It would be really good to have that passage somewhere open in front of you, because we're going to get stuck into it.
And it could be that it's a somewhat familiar passage.
It's a passage that we love to go to when we think about Jesus.
And I have to confess that as I came to it this week, I've preached it before.
And so there was a part of me that kind of came to Philippians 2 sort of in autopilot mode.
And so I kind of scanned the passage.
I worked out a few illustrations that might fit with it.
And then I thought, let's just sit down and try and write this.
And verse 1 has always struck me as a biblical justification for sarcasm.
It seems to be a clear example of Paul using sarcasm, which by implication for me always meant that I guess that it's okay for me to as well.
He opens with this sentence that just seems like he's being ridiculous.
He opens with these ifs.
It says, if you have any encouragement, if you have any comfort, if you have any tenderness and compassion.
And of course, he knows that they get those things from Jesus.
So really what he's saying is because you have those things.
But he kind of feels like he's reversing it just to make the questions sound ridiculous and to emphasize them.
And so on one level, this passage is a bit of a no-brainer.
It says, if you've got benefits from Jesus, which of course you do, love like he does.
Serve other people.
Be humble.
Sounds simple enough.
But like much of our relationship with God, what's really kind of simple as a concept is actually a little bit more difficult when it comes to following through.
When it comes to living it out.
When this passage says you should be humble, you should have the same love for others that God has for you, that's probably not a big surprise.
That's probably something that you half expect to hear when you walk into church.
It's not a big moment of revelation.
We know that we're supposed to be loving.
But for most of us, the next step of actually doing that is a little more complicated.
And so we need to come back to verse 1.
Maybe you're in autopilot as well.
You need to switch that off.
And we need to come back to verse 1 and read it not as sarcasm, but as an invitation.
See, if we're lacking in our ability to do verse 2, if we're struggling to do the love that we know we're supposed to,
if we're not quite hitting the mark when it comes to loving like God loves or being humble or putting others first,
then the reason for that struggle is that we're not feeling the love and the benefits that he's talking about in verse 1.
And it's probably not that we've willfully kind of disengaged with God's love and so we're not feeling any benefits.
It could just be that for whatever reason right now or at some point in your life,
describing your relationship with God with words like encouragement and comfort and love and tenderness and compassion doesn't seem right.
It's more of a struggle, a battle, a burden, something you keep failing at.
And the lack of those feelings of the encouragement and the comfort and those things,
it has an impact on the way that we view the world.
It has an impact on the perspective, so much so that Paul needs to say what is almost a ridiculous thing in verse 3.
He says,
Have you ever noticed or thought that that's actually kind of a ridiculous statement?
Now that I'm a parent, I've discovered there's a lot of things that I previously thought were ridiculous statements
that now are things that I have to say regularly.
I have a four-year-old son and it never crossed my mind that I would have to use the phrase,
please stop trying to use mummy's makeup.
But repeatedly, more than once a day, I'm going there and having to shut the bathroom door and tell him to stay away from mummy's makeup.
I find myself saying things that I just really didn't think I should have to say.
I thought would be extremely obvious.
But in the same way, this verse is almost too obvious.
See, no one thinks that selfish ambition or vain conceit is a virtue.
No one aspires to those things.
No one's affirmed for valuing themselves above everyone else.
Even if it is actually the way that we function.
Even if deep down the desire of our heart is to look after number one first at the expense of other people,
it's not the kind of thing we're going to say out loud.
It's not something we're going to brag about or praise someone else for.
That there's a part of us that knows that that just doesn't sound good.
It doesn't sound right to say, you know what, I'm living for me.
I don't really care about you.
I'm just going to do my thing.
For this church, it needs to be said, don't do that.
Which means by implication, it is what they're doing.
Even though it's clearly not something that they or we would aspire to,
it's part of their lifestyle and it's part of ours as well.
So often we're driven by self-interest as the most important factor in the way we make decisions.
So much of the way we approach questions in life is,
how will this affect me over and above anyone else?
I mean, we might eventually think about the impact on other people,
but the first and most important factor is, what does this do in my life?
How costly will this be for me?
We choose the job that will give us the money to enable us to afford the lifestyle that we want.
We choose based on our goals and our ambitions.
We see those things as the most important factor.
And that's a perspective problem.
Because subconsciously, when we live like that,
we're valuing us individually, we're valuing ourselves above other people.
We're treating our needs, our desires, our wants, our ambitions,
as somehow more important or maybe even more valid than other people.
And it's almost like you're saying, I matter more than you.
And what that means is, if there's ever a point of tension where what I want and what you want are coming into conflict,
you can rest assured, I'm going to pick me.
This is a problem because it's nowhere near what the Bible teaches us.
It's completely different to the image that we have in the Bible where we're told that all are created in the image of God.
That every person ever created has an inherent value because God made them that way.
Not based on some performance or ability or their impact on you.
They are just valuable because that's how God made them.
That means you are valuable because God created you like that.
It also means the person next to you is valuable.
The person who cut you off in traffic on the way here is valuable.
The person who's annoying you at school or at work or making your life difficult is valuable to God.
The person begging for money in the street.
All are created in his image and all therefore are valuable and matter to God.
Now this skewed perspective even starts to impact the way that we relate to God.
It obviously impacts on our relationships because whenever there's tension we seek our needs over the others.
But it impacts the way we even obey Jesus.
So if you come to a passage like this or a whole bunch of other ones where we're commanded to love God,
we think, no worries, you're in charge God, I'm supposed to love.
But the issue comes when we start deciding whether or not some people are deserving of that love.
Whether or not some people fit in with that command.
It happens in the story of the Good Samaritan.
Someone comes to Jesus, says, what must I do to be saved?
And he's told to love God with his heart, soul, mind and strength and to love his neighbour as himself.
And his first question in response is, yeah, yeah, but who's my neighbour?
Who actually should I love?
Who fits that category of deserving of my emphasis, my investment, my sacrifice?
See, the reason this is an issue for us is because we've come with a perspective that starts here.
Starts with us.
And so we start taking credit for the things in our life.
My position, my situation, my comfort, whatever it is that I've got, I got.
I earned, I put the effort in.
And so we look at people who need and we blame them for their need.
Have you ever looked at somebody begging?
Or noticed a homeless person sleeping in the park and your first reaction was to think something like,
I wonder what they did wrong in their life to end up there?
I wonder how they did that to themselves.
As if somehow it's their fault.
And by implication, their responsibility.
And therefore, not my responsibility.
What about with less obvious needs?
Like someone who's wrestling with depression or loneliness or isolation?
Do you look at those people and think,
it's your responsibility?
It's your issue.
Because we've taken credit for the good things that God has given us in our lives,
because we've taken credit for God's grace to us,
we approach others, both those in need and those not,
from this position of superiority.
And the result is we give ourselves permission to not love them.
It's their fault.
It's their problem.
We start to think things like,
if I give them money,
they'll probably waste it and spend it on alcohol.
And it's my money.
I worked hard for it.
If I'm going to give it,
I want to see it used my way.
Or if I invest in that person relationally,
who's lonely and isolated,
they'll just take it for granted and I'll get burned.
And, you know,
I've only got so much energy to give.
Because we've let ourselves become the center of our own universe,
the only question we ask when it comes to loving people in need,
is how will this benefit me?
Or maybe less crudely,
how much will this cost me?
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
In humility,
consider others better than yourselves.
It needs to be said because it's not how we live.
And it is how we're called to live in response to how God has loved us in Jesus.
And so Paul takes us to Jesus now to show us not just the gap,
but how we might close that gap.
In verse 5,
he says,
in your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
Have the same perspective.
Have the same agenda.
Have the same goal.
In your relationships,
that's the sphere that this passage is supposed to be applied to.
It's not some abstract idea of love.
It's in your friendships,
in your marriages,
with visitors,
with strangers,
with your neighbours,
with nice people,
with unpleasant people,
in any relationships,
have the same mindset as Jesus.
Who?
Being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage.
Rather,
he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore,
God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is more than just a model
of the kind of love we're supposed to show,
although he's at least that.
But what he does here is he gives us perspective.
He reshapes the way that we view the world
so that we can imitate the love that he has.
And so we really need to focus in
on these few verses for a second.
Jesus is in very nature God.
It's really tempting to domesticate those few words,
to make it, you know what,
Jesus is very similar to God.
God-like, God-light, God-diet,
whatever it is,
we just, he's close,
but that's not what the passage says.
It's easy for us to respond
if we pull him down a few pegs,
because it just kind of limits the cost
that he paid to love us.
But what these verses say
is that Jesus is God.
He's equal to him in every way.
He's eternal.
He was there before the creation of the world.
By his will, everything is sustained.
He is all-knowing, all-powerful,
holy, righteous,
and overwhelmingly magnificent.
He is the actual centre of all that exists,
the most important.
And right perspective is only possible
when we recognise where he belongs,
as the starting point,
as the centre point,
as the goal to which everything points.
And yet,
even though all that is his,
he didn't see that as existing
just for his benefit.
Even though he sits rightfully
in authority over all creation,
as the one assigned to judge all creation,
he didn't see that
as something that was just there for him.
I have two boys.
I've told you about Bailey already.
Bailey's four and Hudson is one.
And one of the challenges
that we're trying to work out with the boys
is that there's already competition for toys.
My older son, Bailey, has sonic hearing.
So if he's at one end of the house
and Hudson taps one of his toys along the floor,
even if he hasn't touched it in months,
all of a sudden he appears.
Face palms his little brother,
grabs the toy and runs back to his room.
It's really quite impressive,
as well as deeply disappointing.
And so when that happens,
I have these, you know,
loving, stern conversations with my son
about being generous,
about sharing,
about the importance of looking after his little brother
and how even though they're his toys,
he needs to share because he's the big one
and he can be generous and all that sort of thing.
And he's so drilled on this now.
He's far from well behaved,
but he's so drilled on this now
that when he picks something up to play with it,
his first reaction is to glance
and wait for me to tell him to share it.
He knows it's coming.
He's almost expecting it.
And so there's just the waiting for it.
And usually it comes.
But just recently I was challenged
that actually there are some things that are his
and he doesn't have to share.
They're rightfully his
and he should be allowed to enjoy them.
They were given to him.
Some of them are gifts from other people
and so they are for his benefit
and he should be able to have them to himself.
And one of those things was some books
that he was given for his birthday.
And he picked them up.
He glanced at me waiting for the instruction
and I said, no, no, actually,
they're your birthday presents.
You can play with those.
You don't have to share them with Hudson.
And so I dragged Hudson the foot or so away.
He crawled closer.
I kept dragging him away.
But it just gave Bailey a moment
where he actually went, okay, these are mine.
And it was interesting that given the power for a change,
given the ability to choose,
given the responsibility to say,
these are mine, I can do with them what I want,
he actually chose to give one of the books
to his little brother.
I'm significantly more proud of that moment
than the moment of sharing that's preceded by me yelling,
you must give that to your little brother.
Can you see the difference that in this moment
he actually chooses?
Those books are his.
There is nothing about them
that means he is required to give them.
They are there for his enjoyment and his benefit.
And he makes a choice to sacrifice some of that joy
and share it with someone else.
In the smallest possible micro version,
that is a little glimpse of what Jesus is doing here.
He is equal with God.
He has no obligation to us.
He could sit back and enjoy his power and authority
and all the goodness of being God.
But he chooses to use that position,
to use his power and authority to love us.
I mean, that's the craziness of the gospel,
is that Jesus doesn't have to.
He would be good and right and fair and just and everything
if he didn't love us in this way.
But that's not his heart.
God's heart is to love us.
And so he chooses to forego the rights out of love.
He chooses to sacrifice out of love.
He makes himself nothing.
He takes on human limitations.
He denies the power and authority that is his
and he steps into the limitations of being human by choice.
He chooses to experience what it is to be hungry
and thirsty and lonely and isolated and opposed.
All out of love for people like you and me.
It's almost like Jesus was walking through Chatswood Mall
and spotted the person begging for money.
Or he was here during supper
and he noticed the lonely person wandering around the fringe
and not quite engaging.
And instead of asking the question
whether or not that person deserved the investment of his resources,
he put himself in their shoes.
He drew near and understood what it was
to go through those feelings and those struggles and those needs.
He bridged the gap.
He looked at our world and our lives
and saw people that were hopelessly trying to earn God's favour.
He looked and saw you and me floundering in life
trying to find some sense of significance.
Trying to satisfy ourselves.
And he put himself in our shoes.
There's a passage in Hebrews chapter 2 which says,
Since the children have flesh and blood,
that's us,
he too shared in their humanity
so that by his death he might break the power of him
who holds the power of death,
that is the devil,
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery
by their fear of death.
For surely it's not angels he helps,
but Abraham's descendants.
For this reason he had to be made like them,
fully human in every way,
in order that he might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in service to God
and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people
because he himself suffered when he was tempted,
he's able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus came and felt your pain.
He experienced your struggle.
He shared your trial
and ultimately he took your punishment.
So that you could experience the love of God.
It wasn't a deliberation for him,
what will this cost me?
What Jesus does
and what the cross gives us is perspective.
It rescues us
from putting ourselves in the middle
and thinking that we're better than anyone else.
We're never superior.
We are always in God's eyes,
the beggar,
the lonely,
the homeless,
the person in need.
What the gospel does,
what Jesus does,
is show us that we are always
and will always be sinners who need grace.
There is nothing we have
that was not given to us
by God in Jesus.
So there is nothing in us
that could possibly for a moment
make us stand over
and look down on someone else.
Jesus rescues us from thinking
that we have to fight for our rights
and claim what's ours
because this passage shows us
that the better path
is to entrust yourself
to a loving heavenly father.
We are called to have the same love,
the same love that God has shown us
and Jesus is the model
of what it is to entrust yourself
to the father.
Give all that you have
for the sake of others
knowing that the father
will never fail you,
that the father would exalt him.
All that we have
is a gift received.
2 Corinthians 8 says,
You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich,
yet for your sake
he became poor
so that you through his poverty
might become rich.
All that we have
is a gracious gift
from a loving heavenly father
who sent his son,
his son who humbled himself
so that we might experience
what it is to be loved by God
unconditionally.
Jesus uses everything,
everything at his disposal,
not for his own advantage,
not just to satisfy himself
but so that God
might be glorified
as you and I,
unworthy sinners,
get loved and forgiven
and adopted and washed
and made secure.
And so verse 1,
Therefore,
if you have any encouragement
from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love,
if any common sharing
in the spirit,
if any tenderness
and compassion,
it's not sarcasm,
it's an invitation.
Be encouraged.
Be comforted.
Rest in God's tenderness
and compassion.
Marvel again
that Jesus would come so far
to love people
as unworthy as us.
Find peace and confidence
in his unconditional love
and compassion
even when we fail.
Run to him
knowing that he is compassionate,
knowing that he's good,
knowing that he always provides.
In your loneliness,
grab hold of the presence of God
living in you by his spirit
and be comforted
and strengthened
and empowered.
Come back to Jesus' death
and resurrection
and know that you are loved.
It's an invitation.
Know that God loves you
in the most costly
and concrete way.
By stepping in,
by placing himself
in your shoes,
by doing what you could not do,
by paying what you could not pay
and because of that
you are loved,
forgiven,
adopted
and heaven awaits you
and nothing can change that.
Come back to that.
Then,
then verse 2,
then make my joy complete
by being like-minded,
having the same love,
being one in spirit
and of one mind,
then having enjoyed
Christ
and in anticipation
of enjoying him
every day of your life
and for all eternity
in heaven,
then make my joy complete.
Let that love of God
produce in you
a love for others.
That same self-denying,
step into their shoes,
wholehearted,
sacrificial,
whatever I have
is not for my benefit
but for the benefit
of those that God
places in my path
kind of love.
First,
be encouraged,
be comforted,
be loved
and let that love
produce in you
the same love.
Share the benefit
is a program
that we're doing
for four weeks.
It's a step
in a journey
of God
shifting our hearts
to love like he does.
It's not the solution.
It's not the destination.
The goal
of this program,
the goal of God
for us as his people
is not that we run
another program
as a result of being challenged
about how we care
for the poor.
God's goal
is that our hearts
would move,
that we would love,
that it would be driven
by a desire
to care for those
who have needs,
that we would desire
to be God's hands
and feet,
to be the love
that we have experienced.
But it's a journey.
It's a journey
that begins
from the place
where we all started
tonight.
We know that we
should do this.
That's not news.
We know that we're
supposed to do this.
We know that that's
what God wants us
to do.
But as our hearts
shift,
we can move
from that place
of it being
an obligation
and a responsibility
to it being
a want,
a desire.
As our hearts
experience more
of the benefit
and wonder
of being loved
by God
in Jesus,
our hearts
can be moved,
be released
to not fight
for our own rights,
to not look
after ourselves,
but to want
to love
other people.
And even further
as God works,
we can get
to the point
of impulse love,
the I-can't-help-it
love,
the real Jesus-like
love.
One of the words
that comes up
in this passage,
it comes up
over and over
in Jesus' ministry,
it's compassion.
And really what
that word means
is it's almost
like an involuntary
response.
As Jesus would
go around
and encounter
people in need,
it was like
he almost couldn't
help but help.
He needed
to respond
in that circumstance
and the desire
of God's heart,
our desire
as a church
is that our hearts
would move
in that direction.
It might mean
new programs,
it might mean
new events
or new actions,
but really the goal
is a heart shift
from I should
to I want
to I just can't
help it.
I can't help
but love
because God
has loved me
so incredibly.
That's why
this passage
starts and ends
with Jesus.
No question
it calls us
to have the same
love.
It's a huge
command,
love like Jesus
did,
but it starts
and ends
with Jesus
because wherever
you are on this
kind of journey
and it's not a
straight line,
you're going to
go back and
forward sometimes,
but wherever
you are,
whether you feel
like you should
love people,
you want to
love people,
you just can't
help loving
people,
the next step
for all of us
is the same
step.
In fact,
every step
on this
journey is
the same
step.
We need
to keep
coming back
to Jesus.
We need
to keep
coming back
to the cross,
to the incredible
love of God
who stepped
into our shoes,
who gave up
what was rightfully
his so that
we too might
know and feel
and experience
what it is to be
loved by a
heavenly father.
God's heart
is that we
would share
his heart
and God's
grace to us
is that he
changes our
hearts by
loving us.
Wherever you
are on that
journey,
the next step
is come back
to verse 1,
to the invitation
to be encouraged,
to be comforted,
to experience
tenderness and
compassion.
The next step
is always
come back
to Jesus
and let's
together pray
that he would
do the work
of shifting
our hearts
so that the
world around us
might look
and see Jesus
in the way
that we can't
help but love
those in need
around us.
Let me pray
for us.
Father God,
we want to
ask you to do
what we can't.
We can put a
bunch of effort
in for a few
weeks,
we can launch
new programs
but only you
can change
our hearts.
Only you can
lift our eyes
off ourselves.
Only you can
give us the
perspective of
the world
that you see
where Jesus
sits on the
throne,
where the only
value that is
in us is the
one that you
have placed
there.
Help us to
look and not
see people who
are undeserving
of our love
but help us
to look and
see what we
were until
Jesus loved
us.
God,
shape our
hearts so
that we
would need
to help
people.
We would be
so secure
and so
overwhelmed by
your love
that we are
released,
we are
empowered,
we are
excited to
sacrificially
and costly
and in
costly ways
love people
who need
it.
God,
I want to
thank you
that there
was no
price too
great when
it came
to loving
us and
I want to
ask that
you would
empower us
to love
like that
so that
more people
may come
to know
that you
are the
God of
incredible
love,
God of
grace.
God,
we want to
thank you
for Jesus
and we
want to
ask that
we would
keep coming
back to
him.
Protect us
from trying
to do this
in our
own
strength.
Protect us
from just
putting only
effort in
and forgetting
that we
have nothing
without you.
Grow our
heart of
gratitude
that we
might be
encouraged
and comforted,
that we
might have
eyes firmly
fixed on
Jesus and
that we
might see
every situation,
every individual,
everything that
we face in
our lives
through the
lens of
your
unconditional
love in
your son.
It's in
his name
we pray.
Amen.