Today we continue our study of Philippians, beginning in chapter 2, as we look at Christ's example of humility.
Please follow along in your bulletin as we read.
The Apostle Paul writes this,
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him in the name that is above every name,
so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence,
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent,
children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life,
so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the circumferential offering of your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with you all.
Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
This is the reading of God's word.
My name is Alistair.
If I haven't met you before, I'm one of the pastors here at Watermark,
so I'd like to welcome you here if you're new.
Last week we looked at the first chapter of the book of Philippians,
and now we're on the second chapter.
And as Aldrin said, Eric, who spoke last week,
talked about that famous line of Paul's,
to live is Christ and to die is gain.
And for those of you who were here last week,
you'll remember that we each got a sheet of paper as well,
where the words Christ and die were blanked out.
So we had to think about what it was that we lived for
and what it was that we sought after that we felt would give our lives gain.
And so I thought about that during the week.
And for me, I think the answer would be something like this.
To live is success.
And approval is gain.
I think that might be the case for many people.
But for me, certainly, that was the case.
And I didn't even realize this was the case until quite recently.
Because in ministry, as you're serving as a pastor,
this is a trap that they say that many pastors can fall into.
But of course, nobody thinks it will happen to them.
And yet, as you're pastoring, as you're doing ministry,
you think of ministry success
as something that is the most important thing to you.
And then when you achieve it,
then that's really living.
And, yeah, it's like you can't see yourself
until you see kind of the...
Well, until you fall.
And then you see what happens.
Or you see kind of your inner being is uncovered.
We're going to be looking today at the chapter 2 of Philippians,
which talks a lot about what it means to live in Christ.
And Paul is challenging his readers, the Philippians,
to actually live out that life in Christ
in community amongst each other.
And so he appeals to them
based on whether they have encouragement in Christ,
any love, if they've known this life in Christ.
And if they have,
then they should express that.
They should express that
in love for one another.
And so that's why he says in verse 2,
complete my joy by being of the same mind,
having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind.
He wants them to be of one mind together.
And that mind that he wants them to have together
in their community
is none other than the mind of Christ.
We'll get to that in a second.
But what that looks like,
he tells us in verses 3 and 4,
if you've got it in front of you.
He says,
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
See, Paul calls for unity,
a spiritual oneness amongst the church that's there,
suggesting perhaps that there was some tension or disagreement there.
But he also says that humility is the key to unity.
A call to unity is a call to humility.
And what does humility look like?
Well, Paul defines humility as
counting others as more significant than yourselves.
In Australia, for quite a long time,
probably maybe nearly a decade,
one of the biggest banks ran a commercial with this line,
for the most important person in the world,
you.
And this was run through the kind of the 90s
and past that as well.
And it's encapsulated the feel of,
I guess, a people, a nation.
Yes, that's right.
The most important person in the world is me.
And so everything, including the banks,
should be there to serve me.
And this kind of tagline continued unquestioned for all this time
because it just spoke to where people were at
and what people were thinking in their inner being.
To look to the interests of others
and not to the interests of yourselves
requires that you think of others
as more important than you
rather than yourself as the most important person
in the room
or in your family
or in your world.
The problem is that
often we are only interested in our own interests.
And we are only interested then in other people
as far as they can further our own interests.
How often have you heard the complaint,
why aren't you interested in what I'm talking about?
This is the complaint of a world full of people
who are only interested in themselves
and in their own good.
A famous writer has said,
most people do not listen with the intent to understand.
They listen with the intent to reply.
I don't know if you've ever done that
where you're listening to somebody
or you're in an argument with somebody
and you're not actually listening to them
to hear what they're saying.
You're actually listening to them
and at the same time formulating something in your head
so that you can reply back to them.
Actually listening to someone,
giving them your full attention
means to consider their words to be important.
It means to really listen.
But for many of us, we like to talk.
I like to talk.
And sometimes I find myself talking
in several conversations all at once.
Some online and some in real life and so on.
And I just wonder whether I and you
have ever given the impression to somebody
or to the person in front of you
that they're just a distraction
from the more important thing that you are doing.
You know, Jesus never multitasked people.
He never gave people...
He always gave people his full attention.
Whenever he was speaking to somebody,
he was engaged with them.
And they were never, for him,
a means to some other end.
As he spoke to them, he ministered to them,
he loved them,
and he wasn't busy doing something else.
What it means to look to the interests of others,
not just our own interests,
means to...
Well, superficially, it means, firstly,
paying attention in a conversation
and not being, say, on a smartphone
while you're talking and listening to somebody.
And I'm as guilty as this as anyone.
But more deeply, it means
to stop seeing people
as a means to your self-fulfillment.
This applies to many areas of life,
not least to spouses
or the marriage relationship.
Tim Keller, who is a pastor in New York,
writes,
a marriage based not on self-denial
but on self-fulfillment
will require a no-maintenance partner
who meets your needs
while making almost no claims on you.
Simply put, today,
people are asking far too much
in search for the marriage partner.
And for years now,
marriage researchers have been saying
and arguing that
a strong network of friends
is the best way to keep a marriage strong.
They say,
today we put much more emphasis
or we expect more intimacy
and support from our partners
than in the past,
but much less from everybody else.
And this puts a huge strain
on the institution of marriage.
Often the marriage buckles
under the weight of partners' expectations
that they will fill every one
of each other's needs.
Using others in the quest
for our own self-fulfillment
will ruin any relationship.
And that applies for co-workers
or bosses or friends,
siblings,
your pastor,
one another in the church.
You see, this is the path
of selfish ambition,
what Paul talks about there
in verses 3 and 4.
And selfish ambition
means to take your interests,
to place them
as your highest priority,
and then to turn others
into tools or means
in order to achieve
that highest priority
that you have.
It is the opposite
of what Paul describes
as humility.
It is to only think about
and look out for yourself.
Selfish ambition
would never put anyone's thoughts
or needs above itself.
Selfish ambition
would do or say
whatever was necessary
in order to make
him or herself
look better in front of others
in order to advance
their own cause.
By contrast,
to put other people's interests
ahead of your own
means to put your own interests
on hold.
This is what children
find so hard to do.
How they can't have
what they want
and have it now.
My four-year-old niece
is a firstborn
and, like many four-year-olds,
considers herself
to be the center
of her world.
And she has this
kind of habit
that when
she feels like
she's being ignored
by the important
adults in her life,
she will repeat
what she wants
to say
louder
and louder
until she's yelling
at the top of her voice.
And we say to her
that that's not right.
She needs to wait.
That it's rude
to interrupt and yell.
And she can't have
everything she wants
straight away.
Unless, say,
it's an emergency,
like,
Mommy, I need to go
to the toilet right now.
Then, yes,
okay, we stop everything
and help her out.
But, see,
what she needs to learn
is that she's not
the center
of her family
or her world,
of the world.
And yet,
sadly,
it seems that
even adults
have grown up
or some adults
have grown up
not understanding
this reality.
And we see
that self-centeredness
is the biggest obstacle
to unity,
harmony,
to good relationship
in our lives.
And even secular researchers
have caught on to this.
There's a researcher
in Australia
called Hugh Mackay
and he's spent
the last 40 years
researching,
asking questions
about people's lives,
their loves,
their hopes,
their ambitions,
their fears
and their passions,
measuring people's
happiness levels.
And what he's discovered
in that time
is that
the quest
for personal happiness
and fulfillment
actually doesn't make
people happy
at all.
Rather,
true happiness,
he says,
or he's found,
is found
in losing oneself
in service
to another.
And so,
after 40 years
of this research,
he actually wrote
a book about it
called The Good Life.
And in it,
as it says,
he asks the ultimate question,
what makes a life
worth living?
His conclusion,
drawn from his research,
is this.
A good life
is not measured
by security,
wealth,
status,
achievement,
or levels of happiness.
A good life
is determined
by our capacity
for selflessness
and our willingness
to connect
with those around us
in a meaningful
and useful way.
Hugh looks at
the numerous ways
we get distracted
from this purpose.
He examines
what he calls
the utopian complex,
which describes
our dangerous desire
for perfection
and the false expectation
that life will unfold
according to our
carefully laid plans.
He highlights
the things that lead us
along paths
to pain and confusion,
particularly
our willingness
to sacrifice
others
on the altar
of our own
personal desires
and ambitions.
There it is,
selfish ambition.
And what he says,
of course,
is that it is the life
that is lived
for others
that is the one
that is worth living.
And to argue
his point,
Hugh draws heavily
on the golden rule
that is to do
unto others
as you would have
them do to you
that Jesus spoke about.
But at the same time,
he doesn't want
to have any kind
of picture of God
in his world view.
And so,
is it possible then
for society to live
by the golden rule
when it's been cut off
from the person
who taught it?
Well, I would say
the answer would be no.
And in fact,
the very reason
this book is written,
as Mackay himself says,
is because he sees
that more and more
in our society,
people are living
for themselves.
The early Christians
were known
for their care
for others,
for one another,
their love
for one another,
and their care
for the poor,
the weak,
the marginalized,
the despised.
And you know,
there was only one reason
they lived that way.
They believed
that the one
who was crucified
and rose again
called them
into that life.
You see,
when Paul calls
for the Philippians
to live
not for themselves
but for others,
on what basis
does he do so?
Is he saying
that it's just
like a self-evident ethic?
No.
The self-evident ethic
to most of us,
actually,
is to live
in selfish ambition.
In seeking
to put ourselves
ahead of others.
No.
What Paul argues on,
on the basis of,
is the humility,
the humiliation
of God.
So in verses 5 to 11,
we have this,
some call it a poem
or hymn to Christ.
And it's the ultimate
example of humility.
humility.
See,
the ultimate example
of humility
is God himself.
Which sounds strange
until you think about
what he did
in Christ.
And so Paul says,
we should have
this mind
amongst ourselves,
this mind
of Christ.
And what he means
by that
is that we should
apply what we think
about Christ
to our lives
together.
we should think
about Jesus
and what he did
and our relationship
with him.
And we should
live that out
amongst one another
in our community.
So when Paul says,
have this mind,
he means adopt it,
take it on,
internalize it
within yourself,
among yourselves,
in your community.
and he says,
Jesus,
who is in the form
of God,
didn't consider
equality with God
something to be grasped,
but made himself
nothing
or emptied himself.
What does it mean
to say that Jesus
is in the form
of God?
Is it just saying
that Jesus
looked like God,
but was just,
like an external
appearance?
Well,
in the Old Testament,
the form of God
manifested itself
as the glory
of God.
You might remember
in the book of Exodus,
Moses is shown
the form of God
and he sees
all his glory
pass him by.
Here we are told
that Jesus
has the very form
of God.
And the form
of God
in classical Greek
refers to
the characteristic
attributes
of God.
That is,
who God is
inside of him,
that is who
Jesus is.
And in the very
same verse,
the form of God
is equated
with being
equal with God.
That's the way
that Paul sees it,
that Jesus
is equated
with God.
And yet,
being somebody
who was equal
in divinity
with God,
he refused
to use his divinity
selfishly.
he didn't say,
I'm going to look
after the most
important person
in the world,
me.
Even though
he had the power
to do so.
He had the right
to do so.
See,
Jesus didn't stay
safe
in heaven
or grasp
for equality
with God.
you could say
that he didn't
exert his rights
or assert
his rights.
And the language
of rights
was originally
used to protect
the weak
and the powerless,
to say that
all humans
have an equality
here on earth
so that we
shouldn't mistreat
anyone.
But we've turned
the language of rights
today into
a selfish plea
to say,
give me my rights.
we want to assert
our own rights.
But Jesus
emptied himself
and humbled himself.
He didn't remain
in perfect communion
with his Father
in heaven,
but instead
emptied himself
of his glory
and became
flesh,
a human.
And he humbled
himself,
not coming as a
prince or an
emperor,
but an ordinary
man,
walking a path
that led to death.
Why?
It wasn't for
the fun of it.
It wasn't fun,
not the dying
part anyway.
Jesus came
and he died
and he became
nothing
so that we
could become
something.
Romans 5
verse 8
tells us
that God
showed his
love for us
in that while
we were still
sinners,
Christ died
for us.
So Paul
is reminding
his readers
here that it
is only through
the death of
Christ,
that they are
here at all,
able to be
in relationship
with one another,
to be in
relationship with
God.
And one of the
things about
selfishness is
that it fails
to see the
bigger picture.
Your world
shrinks down
to just you
and your
concerns.
And particularly
when we have
arguments and
fights and we're
trying to prevail
over another,
our concerns
seem to
engulf us
and become
our world.
I don't know
if you've ever
experienced that.
I have.
But Paul is
saying there's
something bigger
than your fights
and your disputes,
your grumbling
and your selfish
ambition.
And that
something,
that someone
bigger,
came and
died for you.
and to bring
home just how
much bigger
that is,
Paul then
talks about
God's future
plans for his
son.
That Jesus
will be given
the name
above every
name.
And that at
that name,
every knee
shall bow
and tongue
will confess
that Jesus
is Lord.
I didn't
realize it
before this
week,
but that
verse is
actually a
quote from
the Old
Testament,
from Isaiah
chapter 45.
Isaiah
chapter 45
verses 22
and 23
say this,
Turn to me
and be
saved,
all the
ends of
the earth,
for I am
God and
there is
no other.
By myself
I have
sworn,
for my
mouth has
gone out
in righteousness
a word
that shall
not return.
To me
every knee
shall bow,
every tongue
shall swear
allegiance.
To whom
shall the
knee bow
and the
tongue
confess
that is
Lord?
It's
God
himself.
As he
says,
I am
God,
there is
no other.
And so
we see
here early,
early on
in the
New Testament
the idea
that Jesus
is God,
equal with
God,
and yet
there is
only one
God,
is already
placed here
in these
early times
in the
New Testament.
It's
where we
get the
doctrine of
the Trinity,
that there
is only
one God
that we
follow,
but that
Jesus is
fully God,
as well as
fully human,
as we also
saw.
So think
about that
for a second,
that this
is our
God.
This is the
one whom
we Christians
profess to
follow.
If the
character of
God is
one of
humility,
then surely
the character
of the
Christian
church
should also
be one
of
humility.
It makes
sense.
And so
we,
if we are
followers of
Jesus,
ought to
display the
character of
Jesus.
For a
Christian to
act selfishly,
with pride,
is simply not
being true to
our Lord,
who acted
with humility.
humility.
This is what
Paul means
when he says,
have this
mind amongst
yourselves.
He's saying,
adopt this
frame of
mind in
your community.
Don't be
grumbling and
complaining,
filled with
selfish ambition
and conceit.
Have that
same mind
of Christ
in your
interactions
with one
another.
Well,
what does it
mean then to
have the same
mind of
Christ?
Well,
it means as
we think of
one another,
of our
relationships
with one
another,
apply that
thinking of
Christ to
one another.
And how
would things
change if we
applied the
mind of
Christ to
our life
together in
community?
Well,
a community
would be
marked with
forgiveness,
selflessness,
humility, as
we've already
talked about,
seeking the
good of
others,
not grumbling
or complaining
and rejoicing.
It's pretty
hard to
rejoice if
you're grumbling
and complaining.
And I want
to talk a
little bit
about maybe
just a couple
of these and
what that
might look
like.
Or maybe
just thinking
about just
how hard
that is
actually in
the Christian
life.
I don't
know if
you guys,
some of
you will
have known
this,
but I've
been working
as a
pastor for
five years.
And before
I came to
Hong Kong,
I was
working in
Sydney.
And I
said before,
didn't I,
that my
answers to
that question,
to blank is
Christ,
was success
is to
live.
Or to
live is
success.
And so
what I was
looking for
was ministry
success and
the approval
that would
come with
it.
And I
didn't even
know that
at the
time.
But what
I found
when I
started in
ministry was
I would
be working
in a place
and the
kind of
things that
I saw
and advice
that I
gave were
not
appreciated.
And
particularly
those who
were in
control of
the ministries
around me
just simply
pushed me
aside and
marginalized
me and
didn't listen
to anything
I had to
say.
And so
as a result,
I was
frustrated
because what
I wanted
to see
change and
transformation
happening in
the church,
the ministry
growing,
was frustrated
by these
leaders who
would not do
anything about
the situation
there.
And I'm not
saying that
the things
that I saw
were wrong.
Even some
of the leaders
agreed with
me in terms
of the things
that I saw,
but they
didn't want
to rock
the boat.
They didn't
want to
make the
hard decisions
that would
be necessary
in order to
help and
to cause
people to
grow.
And I'm
not saying
that what
I wanted
was wrong,
but my
response to
what happened
showed that
I was actually
being driven
by selfish
ambition.
temptation.
Because as
I was being
pushed aside,
what it felt
like to me
was that my
very life was
being crushed
out of me
as I was
continuing to
serve and
yet not
able to
impact people
in the way
that I'd
hoped.
And so
instead of
loving others
and seeking
the best of
others,
I grumbled
and complained
a lot
to people.
And I
found it
hard to
forgive others
as well.
And if
you've ever
been in a
situation where
somebody has
hurt you,
you will know
that it is
hard to
forgive others,
isn't it?
And yet,
if we're
going to be
people of
Christ,
people who
are forgiven,
that's something
we must
do,
isn't it?
I consider
that my
own life and
soul were
being crushed
by the
people that
I was with,
but in a
much more
real way,
I had
crushed the
life of
Christ by
my own
sin.
And yet,
Jesus would
turn and
say to
even those
who are
crucifying him,
or to
say to
God,
about those
who are
crucifying him,
Father,
forgive them,
for they do
not know
what they're
doing.
That's what
Jesus says
about us
too.
Father,
forgive them,
you,
me,
because we
didn't know
what we
were doing.
And so
we too
need to
turn and
forgive
others.
But who
can do
this?
Who has
the strength
to be able
to turn
and to
forgive?
To live
in such
a way
as to
actually
place other
people's
priorities
above their
own?
To think
of others
as more
significant
or more
important
than them?
I said
before that
that guy
who wrote
that book
wanted to
see all
this change
happening
in society,
but actually
wasn't seeing
anything of
the sort.
In fact,
he was
seeing the
reverse.
who can
provide
the
inner
moorings
for us
to be able
to live
in this
way?
Only
God.
In the
last part
of our
passage,
we see
that we
are told
to work
out our
salvation
and yet
that the
power and
the motivation
come from
God.
we are
to work
out our
salvation,
but it
is God
who works
in us.
What does
that mean?
Let me
read it
out.
Therefore,
my beloved,
as you have
always obeyed,
so now,
not only in
my presence,
but much more
in my absence,
work out your
own salvation
with fear and
trembling.
Okay,
just stop there
for a second.
What Paul
means by that
is,
as I've
already
said,
to take
what is
of the
mind of
Christ and
to live
it out
amongst us,
to take
the salvation
that we've
received,
the fact that
we know
that Christ
has died
for us,
and to
live it
out amongst
our
community.
Work out
your own
salvation,
the your
there is
plural.
But it
is then
God who
works in
you,
both to
will and
to work
for his
good
pleasure.
You see,
the power
and the
motivation
for us
come from
God.
We can't
try as
we might
pull ourselves
up by our
own bootstraps
to make
self-improvement
the goal of
the Christian
life.
The only
way that
we can
follow in
the way
of Christ
is if we're
actually
following
Christ.
And the
use of
human
effort
in this
is just
what God
commands
for achieving
his saving
purpose.
And we
do not
will and
work on
our own,
but our
wills and
our actions
are the
very areas,
the very
arenas,
where God's
power is
working in
us.
When God
put it like
this,
God's
working in
us is not
suspended
because we
work,
nor is our
working suspended
because God
works.
So in
other words,
just because
we're working
doesn't mean
that God
is not
working in
us.
And just
because God
is working
in us doesn't
mean that we
just stop
working.
Neither is the
relation strictly
one of
cooperation,
but the
relation is
that because
God works,
we work.
Because God
wills and
works within
us,
that this is
what he wants
for us,
and the
way that
he uses
us to
live out
this salvation
amongst us,
because of
that,
we also
work at
it.
We work
out our
own salvation
together.
So the
question is
then,
do you
follow Jesus
or not?
If you
follow Jesus,
then you
need to
follow in
the way
of humility.
Who do
you follow?
Because if
you're not
following Jesus,
then you're
following something
else, or
you're prioritizing
something else
in your life,
whether it is
your own
ambition,
your own
happiness,
your own
self-seeking.
And the
final question
I want to
leave you with
is what are
we known
for?
As a
church of
Christ,
we should
be known
for what
God is
known for,
or rather,
we should
actually be
reflecting out
to the
world this
God and
what He
is,
who He
is.
And what
He is,
is a God
of humility,
a God who
humbled Himself
to save
us,
a God who
will be
exalted,
a God who
will be
worshipped
by everybody.
This is the
kind of God
that I'm
happy to
follow,
and I hope
and I pray
that that's the
case for you
as well.
But it
means that we
should also be
a church that
is filled
with humility,
a church
where people
can come
together and
see that we
are a
humble people,
a people who
don't stand
on our own
achievements
and compare
ourselves to
one another,
who don't
grumble and
complain,
but people who
live together
in unity.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Father, we
ask that you
would give us
again a vision
of who
Jesus is,
of the way
that he
came into
this earth,
giving up
everything that
he had so
that we could
come to know
you.
And we
ask that we
would adopt
that frame of
mind,
that we
would come
come to know
and experience
and to love
this humility
that Jesus
showed,
so that we
too would be
able to live
like this,
that we
would no longer
live with
ourselves as
number one,
but that we
would be able
to place
other people's
interests ahead
of our own,
that we would
be able to
count others
as more
significant than
us,
and that we
would be able
to rejoice
in these
things.
So we
pray this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.