Serving Like Jesus

I hope you were here last week to hear Josh Bondoc preach the “part 1” to Philippians 2:1-11. If you weren’t able to be here please take the time this week, or even later today, to listen to the recording of that message on the church website, or your podcast app of choice. As with many of our sermons here there are very important and helpful connections between one sermon to the next as we work though different books of the Bible. I personally have been served in my growth as a Christian by the preaching here at EBC. As I get the opportunity to preach I am reminded of the immense labour required to not only understand a passage but to seek to apply it personally and then practice what will be preached. This satisfying and yet arduous task that the men of this church do every week is worth taking some time to be served by if we miss a week for whatever reason!

All that to say that the message I am sharing today hinges on and picks up right where we left off last week. I would even say there is so much richness in taking time to read the entire letter of Philippians in one sitting to confirm what we are saying. I feel great tension to stay in this section that we have chosen for today because the entire letter speaks a cohesive and beautiful message. I want you to see that so please take time to do that this week!

To help us remember where part 1 left off, I want to remind you of some of the main takeaways from Philippians 2:1-5. We heard how Paul calls the Philippians, and us as believers, to be unified in one mind. How is that possible? Through our unity in Christ, the good news that He has saved and redeemed us. Not so that we may be clones, identical to each other but that we, even in our beautiful differences, may be in harmony with each other. We should have in common a renewed mind that looks “not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (v.4). This is possible through Christ Jesus. With Him as our foundation we can be a family of believers who no longer need to compete with each other. We can celebrate the gifts and skills of our brothers and sisters! We can overlook offensives, being quick to forgive! We can rejoice in the success of our family in Christ! This is the mindset that Paul calls the believers to in Philippi.

One of the beautiful results of this that was pointed out is that this is a path of joy. When we don’t have something to prove we can begin to sincerely and joyfully love each other. We do not need to over-intellectualize how we should talk or when we should laugh or if we should pray. From the renewed mind of a Christ changed person we can and should love with sincerity those around us. It should come from the heart, and we can ask God to help us love in this way more and more.

 

 

In the last half of our passage that we are looking at today we will hear Paul’s justification for why we can and need to put in practice what he wrote in Philippians 2:1-4. The way we can do these things is by following our perfect and glorious example, Jesus.

Jesus, Our Example

I believe that this passage in Philippians 2 calls its audience to follow the example of Jesus. Some might take verses 6-11 as a hymn that Paul is borrowing, one that was already written. As a result those that believe this have put much effort into using this passage as a means to get insight into the earliest christian’s beliefs. This might be one of the times when just because you can theorize and speculate, does not mean you are meant to. A plain reading of this passage shows that Paul desires the Philippians to imitate Christ by “hav[ing] this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…” Paul then describes the mind of Christ Jesus whom the Philippians, and us today, should imitate. We will see later how so many passages in Scripture agree that Jesus is our example as Christians. So let us see how Philippians 2:6-11 show us our Saviour, Jesus.

Jesus is God (v. 6)

Philippians 2:6 says, referring to Christ Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” What does this mean? It means Jesus is equal to God. It does not mean that Jesus merely looked like God, but that he is equal with God. Other translations say, “though he was God” (NLT), or “being in very nature God” (NIV). This is such a clear statement of Jesus’ oneness with God.

It seems what follows to be almost jarring. “[Jesus] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v. 6b). What this part of verse 6 shows is the character of Jesus. He is God, completely and truly. And yet, this does not mean he desired to exploit or take advantage of the privilege of his status.

This seems so alien to our way of thinking doesn’t it? What person of high honour and privilege doesn’t hold on to their status? This is like a member of royalty who lets go of the choicest foods of the land and chooses to eat what is being thrown to the garbage. Our nature in this world is to have what is above our nature. We are so quick to drive cars of those wealthier then us or speak knowingly at length about things that we perused on an AI search moments before. We strive to elevate our nature, to grasp on to it, not give it up! But our Jesus, in his very form being God, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”

Jesus is Man (v. 7)

So we see Jesus’ character in verse 6, but we see his action which shows his character in verse 7. “But emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7). Jesus acts and chooses to have the “

form

of a servant.” You remember who Jesus was also in the form of? Yes he was in the form God in verse 6 and ALSO in the form of a servant. How can he be in the form of a servant (a slave deprived of the most basic human rights) and in the form of God? It is hard to believe these to both be possible! But the difficulty we might feel in hearing this is not one that Paul has. He clearly writes that Jesus is God and a human servant. Those do not contradict each other!

The reason that this is possible is because of Jesus’ perfection. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” This Jesus, who is in human form (v. 7-8) did not sin, unlike all other humans. Jesus was the perfect man.

Don’t forget where this passage is leading us. We start with Jesus being equal to God, then Jesus, coming to the lowly form of a human, a human servant no less. Can there be any more room for the depth of this sacrifice? This is already from Heaven to Earth!

Jesus is Crucified (v. 8)

Jesus goes even further to unimaginable depths. Don’t let this be something you hear and say, “oh ya, Jesus was God and became a human servant… what’s for lunch?” This appears to break every logic we know! And yet, what do we see in verse 8? “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). This might be another statement we are tempted to barely bat an eye at. Don’t become numb to the shocking reality of Jesus willing going to death! Not a death that has a degree of nobility. This is not death where the prisoner holds his head high and those watching observe with a sympathetic admiration of his bravery. This is a death that forces you to turn away because of the horrific and gruesome shame. Death on a cross was the form of execution reserved for the lowest ranks of Roman society (violent thieves, rebels, and slaves). It was horribly painful, exposing, and lengthy with people hanging potentially for days before death finally came. It was not a form of death that anyone would voluntarily go to.

But Jesus, in willing obedience, submits to the authority of the Father by dying on the cross. Why would Jesus do this? Why would Jesus be commanded to do this? Part of the answer to this is Jesus is showing his character. He is showing who God is by acting in loving humility. One commentator says this, “Christ went from the highest position imaginable to the lowest precisely because such selfless love was an expression of his deity.” This is why Paul is right to say Jesus was in the form of God and the form of Man. This is why Jesus would go to the cross to die. Jesus is showing what it means to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (v. 3).

Is the humility that Jesus is exemplifying the same humility that Paul told the Philippians to have in that verse (v. 3)? I don’t think it is by accident that Paul uses a very similar word calling the believers to be humble as Jesus humbled himself to death on a cross. As I prepared to preach this passage I could not help but feel uncomfortable at the magnitude of what Christians are called to. Don’t keep these words at arms length. Do not forget that Paul is showing the mind of Christ that believers should have. Jesus is our example. 1 John 3:16 says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Jesus is the perfect example of loving humility as he went to the cross.

Jesus is the Exalted King (v. 9-11)

But the Philippians 2 continues and now we see something different. It is almost like the deepest, darkest, coldest night is ending and the heat of the morning sun has come. Because of what Jesus did, and because of who Jesus is, we see what God does.

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every other name, so 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” (Phil 2:9-11).

What we see here in verses 9-11 is a shift from the downward movement of Jesus’ humility to the upward exaltation of the Father. When we see the word “therefore” it connects what took place before to what happens here. The pattern in Scripture is that those who humble themselves will be lifted up by God. In Matthew 23:11-12 Jesus says, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” It is not ironic that Jesus himself would teach these things as he knowingly put this action of humility into practice.

We also get a glimpse of the connection between Jesus’ humility and his exaltation from Hebrews 2:9-10.

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Through the suffering of Jesus he showed the humility that is his character. The result of this suffering is Jesus’ glorification. God elevates Jesus and gives him the “name that is above every name” who every knee bows before and every tongue confesses.

In order to understand what Paul is saying in verses 10 and 11 we need to understand what Paul’s audience would have known. Paul is using phrases in these verses that clearly bring to mind Isaiah 45.

Lets read Isaiah 45:22-23, “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness, a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’” We don’t have time to unpack the full context of Isaiah 45 but from these verses some things are clear. God is speaking. God is making the promise that he is God, and earlier in this passage he states that “there is no other God besides [him]” (Isaiah 45:21). This God is YHWH and he declares that every being will bow before him and will swear allegiance to him. There will be a time when this is not optional. Both those willing and those unwilling will submit to YHWH and confess his greatness.

It is quite a difficult truth to accept in our agreeable and polite culture, but it is true. This God is the same God who exalts Jesus and gives him the name that all beings will bow before and “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11). It is the same God who is one with Jesus, our humble Saviour who hung on a cross to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus and YHWH both will have all beings bow before them. Do you get it? Don’t you see? This means Jesus is exalted to the place of God. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus’ Lordship. This brings glory to the Father whom Jesus is equal to.

When will this happen? How can I know Paul intentionally makes these connections? Because Paul quotes this same passage in Isaiah in Romans 14:9 declaring that all people will sit before the judgment seat of God and each of us will give an account of himself to God. He understands that Isaiah is referring to YHWH. He also understands that it is right to quote Isaiah to speak of Jesus who became a servant and died on a cross and is currently exalted with God the Father. One day soon every being will bow and every tongue will confess in the final judgment.

Following Jesus’ Example

Where does that leave us? If we are following Jesus, how do we live like him? I know we can hear the amazing way Jesus demonstrates humble servanthood and we can be tempted to discouragement. We might say, “how in the world are we supposed to give up anything close to what Jesus did?” Some of you might be feeling guilt and sincere anguish over how you have lived for selfish ambition. Can I say first of all that we cannot forget what Jesus accomplished when he, “endured the cross, despising the shame,” and sat at the right hand of the throne of God (Her 12:2). Jesus allowed for us sinners to be saved, to be free from the penalty of sin, and to be counted as children of God. Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Let us remember that in following Jesus’ example we do nothing to EARN salvation. It is the joyful privilege to follow in the path of Jesus Christ, our big brother, to the sufferings of a humble servant.

Serving in Humility

Starting where Jesus started means serving with humility. This humility is a mindset. It is motivated by the love that God has for us that we also love with. This humility means giving up what status we might have! Are there neighbourhoods that we are not willing to visit to meet the people there? Are there opportunities to serve that we think are beneath us? Some of us might be quick to lend a listening ear to the person that understands us and is fun to connect with. Are we just as willing to be a listening ear to the person that seems to be stuck in the same struggles week in and week out? Do we steer clear of those who require effort to love, forgive, and care for?

Serving in humility means putting aside our comfort, preferences, and even at times our rest in order to metaphorically “wash the feet” of the people around us. A humble servant does not get to pick and choose those they would prefer to serve. As soon as we make judgments of who might deserve our service based on their appearance, James says we become “judges with evil thoughts” (James 2:4). Instead we are to “Love your neighbour as yourself” (James 2:8).

Consider what Jesus gave up and put aside to be a man. Notice how he served without need for recognition of his good deeds. We should not quickly forget Jesus words in Matthew 23:11-12, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” How can we actually humble ourselves to be a servant like Jesus?

For some of us we need to be challenged to SIT STILL, to look a brother or sister in the eyes, hear their challenges and bring God’s Word to them. This might feel scary or beneath us. If you struggle with that, I encourage you to follow the example of Jesus and be still with people around you.

For others we may need to be challenged to GET UP. You might be quick to hear someone out and maybe even point them to God and pray with them. But making a meal or helping them clean their house or fix a practical problem they have is not what you are willing to do. Of course some of us have limitations on what we can do physically or may be limited with travel, but I would encourage you to pray and ask trusted believers around you where you can serve. Examine your heart to see where pride causes you to dismiss options for how you can serve both the christians in your life and those who do not love and obey God.

Through Suffering

Something often happens when we seriously and passionately jump into serving with humility. We are warned about it constantly in Scripture and we see in Philippians 2 how Jesus experienced this as he lived out perfect humility, it is suffering. Matthew 16:24-25 says, “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Brothers and sisters, if we have benefited from the sufferings of Jesus by Him taking our sin to the cross, we are to take up our own cross and follow Jesus. Do not forget that the cross does not just mean go to death, it means death by unbelievable shame and pain. I do not believe that we need to physically die on a cross to be obedient to Jesus, but at the same time, by God’s power we should be willing to do so. We are not meant as Christians to recklessly throw ourselves into suffering just for suffering’s sake. But as we humbly serve, following Jesus’ example, it should not surprise us to encounter pain and tribulation.

I want to clarify as well that we do not join Jesus in suffering IN ORDER to be saved. Jesus paid for sin once and for all on the cross (Heb 9:26). Our suffering is not one of atonement for sin like Jesus’ was. It is actually Jesus’ sufferings that allow for us to bear the suffering we will experience as we “bear our cross.”

So what does this mean for our service? As we seek to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves,” do we use pain as an indication of what we should or shouldn’t do?

As a paramedic I have seen that people have been created with certain characteristics that preserve us. People are hardwired for protection. We have pain receptors with the purpose of stopping us from seriously injuring ourselves. When we feel a hot surface we instinctually withdraw, IN ORDER that we do not burn ourselves! Most of us hesitate to lean over the edge of a tall roof or cliff IN ORDER to not fall to our demise! This is not all bad for some obvious reasons, but due to sin twisting the way things should be, we as people so quickly make it our ambition to preserve what should not be preserved. Isn’t it true that naturally we do “everything from selfish ambition” and “in pride count ourselves more significant than others.” This is clearly the opposite of what Philippians 2:3 says!

We do not need to fear or protect our souls if we are saved by God (Col 3:3). We do not need to preserve our spirit by avoiding suffering in this life in the way our bodies naturally avoid pain to prevent injury.

An example of this might be if you are serving in a ministry in church, you might experience a degree of pain. People might inadvertently or intentionally criticize you. You might be offended by a lack of gratefulness. You might even be falsely accused of negligence or sin! Does that mean you should abandon service in ministry? Isn’t that an opportunity to join with Jesus in His sufferings?

Some of you might be wondering, “my brothers and sisters are not that easy to love! Even when I do it right, I have been burned and maybe even abused by others that I attempt to love with humility and sincerity. I have faced pain upon pain to the point where I would rather let other people prove first they’re not going to be the ones to hurt me.”

I hear you, I share your hesitation. Not necessarily for the same reasons but I think everyone agrees that this call from Scripture is scary for a bunch of reasons.

I don’t know if you know but I had the privilege to be a full-time teacher for Faith Night last year. It is such an important role but I sincerely struggled with it! A good portion of my struggle was due to my own sin problems, but there was part of it that was just plain difficult. Labouring through deep and complex teachings, trying to make it understandable to little humans, and all the while battling some of the highest energy in mankind! For me it felt like a battle and at times a tiny degree of suffering. What I pray is that my decision to serve the children of our community is not made by my avoidance of pain (I’m really selling children’s ministry hey?). I hope if you hear the call of this message rightly, hearing about an important, challenging ministry should not serve to discourage the opportunity to serve.

We need to clarify something very important here. Just as pain is not an indicator of whether something is right, pain is also not a reliable indicator if something is wrong. So what I am not saying is “find the most painful way to serve because that’s where you need to be.” We need to be willing to suffer, as humble servants like Jesus. Thankfully we have a good reason to suffer. Something comes after the sufferings. Do you remember what came after Jesus death?

To Glory

Glory! Exaltation! Paul makes this so clear a little later in chapter 3 of Philippians. “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (v. 14). “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Christ Jesus, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (v. 20-21).

Did Jesus suffer just for suffering’s sake? NO! He had a goal, the exaltation through the his resurrection from the dead and being placed above all things. Paul says in Philippians 3:21 that we also as believers have glorified bodies awaiting us and in verse 20 we have citizenship in heaven. Paul connects what happened to Jesus in Philippians 2 to what will happen to believers in chapter 3. This is in part why we willingly choose to suffer! This is why we as Christians need to be willing to lay down our lives and our own ambitions. We need to serve like Jesus in a way that feels like death, and may indeed result one day in physical death.

We have a reward awaiting our service. James 1:12 says, “blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” This is true of us just as it was for Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). Just as Jesus, following his humble service, death on a cross, and exaltation gives glory to God the father as we saw in Philippians 2:11, so Jesus receives the glory from our spirit empowered lives.

Let these things be an encouragement to you. Jesus our Saviour suffered with joy in his vision. Take heart when you suffer for the sake of Jesus. Do not let a fear of suffering choose if or where you serve. Let us have the mind of Christ as we lovingly serve the family of God. And I trust that as we do these things we won’t help but notice those that are lost and in desperate need of Jesus. Make it a practice to share the gospel with believers and non-believers! This is one of the ways that we can serve our neighbours in Nipawin and wherever we go.

As we come to the time of communion I want to conclude this message by reading once again Philippians 2:1-11.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 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.

We worship this Jesus who suffered and died, perfectly showing the humble love of God. It is through his work on the cross that we can be His children, washed clean by his blood. Let us take communion and ask for his Spirit to empower our lives of humble service.

God sustain us to the end in the midst of suffering so we may join in the glory and joy to come. Amen.