our lives, through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.
And we will fail.
But if we are authentic, and if we are seeking to be humble followers of Christ, we will admit our short-comings, seek forgiveness, ask for God’s help and carry on—wanting to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of us.
What Paul is saying in Philippians Chapter 2 is:
“If Jesus means anything to you, if His Spirit is in you and His compassion occupies even the smallest corner of your heart, then make humility your life.”
“Let that central movement of God in salvation—the move away from power and toward humble service—become such a part of your life as to be nearly a reflex.”
This means we think of ourselves as the servants of others.
We don’t try and get our way.
We seek what is better for the other person and don’t worry so much about ourselves.
We give without a thought of reward nor of regret.
We care because that is what Jesus does and Jesus is our life and there is no other way.
We will do anything and everything it takes to bring others into a saving relationship with God.
We will not hoard what we have, but will share with anyone in need.
When others hurt, we will hurt with them and for them.
When others are full of joy we will be joyful for them.
This is true freedom…
…to so completely forget about self that we are totally focused on the well-being of others.
This is what gives us confidence.
This is what brings peace and joy.
This is what leads to humility as we continually come up against our short-comings and must learn to lean more and more on God’s goodness and grace.
And also, as we remember that we love, only because Christ first loved us.
We are forgiven only because Christ died on a bloody Cross for our sins.
We are loved only because we have been created by a God Who is Love.
And all we have and all we are is a gift from God—even our salvation, even our ability to have saving faith.
There is nothing we have done to deserve it.
There is nothing we have done to earn it.
We are sinners who are blessed beyond measure simply because we have a God Who is head over heals in love with us and with all of creation.
What a beautiful state of mind.
What a great place to be.
What a goal.
What a reason to live.
What a joy…
…pure joy…
…what true freedom we find in seeking to follow Jesus.
You know, Paul wrote this Letter to the Philippians from prison as he faced execution.
And yet, he was sustained by his self-emptying participation with Christ.
He was sustained by a love that burns with desire for the flourishing of others, a love whose joy can be made complete only when all are included.
He desperately wants the Church in Philippi to share his joy, his love, his freedom in Christ.
“Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,” Paul writes, “if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete…have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
Do we see the beauty of it all?
Do we see the truth of it all?
Do we see the possibilities of it all?
Are we going for it?
Will we live lives for Christ and Christ alone?
Will we repent of the sin of pride and intentionally follow the One Who left heaven in order to be executed by us for our sins so that we can be saved?
