In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction—or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.
We are on week four of studying the letter to the Philippians, and last week I ended by saying not to forget what we learned about that week, because our passage today is contingent on what we studied last week. Now if any of you had a crazy week like I did, I think it would be worth a quick 30 second review of what we studied last week. What we learned last week is that our conduct matters as Christians. It matters because it testifies to the world around us, it matters because it verifies that the Holy Spirit is indeed at work in our lives, and it matters because our conduct can create unity in the church. Paul says to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what we studied last week. But while last week’s passage and these weeks are split up into different chapters, it is all part of the same thought process. And so it is important to remember that our conduct matters, and WHY it matters, as we go into this new passage today, as Paul reveals the key to all of this, the real heart of what he is trying to get at. And the heart of the matter was that the Philippians had a humility problem. So as we come into this new passage, he says, Therefore, BECAUSE your conduct matters, BECAUSE it testifies to the world around you, BECAUSE it verifies the holy spirits work in you, and BECAUSE it can unify or divide the church, be humble like Jesus. And that is really the heart of what we are going to look at today, is humility. Humility can be a bitter pill to swallow, but pride and selfishness are at the root of most of the problems we face as a church. So Paul calls us to follow the highest example, to be humble like Jesus. Because if the Son of God can embrace humility, so can we.
If you have your bible, I’m going to go ahead and read Philippians chapter 2, verses 1-11: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in 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 of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the 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! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Let’s go back to that first verse, “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion”. This is something called first-class conditions in Greek, which means that even though they all start with the word If, they are actually speaking of certainties.
It would be better translated as “since” instead of “if. Paul isn’t suggesting that these things are not true, he is saying that they ARE true. BECAUSE they are true, BECAUSE they have encouragement from unity with Christ, BECAUSE they have comfort from his love, BECAUSE they have common sharing in the spirit, BECAUSE they have tenderness and compassion, then make his joy complete. These things are true, this is indeed the case, and there is no room for dispute. He is appealing on the basis of that which they have received from the holy spirit. They have all been united with Christ in his death in baptism, and are now filled with his love as a result. This love SHOULD result in spiritual unity. One of the spirit’s ministries is to produce within each believer a concern and love for other members of God’s family. This is all meant to be a motivation or a basis for what he is calling them to in verse two: “then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”. Make my joy complete. Whole, unwanting. His joy will be complete ONLY IF these appeals are responded too, and adjustments made in the church’s domestic life as God’s family. And you will notice in this verse that there is sort of a piling up of expressions that all relate to church unity, and that is intentional. The repetition leaves no room for doubt as to what Paul’s desire is for the Philippians. These first four verses are written in a Greek style called Homonoia, and it was a Greek type of speech which advocated harmony and unity among the hearers. And that is the goal of this entire section, is that they would find unity through humility, and putting others first in all matters of life. There is probably nothing that is more important and insisted on in the new testament as the importance of harmony among Christians.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” The ethical terms used in this verse really expose the spiritual issues that were going on in the heart of the church. When he says do nothing out of selfish ambition, that Greek word for selfish ambition is the same word that is used in Philippians 1:17, when he is talking about those people who were preaching out of selfish ambition, taking advantage of the fact that he was in prison. So after those comments, it must have been humbling to hear Paul tell THEM not to do anything out of selfish ambition. This command forbids us from doing anything out of selfishness or conceit. We aren’t supposed to achieve things by trying to outstrip others. What we do is to be to maintain the truth and to glorify God. But this is something that is so often violated in the church! How often do Christian churches try to outdo each other, and see who is better than the other? The disciples argued about who was the greatest disciple, and I think that this does continue today in our churches to some degree. We might not have open conversations and arguments about it, like they did. But it still does appear to be the secret aim of many people to outdo other people, and that is wrong. There is no holiness to be found in attempting to outdo others. The idea seems to be someone who has a desire to attract attention to themselves, to honour themselves and win praise. To make themselves the object of attention for the purpose of being noticed. The command here from Paul forbids us from doing this, because the self is not to be the focus in the church. Instead, we are to be humble, treating each other as more important than ourselves. And this begins with our relationship with God, because humility before God will lead to humility in our relationships with each other. But that humility is so, so key. 1 Peter 5 verses 5-6 says, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” We are called to be a humble people.
Verse 4, “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” We aren’t supposed to let our care and attention be completely and solely centered around our own concerns. We should also be looking out for each other as a church family. That doesn’t mean that we should be interfering in peoples personal matters, because there ARE matter which are of course exclusively other peoples business, this isn’t about everyone getting into each others business. What it is really about is not always putting YOUR business, YOUR needs, and YOUR desires above others, potentially to their detriment. The Greek here makes this individual, and I think the New King James actually translates it better, “Let each of you look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others”. You’ll notice that the key difference there is that it says EACH of you. That is closer to the original Greek. It is the duty of EVERYONE to do this, NOBODY is at liberty to live for themselves, and disregard the needs of others in the body. We are not to be so preoccupied with our own concerns, and for that matter the cultivation of our own spiritual life, that we miss out on the concerns and
spiritual lives of others who might need our help.
Then verse 5: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” And then we come to this famous section of scripture. This is believed to be a quote from what is possibly the oldest hymn we have about Jesus. Verse 5-8, “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!” This reference is meant to reinforce the duty of humility that we have as Christians. Jesus is the absolute highest example that can be given, and we are all called to live like him. This hymn, this example of the humility of Jesus, it illustrates and confirms everything that Paul has said about humility prior to this. We are supposed to make Jesus our model, and are in all ways to shape our lives in line with the example that he gave us. And that example is one of absolute selfless humility. The importance of this quote by Paul rests on the fact that Jesus is equal with God. Because Jesus was divine, his consent to become a man was the most remarkable of all possible acts of humiliation. He is in very essence God, but he decided to put that aside, and embrace humility instead. DESPITE the fact that he was equal with God, he did not cling to that equality. He willingly set it aside when he became a man. He surrendered his right to manifest himself as the God of all splendor and glory. When it says that he made himself nothing, the literal translation of the Greek is he emptied himself. It means that he laid aside his rank and dignity, and in comparison to what he had before, became nothing. Its like if the Queen decided to renounce the throne and live homeless on the streets, but even that doesn’t convey the immensity of this sacrifice.
Now because he became a man, he had to become obedient to the law, and he did. He humbled himself and made himself a servant or a slave, obedient to God’s will and purpose. He obeyed even when his obedience resulted in his death. It’s easy to be cheerfully obedient when there is no danger to yourself, but it is not so easy when your obedience might cause you to be hurt or killed. But he was obedient even in that. He subjected himself to the torture of the cross. This wasn’t a quick easy death, but a lingering, painful and humiliating execution, fit only for the worst of criminals. He knew that this would be the cost of obedience and humility, and yet he remained obedient until the very end, he remained humble. Despite being in very nature God, he humbled himself and became obedient to the law as a man, even when it resulted in a painful death and public humiliation.
Verses 9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Therefore, BECAUSE he humbled himself and became a servant, BECAUSE of this, God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the name above all names. I think I have read it here before, but that scene in Revelation where the lamb appears and is able to open the scroll, and then you see everyone in heaven worshiping this lamb. He is worthy to open this scroll BECAUSE he purchased for God a kingdom of priest with his own blood. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Jesus is the ULTIMATE example of humility, that we are called to follow. If the Son of God can give up his position and authority, to come to earth as a man and die for us, if he can embrace that kind of humility for our sakes, I think that we can embrace humility as well.
So what does this look like? What does it look like to be humble like Jesus?
First, being humble like Jesus means letting go. Letting go is not something that is easy, and it is not something that we are typically good at. Most of us, at least to some level, have a desire to be right. We get passionate about things! And I think that is good. It is good to care about things in life. But the problem is that we can get so focuses and zoomed in on the things that matter to US, that we can forget that other people matter too, and the things that they care about matter as well. It can’t always be about us and what we want. And sometimes we let our passion and pride get in the way of remembering that, and perhaps we become a little bit selfish, or start to hold grudges. But being humble like Jesus means letting go of all of that. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” And because we are human, and we are still living in a broken world, this doesn’t always mean that the other person is going to take the initiative, and we need to be ready for that. Sometimes being humble like Jesus means to be the bigger person. Sometimes being humble means that even if you are absolutely sure that you are in the right, you may be wrong, because you definitely can be right for the wrong reasons, and you can be wrong for the right reasons. And when we are wrong, EVEN if we think we are right, but our actions are causing division, we need to recognize that. Here is a verse from Philippians 3 that we will be looking at in a few weeks: “Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” At the end of the day, we are all pressing towards a goal, and a big part of that goal for the church at LARGE is unity. So it is important that we work together as a body to achieve unity. To be humble like Jesus, and to achieve the unity he desired to see in the church, we need to be ready and willing to let go.
Second, being humble like Jesus means putting others first. This can be hard for us as well. It is a very common reaction to say, “but what about me?” The problem with that is that as a church, we need to be continually thinking about and working to help others. We are meant to be the hands and feet of Jesus on earth. In Matthew 2:17, Jesus said, ““Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” And the thing about being the hands and feet of Jesus is that we are supposed to be emulating his example. It is hard for us to be following his example in this verse, if we are focused on ourselves, our own needs and our own desires. Of course, this does not mean that we don’t matter after we are saved! But it does mean we are called to a higher standard. Once we are in Jesus, once we are saved, it shouldn’t be all about us anymore, that is the way that the world lives! We don’t do that anymore, or
we shouldn’t be. We are called to follow Jesus’ example. How did Jesus put others first? He set aside his station and power as God, and became a man, and literally died to pay for every terrible thing that any of us have ever done. He certainly put the needs of others above his own needs. Romans 12:10 says, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” The idea in that verse is that it is almost a competition to see who can treat others better, and who can be the humblest! As Jesus increases in us and in our lives, we by nature must decrease. Being humble like Jesus means putting others first.
Third, being humble like Jesus means being obedient to God. And that can be hard as well. For Jesus, He humbled himself by not just becoming a man, but by becoming obedient to God’s will. And that obedience led to his death and humiliation on a cross. For the Son of God, that was humility. For us, we may not be called to die on a cross, but we are called to humility in obedience as well. The biggest problem with us humans, is that God made us intelligent enough to think that we know what is best for ourselves, but because we live in a sinful and broken world, often what we THINK is good for us is in fact harmful. Being obedient is not always easy, and I in no means intend to minimize the struggles of life that we all face. But at the end of the day, being obedient to scripture and being obedient to the Holy Spirit is the ultimate symbol of humility. Everything Jesus did, every way in which he humbled himself, and in everything he said, it was always rooted in scripture and God’s will. This is ultimately what we submit ourselves too in humility. And we can’t really do that, unless we know God’s word, and are listening for his voice and direction.
In conclusion, there are so many reasons why humility is important as followers of Jesus. Last week we were called to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. Our behaviour and actions matter immensely as Christians, because the world is watching us. They see us when we reflect Jesus, but they see us also when we fail, and fall short of his example. When I began today, I read a story about two ship captains, both knew that they were on a collision course, but both were too stubborn to
change course. Their actions caused disaster, and the loss of many lives. Our actions also have implications as well. As we read last week, the world will know Jesus when we are united. The path to unity is humility, through Jesus’ supreme example. Being humble like Jesus means letting go of our selfishness and grudges, even when it is hard. Being humble like Jesus means putting others first, even when we don’t think they deserve it. And being humble like Jesus means being obedient to God’s word and the calling of the Spirit, wherever that takes you. My prayer for all of us as we leave here today, is that we can embrace humility in our daily lives and our interactions, so that we can find that unity together that will bring the world, and the community around us, to a relationship with Jesus.
