You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Will, if I didn't love you so much and care about Southwood, I would offer James Parker and the band a million dollars to come to Rock Hill, South Carolina.
And I'm not exaggerating. That was wonderful. It was just wonderful to be back and worshiping here.
And let me just make a couple of remarks. I'll be brief, and then I really just want to preach and talk about the one we have gathered to worship.
Barney, where are you? I know I heard you earlier. Ah, right there. I got to say this to Barney.
Barney, you'll remember this, but when I first came to Southwood, every once in a while I have a question.
So I'd call Barney, and Barney would say, yeah, da-da-da-da-da.
And yeah, thanks, Barney. That's what I needed.
And then I would, every time near the end of the conversation, I'd say, Barney, thank you for giving me such a great church.
You remember that? And you'd say, finally, after I did that a number of times, I'd say, Mike, you don't have to tell me that anymore.
I get it. Thank you.
And really, I mean, it was just such a dear church, dear congregation to be a part of.
And then, you know, humanly speaking,
I'm not supposed to do this, don't want to do this.
Ralph, kill.
You know, humanly speaking, between Barney and me, there was, I think, almost a year and a half.
Is that right, Ralph? Close to that?
Well, humanly speaking, Ralph really kept this congregation together.
And when I got here, Ralph realized pretty quickly I didn't have an administrative bone in my body.
And so he just did what needed to be done.
And there's so much more I could say.
But, you know, when I first got here, I was, I really still saw myself as a real estate developer who had gone to seminary.
And that's the truth.
And I was learning to be a pastor.
And learned a lot.
I'm not going to cry.
From you, Ralph, thank you.
Gosh, I'm going to say a few more words.
And Will told me to take my time.
So I'm going to take my time.
Six hours later, we'll have dinner on the grounds.
Ken Leggett, where are you?
I know you're somewhere around.
Ken!
I've just never seen a more vital youth ministry.
It was tremendous.
You're one of the craziest youth ministers I've ever known.
But, perhaps the best I've ever seen.
You're great.
And I love you and still love getting together with you on the porch at the beach anytime we can.
Nancy McCrite.
What a dear.
You know, you probably recognized pretty quickly, too, after I got here,
that I didn't know anything about running a children's ministry.
And I didn't need to.
You knew everything about it.
And I could say so much about you.
You're joy.
You're just, you're full of joy.
You're fun to be with.
The kids obviously saw that.
And one of the things that I treasure about you is that you did something very few people can do.
And you got to a place in the ministry where you just said,
I think it's time for someone else to come and to lead the ministry.
And after you told me that 150 times, I decided I better believe you.
I didn't want to believe you.
But I said, maybe I should just say okay.
And then we called somebody to lead the ministry, but we asked you to stay.
And you did.
And boy, the ministry would not have been the same without you.
It's just dear to see you.
Now, y'all don't know this about Will Spink,
but when we were considering calling an assistant pastor
and we realized that Will might be available,
he was finishing at Covenant Seminary,
somebody asked me about him.
And just looking at him and learning about him,
I said, that's the kind of person you just want to get on the team
and he'll find his way.
And he has.
And he's, y'all are really blessed to have Will here as your senior pastor.
I could say so much, but I could say,
I'm not going to talk anymore because I will cry,
but I will say this.
Whew.
It's just so dear.
To be back with people that we still love
and still feel loved by.
So we're here.
That's enough crying.
We're going to preach.
Let's look at Philippians chapter 2.
You'll find that on page 981 in the Bibles that we have for you in the pews.
When Wesley graduated from college,
one of the gifts that we gave him was a book called Love Does by Bob Goff.
So it's older now.
But in that book, he asks the question
that I want to begin to help us think about where we're going.
And the question was this,
have you ever been stalked before?
And then he describes how creepy it is to be stalked,
which we certainly understand.
But then he confesses that at one point in his life,
he was a stalker.
Pretty significant confession.
And he said,
like other stalkers,
I learned a lot of facts about this person,
studied those facts intently,
and got a lot of pictures that I put up on the wall
and studied those pictures as well.
But I never really got to know that person,
just like stalkers typically do.
They never really get to know the person.
They just get to know a lot about the person.
And then Bob, in his wonderful way,
said the person I used to stalk was Jesus.
And he said,
I was in a Bible study,
but it seems to me that all we did in that Bible study
was learn a lot of facts about Jesus,
but never really got to know Him,
never really began to enjoy Him
and delight in Him and love Him.
And then in his humorous way,
he says,
you know,
so what is it about equating Bible study
with getting to know God anyway?
And he said,
you know,
if I have people I care about,
I don't want to just learn facts about them,
how bad would that be?
And if I'm going to get married,
I don't want to just study the person.
I want to take her out for a ride on a Ferris wheel
or go sailing or go fishing,
do something.
And then he says,
you know,
and after all,
there's a word for men
who just kind of study the person
that they're interested in
but never take the initiative
to get to know that person.
They're called bachelors.
Now,
just so you're not worried about Bob Goff or me,
he is in a Bible study,
but the Bible study now is very different
from what he was in before.
Yes,
he's learning more and more about Jesus.
It's his life's ambition.
But he's also getting to know Jesus,
to delight in Jesus,
to spend time with Jesus,
to love Jesus.
And I would say the older I get,
I think the more focused my life becomes.
I want it to be
about knowing Jesus better.
I mean,
that's why he came to earth.
John 1, 14,
and the word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us.
And then in Hebrews 2,
we're told that he actually
shared in our humanity.
He did so much
for us
so that we could really get to know him,
not just learn about him.
The passage I want to read from today
is Philippians 2,
and I'm going to be reading it
from the message.
And let me just say up front,
this is not going to be
a typical sermon.
I'm not going to just work my way
through this passage.
I'm going to share bits and pieces
from a number of passages
to make one big point.
But let me start with
Philippians 2,
verse 7,
reading from the message.
I rarely do that,
but every once in a while,
Eugene Peterson
has just captured so well
the meaning of a passage.
When the time came,
he, Jesus,
set aside the privileges of deity
and took on the status
of a slave,
became human.
Having become human,
he stayed human.
It was an incredibly humbling process.
He didn't claim special privileges.
Instead, he lived a selfless,
obedient life
and then died a selfless,
obedient death.
And the worst kind of death
at that,
a crucifixion.
Would you join me in prayer?
Father, how dear it is to us
that you have sent your Son to earth
that we might truly get to know you
and to love you
and to enjoy you
and to walk with you.
Would you help us
take a step forward
in that process
even now,
we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I'm a church historian,
so I like to go back to the past
and think about some of the great
men and women
who have really
set the stage for us,
people that we stand
on the shoulders of.
And one of those is
the great British pastor
in the 19th century,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
And at one point,
he made this interesting distinction
about worship.
He said in worship,
you know,
we worship one God,
but that God is both transcendent,
He is above us,
He's beyond us,
He is in many ways
different from us,
and yet He's also imminent.
He is the one who draws near,
especially, of course,
in the person of Christ
who came to live among us.
And then later,
the Spirit of God
who actually dwells in us.
And this is what he said, though,
that I thought was
actually pretty helpful.
He said, you know,
when I'm in worship
and I'm singing about
the great transcendent God
that I worship,
I find my heart admiring Him,
but it's only when
that same transcendent God
draws near
that I find my heart
being warmed.
perhaps Spurgeon
makes too sharp
a distinction
there,
but I think
there is a truth
that
until God
came near
in the person
of Jesus Christ,
I think it was
very difficult
for us really
to know Him,
to love Him,
to enjoy Him,
and to walk
in relationship
with Him.
What I want to do
for our time together
is talk about
the God
who drew near,
who actually
became human.
Because even though
we can state
in our creeds
and even though
we can say,
yes,
we believe that God
is in the person
of Jesus,
both divine and human,
and I don't
really think
we've thought
much about
the Jesus
who is human.
I think we have
a hard time,
quite frankly,
believing that He
was as much
like us
in ways,
in some ways,
that are kind of
really interesting.
This is what
I think we,
I think we think
maybe He kind of
cheated.
You know,
this is God
after all,
and I love the way
one person put this.
He said,
when we read
what we would call
Jesus' more human moments,
we feel like Jesus
was sort of cheating.
You know,
with a nod and a wink,
we know that really
what's happened
is Einstein
has dropped in
on a first grade
math class
taking the test
as the genius,
but just pretending
not to be the genius,
or Mozart
playing a measure
in the kindergarten
flute choir.
I mean,
really,
this is the Son of God
that we're talking about,
the second member
of the Trinity.
This is Jesus.
Now,
let me take it
another step further
and just say,
here's where I think
we really get mixed up
and have a hard time
understanding
just how human
Jesus was.
Matthew 8,
very common part
of Scripture
that's known
to many of us.
It's a story
that has been preached
on many,
many times,
but I read it
anew recently,
saw things in it
that I hadn't been
able to figure out
before,
and it's the story
of a centurion,
a soldier,
a leader of soldiers
who comes to Jesus.
Jesus has begun
to heal people,
and the centurion
goes up to Jesus
and asks him
to heal his servant
back home,
and Jesus says,
yes,
I'll do it.
I'll go home with you,
and the centurion says,
no,
you don't need to go
under my roof.
You don't need to come
home with me.
You just say the word,
and my servant
will be healed.
And then,
we read these words,
when Jesus heard this,
he was astonished.
You know what that word
can mean?
It can mean surprised.
It can mean caught off guard.
I think,
when we read that,
we think of,
well,
he was deeply impressed
by the man's faith,
but surely not caught off guard.
Let me give you another story
before I circle back around.
Another place in Scripture,
Luke 8.
Jesus, again,
has begun his healing ministry already.
A woman comes up from behind,
a woman who has been
very, very ill.
No doctor has been able
to help her,
and she touches the garment,
the fringe of Jesus' garment.
And do you remember
what Jesus then asks?
Who touched me?
Now,
did he really not know
who touched him?
I mean,
again,
he's the son of God.
God is omniscient.
He is all-knowing.
He knows things
even before they happen.
Well,
let me answer
both of these questions.
Was Jesus surprised
by the centurion's faith?
Was he caught off guard?
Yes,
he was.
He did not expect it.
And he did not know
who touched him.
It wasn't just a,
the setting up
of a teaching moment.
It was
a question
Jesus asked
so that someone
would help him know
who touched him.
Well,
how can that be?
The answer is found
in the Philippians passage
that we read a moment ago.
And there we're told
that Jesus set aside
the privileges of deity
or in the ESV,
he made himself nothing
when he became human.
But here's where
that's been taken wrong.
Some have said,
well,
that means he really did
lay aside his deity
altogether.
That is not the truth.
Instead,
it means that Christ
chose at times
in his life
not to use
some of the divine abilities
that were available to him.
And so,
yes,
did he have divine knowledge
within reach of him?
Of course he did.
But he chose not to use that
at times.
And so,
this is what's true.
This is what we have
to acknowledge.
There were times
in the life of Jesus
on this earth
when he shared
the ignorance
of the people around him.
He didn't know
who touched him.
He was surprised
by the centurion's faith.
And so,
here's the point.
Jesus really was human.
Jesus had to learn
to walk.
The Word of God
had to learn
to talk.
You know,
he who calls the stars
by name
had to learn
the name of everything.
Just like you and I did.
This is a cup.
That's a tree.
We've got grandchildren.
They're perfect.
They're amazingly perfect.
And they're having to learn.
Every, you know,
cow,
what does the cow say?
Moo.
What does the cat say?
Meow.
I mean,
that's the stage we're in.
Well,
Jesus had to learn
just like that.
Baby Jesus
did not come into the world
with the vocabulary
of dictionary.com.
And that's the God
that I want to know.
He's the God
who would become small
for my sake.
He's the God
who would squeeze himself
into the shape
of a seven-pound,
four-ounce baby boy.
I don't know how much
he weighed,
but that's what I weighed,
so I'm sure it was
seven pounds,
four ounces.
I want to know
the God
who would refuse
the privileges of deity,
the God who would become
like me
for me.
But again,
I think
until we grasp
just how human
he is,
it's very difficult
to enjoy
a very personal
relationship
with Christ.
And I think
one of the things
that theologians
have done
to kind of
hurt that
or harm that
is to throw out
this big word
called impassibility.
And impassibility,
it means something
like God
is not capable
of emotions
like joy
or like grief.
He's not even
capable then
of being affected
by us.
Now,
they're trying
to protect
the God
who does not change,
but they've gone
too far,
and that is not
what Scripture says.
Even before God
becomes human,
you see in the Old Testament
so many places
where you see
how God's heart
is affected by us.
Hosea 11
is one of those
famous outbursts
of God
where he cries out
to his people,
how can I give you up?
I mean,
his heart is broken
over his people
because they continue
to sin,
and yet he cannot
give up on them.
How can I hand you over?
My heart is changed
within me.
All my compassion
is aroused.
There is
something in God
even before
he becomes a man
that accords
with our human emotions.
He is deeply
affected by us,
and that becomes
patently clear
when God becomes man.
I mean,
just think of
one example.
You get a sense
of the humanity
of Christ
when his cousin,
John the Baptist,
is beheaded
by Herod,
and we read
these words
in Matthew 14.
He withdrew
after he learned,
he had to be told
that John the Baptist
had been beheaded,
he withdrew
by boat
privately
to a solitary place.
Now,
why is that?
Well,
I agree with
the person
who put it this way.
The man
who has
unceasingly
offered himself
to others
needs to get away.
He needs room
to grieve
just as you would.
And then he goes on
to say about Jesus.
I cannot say
this more emphatically.
Life affected Jesus.
And
Jesus is just
so much more like us
than we might have imagined.
And I love him
all the more for it.
So,
when I hurt,
one of the things
I have learned
is that Christ hurts
for me
and with me.
And when I
enjoy the good
pleasures
of his good creation,
he takes
great delight
in my delight
of the good gifts
he's given.
And when I'm
discouraged,
he's the one
who,
through his spirit,
comes
alongside
to cheer me up.
And more importantly
than all of that,
when in my sin
and have no way out,
I'm reminded
that he was
unwilling
for me
to be swallowed up
by my own folly.
And so he took on
the unimaginable
horror
of a cross.
And here's,
again,
where you have to see
just how human
it was for him
in the moment
when he went
to the cross
for us.
He did so
all by himself.
There was no one
there for him
in the midst
of his pain
as he is always
there for us
in the midst
of our pain.
And again,
let me go back
to history.
Robert Murray McShane,
wonderful old
Scottish pastor
in the 1800s,
early 19th century.
He does such
a good job
of sharing
how alone
our Savior
was
on the cross.
He said,
Jesus,
was without
any comfort
from God.
Now think
about that.
His father,
whom he had
known for all
eternity
in perfect
relationship,
now he could
find no feeling
that God
even loved him
or cared about him,
no feeling
that he had
any compassion
for him,
no feeling
that God
supported him.
I mean,
God was his
light before,
and now
there was
nothing
for Christ
on the cross
but darkness.
He was
without God.
He was
as if he
had no God
and all
that God
had been
to him
before
has now
been taken
from him.
He had
the feeling,
as McShane
goes on to say,
of the person
condemned
when the judge
says,
depart from me,
you who shall
be punished
with everlasting
destruction.
He felt
that God
had said
the same
to him.
And so
when we
hear those
words,
those dreadful,
terrible words
on the cross,
when Christ
cries out
to his Father,
my God,
why have you
forsaken me?
He was forsaken
in that moment
and he felt
the weight of it.
But the answer
to the why
is that he
did that for us,
he did that for me,
he did that for you.
And see,
that's the Jesus
that I love
and delight in.
That's the Jesus
I speak to
as I read
through the Psalms
or the Jesus
I cry to
when I can find
comfort nowhere else.
This is the Jesus
I turn to
when I'm weak.
This is the Jesus
I look to
for wisdom
when I'm unsure.
And this is the Jesus
that I thank
when I'm filled
with joy.
See,
this is the Jesus
who wants to be
known by you
and enjoyed
by you.
He is real
and He wants
to become
real to you
and He will
if He will
stop stalking Him.
It is not enough
to know about Him.
You need to get
to know Him.
I'll finish with this
if you're thinking,
well,
how do I do that?
there are so many ways
and so many people
here could tell you
ways that have helped them
but I want to tell you
the one thing
that has been
my mainstay
for decades
and it's something
I learned in college
and it's what's kept me
in a real relationship
with Jesus.
It's the Psalms.
the Psalms
has become
my prayer book.
It became
my prayer book
in college
and I think
one of the things
if you've never
read through the Psalms
just start at the beginning
and work your way through.
What you're going to see
is that
the authors
of those Psalms
express
every emotion
you have ever been through
or will ever go through.
there is joy
there is pain
there is grief
there is anger
even at God
there is questioning
of God
which gives us
permission to be
real with our
real God
by the way.
But the thing
you're going to learn
as you see
as you read these Psalms
is that the authors
knew their God
it was a real person
speaking with a real God
who eventually
became one of us
so that we could
get to know Him
and love Him
and enjoy Him.
Yes, learn the facts
about Jesus
the whole Bible
is about Jesus
in one way or another
but turn those facts
into prayers
and joy
and fellowship
and relationship
with the living God.
If you want to get
to know God
go to the Psalms
meet with Him
He will meet with you
and you will learn
to love Him
and trust Him
and enjoy Him.
Would you pray with me?
Again, all I can say
is thank you
that you would
become one of us
so that we could
know you
like we know
someone else.
Of course,
you're different
and yet
in many ways
you're the same.
Jesus, thank you
that you're here with us
that you take
great delight in us
that you enjoy us
that you enjoy
spending time with us.
Lord, forgive our stalking
and would you turn
our stalking
into fellowship.
We pray
in your name.
Amen.
Mike, thank you
for pointing us
to Jesus
and knowing Him.
When we were thinking
about this service
my first thought
is there's so much
to do this Sunday
we shouldn't do
the Lord's Supper.
immediately after that
my thought was
how can we not
do the Lord's Supper
together
celebrate together
what Mike was just
describing to us
that what we celebrate
here
is God
coming to
meet with us
giving Himself
for us.
This is the
defining chapter
in Southwood's history
not anything
that's happened
in the last 30 years.
This moment
where the Son of God
became man
and went to a cross
for us
so that we could have
relationship with Him
and so that we would be
His bride
forever
because He loved us.
This is what we celebrate.
This is actually
the thing that unites
all of us.
Past members
of Southwood
current members
future members
of Southwood
and people
who've never
set foot in these doors
who know
and trust
their Savior
and so how could we
not celebrate
that together?
Remember what
Jesus said
to His disciples.
Paul tells us
this way
I received from the Lord
what I also delivered
to you
that the Lord Jesus
the night He was
betrayed
took bread
and He broke it
and gave it
to His disciples
as I am ministering
in His name
give this bread
to you.
Jesus said
take
eat
this is my body
broken for you
do this
in remembrance
of me
and in the same way
He took the cup
saying
this cup
is the new covenant
in my blood
shed for many
for the forgiveness
of sins
drink from it
all of you.
This is our
joy
and privilege
to celebrate.
If you know Jesus
not
not in the way
of know about Him
but in the way
Mike was talking about
where your heart's
beginning to
love Him
where you're
desperate for Him
where there's
no one else
that can fulfill you
whether you're a member
of this church or not
come
celebrate Him
with us.
If that's not
who you are
if you think
I know a lot of things
about Jesus
or maybe I'm learning
some things
but I don't really
know who He is
I don't know Him
don't come to this table
but do know
you can come
we'd love to pray
with you
there's nothing
that any of us
here at this church
would rather get to
share with you
than Jesus
we'd love to talk
with you about Him
you can come this morning
as we come to these tables
and we'll just pray with you
and we'd be delighted
to be able to do that
let's pray
and we'll come
celebrate together
Jesus thank you
for giving yourself
so that we could
know you
for showing us
the glory of God
in human flesh
thank you for
this bread
and juice
would you set them apart
from their common
use
for a sacred purpose
this morning
would be strengthened
in our faith
that we might know
and taste
and see
that you are good
and we might truly
know our Savior
we ask in His name
for more information
visit us online
at southwood.org
you
Thank you.