Morning Message Text: Philippians 2: 1-13
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,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Do Everything Without Grumbling
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Morning Message:
Humility, being humble, this may be the most difficult thing for human beings to accomplish. As Christians we are called to lead a humble life, a life dedicated to God and pointing to him when something is accomplished for his kingdom. This is challenging in all walks of life. Our human nature nudges us to be prideful and take full credit, whether we deserve it or not. One of my favorite sports stories is about the night that Michael Jordan scored 69 points for the Chicago Bulls. He was taken out of the game with under a minute to play with the fans cheering his remarkable feat. A little-known back-up player by the name of Stacy King replaced Michael for the final few seconds of the game and he even scored a basket. Post-game, the locker-room was electric with reporters crowding around Jordan, peppering him with questions. One reporter arrived a little late and could not get anywhere near the front of the herd.
He looked around the locker-room and saw Stacy King, all by himself. He did not know much about him. Making small talk the reporter asked the rookie a question, “By the way, what has been the highlight of your basketball career?” Without a second of hesitation he said, “The night Michael Jordan and I combined to score 71 points and we won the game! That is a perfect example of human nature.
It is so easy for us to take credit for the positive things that happen in our Christian lives. This is what we have to remember about the Kingdom of God. It is God’s work. He is the one transforming lives. But the crazy good thing is he asks us to partner with him in his unfinished work of discipleship and touching lives.
What joy! What an adventure! What purpose! Have you ever thought about it like that? God’s work is the perfect place to practice humility. When you step out in faith and truly see what God can accomplish through you with just a little effort it is humbling. It is truly like watching God score 69 points and him stepping back and saying I will let you finish the game and take part in my glory.
What is Paul saying to us today? Let me ask you. Have you been encouraged by your walk with Christ? Have you at any time? Have you found comfort at any time in his love and the love of your fellow believers? Have you felt the love that runs through this common bond that we share? Do you feel the tenderness and compassion that should flow through every believer who shares the Holy Spirit? You know that today we celebrate World Communion. What is the purpose of sharing this meal as one united church? We need to be reminded that we are not individual Christians. Your faith in Jesus is very personal but you are a part of the Body of Christ. We serve Christ here at Marion Church, but we are just a small part of the body. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, what country you are from, or even what customs you keep, if you belong to Jesus, you should be like minded in this way, Jesus is your Savior, and we all need each other in order to accomplish the work of God’s kingdom. If you think about it, it is very humbling to realize that you are only a small part of a worldwide mission. The world would like for us to focus on our differences, but we must focus on our true identity.
Christianity is not a selfish faith. There is no room for vanity and the only ambition that we should have is for the furtherance of the gospel. This teaching is difficult because Paul is calling on us to put our interests aside and focus more on the interests of others. This is a challenge. I don’t care who you are, you, most of the time, if not all of the time, think of your own interests first. Which brings us to our morning message title: “Imitating Christ’s Humility.” Verse 5 says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. The verses that follow lay out the perfect nature of our Savior. It should be very humbling for us to hear the self-sacrificing nature of our Lord and realize how far short we fall of his example. But I am not bringing you this message to make you feel bad today. We will never be as complete and perfect as Jesus while we live on this earth. This is what we must aspire to. His example is put before us so that we might glorify his name and so that we might be humbled and realize how much we need God’s help and guidance, and on this World Communion Sunday, to realize how much we need each other.
We, all of us, the entire Body of Christ are a work in progress. In verse 12 Paul calls on us to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Now don’t misread this verse. The phrase does not mean we can earn our salvation. We have no part in the true reconciling work of forgiveness—only the blood of Jesus can do that. But we are called to work out what God has worked in. This is called the divine cooperative. Listen for a minute. In the Greek, to work out, describes those who worked in the mines. They mined out of the ground what the creator had placed there and then brought those riches into the light. The work of God delivers the gift of salvation to us. We then take that gift and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, diligently work to perfect ourselves as followers of Christ. We are all a work in progress, and the part that should humble us is that God has forgiven us in our imperfection.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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