“Pouring Out From Abundance: Unity in Humility”
Sermon Title: Pouring Out From Abundance: Unity in Humility
Scripture: Philippians 2:1-11 NIV
Introduction – The Importance of Unity among Believers
Paul highlights Jesus’ power and glory brought forth from his humility (v.6-11) to address an issue of disunity within the members of the Philippian church. Despite being a healthy church with no major problems, Paul is concerned about division and disunity taking root. This is apparent in vv.1-2 where Paul uses words of unity 6 times: being United with Christ (v.1), common sharing in the Spirit (v.1), being like-minded (v.2), having the same love (v.2), being one in spirit(v.2), being one in mind (v.2).
Paul warns us today to be vigilant because division and disunity disarms the power of the church to be an effective channel of God’s goodness to the world and we lose the power to be effective representatives of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven. No matter the good works we do, how holy our worship may appear, how sincere our prayers and praises may sound, a church that is divided cannot stand and function and respond to God’s calling. Unity is not about uniformity (same opinion, same views, agreement with everything), nor was this the way of the early Church in Paul’s days. Our unity comes from one thing, that our eyes and hearts are set on Jesus Christ! Our unity comes from a desire for Christ to shape us, so that we may ‘have the mind of Christ (v.5; cf. 1 Cor. 2:16)’ which is a mind that is set on humility.
Pride as Selfish Ambition and Conceit – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. A more simple way of saying this is – Do nothing out of pride.” (v.3)
- Disunity in the Philippian church stemmed from a deeper problem of (1) selfish ambition and (2) vain conceit, in other words, pride. Pride was causing disunity in the church, which made it difficult for the gospel to advance and to be represented in the right light.
- A prideful heart is filled with selfish ambition and vain conceit. It makes you the center of the world and the world and everyone in it revolves around you and your interests. You question why others don’t think like you, believe like you, and behave like you. You meet your goals at the expense of others; put down others to exalt your own capability and competence; you assert your views and opinions as more valuable, more accurate, more moral, more ethical, and more spiritual than other people. We also do this to God; we try use God for our selfish ambitions, challenge His authority, and exult ourselves over God by asserting our views, opinions, and morals as higher than God’s.
- “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others (vv.3-4).” This is how we are to regard both the people around us and God. This does not mean that your interests are not important nor does it mean that you can’t have ambitions and goals. Paul is speaking against selfish ambitions that are self-centered and self-serving. At the same time, we must recognize that Paul is writing to a body, not an individual. The significance of this is that if you live in humility as a body of Christ, valuing others (family, church, friends, business partners, colleagues, etc.) and their interests above your own, then your own interests will be met. If all is done for the Lord, then your interests will be met, and you will be exalted, if not by people, by God!
Humility of Jesus – “... 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, (vv.6-7)"
- Paul looks no further than to Jesus as the prime example of humility. Paul transitions into verses 6-11, which is known as the Christ Hymn, believed to be a hymn dating to the early Church. Through this hymn, Paul points out that humility is foundational in the story of Jesus. Jesus was in his “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, (vv.6-7).” Paul is saying that if you want to talk about humility, you can't talk about humility without talking about God first. And You want to know what God is like? Then look no further than Jesus! Because Jesus IS God.
God the Servant – The shock of Christianity is that God reveals Himself to be a servant. The very essence of God is to serve.
- “Who, being in very nature…(v.6)” In the original Greek, the word “being” can be translated in two ways: (1) as “although” – so it can be read as, “although he is in very nature God, he became a servant.” It's translated by means of contrast - although he is this, he became that. (2) as "because" – so it can be read as, “because he is in very nature God, he became a servant.” It stresses the essence of Jesus’ nature, which is absolutely unalterable, inalienable, and unchangeable.
- In the first translation, humility is the opposite of divinity. In the second, humility is the expression of divinity. To be humble is to somehow participate in the divinity of God. What we see in Jesus is to redefine our image of who God is. Do you see how scandalous that is? Because He is God, He became a servant.
- However, Paul doesn't say, “God serves." He says, “God is a servant". There's a difference! Because you can serve and not be a servant. You can serve in such a way that you decide who gets served and who doesn't get served. We have reasons or conditions for why we serve or don’t serve others. However, the very nature of God is not to pick and choose who He serves. The very nature of God is that God serves everyone! This is the scandal of Christianity – that the almighty God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son as a servant, to die the most gruesome death on the cross and pay the penalty on behalf of all of us, regardless of how broken and sinful and undeserving we may be!
- We often assume that if we serve, people will lower their view of us, but that’s not true. Take your mother as an example who has served you the most in your life. Do you have a lower view of your mother because she serves you? No, those with a healthy heart would hold a higher view of her. Why? Because serving other people has exactly the opposite effect on them from what we think it will. People are drawn toward those who serve them sacrificially. And so, it is those who have the heart of servanthood that hold much value in relationships. In this way, humility leads to servanthood. Humility is ultimately about your heart because you may serve all day long but with a bitter and prideful heart.
Conclusion – How do we have our lives be framed and formed in the way of humility?
1. Humility is an on-going decision that we make – contrary to what many of us may think, humility is not a passive journey like the fruits of the Spirit. It is an on-going decision.
- I say this because we often think becoming humble is like something that happens over time in our Christian journey – kind of like bearing the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit, as we understand it, is something that the Holy Spirit bears as we remain in Him. But Humility is not something that passively happens to us a decision we make, an on-going decision. Jesus made himself nothing. He humbled himself. He became obedient to death. We must ask the Lord for our hearts to be humble, so that the decisions we make day in and day out are marked by the humility of Jesus.
2. Humility is the letting go of entitlement – "[he] did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. (v.6)"
- Jesus, who is God, was entitled. Yet, he does not go the way of entitlement. In contrast, how easy it is for us to go the way of entitlement and operate from a place of selfish ambition and vain conceit. Humility is about letting go of entitlement and recognizing the grace, the undeserved favor of God, that we have received in Christ Jesus .
3. Humility is about trusting God to lift us up – "he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death… (v.8b)"
- Humility is a dying to something. Humility will be uncomfortable at times. Even though it is a dying, it doesn’t end in death but newness of life. In today’s passage, Paul uses the word “above” twice.
And Paul brings this out by using the word "above". He says it twice in our passage: (1) value others above yourselves (v.3); (2) “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name (v.9)” Jesus saw us above himself. He valued our lives above his own life! He took on our death to give us his life and the story of Christianity doesn't end in the grave! And we see that “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (vv.9-11).” Amen? When we die to our pride and choose the way of humility, we are entrusting that God will lift us up!
Reflection and Response
Humility is what unites us in having the mind of Christ as we value each other’s interest above our own and serve one another in the way that Jesus served us. This is such an important aspect of our existence as a church, because if we are not united in having the mind of Christ, there is no way we can effectively carry out the mission of Christ and advance the gospel. If we are not united in the Lord, there’s no way we can live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel.
· What are some of the ways that God might be calling you to promote and foster deeper unity in our church community?
· What are some of the areas that God is calling you to humble yourself?
· What are some of the areas where God is calling you to let go of your entitlement?
· Who are the people that God is calling you to serve?
· Do you trust that in your humble serving of others God will ultimately lift you up?