Sermon from May 20, 2007
J.B. Lightfoot, an Anglican bishop and Bible commentator wrote this about the early church in Philippi: "Of the church which stood foremost among all the apostolic communities in faith and love, it may literally be said that not one stone stands upon another. Its whole career is a signal monument of the inscrutable counsels of God. Born into the world with the brightest promise, the Church of Philippi has lived without a history and perished without a memorial," (St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, 65).

We know from Acts that Philippi was the leading city of that district of Macedonia (Acts 16:12), the old stomping grounds of Alexander the Great. We know that it was a Roman colony (Acts 16:12). That meant that anyone who was a citizen of Philippi, was a citizen of Rome, with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereunto.

We also know from Acts 16:13-15 that the Philippian church began with a successful immigrant business woman, named Lydia. Paul and his traveling companions stayed in her home at her invitation.

Luke tells us that Paul's missionary activity got him in trouble with the local authorities. People angry with Paul had him arrested on charges that he was a Jew and that he was advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice (Acts 16:21). Upon his release from prison, the city fathers banned him from Philippi.

He left behind a congregation to whom he wrote the letter we read today and next Sunday. It reveals a church that posed no doctrinal aberrations for the apostle to correct and no more lapses that dishonored the name of Christ.

Paul wrote it from prison in Rome. By the time of writing he had been in Jewish and Roman custody for 3-4 years. That difficult background makes the tone of this letter stand out brilliantly; no writing of Paul's exudes more joy than Philippians.

His joy would justify a half dozen sermons on Philippians. But today and next Sunday, I want to show you where his joy came from. We begin in Philippians 2:1-13.

Paul's Wish and Mine
Verse one: If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ ... My wedding band signifies that I am united with my wife. Baptism and the Lord's Supper signify that we are united with Christ. Does union with Christ encourage you? Does it, for example, encourage you to stay true to Christ and His Church? Does it encourage you to glorify God in all you do? I hope it does encourage you.

Verse one continues: if (you have) any comfort from his love ...  May we all love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. More importantly, may we all know that God loves us. Do you know that, and does it comfort you to know that the Creator of all things is favorably disposed toward you? I know it does comfort you.

Further: if (you have) any fellowship with the Spirit ... Do you care about the things the Spirit cares about: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Do you benefit from that mysterious guidance, which the Spirit provides for the Church on her pilgrim's journey? I know you do.

If (you have) any tenderness and compassion ... I know you do have tenderness and compassion. I've seen countless times, when you reached out to someone else in this congregation to offer a kind word or practical help, often with no regard for something in return. I've seen countless times, when you did the same for people beyond this congregation, even more often with no regard for something in return. I count myself blessed to be one of the pastors in this congregation. I often pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. You will be my hope and joy and exceeding great reward on the Day of Christ.

Inasmuch as all this is true, the Apostle Paul made a request to the Philippian church. Following the apostle's footsteps, I will ask the same of you. I can ask nothing higher than I ask of you now.

Building Phase III would be a beautiful thing. That's not what I am asking. Verse two: make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. That may sound sentimental. It is not. The rest of this incomparable passage will make that clear.

The Call to Humility
For example, no one would call verse three sentimental. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. The word humility troubles us because of the last words of the verse: consider others better than yourselves.  They seem to ask us to do something hypocritical.

We do consider a few people better than ourselves, but usually we say, “I’m not saying I’m better than anybody else, but I’m no worse either.” John Calvin spoke for us all when he asked, “How is it possible that one who really is superior to others can reckon those to be above him whom he knows to be far beneath him?” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 2, 348). Am I asking you to pretend something that is false?

Maybe we should rephrase the request of verse three. Paul did that in verse four: Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. I like that. It recognizes that I have legitimate personal interests. It calls on me to recognize that every other person also has legitimate personal interests.

Here comes the punch line. Can you and I put another person’s legitimate personal interests ahead of our own? Christian humility calls on us to do exactly that. It can be hard, and with some people it feels impossible. But it doesn’t ask us to pretend something that is false. It asks us to act.

And you do act. I meant it earlier, when I said that I’ve seen countless times, when you reached out to someone in this congregation to offer a kind word or practical help, often with no regard for something in return. I’ve seen countless times, when you did the same for people beyond this congregation, even more often with no regard for something in return. If that’s not Christian humility, then I don’t know what is.

If you would like a model of what Paul and I are requesting, Paul gave in the next seven verses. If you would like a motive for what Paul and I are requesting, Paul gave in the next seven verses. We begin in verse five. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. In our circumstances we can to some degree imitate what our Lord did. Let’s look more closely at what He did. It will tell us what Christian humility is all about.

Verse six says that Jesus Christ, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. If all the birds of the Brandywine Valley stopped singing when these verses are read, it would be out of awe that the Jesus of the Gospels was equal with God.

Now, stay with me.Would you describe equality with God as a position of strength? Of course! This is crucial to an understanding of Christian humility. Christian humility always operates out of personal strengths, privileges and prerogatives. It never starts with someone saying, “Oh, I’m just a nobody. I don’t matter.” That’s not humility. That’s nonsense.

Christian humility always operates out of a position of strength. From that position of strength a person sets aside privilege and prerogative in order to put another person’s legitimate personal interests ahead of his own. Here’s how Jesus Christ did it.

Verse seven says that not only did He not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Remember: We can’t do what He did, but His example has motivated many Christians to do heroic acts of self-sacrifice. Don’t put a limit on what you might do, when you put another person’s legitimate personal interests ahead of your own. I’ll give you an example later.

We’re not finished here. Our Lord not only set aside privileges and prerogatives of equality with God, He also set aside privileges and prerogatives of equality with man. Verse eight: And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, and it was no ordinary death; it was even death on a cross! It was that death inflicted by the Romans as their way of saying “loud and clear: we are in charge here; you are our property; we can do what we like with you” (N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 543).

What legitimate personal interests did humanity have that moved our Savior to set aside His personal interests to that degree? We were enemies of God, in thrall to the devil, caught in a downward spiral of self-destroying evil. Nothing but the humility of Christ could help the family of man. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich – 2 Corinthians 8:9.

“How is it possible that one who really is superior to others can reckon those to be above him whom he knows to be far beneath him?” asked Calvin. From the example of Christ, we learn that we can do that by choosing to serve another person’s needs.

God rewards Christian humility, although we may receive our reward in the age to come. Verses 9-11: 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.