WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.900 You can generally tell that your lungs are healthy if you're able to breathe well and there's no pain or difficulty or shortness of breath. 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:24.199 ! You can generally tell if your heart is functioning properly and decently healthy if you've got low blood pressure, low cholesterol, normal cholesterol range, no shortness of breath, no pain. 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:36.460 You can generally tell if your joints are healthy, if you have good mobility, if there's no pain, if you can get through your day without noticing them. 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:41.019 You can generally tell that these various parts of your body are healthy by the way they function. 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:42.920 You don't have to be an expert. You don't have to be a doctor. 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:45.879 But what about our souls? 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:52.679 How do you gauge whether or not your soul is healthy in a good place? 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:57.659 If your soul were to be sick, how would you know? What would the symptoms be? 00:00:58.979 --> 00:01:05.159 You know, this morning we're looking at this incredible passage in Philippians chapter 2. 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:06.340 Of course, it's Palm Sunday. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:14.539 We're also going to, a little bit later, consider this great story of the triumphal entry that we read on the steps of the church a moment ago. 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:21.280 But we're focusing right now primarily on the New Testament reading for this morning, Philippians chapter 2. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.000 This is the very heart of Paul's letter to the Philippians. 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:35.060 This passage is something that by itself we could legitimately spend weeks and weeks and weeks just unpacking all of the depth and meaning of this passage. 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:40.719 We're simply this morning going to be able to carve off a piece of it with the time that we have. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:44.120 But we're going to consider this question of soul sickness. 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:47.159 What are the symptoms of soul sickness? 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:51.900 What's the underlying cause that we need to be aware of that Paul mentions here? 00:01:52.180 --> 00:01:53.180 And then what's the cure? 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.519 So let's pray and then we will open God's word together. 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:03.060 Lord, we thank you for this morning, for the freedom to gather here together. 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:07.140 And we thank you for what we are remembering and celebrating. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:17.180 Lord, the events of this triumphal entry, the beginning of the week, of your passion that ultimately leads us to the cross, to the tomb, 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:22.939 and then out of the tomb into the promise of new life for us and for the world. 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:26.500 Lord, we thank you for this journey, Lord, that we get to be on with you. 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:31.079 And we pray that as we open your word, you would guide us and direct us in our understanding. 00:02:31.939 --> 00:02:35.620 And that through your Holy Spirit, we would encounter the living word, Jesus Christ. 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.400 For it's in his name that we pray. Amen. 00:02:40.539 --> 00:02:49.180 So first of all, let's consider some of the symptoms that might lead us to wonder whether or not our souls are healthy or sick. 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:52.719 Paul is in Rome. He's sitting under house arrest. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.919 He's writing this letter to a church located in a place called Philippi. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:02.280 This is a church that Paul helped to start roughly 10 years earlier. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:03.800 They've been around about a decade. 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:08.400 And Paul's heard some things are going on there and they're concerning to him. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.699 And so he writes this letter to address some of the issues. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.579 If you peruse the letter and look at the various things Paul addresses, 00:03:17.579 --> 00:03:20.979 you can discern some of the things that are going on in this community. 00:03:20.979 --> 00:03:23.599 There's envy and rivalry. 00:03:23.899 --> 00:03:26.479 You see that in chapter 1, verse 15. 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:27.439 Envy and rivalry. 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:32.039 Some of the people there have become overly self-focused. 00:03:32.259 --> 00:03:33.799 Chapter 2, verse 4. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:35.979 They're only looking out to their own interests. 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:40.379 They don't care about the needs of the people around them. 00:03:40.399 --> 00:03:42.079 They just want to make sure their own needs are met. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:48.120 He hears about some people who are chronically grumbling and complaining. 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:49.540 Chapter 2, verse 14. 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:51.380 Just grumbling and complaining. 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:52.860 Nothing's ever good enough. 00:03:53.640 --> 00:03:56.040 There's also quarreling and division happening. 00:03:56.220 --> 00:03:59.140 There are these two women, Euodia and Syntyche. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:02.600 And by the way Paul addresses and refers to these women, 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:06.660 it's very clear that these are prominent, influential leaders in the church. 00:04:06.659 --> 00:04:09.379 And these women are fighting with one another. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:14.780 And I don't have to tell you, anytime you have fighting in the church, it's a big deal. 00:04:15.359 --> 00:04:19.639 But anytime you have church leaders who are fighting, that's not good. 00:04:20.659 --> 00:04:21.980 That's not a good sign. 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:26.379 So these are things that Paul hears. 00:04:26.620 --> 00:04:28.699 And of course, as we hear them, we say, you know, 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:30.480 well, that's not the way things are supposed to be. 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:32.519 Especially in the church. 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:34.979 You would expect the church would be different. 00:04:36.539 --> 00:04:40.500 Paul longs to see unity and harmony in this church. 00:04:40.579 --> 00:04:42.819 He says, if there's any encouragement in Christ, 00:04:43.599 --> 00:04:46.620 any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, 00:04:46.979 --> 00:04:48.259 any affection and sympathy, 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.339 complete my joy by being of the same mind, 00:04:52.579 --> 00:04:56.379 having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 00:04:56.479 --> 00:05:00.719 That's what Paul desires to see in this church he loves. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.100 And I would say that's what we all want. 00:05:04.520 --> 00:05:05.760 Think about your family. 00:05:07.380 --> 00:05:09.680 Think about your friendship, your friend group. 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:13.300 Think about the neighborhood that you live in. 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:14.360 Think about the city. 00:05:14.460 --> 00:05:15.240 Think about the world. 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:17.200 This is what we all want. 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:18.860 We want to be of the same mind. 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:20.780 We want to live in peace and harmony. 00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:25.639 But instead, we have polarization. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:30.699 We have social fragmentation and decay. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:32.279 We have poverty. 00:05:32.419 --> 00:05:33.039 We have injustice. 00:05:33.219 --> 00:05:33.819 We have war. 00:05:34.559 --> 00:05:36.679 That's the reality of the world that we live in. 00:05:37.979 --> 00:05:40.739 And we have plenty of quarreling and division. 00:05:41.619 --> 00:05:43.539 And unfortunately, it's not just out there. 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:44.519 It's in here. 00:05:44.739 --> 00:05:46.739 That's a reality in the church. 00:05:46.740 --> 00:05:50.860 It shouldn't be that way, but it is. 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:54.060 And you will find that in every church you go to. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.600 You will never find a church where these issues are not present. 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:05.480 And the reason is that there is something wrong with our souls as human beings. 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:11.100 There is a soul sickness that gives rise to these symptoms. 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:23.120 When you see things like envy and grumbling and complaining and division, those are indications like joint pain, like shortness of breath, that something is not okay with our souls. 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:25.460 And Paul actually mentions it. 00:06:25.540 --> 00:06:30.580 All of these issues result from one core issue that Paul names in chapter 2, verse 3. 00:06:31.760 --> 00:06:36.840 When he says the phrase selfish ambition and conceit. 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:39.540 Or we might boil that down to one word. 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:44.200 Paul is saying the core issue here, the thing that I'm most concerned about in this church, is pride. 00:06:45.760 --> 00:06:46.480 It's pride. 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:52.500 Pride is at the root of everything that's wrong in our lives. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.700 Pride is at the root of everything that is wrong in the world. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:01.140 Pride is at the root of everything that is wrong in our relationship with God, with one another. 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:04.939 If you go all the way down to the core, you will find pride. 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:11.439 Now, a lot of people mistakenly think that pride is the same thing as ambition. 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:15.639 Or that pride is the same thing as arrogance. 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:16.819 Right? 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:21.480 They think of pride as somebody who's boasting and bragging about all of their accomplishments. 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:26.879 And so they think, well, I don't go around boasting and bragging, so pride must not be an issue for me. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.980 Not so fast. 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:34.560 With all due respect, take another look at yourself. 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.139 There are many different ways that pride manifests itself. 00:07:39.379 --> 00:07:44.819 One way that pride manifests itself is in the form of arrogance and boasting and bragging. 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.399 Yes, that is a form of pride. 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:49.139 But that's merely one form of pride. 00:07:49.139 --> 00:08:00.500 And there are many ways that pride can manifest more subtly in ways that don't immediately look like pride to us or to other onlookers. 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:05.199 So, for instance, pride can manifest as a quiet judgmentalism. 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:08.240 You don't ever brag. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:11.000 You don't ever extol your own virtues. 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:13.979 You don't tell people stories about your accomplishments. 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:15.219 You're quiet. 00:08:15.219 --> 00:08:17.979 By all appearances, you seem like a very humble person. 00:08:19.139 --> 00:08:22.759 But you tend to quietly look down on other people. 00:08:23.579 --> 00:08:27.060 You quietly judge people's sense of taste. 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.339 You quietly judge people's morals. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:40.439 You look at the way they parent their kids and you sort of quietly critique their approach to parenting. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.080 They're too lax. 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:43.019 They're too strict. 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:44.220 Right? 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:50.399 You make negative assumptions about people based on what kind of car they drive or the size of their house. 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:57.220 It's either too small or it's too big depending on your angle or their clothing. 00:08:57.439 --> 00:08:57.519 Right? 00:08:57.579 --> 00:08:58.240 That's pride. 00:08:58.319 --> 00:09:03.399 Because you're ultimately saying, I am the measure of what is good and right, what is best. 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:05.079 I'm the measure. 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:05.960 I'm the yardstick. 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:07.600 And these people fall short. 00:09:08.200 --> 00:09:10.720 Pride can manifest as self-sufficiency. 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:12.960 Again, that doesn't look like pride. 00:09:13.800 --> 00:09:16.420 In our country, in our culture, we love self-sufficiency. 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:19.180 We celebrate self-sufficiency and autonomy. 00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:26.800 But you know, you have people, they always like to be the person that offers help, but they will never ask for help. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:32.319 They refuse to ask for help even when they might desperately need it. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.120 See, that's another form of pride. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.639 Because you're saying, I should be able to do this myself. 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:42.659 I'm not the kind of person who needs help. 00:09:43.599 --> 00:09:47.479 Because there's something you're inferring there about that kind of person. 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:51.059 I'm not the kind of person who needs help from anyone. 00:09:51.179 --> 00:09:52.259 I should be able to do this myself. 00:09:52.339 --> 00:09:53.299 That's a form of pride. 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:57.639 Pride can manifest as chronic complaining. 00:09:58.819 --> 00:10:00.299 Again, it doesn't seem like pride. 00:10:01.620 --> 00:10:04.559 You know, grumbling about things you don't like in your household. 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:06.859 Or in your marriage. 00:10:07.740 --> 00:10:08.819 Or in your workplace. 00:10:09.199 --> 00:10:09.939 Or in the church. 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:12.000 So that's pride. 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:16.199 You're saying, you know, this thing doesn't, this isn't up to my standard. 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:21.740 But I can't be troubled to actually do anything to solve the problem. 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:25.019 I'm expecting and waiting for other people to solve the problem for me. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:27.080 That's a form of pride. 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:31.799 Probably one of the most harmful forms of pride, I would say, is self-pity. 00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:35.940 Part of the reason it's harmful is it doesn't look like pride at all. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:37.659 Self-pity can look a lot like humility. 00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:42.440 It can look a lot like weakness. 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:49.440 But in some ways, this is the most insidious form of pride. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.800 Because real suffering can be involved. 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:54.600 Real pain can be involved. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:59.480 But the difference is, instead of entrusting the pain and the injustice to the Lord. 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:01.880 And seeking to move on. 00:11:02.760 --> 00:11:04.660 Self-pity wants to cling to the pain. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.680 It wants to cling to the suffering. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:10.179 It wants to nurse the grudges. 00:11:11.939 --> 00:11:14.199 It inflates grievances. 00:11:15.599 --> 00:11:17.919 It tends to withhold forgiveness. 00:11:19.779 --> 00:11:21.759 To keep things going. 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:25.279 And see, self-pity is a form of pride. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:30.359 Because like all forms of pride, self-pity actually keeps the focus on me. 00:11:32.459 --> 00:11:35.679 It's all about my pain. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:36.159 It's all about my pain. 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:38.879 It's all about my unfair treatment. 00:11:39.599 --> 00:11:43.879 It's all about the injustice that has been perpetrated against me. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:50.839 And so because of this, self-pity keeps us locked in this kind of victim narrative about our lives. 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:53.379 And we begin to see things through that lens. 00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:57.879 And so one of the ways it does harm is that it can blind you. 00:11:58.120 --> 00:11:59.740 If you're caught up in your own self-pity, 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:05.680 it can make you blind or numb to ways that you might be causing pain or hurt. 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:05.960 Right? 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:09.720 So if you try to go to a person who's caught up in their self-pity, 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:11.080 and you try to share, 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.120 hey, when you did this thing, when you said this thing, it really hurt me, 00:12:14.620 --> 00:12:17.620 what's going to happen is they're going to tend to play the victim. 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:19.500 They're going to get angry. 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:21.220 They're going to accuse you of hurting them. 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:22.580 They're going to flip the script. 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:27.700 And instead of taking responsibility, instead of admitting their wrongs, 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.560 they're going to paint you as the bad guy. 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:32.280 Right? 00:12:32.379 --> 00:12:35.920 And because of this, self-pity can wreak havoc in a place like a church. 00:12:36.420 --> 00:12:41.200 It can cause lasting division because the church is very full of well-meaning people 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.000 who want to love and support each other. 00:12:43.580 --> 00:12:46.400 And so people will pour on the sympathy and the love and the support, 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:49.580 not realizing that in some cases, when self-pity is at the root, 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:52.800 you're actually enabling harmful and divisive patterns. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:54.879 Right? 00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:56.139 But again, it's about me. 00:12:56.300 --> 00:13:00.920 And so all of these forms of pride are not immediately recognizable as pride, 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.620 but they all have this one thing in common. 00:13:04.780 --> 00:13:08.879 They are ways of living with yourself at the center of your own life. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:16.080 They're ways that say, I am at the center and I matter most. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:21.379 And because of this, pride destroys our relationships with others. 00:13:21.540 --> 00:13:24.200 It ultimately destroys our relationship with God. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.780 The Dutch Reformed pastor, Andrew Murray, South African pastor, said this. 00:13:28.900 --> 00:13:35.980 He said, pride must die in you or nothing of heaven can live in you. 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:42.879 Pride must die in you or nothing of heaven can live in you. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:44.640 So these are the symptoms. 00:13:44.780 --> 00:13:45.420 These are the issues. 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:47.439 What's the underlying cause? 00:13:47.579 --> 00:13:49.699 Why is pride such an issue? 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:51.339 Where does it come from? 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:54.519 The word that Paul uses in verse three is very illuminating. 00:13:55.599 --> 00:14:01.039 The Greek word that is translated in our version in the ESV as conceit 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.559 is actually a compound word, kinodoxia. 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:07.959 And kinodoxia comes from two words. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:12.019 Kino, which means empty, and doxia, which means glory. 00:14:12.019 --> 00:14:12.100 Glory. 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:20.100 So it literally means glory empty or empty of glory, right? 00:14:20.199 --> 00:14:24.240 So the King James translates it in the word vainglory. 00:14:24.699 --> 00:14:25.319 You may have heard. 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:27.179 Empty glory, right? 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:28.600 It means glory empty. 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:40.120 In other words, it conveys this idea that inside us there is this deep, gnawing, restless, relentless hunger for glory. 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:42.120 A hunger for respect. 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:43.120 A hunger for respect. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.340 A hunger for admiration. 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:47.620 A hunger for affirmation. 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:50.259 And it's always there. 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:51.279 It's an emptiness. 00:14:51.980 --> 00:14:52.820 It's a longing. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:54.659 It's a hunger for these things. 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.120 In other words, you might put it like this. 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.440 Pride is the result of a glory vacuum. 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:05.360 A glory vacuum in our souls. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.659 It's a spiritual void. 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:14.620 And like all vacuums, it is constantly pulling at everything around it, trying to fill itself up. 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:24.000 You know, this is essentially how St. Augustine describes pride, if you read his confessions or his City of God. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.039 You know, pride isn't just an attitude. 00:15:27.300 --> 00:15:31.960 He says that pride is actually a spiritual curvature of the soul. 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:36.920 It is a curving inward of the soul. 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:41.740 Homo incurvatus in say, man turned in on himself. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.820 See, that's what a vacuum does. 00:15:44.920 --> 00:15:48.060 It pulls everything around it into itself. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:51.580 Everything curves inward because the vacuum is there. 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:58.200 So St. Augustine would say, instead of having a properly ordered and oriented love, 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:04.520 while we are focused outward, loving one another, loving our neighbors, loving God, 00:16:05.420 --> 00:16:09.900 this spiritual glory vacuum turns us inward. 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:11.720 We're aimed in on ourselves. 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:16.160 He says that's the fundamental problem with human beings. 00:16:16.280 --> 00:16:19.620 And so because of this, we become self-absorbed. 00:16:19.780 --> 00:16:21.200 We become self-defining. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.340 We become self-glorifying. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:26.180 In curvatus in say. 00:16:27.520 --> 00:16:35.120 And the only way to be rid of this is to understand why the glory vacuum exists. 00:16:35.400 --> 00:16:36.980 Why is there this hole? 00:16:38.920 --> 00:16:45.240 And the reason is because God made us to live with Him at the center. 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.960 To live filled by His glory. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:53.780 We're not made to radiate the light like the sun. 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:58.519 We are made to be like the moon, reflecting the light. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:03.240 Our glory comes from the light that shines on us and in us and through us. 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:04.940 It's nothing that we generate. 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:10.620 But the moment human beings started living for ourselves, 00:17:11.620 --> 00:17:16.620 the moment we displaced God and put ourselves at the center of our lives, 00:17:16.620 --> 00:17:18.360 that vacuum was created. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:23.319 And instead of being filled with the glory of God, we are glory hungry. 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:26.440 We are glory starved. 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:33.259 In his book, Love Within Limits, Lewis Smedes writes this. 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:35.120 He says, 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.939 Pride is the arrogant refusal to let God be God. 00:17:39.939 --> 00:17:42.839 It is to grab God's status for oneself. 00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:49.799 Pride is turning down God's invitation to join the dance of life as a creature in his garden 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:56.839 and wishing instead to be the creator, independent, reliant on one's own resources. 00:17:57.699 --> 00:18:02.819 Pride is the grand illusion, the fantasy of fantasies, the cosmic put on, he says. 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:09.799 The fantasy that we can make it as little gods leaves us empty at the center. 00:18:09.919 --> 00:18:11.439 It's what he's talking about, the glory vacuum. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:13.599 So we learn what? 00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:15.159 We learn to swagger. 00:18:15.919 --> 00:18:17.119 We learn to bluff. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:22.319 We learn to use symbols to cover up our fears that we lack substance. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:33.839 We force other people to act as buttresses for the shaky ego that pride created by emptying our soul of God. 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:35.919 We'll say that last sentence one more time. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:36.799 I want you to think about this. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:56.480 A person who is controlled by pride will find it almost impossible to truly love other people. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:02.519 Because love is ultimately a self-giving posture. 00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:04.460 Right? 00:19:05.099 --> 00:19:09.380 You're primarily concerning yourself with their well-being. 00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:17.300 But if your well-being, the well-being of your fragile ego, is tied to that person, 00:19:18.100 --> 00:19:22.540 you're never going to be free to love them because you're going to need them too much. 00:19:23.020 --> 00:19:26.680 You're going to need them to prop up your own shaky ego. 00:19:27.320 --> 00:19:32.120 And you can't, by definition, love someone if you're using them at the same time. 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:38.139 And this glory vacuum of pride doesn't just hurt our individual relationships. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:44.799 It sits behind a whole array of global, you know, social and political ills as well. 00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:54.699 There's a wonderful, famous commencement speech given in 1995 at Harvard by the former president of the Czech Republic, 00:19:55.339 --> 00:20:00.919 Václav Havel, where he observes that all of the problems we face in the modern West 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:07.560 result from the fact that we have displaced God and put ourselves at the center. 00:20:08.560 --> 00:20:12.700 And he says because of this spiritual void in our collective heart, 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:18.820 in the heart of Western civilization, that has led to a kind of collective pride. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:20.800 We have forgotten our own creatureliness. 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:22.660 We have forgotten our own limitations. 00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:27.940 It's a kind of functional atheism that leads to forms of pride 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:31.980 that are ultimately horribly destructive to the world that we live in. 00:20:32.080 --> 00:20:36.440 So he talks about this sitting behind things like environmental degradation. 00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:43.759 Because without God, people don't see the world as a beautifully ordered creation and a cosmos. 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:50.740 They simply see resources that can be exploited. 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:51.380 Right? 00:20:52.380 --> 00:20:52.579 Right? 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:56.680 Causing environmental crises such as pollution, deforestation, climate change. 00:20:56.980 --> 00:20:59.440 It leads to consumeristic greed. 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:07.880 Because instead of God at the center, because of that void, people try to fill the void with wealth and accumulation. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:10.279 Consumption. 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:16.519 And of course, that fosters all kinds of social divisions and inequality and injustice. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.279 He says without God at the center, we have social fragmentation. 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:27.119 People lose a sense of a higher collective shared identity and purpose. 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:33.059 There's no longer, he says, any shared concept of values that transcend us. 00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:39.319 And so people increasingly feel isolated and balkanized and disconnected from community and tradition. 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:45.440 And that leads to social and communal unrest and depression and psychological disorders. 00:21:45.679 --> 00:21:52.779 And loneliness is labeled as pathological, a clinically significant issue leading to death for many people. 00:21:53.539 --> 00:21:55.799 It leads, of course, to political cynicism. 00:21:55.799 --> 00:22:03.440 Because without God as an ultimate source of accountability, a source of authority that sits above every human authority, 00:22:03.879 --> 00:22:08.039 our leaders are guided solely by pragmatic self-interest. 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.960 So they promote politics marked by corruption and deception. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:16.359 And over time, they lose trust among their citizens. 00:22:17.639 --> 00:22:22.919 So the root of everything that is wrong in our lives and everything that's wrong in the world is pride. 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:27.060 It's the glory vacuum at the center of our souls. 00:22:28.300 --> 00:22:30.220 So what can we do about this? 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:33.080 Where does Paul bring us from here? 00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:34.000 What's the cure? 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:37.640 The short answer is we need to become humble. 00:22:38.560 --> 00:22:45.880 But there's a kind of, well, several issues with telling a room full of people like us, 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:47.019 we need to become more humble. 00:22:47.019 --> 00:22:54.059 The surest sign of health in your heart, I would say, is humility. 00:22:56.059 --> 00:22:57.619 Now, you might say, isn't it love? 00:22:57.720 --> 00:22:58.420 Yes, it's love. 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:01.900 But you need to understand humility is what gives you the capacity to love. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:08.799 Humility is what gives you the capacity to stop using people, to stop using God for your own ego. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:18.759 And instead, to actually truly give yourself away to other people and to God, to truly love, as we were created to do. 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:22.740 The surest sign of a healthy soul is humility. 00:23:22.899 --> 00:23:24.299 Here's Andrew Murray again. 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:28.940 Humility is perfect quietness of heart. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.659 Just think about this and think about your own heart, your own life. 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:36.139 Humility is perfect quietness of heart. 00:23:36.140 --> 00:23:44.000 It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. 00:23:45.020 --> 00:23:51.520 It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go and shut the door and kneel to my father in secret 00:23:51.520 --> 00:23:57.600 and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:00.899 Now, I read that. 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:04.859 I don't know about you, but that's exactly what I want for my own heart. 00:24:05.099 --> 00:24:07.699 And it leads us to ask, how is that possible? 00:24:08.879 --> 00:24:11.899 And I would say, number one, religion is not the answer. 00:24:13.439 --> 00:24:18.000 I know I look like I might not say that, but religion is not the answer. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.879 And in fact, some of you know this already from experience. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.380 You've seen this happen. 00:24:23.320 --> 00:24:26.400 Religion can be like pouring miracle grow on your pride. 00:24:27.820 --> 00:24:36.320 Religion creates all of the greenhouse conditions necessary for pride to grow from this little weed in your heart to this massive tree. 00:24:37.820 --> 00:24:43.460 Religion furnishes us with all kinds of reasons to feel superior and better than other people. 00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:46.600 So religion is not the answer. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.440 Related to this, this is really the paradox of humility. 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:53.779 Paradox is this. 00:24:55.259 --> 00:25:03.460 If your focus is to become more humble, you write in your journal, you know, it's December 29th. 00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:06.120 You're writing your resolutions for the new year. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:07.400 You say, I want to become more humble. 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:08.480 You make that your goal. 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:09.460 What's going to happen? 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:12.799 You're going to focus on trying to be more humble. 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:15.279 And then you're going to make progress. 00:25:15.840 --> 00:25:16.240 Maybe. 00:25:16.840 --> 00:25:18.400 And then what happens if you make progress? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.900 Then you're going to feel really proud of yourself for making progress. 00:25:21.980 --> 00:25:24.480 And then you're going to need to undo that pride. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:24.920 Right? 00:25:25.059 --> 00:25:26.360 And it becomes this vicious cycle. 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:32.400 The more you focus on being humble, the more at risk you are of feeling prideful about your humility. 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:34.240 You'll be so proud of how humble you are. 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:40.360 But what's more, even if that's not an issue for you, still, where's the focus in all of that? 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:43.279 The focus is still on you. 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:45.120 It's on your heart. 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:46.079 It's on your progress. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:47.360 It's on your goals. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:48.579 Right? 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.840 So even if you're not bragging about how humble you are, the spotlight is still right where it always was. 00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:54.620 It's still on you. 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:56.940 So this is the trouble with humility. 00:25:57.079 --> 00:26:00.500 You cannot become more humble by deciding that you want to become more humble. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:02.400 I'm sorry. 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:04.200 It's not that easy. 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:05.819 I wish it were. 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:08.759 But you can't get it by aiming at it. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.200 If you aim at humility, you're never going to become humble. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:14.059 You're probably just going to become more proud. 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:16.159 So you can't aim at it. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:21.560 The best you will achieve is the appearance of humility. 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:26.839 And I think that there's probably a lot of us and a lot of people in the world who are really good at appearing humble. 00:26:28.619 --> 00:26:30.619 Again, religion encourages that. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:32.579 We learn how to talk and act. 00:26:33.439 --> 00:26:36.899 You know, you win a huge award or you amass 100,000 followers. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:38.679 I'm so humbled by this award. 00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:42.339 I'm so humbled by my million followers. 00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:44.379 I'm so humbled by my promotion. 00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:48.900 But we don't really sound that humble when we say it. 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:50.880 That's hashtag humility. 00:26:51.020 --> 00:26:51.800 It's not the real thing. 00:26:53.560 --> 00:26:55.760 You know, the quote, I can't remember who first said it. 00:26:55.840 --> 00:26:57.720 Humility is not thinking less of yourself. 00:26:59.600 --> 00:27:01.040 It's thinking of yourself less. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:06.720 So how do you become the kind of person who simply doesn't think about yourself all that often? 00:27:08.580 --> 00:27:10.040 There's only one way to do it. 00:27:10.039 --> 00:27:15.639 And that is to stop focusing on yourself entirely by focusing on someone else. 00:27:16.659 --> 00:27:18.539 That's the only way it's going to happen. 00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:24.159 Instead of focusing on our own hearts, on our own souls, on our own need for humility, 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.619 we have to focus on the glory of another. 00:27:29.379 --> 00:27:32.000 That's the only way to fill that glory vacuum. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:36.619 And if we look at the last half of this passage in Philippians 2, 00:27:36.619 --> 00:27:40.639 commentators agree that verses 6 through 10 are actually a hymn. 00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:44.159 You know, this is most likely a hymn that had been composed 00:27:44.159 --> 00:27:48.139 about the nature of Jesus Christ and his incarnation, 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:50.039 his sacrifice, his death, and resurrection. 00:27:50.659 --> 00:27:52.079 What we're celebrating this week. 00:27:52.939 --> 00:27:53.119 Right? 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:56.500 This was a hymn that had been composed so that the church could sing it. 00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.739 Because the church needed a way of focusing on glory outside of themselves. 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:04.940 And I would say if ever there was a passage worth memorizing in the Bible, 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:07.000 in the New Testament, it would be this passage. 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:12.160 Because this is meant to ignite in us, 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:14.039 not a sense of our own glory and importance, 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.620 but to fill us with a sense of the glory of Jesus Christ 00:28:17.620 --> 00:28:20.359 and what he has done, what he has accomplished. 00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:22.579 What does it say? 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:25.839 Look, Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:29.819 did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 00:28:30.419 --> 00:28:32.000 but emptied himself. 00:28:32.179 --> 00:28:32.819 Same word. 00:28:34.059 --> 00:28:35.579 Kino, he emptied himself 00:28:35.579 --> 00:28:39.339 by taking the form of a servant. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.579 It holds out before us in this great hymn, 00:28:42.939 --> 00:28:45.819 he in every way was equal with God, 00:28:45.899 --> 00:28:49.019 part of the divine eternal dance of the Trinity. 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:54.379 And he thought that not a thing to be grasped or clinged to or held on to, 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:55.379 but he emptied himself. 00:28:55.500 --> 00:28:55.900 Of what? 00:28:56.539 --> 00:28:57.359 Of his glory. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:28:59.900 He emptied himself of his glory. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:02.379 And he became a servant. 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:03.779 He became a slave. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.059 He humbled himself. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:09.559 Think of the triumphal entry that we celebrate today. 00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:12.759 This amazing moment 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:16.559 where the true king of the world enters in, 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:20.779 but immediately we see that this king is unlike any king we've ever seen. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:24.679 And therefore, this kingdom is unlike any earthly kingdom 00:29:24.679 --> 00:29:27.099 we have ever seen or will ever see. 00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:30.679 There are clues that something very different is happening. 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:32.519 He's not riding in on a great war horse. 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:35.039 He's riding in on the colt of a donkey. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:39.519 He's not riding in to go and ultimately take the throne. 00:29:39.659 --> 00:29:41.940 He's riding in to ultimately, in a few days' time, 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:43.700 be nailed to the cross. 00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:44.700 Right? 00:29:45.740 --> 00:29:47.980 His coronation is his crucifixion. 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:52.180 Something very different is happening. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.100 And we already see it. 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:56.080 Therefore, it says, 00:29:56.420 --> 00:29:58.480 God has highly exalted him 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:02.059 and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. 00:30:02.360 --> 00:30:03.480 So at the name of Jesus, 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:05.720 every knee should bow in heaven and on earth 00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:06.819 and under the earth. 00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:08.039 And every tongue confess 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:11.299 that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. 00:30:11.420 --> 00:30:12.220 Here's the gospel. 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:14.100 Jesus emptied himself 00:30:14.100 --> 00:30:16.259 so that we might become full. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.059 It's the only way to fill up that glory vacuum 00:30:21.059 --> 00:30:23.519 is the glory of the cross, 00:30:24.059 --> 00:30:25.579 the glory of the death, 00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:27.500 the glory of the resurrection, 00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:30.600 the glory of the victory over sin and death, 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:33.220 the glory over the renewal of creation. 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:36.860 That's the glory that we're meant to be filled with. 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:38.480 Not a glory that looks inward, 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:40.860 but a glory that looks outward and upward. 00:30:43.860 --> 00:30:46.120 The only way to become truly humble 00:30:46.120 --> 00:30:49.400 is to keep our eyes fixed firmly on the cross. 00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:51.519 That is the only way. 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:54.720 To quote Murray one more time, 00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.660 here is the path to the higher life. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:00.360 Down. 00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:02.319 Lower down. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:05.819 And he uses the metaphor of water. 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:06.379 He says, 00:31:06.379 --> 00:31:10.240 just as water always seeks to fill the lowest place, 00:31:11.179 --> 00:31:16.659 the more we lower ourselves before the cross, 00:31:16.859 --> 00:31:21.220 the more God's glory and power flow in to fill us up. 00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:23.299 I love that image. 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:27.440 So for those of us who are soul sick with pride, 00:31:28.259 --> 00:31:30.240 look to the cross. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:35.039 This is a week where we will journey with Jesus Christ 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:36.919 through his passion, 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:40.619 through the last supper on Monday, Thursday, 00:31:40.879 --> 00:31:41.720 and the new commandment, 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:45.539 through the horrific events of Good Friday 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:46.539 and the crucifixion, 00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:52.240 through the ambiguity, uncertainty, confusion, failure, 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:54.099 of the tomb, 00:31:55.099 --> 00:31:57.240 and ultimately to the unexpected, 00:31:57.539 --> 00:31:59.980 world-changing hope of the resurrection. 00:32:01.099 --> 00:32:03.740 It is a week where we're invited to look firmly 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:07.920 and fully at the cross and what it means for us 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:11.019 and to recognize that Jesus has ushered in 00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:13.680 a completely new way of being human, 00:32:13.819 --> 00:32:16.680 an upside-down, right-side-up reality 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:21.000 where true glory is found by seeking the glory of another. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:26.279 Where the way to lead and to rule is to serve. 00:32:27.380 --> 00:32:29.900 Where the way into abundant life 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:32.220 is to be willing to lay down your life 00:32:32.220 --> 00:32:35.220 for the sake of those whom you love. 00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:41.200 This is the invitation to becoming fully and truly human. 00:32:41.779 --> 00:32:42.359 Let's pray. 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:49.919 Lord, we are hopeless if these are mere ideas. 00:32:50.639 --> 00:32:53.459 And yet we know that you are here with us now, 00:32:53.579 --> 00:32:54.759 that you have power 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:58.099 to be present with us, 00:32:58.159 --> 00:32:59.919 to speak to us in our hearts. 00:33:01.199 --> 00:33:03.659 Whereas human words can only reach our ears, 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:05.240 you can speak to the heart. 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:08.539 And Lord, we know that it's only in your power 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:09.660 and through your glory, 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:11.240 that we can be filled with your glory, 00:33:12.099 --> 00:33:14.120 that we can become more truly 00:33:14.120 --> 00:33:16.779 the people we have created to be. 00:33:17.380 --> 00:33:19.579 To truly love you and others 00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:20.859 in true humility. 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:22.620 Lord, we need your Holy Spirit 00:33:22.620 --> 00:33:23.940 to make that possible in us. 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:26.200 We pray that as we continue in the prayers 00:33:26.200 --> 00:33:28.099 and the singing as we come around our table, 00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:30.620 that Lord, as we encounter you, 00:33:30.700 --> 00:33:32.220 that we can be filled by your glory. 00:33:32.220 --> 00:33:34.940 And that that would right-size 00:33:34.940 --> 00:33:36.920 our opinion of ourselves, 00:33:37.140 --> 00:33:39.440 that it would right-size the attitude that we have, 00:33:39.500 --> 00:33:41.400 that it would put everything back into proportion 00:33:41.400 --> 00:33:44.380 and set us free to love. 00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:46.360 And we pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:46.740 Amen.