Jonathan is currently a Master of Divinity student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and wants to become an ordained pastor upon graduation. Till then, this blog is in honor of his Dad, the real Pastor Romig. Please do not preach this sermon, but feel free to quote it using proper attribution (aff link).When I heard my friend talk about the pastorate I remember feeling as if I’d heard one of the coolest callings in the world. My gut reaction was that I could never do something like that because I felt too unworthy. Maybe you too wish you could do something amazing for the Lord. And yet you feel too unworthy.
This church is on the road to ministering missionally. We “wish we could do that.” Be careful what you wish for. How are we to live worthy of the gospel? How are we too supposed to match our actions with our belief?
Through humility. We are called to be humble people. What does humility look like in a church? The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians under house arrest. If you’re wondering what seminary is like, it’s like being under house arrest. Paul wrote to a church much like our own. They were established and loved to give Paul money. They cared for Paul and desired to spread the gospel. They had a giant white poster that said, “Missions à Missional.”
Paul exhorts them in Philippians 1:27, “Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Paul called the Philippian’s actions to match what they confess. To have an effective ministry Paul is calling the Philippians to humility. And if we want an effective ministry we too must live humbly. Let’s see what humility is in Philippians 2:1-11.
How many of your parents taught you the value of humility? Mine sure did. I did not like learning the value of humility. People always say it’s important to be humble. But what exactly is humility?
Humility is a heart attitude (2:1-4).
Humility is gratefulness for what God has done (2:1). In verse 1, Paul begins by recognizing God’s gifts to the believers (2:1). Many of your translations say “if” when it’s probably best to say “since.” He’s saying that since God gave them these gifts they should live humbly. God has given them consolation in Christ. God has given them comfort of love. God has given them the Spirit. And God has given them affection and mercy. Humility begins with a grateful heart attitude. It begins by realizing we are not responsible or deserving of the good things God has placed in our lives. It begins by realizing God is worthy and we are not unless God has made us so.
Humility is continually seeking to put others first (2:2-4). In verses 2-4 we see Paul describing a humble heart attitude. Notice that he does not describe past actions but a current state of being. Paul is not describing humility as doing your “good deed of the day.” It’s not one or two “random acts of kindness.” He describes a continual state of how we should live our lives. We should be “living” our lives this way right now.
As a body of believers we are to live in harmony, always (2:2). We are to have one heart and mind, always (2:2) We are to not to do anything selfishly, always (2:3a). We are to consider others better than ourselves, always (2:3b). We are to look out for others peoples’ wants and desires, always (2:4). We cannot do this without a mindset that other people matter more than us.
Humility is service (2:3-4). Serving looks different for different people. Service always involves some sort of action. For many of us we may have learned humility is sitting in the shadows. Humility is saying that I’m nothing and can’t do anything. Our mindset is that we can’t serve or we’re unable to. This is not humility. This is laziness. Actions flow out of attitude. Healthy trees bear fruit.
The world does not value humility like we do. Before seminary I worked at the Farm Credit Administration in McLean Virginia. The FCA is a government agency and it’s purpose it to ensure a safe, sound, and dependable source of money for the farming industry. The FCA regulated the farming banks that lent out the money. As one of the associate examiners I too helped regulate the financials of the institutions and the loans they made. As I traveled throughout the lovely cornfields of America I got to learn about just how badly people are willing to exploit the rules. We enforced lending guidelines the banks were supposed to follow cheerfully. Not all of them followed these rules cheerfully.
Many associations lent funds to the right businesses like pig farms, dairy farms, corn farms, chicken farms, or related companies like tractor dealerships. But others figured out how to lend to apartment farms, motel farms, and golf farms. Those lenders wanted it their way. Is our church’s attitude, “We want it our way?” or “We want it God’s way?”
Humility is never about getting what we deserve or want. Humility never manipulates. Humility is about thankfulness to God and seeking to put others first. Humility is a heart attitude.
God has called us to live humbly. This humility starts with the right heart attitude. But living humbly is not easy. How do we live this way? Who is our example of humility? Who is the most humble person to ever walk the earth? Jesus.
Jesus lived humbly as an example for us (2:5-8). We are to model Christ’s heart attitude of humility (2:5). Paul bases this present call to humility on what Christ completed in the past. He lived humbly so that we might live humbly. Paul explains Jesus’ humility in what was probably an early-church hymn (2:6-11). Jesus was in the very form of God (2:6a). It says he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God (2:6b). He did not have to become deity because he was deity already.
Yet in this absolute glory Christ humbled himself. My version says, “[Christ] made Himself of no reputation”(2:7). Other versions say, “[Christ] made himself nothing” or “emptied himself.” Jesus gave up the high prestige of heaven and stepped down into humanity. He gave up his privileges and his recognition as ruler of the universe. He came as a man who ate, sweat, and got dirty and we did not see his majesty. He did this all on purpose and Paul calls us to model his humble attitude.
You might be thinking, “But I don’t have any divine privileges to give up.” America tells us we deserve to get everything our way. We have rights to marry, to health, to safety, and to a good job. The right to bear arms is so popular my store sells a “right to arm bears” t-shirt. Paul is calling us to surrender our perceived privileges. He is calling us to surrender our pride. Life is about God and not about us. God is the only one worthy of praise. God created the universe and defeated Satan and death. When we are prideful we steal praise from God. When we are humble we model Christ’s heart attitude.
We are to model Jesus’s service (2:7). Remember how we learned a right heart attitude is lived out in service? It’s exactly the same with Jesus. Jesus came in the form of a bondservant (2:6). Jesus did not come in the form of a couch potato. A bondservant was a willing servant. Servants were the lowest of society’s people. That says something about the greatness of our God. Jesus did not come as a self-serving dictator. He was not born in a palace. His kingdom was not a worldly one but a heavenly one. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” We must follow after him if we want to live lives worthy of the gospel.
I’ve decided to take advantage of this opportunity by telling you all a story about my Dad, the associate apostle Paul. Remember those “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets so popular a decade ago? I came home one Sunday with a nice blue “W.W.J.D.” bracelet. Dad saw it and asked me what my bracelet meant. I should have known this was a trick question. My Dad told me living Jesus’ life is impossible. If we try we will just fail and get stuck in works-righteousness. This is why we need grace. Jesus Christ must live in and through us to accomplish his good works. Under my father’s loving guidance I either threw my bracelet in the trash or hid it in my treasure box.
It’s wrong to ask, “What would Jesus do” if we are trying to earn heaven. But it’s never wrong to ask, “What was Jesus’ heart attitude?” God is calling us to seek after Christ as our model. Jesus lived humbly as an example for us. Seek after his heart.
In his humility Jesus submitted himself to die the worst death (2:8). He died on the cross, which was a punishment reserved for society’s worst. No Roman citizen would ever face that form of death penalty. The cross shows the extent of Christ’s humility. Not only did he step out of heaven into humanity. He stepped into humanity’s worst as a servant. And then he died the poorest death on the cross. The cross is humility. Jesus lived and died humbly as an example to us.
If the final result of humility is death we have nothing to hope for. But this is not the case. What is the result of humility? The result of humility is exaltation (2:9-11).
Because of Jesus’s humble accomplishment the Father exalted Jesus (2:9-11a). Jesus humbled himself even to death (2:8). He was raised up onto the tree and there he died. But we know death is not the end. Three days later he rose from the grave in victory. The cross had to take place before the Father could exalt the Son. Without the cross we could not know the depths of God’s love or grace. In this triumph God the Father exalted the Son so that on the last day at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Humility precedes exaltation. We see this spiritual principle all throughout Scripture in stories like Joseph, Ruth, David, Rahab, Job, Gideon and others. God has continually honored those who seek to honor God. Christ’s humility is ultimately for the “glory of God the Father”(2:11). Humility is never meant to bring us praise. It is always meant to bring God praise. As we live under the Lordship of Jesus we are to be people who live for others. It’s not about asking did I get what I want but did God get what he wants.
Remember how I said I could never be a pastor because I felt unworthy? I didn’t always feel so humble. As a kid I would often sit in the pew thinking to myself, “Ahhh. I could do this.” It wasn’t so that I could do a powerful work for God. It wasn’t even so I could invite people into a personal relationship with Jesus. It was so that I could say something dramatic, wave my arms a bit, and have the whole Baptist church fall weeping at the foot of the altar. I wanted a real miracle.
I was a little kid in search of big glory. How many of us are little kids in search of big glory? Too many Christians are seduced into wanting exaltation. New England is filled with beautiful white churches with towering steeples. Every week many of those churches sit empty. Their church members wanted exaltation. They were unwilling or unmotivated to surrender their preferences to communicate the gospel to a new generation. They had their building and their programs and they felt fine. My generation sees church must be done differently if we’re to reach people. One of the greatest acts of humility your generation can give to mine is bending and shaping your preferences for the sake of the gospel. This humble act glorifies Jesus and God will one day reward that. Humility precedes exaltation.
In 2008 Sergeant 1st Class Leroy Petry volunteered for a raid on a compound in Afghanistan. He did not have to go on this dangerous daylight operation but volunteered anyway. Once the Ranger’s assault squad cleared the residential building Petry took Private First Class Robinson to clear the outer courtyard. As the two of them crossed the courtyard they came under the fire of at least three enemy fighters. Robinson took one bullet to a side plate. An insurgent shot Petry through both legs.
Wounded and under attack they took cover behind a chicken coup and wall. A third Ranger, Sergeant Higgins, came to assess their wounds. When he arrived an insurgent threw a grenade over the wall. It landed 30 feet from them and the explosion wounded Higgens and Robinson. Two more American soldiers tried to help them but one died in the firefight. The insurgents tossed another grenade. It landed a few feet from Higgins and Robinson. Not thinking about his life Petry grabbed the grenade and threw it back over the fence. As he released it from his right hand it exploded and amputated his arm to below his elbow.
Petry did not have to go on this mission. He didn’t have to clear the courtyard. He could have dove behind the chicken coup. But his two brothers would have died. He did not think about his life and as a result saved the lives of those around him.
On Tuesday July 12th 2011 President Barack Obama awarded Sergeant 1st Class Leroy Petry the Medal of Honor. He is the second living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. The result of humility is exaltation.
Sergeant Petry didn’t throw that grenade to get a medal. He did it because he loved his men. We don’t serve humbly to get a medal. We serve humbly because we love our Lord. We’ll get a crown but we’ll give it back (Rev 4:10-11).
We’re not in Afghanistan but we’re still fighting a battle in Estes. Souls are at stake and we can do it through humility. We have the ultimate example of a humble heart in Christ. He left the prestige of heaven for the humility of earth. He came as a willing servant ready to die for our salvation. Let’s seek to model Christ’s humility. Humility is essential to living a life worthy of the gospel.
[...] preached on Philippians 2:1-11 at his home church in Colorado. Read the sermon on his website weblogchrist.com or enjoy watching the video [...]
ReplyDelete