OPEN: When we go into a store, we oftentimes will look for name-brand products that we know we can trust. We’ll recognize those products by their trademarks or logos.
(at this point we showed a series various trademarks from local companies)
Companies spend thousands of dollars on a trademark that will be recognized and associated with their product because they hope that when you see their logo, you’ll think of quality and reliability.
That reminded me of a true story I once read about a soldier serving who had been serving guard duty thru-out the night.
(Have any of you had to stay up all night? I once worked at a factory where they put on as an inspector on 3rd shift. I went out to eat lunch in my car at about 3 am, laid my head back just to rest my eyes, and woke of 2 hours later. So I can sympathize with this soldier).
Early in the morning, this soldier reported to his commanding officer who demanded, “Did you sleep well while on duty?”
“What made you think that I fell asleep?” asked the surprised soldier.
“Look in the mirror,” came the officer’s reply.
As the guard stood before the mirror he saw on his forehead the imprint of the Mercedes Benz logo from his truck’s steering wheel.
APPLY: There on his forehead was the trademark of his vehicle. And that trademark revealed something about him.
In Philippians 2, Paul tells us that there should be a mark on us as well… the mark of Jesus Christ. This trademark should be something that others will see and recognize because our “… attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8
Our attitude should be the same as Christ’s – that should be our trademark. And that trademark should reveal something about us and about Jesus.
I. What should this attitude “reveal”?
It should reveal to others what Jesus has done for us.
Notice what Paul says in Philippians 2:1-2 (read along with me)
“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.”
Paul is asking us: What is the mark of Christ’s ownership of you? What difference has Jesus’ trademark made in your life?
· Have you received encouragement because of Christ’s presence in your life?
· Have you been comforted by His love
· Have you sensed the presence and the fellowship of His Spirit?
· Have you understood His tenderness and compassion?
If so… then you need to reflect those benefits to in your life by doing the same for others.
ILLUS: In 1784, Ben Franklin wrote a letter to a man named Benjamin Webb:
"Dear sir: Your situation grieves me and I send you herewith a banknote for 10 louis d’or. I do not pretend TO GIVE such a sum; I only lend it to you.
When you shall return to your country, you cannot fail of getting into some business that will in time enable you to pay all your debts.
In that case, when you meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must pay me by lending the sum to him, enjoining him to discharge the debt by a like operation when he shall be able and shall meet with such another opportunity.
I hope it may go through many hands before it meets with a knave that will stop its progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money. I am not rich enough to afford much in good works, and so am obliged to be cunning and make the most of a little.
With best wishes for your future prosperity, I am, dear sir, your most obedient servant.
B. Franklin.
Franklin was telling this man – “I’ve done this for you. Now, you go and do that same thing for others.”
And that’s essentially what Jesus is saying to us: “I’ve done this for you… now you do something like that for someone else.”
In other words, we need to find a way to show off Christ’s “trademark” in our lives to reveal to others what He has done for us.
So what Paul is saying here is this: IF YOU BELIEVE you’ve received any benefit by belonging to Christ THEN…
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. YOUR ATTITUDE should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:4-5
(pause…)
II. What is this “attitude of Christ?”
The attitude of Christ is the WILLINGNESS to do what you don’t HAVE to do because you want to be obedient to God.
That’s what is being said in verses 5-8 (read along with me)
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
Jesus was God
He stripped Himself of His Godhood to become nothing
To become a servant…
To humble Himself even to the point of death on a cross
Why would He do that?
Because He was obedient.
“Obedient unto death” is what it says in verse 8.
Jesus did what He did because it pleased His Father – because it had to be done
So… how does this apply to us?
One man (Michael Blankenship in his sermon "The Problem of a Basin Theology" from Matthew 20:20 here in sermoncentral.com - a couple of the following quotes and illustrations come from his sermon) explained it this way:
He said it’s a matter of your theology.
(bring out a basin of water/ TOWEL)
Specifically – it’s Basin Theology
What did he mean by that?
Well, there are a couple of basins referred to in the New Testament.
One is in Matthew 27 when Christ stood before Pilate. Jesus had been brought before Pilate, the governor of Judea. And Pilate had it within his power to convict or release Jesus. After hours of interrogation, Pilate arrived at the conclusion that Jesus had done nothing deserving of death. But the crowd demanded His blood. They even threatened Pilate, saying they would report him to Rome for not dealing swiftly with a Jewish King that threatened Caesar’s power.
So, what did Pilate do?
He took a basin of water and washed his hands of the whole thing. He knew what he should have done but he took the easy way out; he passed on to others the responsibility which should have been his.
That’s the 1st basin
The other basin is found in John 13
Jesus is in the upper room with His disciples eating what is now called the “Last Supper”. After the meal, Jesus leaves the room and comes back in with a towel around His waist and a basin of water in His hands. Then He starts to wash His disciples feet.
How many of you would like to volunteer to have me wash your feet? (No one raised their hands). Why not? Why wouldn’t you want me to wash your feet?
Because it’s embarrassing isn’t it?
Now in the days of Jesus it wouldn’t have been embarrassing if a servant did this for you. That’s what servants were for.
But that’s not what you’d expect a rabbi to do. Not the master. Not the leader of the disciples… not Jesus.
Peter was offended, and he boldly told Jesus he would not allow Him to touch his feet. But Jesus rebuked Peter: "…Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." John 13:8
And then Jesus said: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15
One preacher said it this way:
Jesus’ basin serves as a contrast to that of Pilate’s. Whereas Pilate uses his to avoid his rightful responsibility, Jesus uses his basin to take on responsibility which most would have said was not his at all.
He used his basin to make clear God’s intention. If we are going to be associated with Him, we will not be shunning responsibility but looking for opportunities to be more than responsible.
We will be looking for opportunities to serve.
ILLUS: A student at a Bible school in the Philippines became disturbed over the condition of the men’s rest rooms, since they always seemed to be neglected in the cleaning routine. When nothing was done to eliminate the filth, he took matters into his own hands and complained to the principal of the school.
A little later, the student noticed that the problem was being corrected, but he saw with amazement that the man with the mop and pail in hand was the principal himself! Later the student commented, "I thought that he would call a janitor, but he cleaned the toilets himself. It was a major lesson to me on being a servant and, of course, it raised a question in my own mind as to why I hadn’t taken care of the problem!"
III. Notice - Jesus said: “I give you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
So why don’t we Christians do this more often?
Why don’t we do for others the same way Jesus has done for us?
Well, I came up with three possible reasons:
1st – many Christians get the false impression that somebody else will take care of it
One person wrote this poem about that kind of thinking:
“There’s a clever young guy named Somebody Else,
There’s nothing this guy can’t do.
He is busy from morning till way late at night,
Just substituting for you.
You’re asked to do this or you’re asked to do that
And what is your ready reply?
Get Somebody Else to do that job,
He’ll do it much better than I.
So much to do in this weary old world–
So much and workers so few,
And Somebody Else, all weary and worn,
Is still substituting for you.(and for me)”
Frankly, there may never be someone else that will do the job quite like God wants YOU to do it.
2nd – many Christians get the false impression their contribution is so small it won’t make any difference to God
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote: “No man is so poor as to have nothing worth giving: as well might the mountain streamlets say they have nothing to give the sea because they are not rivers.
Give what you have. To someone it may be better than you dare think.”
(pause…)
But this is just looking at your abilities as any mortal would. We are not mere mortals. We have the Spirit of God dwelling with us. And because of that Spirit’s presence: Even a little becomes much when it’s given to God.
God has the power to take our little streams of efforts and make them a mighty river of power.
You see – God isn’t so much concerned with the power of our efforts as He is with whether or not our efforts are made because of our love for Him and our obedience to His will.
God is just waiting for you and I to just TRY to please Him by our actions:
One of the most comforting promises in Scripture is in 2 Chronicles 16:9. It describes God as if He were a massive searchlight: “… the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”
God’s desire is to watch us when we TRY to make a difference for Him because our good works on His behalf give Him pleasure.
And they give Him glory.
Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and GLORIFY YOUR FATHER which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
So, Christians often don’t do for others as Christ has done for them because
1. They falsely believe somebody else will do it
2. They falsely believe they haven’t much to offer
(pause…)
But the 3rd reason I can think of is that they don’t know what to do.
And I’m here to tell you that I can help you with that
(We had a sign up sheet in the back listing several local organizations that needed assistance. I even indicated that if they signed up, I would do my best to go along with them and encourage them by working beside them in these jobs).
CLOSE: The key thing to remember is that God eagerly desires for us to do good works. They are the mark of His ownership of us and a proclamation of the good things He has already done within us. Remember, even the smallest effort on our part can have the power to accomplish a great difference in this world. Because we serve a big God who makes our weakness into strength.
In WWII, an allied bombing raid had just returned to its base and told the miraculous story that they had been hit several times by German antiaircraft gunners, but that none of the shells had exploded.
Specialists gingerly removed the shells from the plane and took them away to a safe place to examine them. Their surprising discovery: the shells contained no firing pins.
In the place of the firing mechanism a note was found written in Czech, apparently by one of the slave workers in a German munitions factory: "this is all we can do for now, wish we could do more."
