WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.120 Well, good morning. It's good to be with you all. I just want to say if Eli is old and uncool, 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:15.820 then what am I doing here? But we're thankful for Eli and his ministry. Praise the Lord for that. 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:23.320 In her book, in Kelly Monroe Kulberg's book, Finding God Beyond Harvard, 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:31.679 she tells the story of the beginning of Veritas and the movement that became something that did 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:39.000 ministry across college campuses. But the story she tells is not merely a story of an institution 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:45.519 or a ministry beginning. She tells a story of a beautiful community. She tells a story about how 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:54.620 she arrived from Ohio at the Harvard Divinity School and saw in that divinity school a barrenness 00:00:54.620 --> 00:01:02.079 of soul, of life, of beauty. But then she came across this group of believers in Cambridge 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:11.480 who loved life. And in the halls of academia, they played and they prayed. They loved one another 00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:17.760 and they loved the city and they loved the world. They cared and they shared in all that they did. 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:25.540 I went back and reread some of the story this week. And again, it moved my heart by the beauty of what 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:35.260 she described as a Christian community that truly loved one another. I wonder if you've experienced a 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:43.640 community like that. I know, I've been around long enough to know it's not easy to have a community like that. 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:52.660 It's so easy for conflicts to happen. It's so easy for gossip and slander to poison our relationships. It's so 00:01:52.660 --> 00:02:01.480 easy for envy to undermine our love for one another. And it's so hard to work through difficult things, to mend 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:13.800 broken relationships, and to love well. I'm thankful that at the church here at Trinity, this is not a huge issue 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:20.920 that I see. I don't feel like I come in every Sunday wondering what people are whispering about one another 00:02:20.920 --> 00:02:31.340 behind the pillars in the sanctuary. And I'm thankful for that. And yet, we have much to grow in still in this area. 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:36.519 And this brings us to the church in Philippi as well, because the church in Philippi was similar. 00:02:36.959 --> 00:02:45.299 It was not in crisis. It was not falling apart. And yet, we see hints of divisions. We see in Acts, 00:02:45.539 --> 00:02:53.219 or in verse 21, I'm sorry, verse chapter 1, there we go, chapter 1, verses 28 and 29, that there are opponents 00:02:53.219 --> 00:03:01.399 in conflict with outsiders. We see further on in chapter 2, verse 14, that Paul is talking about grumbling and 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:07.379 complaining within the community. And we see in chapter 4, that there are two sisters, Euodia and Syntyche, 00:03:07.980 --> 00:03:13.500 who are not agreeing with one another. So we see these little hints. And Paul's saying, 00:03:14.040 --> 00:03:23.480 I want you to be on your guard. And I want to encourage you to be a community that is better than that. 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:31.899 Maybe you've experienced more dysfunction and disunity in church, and it's been painful. 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:42.060 Or maybe you've seen, or at least tasted, or sensed a whiff of the kind of beauty that the kingdom of God 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:48.019 and the people of God can have for one another, and you long for it. Well, this morning, Paul, 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:56.760 in our passage in Philippians chapter 2, is going to help us see, one, what that community looks like, 00:03:56.780 --> 00:04:03.800 and two, how we get it. These are the questions that Paul's going to be wrestling with as he talks, 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.320 as he works through this passage this morning. He calls us to this kind of community. 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:17.000 So let's turn to Philippians 2, verses 1 through 11. This is a very famous passage. You may have heard it 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:23.319 read a lot. I want to see that as Paul is coming to this passage in particular, you see Paul 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:29.160 marrying his pastor hat and his theologian hat. The first half is very pastoral, very practical. 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:34.399 This is how we ought to live as believers. The second half is very deep and very theological. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:40.240 And so Nick and I decided we're going to preach this passage twice. So today I'm going to preach it, 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:44.800 emphasizing the first half, and put on the pastoral hat. And next week, Nick's going to come back, 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.040 and he's going to put on a theologian hat. But we're going to preach this same thing. It still has one point. 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:53.800 It's just we're going to look at emphases. There's too much to say in one sermon. 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:59.000 So we're going to preach it twice so you can enjoy the next two weeks as we look at it. 00:04:59.420 --> 00:05:03.439 And as we look at this passage, I just want to say the chapter break is unfortunate, 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:11.259 because this command that we see in the beginning of chapter 2 builds on what Paul has just said 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:17.379 at the end of chapter 1. That is, we are to live as citizens of the gospel. That is, lives worthy 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:23.539 of the good news of Jesus Christ. And the question is, how do we do that? And he's building on that 00:05:23.539 --> 00:05:29.519 and giving specificity to how we do that in this passage. And so that's what we're looking at this 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:34.060 morning. Philippians chapter 2. Let's read it together, and then we'll pray. 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:43.180 So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, 00:05:43.379 --> 00:05:50.180 any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:57.860 being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:04.540 more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:12.720 the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:17.680 though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:23.780 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:29.799 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 00:06:30.299 --> 00:06:37.839 even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:44.899 above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under 00:06:44.899 --> 00:06:51.919 the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:59.660 Father, we pray with me. Lord, as we look at this glorious passage this morning, will you open our 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:09.520 hearts, will you enliven our minds, and Lord, will you take hold of our wills so that we might love you, 00:07:10.460 --> 00:07:16.600 so that we might know you, so that we might obey you more. Be my help this morning, I pray, 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:22.760 that I might speak the words you would have me speak, that we would sit together under the commands 00:07:22.760 --> 00:07:31.480 of your word this morning. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So in this passage, Paul is giving us, 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:39.620 this is the big idea. He's saying, I want you, believers, part of God's family, to have a gospel-shaped 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:46.759 mindset in the church, characterized by unity and an orientation towards others that displays 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:53.579 the person of Christ among us. The key verse in it is verse 5, in many ways. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:00.540 Have this mind among you, which is also yours in Christ Jesus. And mind here is a very rich word. 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:05.920 It's used throughout this book in lots of ways. It's what he says in chapter 1, verse 7, where he says, 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:12.500 it is right for me to feel this way about you. And what he means there is, this is my stance. This is 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:20.400 my disposition. This is my fundamental place from which I view and relate to you as someone else. 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:30.340 It's used again in verse 2 twice. In chapter 3, verse 15, Paul uses it to say, this is how you think 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:38.539 about something. In verse 19 of chapter 3, it's something that you set your mind on. In chapter 4, 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:46.000 verse 2, it's how, it's the encouragement for these two women to agree or to have a shared mind together 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:53.559 about something. So it's a rich word that fundamentally has to do with our stance. It's the lens through which 00:08:53.559 --> 00:09:02.000 we view and relate to other people. And Paul says, we are called as God's people to have a mind of unity 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:10.179 and a mind that orients towards others more than ourselves. So let's look at those things in order. 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:20.239 In verse 1 and 2, Paul says, have a mind of unity among. Verse 1 begins with an if, and that's not a 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:26.299 conditional if, like if these things are true, but more of an assumption. Since these things are true, 00:09:26.779 --> 00:09:32.779 since these things are true, and what is it? Since we have encouragement from Christ, since we have 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:38.659 love, since we have a participation in the Spirit, and lots of people fill in the Father in the middle 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:45.039 of that and say, since we have participation in the life of the Trinity, the comfort of Christ, 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:51.379 the love of the Father, and the participation in the Spirit, then let us have, and since we have 00:09:51.379 --> 00:09:57.959 affection and sympathy, that God has bound us together in family, where we have this deep connectedness, 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:07.139 and this, we're meant to have this love for one another. Since we have these things, 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:16.559 then verse 2, he says, let us have unity together. And it's interesting, because he says, as a pastor, 00:10:16.659 --> 00:10:21.980 he's saying, make my joy complete. Here's Paul sitting in prison, and he says, make my joy complete 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:30.000 by knowing that you guys are pursuing this kind of unity together. Verse 2, look at it. There's a 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:37.480 rhetorical building on this. It is the same mind. It is the same love, being of full accord and of one 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:47.240 mind. Full accord is this word that pictures souls that are bound together with one another, 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:57.379 like a family. And this is Paul's central exhortation here in verses 1 and 2, is have unity with one 00:10:57.379 --> 00:11:06.939 another. Now look, unity is not an easy thing in our world today, right? Let me say some things that 00:11:06.939 --> 00:11:13.840 it does not mean. It does not mean we become robots and we stop thinking. It does not mean that doctrinal 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:20.480 issues don't matter. Look ahead to chapter 3 in the first couple of verses, and you'll see that there's, 00:11:20.820 --> 00:11:26.059 there are people out there that Paul is going to strongly repudiate. These people are preaching a 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:32.439 different gospel that's trusting in their own works rather than in the work of Christ. And so there 00:11:32.439 --> 00:11:41.719 are central gospel truths that are worth dividing over. He condemns that those who deny that salvation 00:11:41.719 --> 00:11:49.039 is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And yet we have to realize, given those caveats, 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:55.699 that there are ways for us to navigate these things. Here at Trinity, we often talk about primary and 00:11:55.700 --> 00:12:01.180 secondary doctrines. There are primary doctrines. If you don't believe Jesus was God, you can't have fellowship 00:12:01.180 --> 00:12:09.200 with one another as believers. And that's a primary doctrine. But there are lots of secondary doctrines as well. 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:17.860 And then the essentials, the work of Christ, the person of Christ, the nature of God, we must be in unity of thought. 00:12:17.860 --> 00:12:23.360 But there are also things where we may have diversity of thought. How we practice baptism. 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:29.139 How we organize our church. How we practice communion. And there are some places where you have really 00:12:29.139 --> 00:12:34.779 divergent beliefs, even within the church. How we believe what's going to happen at the end of time. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:40.399 Or what kind of worship music we have. Or what color is the rug. We can have all sorts of different things 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:46.819 that are truly just… that range all the way from deep convictions to just opinions. 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:54.639 There's a great old phrase that's quoted. It's referred to as coming from a couple of different people. 00:12:55.340 --> 00:13:00.419 In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity. 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:12.159 Unity. And Paul says we're called to have a unity to live out this life that God has called us to together. 00:13:14.479 --> 00:13:22.139 But I'm afraid that in our world today, there are external forces and internal impulses 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:29.599 that may be pulling apart our unity. We need to be careful and be aware of these pressures. 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:37.740 I'm going to give you an example of how I see some of the pulls of disunity working out in the church today. 00:13:38.439 --> 00:13:43.099 And then hopefully you can make some application to some other areas. 00:13:44.219 --> 00:13:48.000 So for instance, here's an example of a place. 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:51.599 With regard to the issue of abortion, right? 00:13:52.699 --> 00:13:55.659 Christians believe that life begins at conception. 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:58.379 We believe that God is the author of life. 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:06.439 We believe that God has called us to be protectors and preservers of life in every way that we can. 00:14:06.939 --> 00:14:08.500 This is a good and right thing. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.879 And this is true of the church everywhere. 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:14.379 But the practice of how we apply that principle, 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:18.159 the practice of how we carry that out, could vary widely. 00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:23.580 Some may lobby to change the laws of the land to prevent this practice from happening. 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:29.460 Some may protest publicly seeking to bring social pressure to end this practice. 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:37.040 Some may serve quietly in a crisis pregnancy center, providing alternatives to women who would be considering this direction. 00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:46.740 Some would simply in their prayer closet at home devote themselves regularly to the prayer that God would work to change our world and our society. 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:56.759 Some may enter into ethics and study so that they can teach the next generation to think about life from a Christian perspective in the way God would have us. 00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:06.259 And friends, what I see today is that in the world, people who hold different practices along this spectrum, 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:14.240 within the church, are sniping and fighting and criticizing and even condemning one another 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:20.000 for not being as serious about how they go about living out this principle. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:27.500 We might celebrate the diversity of how God is working through us to address this. 00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:33.000 But instead, we criticize, undermine, doubt, and condemn. 00:15:35.940 --> 00:15:41.500 Friends, we need to recognize the dangers that are out there of pulling us apart. 00:15:42.220 --> 00:15:44.559 And how many other issues could we say this about? 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:49.919 Parenting practices, political parties, school choices, responses to racism, 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.620 pandemics, masks, and so forth. 00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:58.440 We could keep going and see how easy it is for us to polarize. 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:04.080 But Paul says we are to unify about this. 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:12.480 One of the commentators of the 19th century, Cranfield, wrote this about the unity that Paul is calling us to. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:22.360 Such unity will only come when Christians are humble and bold enough to lay hold on the unity already given in Christ 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:27.580 and to take it more seriously than their own self-importance. 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:42.080 Do you hear what he's saying? 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:54.759 Do you hear what he's saying? 00:16:54.759 --> 00:17:01.759 Where we find other brothers and sisters that we disagree with, that we find difficult to swallow. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:08.140 Rather than seeing that as an opportunity to divide and separate, let us come together. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:09.819 Let us seek to understand. 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:12.160 Brother, sister, why would you say that? 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:18.799 Help me understand charitably to understand why you would believe what you believe and practice what you practice. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:23.559 Secondly, extend grace rather than judgment as you seek to understand. 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:35.460 And thirdly, even if you end up disagreeing, can you do so in a charitable and loving way, not angry or bitter, towards those other people? 00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:40.200 This is what Paul calls us to. 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:41.220 For Christ's sake. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:47.680 Because if we have fellowship in Christ together, if we are made the family of God, 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:54.460 then Christ has given us a foundation for us to have this kind of unity with one another. 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:57.660 And he exhorts us to pursue that. 00:17:57.960 --> 00:17:59.319 How do we pursue this? 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:01.579 Good gracious, this is really hard. 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:11.240 Well, verses 3 and 4, Paul continues and he helps us see the mindset that enables us to pursue this kind of unity with one another. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.259 So look with me at verses 3 and 4. 00:18:14.139 --> 00:18:16.779 I'm going to read it again just so we remember what it says. 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:24.960 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 00:18:27.699 --> 00:18:30.159 Friends, oh, and then verse 4. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:37.220 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 00:18:39.620 --> 00:18:44.320 Now look, friends, we need to recognize that what Paul exhorts us to here is not normal. 00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:53.279 The fundamental stance of human beings since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden is that we are self-centered. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:19:00.240 The solar system that we live in is the gravitational forces are focused around us. 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:02.079 Think about your work situation. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:06.460 How much time do you spend thinking about how other people relate to other people? 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.740 How much time do you think about how much time you are relating to other people and how that works? 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:17.819 How many times in your own conversations with others do you think, I wonder what they're thinking? 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:24.140 How can I let them win the argument in my mind that I'm about to have if I'm going to have a hard conversation? 00:19:24.339 --> 00:19:26.019 We never lose those arguments. 00:19:26.500 --> 00:19:28.880 We are fundamentally self-centered people. 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:31.200 And we think about ourselves. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:37.100 Paul says, this is not how we are to be. 00:19:37.840 --> 00:19:43.740 We so often are caught up with rivalry, which could also be translated selfish ambition. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:52.860 It's what Paul used in chapter 1, verse 17, described those who are preaching the gospel so that Paul would be punished and suffer. 00:19:52.859 --> 00:20:03.899 Those who lift themselves up in a grasping sort of way, seeking to pile themselves higher on top of other people by looking down on them. 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:11.379 And the second word here in verse 3, rivalry or conceit. 00:20:11.459 --> 00:20:15.939 This conceit is literally empty glory, vain glory. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:24.640 When we are driven by an emptiness in ourselves to use everybody and everything around us to try to fill a hole in our hearts. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.880 And we lift ourselves up by putting others down. 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:34.039 And Paul says, this is not how we are to be, but instead to be humble. 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:37.400 To count others as more important. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.320 Now let's think a little bit about humility. 00:20:40.620 --> 00:20:45.100 In the first century, in a Greek context, a Roman context, they would look down on humility. 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:46.480 Humility is weakness. 00:20:46.679 --> 00:20:49.419 Humility makes you less of a person. 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:51.000 It demeans your humanity. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:54.779 Maybe some of us think that today as well. 00:20:55.059 --> 00:21:00.939 But the nature of true humility, according to the Bible, is not thinking badly of ourselves or less of ourselves. 00:21:01.219 --> 00:21:03.219 But it's thinking about ourselves less. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:09.000 That is, we stop being concerned with ourselves and we begin to be concerned with other people. 00:21:09.139 --> 00:21:11.279 This is what real humility looks like. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:17.099 C.S. Lewis has this great quote about what the beauty of true humility can look like. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:18.299 He says, 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:24.259 Do not imagine if you meet a really humble man that he will be what most people call, quote, humble nowadays. 00:21:24.879 --> 00:21:30.559 He will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:34.940 Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed cheerful. 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:39.779 An intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:46.740 If you do dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:49.519 He will not be thinking about humility. 00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:52.720 He will not be thinking about himself at all. 00:21:53.460 --> 00:21:57.940 If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. 00:21:58.420 --> 00:22:00.799 The first step is to realize that one is proud. 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:02.819 And a biggish step, too. 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:06.120 At least nothing whatever can be done before it. 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:12.380 If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed. 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:16.480 Penetrating words for us. 00:22:17.280 --> 00:22:24.040 The beauty of real humility and yet recognizing how easily our pride clouds it. 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:29.560 Paul clarifies then, how do we consider others more than ourselves? 00:22:30.140 --> 00:22:32.840 It's a sense of surpassing need. 00:22:33.060 --> 00:22:33.860 So verse 4, 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:39.899 Let each of you look not only to his interests but also to the interests of others. 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:43.740 This is what it means to count others as more significant. 00:22:44.699 --> 00:22:44.879 Right? 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:51.839 It means that their needs, their desires, their wants take precedence over yours. 00:22:52.979 --> 00:22:55.339 Now look, I need to clarify this a little bit. 00:22:55.679 --> 00:22:58.419 It does not mean simply being a doormat. 00:22:58.639 --> 00:23:00.599 It does not simply mean people-pleasing. 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:08.659 It certainly does not mean accepting abusive behavior from someone else over in the guise of being humble. 00:23:09.399 --> 00:23:13.599 It does not mean that we cannot express our needs to one another. 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:19.959 And we want to recognize, too, that in verse 5, it assumes a self-orientation. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:20.699 Right? 00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:24.359 If you look at verse 4, and particularly if you use a New American Standard, 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:30.579 it literally says, do not look out for your own interests, but look out for the interests of others also. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:34.639 And the way it's written, it assumes that we will look out for ourselves. 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:36.639 It knows that this is our bent. 00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:42.959 And it's saying, give greater weight to the need of others around you. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:51.840 When I first encountered Christianity, real Christians, I went to a day camp. 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:54.460 I was in 5th or 6th grade. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:57.019 My parents didn't know what they were doing when they sent me. 00:23:57.539 --> 00:24:00.819 But it was something to do for a week or two during the summer. 00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:05.299 And this camp had a theme, a saying that this had, you know. 00:24:05.360 --> 00:24:06.640 And it was, I'm third. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.480 And so the counselors all raised this when they wanted everyone to be quiet. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:11.640 And we'd all have to do this. 00:24:11.840 --> 00:24:13.560 And this meant I'm third. 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:14.360 Right? 00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:15.900 Because Christ is first. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:17.540 And others are second. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.700 And I'm third in the world. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.500 And this is what Paul is telling us here. 00:24:26.060 --> 00:24:29.000 How can we be those who help others flourish? 00:24:29.580 --> 00:24:31.820 How can we be their greatest fan? 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:41.339 How can the people that we interact with go away built up and encouraged, strengthened in who they are? 00:24:41.899 --> 00:24:46.859 Feeling like they were the center of the conversation and not us. 00:24:48.899 --> 00:24:50.839 This is what we are called to do. 00:24:52.139 --> 00:24:53.759 And how do we do this? 00:24:55.139 --> 00:24:58.460 Well, we look at Christ. 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:25.519 Friends, this is the mind of Christ. 00:25:26.840 --> 00:25:28.240 We just sang about it. 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:31.680 He left heaven and came to earth. 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:37.779 He forsook the privilege of being in heaven with the Father ruling. 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:39.880 And He came and He humbled Himself. 00:25:40.420 --> 00:25:42.039 And He took on human form. 00:25:42.259 --> 00:25:43.059 And He suffered. 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:45.940 And He was obedient even to the point of death. 00:25:46.100 --> 00:25:48.480 And He did it for us. 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:55.680 He looked out for our interests by becoming human so that He could be our Savior 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:59.820 through His life and death and resurrection. 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:07.580 Because Christ has called us into this new family together through this salvation. 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:15.299 And we sit here as this diverse group of people that would have no other reason to gather here this morning except for that. 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:28.019 Since we have all these things, how could we not in humility look at one another and love them? 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:32.079 Having this mind among us. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:48.119 Friends, this is the mind that brought Lydia, the purple cloth seller, and the Pythian slave girl, and the jailer and his family into a church in Philippi. 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:52.919 And it's the same thing that brings us together today. 00:26:52.920 --> 00:26:59.980 Have this mind among us that the gospel might be on display. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:07.060 Have this mind among us that the beauty of community would not only be experienced among us, 00:27:07.120 --> 00:27:12.200 but would overflow so that the world would see what a great Savior we serve. 00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:13.440 May it be so. 00:27:13.600 --> 00:27:14.120 Let's pray. 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:22.319 Lord Jesus, when we hear these commands, Lord, it is hard. 00:27:22.819 --> 00:27:30.819 For we acknowledge to You, Lord, that we are proud, that we are selfish, that we are sinful. 00:27:33.879 --> 00:27:36.359 Lord, that we do not love one another as we are. 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.259 Lord, that we are proud that we are. 00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:45.799 Lord, we separate from others that You have brought into our spiritual family. 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:50.279 And Lord, we think more highly of ourselves than we do of others. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:53.899 Oh, Lord, have mercy on us today. 00:27:57.199 --> 00:28:05.059 Lord, we pray that as we gaze upon the person of Christ, that You would give us this mind that He had as well. 00:28:06.359 --> 00:28:09.259 Lord, thank You, in fact, that You have already given it to us. 00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:14.619 Lord, may we take hold of that and activate it in our own hearts and minds today. 00:28:16.059 --> 00:28:17.779 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:19.579 Amen.