Sermon for Sunday July 18th, 2010
When Was Jesus Humble? by Glenn Durham
Philippians 2:5-2:11
Scripture Introduction
The Christian faith is first and foremost about a person, which distinguishes it
from other religions. Certainly the Bible teaches great moral truths, but
Christianity is NOT, essentially, a new morality. Fantastic churches and
ministries do wonderful works in the name of the Lord, but Christianity is NOT,
fundamentally, a system of good works. True believers write learned discourses
explaining both the world in which we live and how to live in this world, but
Christianity is NOT, primarily, a philosophy of living fruitfully in a fallen
world.
Jesus is the essence of the faith—who he is and what he did. At Christmas people
sometimes say, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” That is true, but we could
expand it by saying, “Jesus is the reason for the religion.” The Apostle Paul
summarized his ministry as: “we preach Christ crucified.”
All Biblical preaching proclaims the cross of Christ, and some passages make
that more obvious by their focus on the person and work of Jesus. Philippians
2.5-11 is one of those, Paul’s great meditation on Christ before time, Christ in
time, and Christ beyond time.
[Read Philippians 2.5-11. Pray.]
Introduction
Once upon a time, a young shepherd grew bored while watching his flock. So he
yelled, “Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is among the sheep!”
The villagers nearby ran with shovels and spears and hoes and picks—it was a
near carnival to see them all rush to his aid, and the boy laughed at the sight.
They scolded him for his behavior, but he still enjoyed the relief.
A few weeks passed and he again felt desperate for some excitement. So he cried,
“Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is among the sheep!” Again the villagers came running, which
delighted the boy tremendously, but the villagers were not amused.
The next day, a real wolf appeared. The shepherd boy, greatly alarmed, shouted
in terror: “Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is among the sheep! Please, come and help me!”
But no one paid heed to his cries; no one came running. The wolf killed the
sheep.
Why did the villagers not respond to the boy’s cry? [Because they did not
believe him.]
Did they believe that a Wolf existed? [Yes.]
Did they believe a Wolf could be dangerous? [Yes.]
Did they believe that if a Wolf were among the sheep, the result would be
disastrous? [Yes.]
What then did they not believe? [They not believe that the boy was telling the
truth.]
How do you know that they did not believe the boy? I did not say that in the
story, so how do you know that? [Because they did not come running.]
True belief produces changed behavior. If we are not changed, it would seem to
be that our faith is deficient or non-existent. When we truly believe, we come
running when God calls.
It makes me wonder if people think of God like the villagers thought of the
wolf. We live in a religious country—polls tell us that 90% of the population
believes there is a God. I am not certain, but I would guess many feel that God
can be dangerous, and that if he were truly among us (like a wolf or lion), then
they would certainly act differently. But hearts and minds seem little changed
by the faith professed.
God reminds us in Romans 12 to have our lives transformed by the renewing of our
minds. And here in Philippians 2.5, we are commanded to have the mind of Christ.
How are we to think like Jesus, and what effects will that have on our lives? I
believe God would have us explore those questions from our text, noting, first…
1. We Must Hope Because of Jesus’ Eternal Divinity (Philippians 2.6)
The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in
for his usual treatment. A new doctor on duty said to him casually and cruelly,
“You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?” As the young man left,
he stopped by the director’s desk and wept. “That man took away my hope,” he
blurted out. “I guess he did,” replied the director. “Maybe it’s time to find a
new one.”
Lewis Smedes (who taught theology and ethics at Fuller Seminary for many years)
wrote about that incident, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there
hope when the situation is hopeless? In the Bible, hope is no longer a passion
for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.”
G. K. Chesterton: “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no
virtue at all…. As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or
platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a
strength.”
I do not need to give you all the reasons to be hopeless. With a world full of
terrors and troubles, we easily grow discouraged and fearful. Where do we find
hope? One place is in the promise of who Christ is.
Philippians 2.6 tells us that Christ was equal to God before he was born. John
the Apostle explains it this way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father…” (John
1.1,14). Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the one
who is, and who was, and who is to come (Revelation 1.8). “He is before all
things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1.17). All creation,
heaven and earth, will perish, but Christ remains: “he is the same and his years
have no end” (Hebrews 1.11-12). John the Baptist said of him, “He who comes
after me ranks above me, because he was before me” (John 1.15). Christ is
eternal God.
Alister McGrath (doctorates in both molecular biophysics and divinity from
Oxford, formerly an atheist and now chair of theology at King’s College,
London): “God did not send a subordinate to redeem us. He chose to do it
himself” (Knowing Christ).
The Nicene Creed, which Christians have recited together for hundreds of years,
reminds us of what must be believed about Jesus: “I believe in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of
one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
Christ is eternal God.
And when we believe that, we are filled with hope. Not wishing for something we
know will not happen, but certain of a promise secured by the power of God.
When my kids were younger, one of their favorite riddles was about a father who
offers his inheritance to the son that can fill a room with something which he
purchases with only a few dollars. One boy buys feathers, but the money will not
buy enough to fill the room. The second tries straw, but neither can he purchase
enough. The third buys a candle and match and fills the room with light.
We have ample reason to despair. The world is a dark and desperate place.
Christian hope is not Pollyannish optimism in the face of certain defeat. It is
a sure and certain Savior; it is faith in a Deliverer, King, Friend, Brother,
Lord, Captain, and Teacher who is — God! Darkness must flee before the power of
light; as God, Christ has infinite power to overcome every darkness in this
world. We may not despair, no matter how trying the circumstances—God has come
to earth!
2. We Must Be Humble Because of Jesus’ Full Humanity (Philippians 2.7-8)
Yehiel Dinur testified against Adolf Eichmann at his Jerusalem trial in 1961 for
war crimes. When he came face-to-face with Eichmann for the first time since
being sent to Auschwitz almost 20 years earlier, Dinur began to sob
uncontrollably and then fainted. Was Dinur overcome by hatred, or fear, or
simply the horror of the memories of Auschwitz? Mike Wallace asked him that very
question on 60 Minutes. Dinur said: “I was afraid about myself. I saw that I am
capable to do this. I am…exactly like he.” Mike Wallace then said: “Eichmann is
in all of us.”
Chuck Colson, commenting on that episode of 60 Minutes, wrote: “Wallace’s
summation of Dinur’s terrible discovery—‘Eichmann is in all of us’—is a
horrifying statement; but it indeed captures the central truth about man’s
nature. For as a result of the fall, sin is in each of us—not just the
susceptibility to sin, but sin itself… That being so, why is sin so seldom
written or preached about? Dinur’s dramatic collapse in the Nuremburg courtroom
gives us the clue. For to truly confront evil–the sin within us– is a
devastating experience. If the reality of man’s sin was forthrightly preached,
it would have the same shattering effect on blissful churchgoers that it had on
Dinur. Many would flee their pews never to return. And since church growth is
today’s supreme standard of spirituality, many pastors steer away from such
confrontive subjects; so do authors who want their books bought and read. So do
television preachers whose success depends on audience ratings; for viewers
confronted with hard truth can simply flick the offending preacher out of their
living rooms. The result is that the message is often watered down to a
palatable gospel of positive thinking which will ‘hold the audience.’ That’s
what Nazi victim Dietrich Bonhoeffer called ‘cheap grace’–that in which ‘no
contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin.’
But it’s the very heart of a Christian conversion to confront one’s own sin and
thus to desperately desire deliverance from it.”
Philippians 2 reminds us that in space and time God was born as a human baby. He
did not give up deity, but took on humanity, God incarnate, God living in human
flesh. Jesus is God humble, relinquishing the glory and honor due in order to
save sinners. He humbled himself, not grasping tightly praise and worship
demanded by his divine nature, but voluntarily descending to the depths of
degradation—convicted and executed as a cursed and condemned criminal. He did
not sin himself—indeed, as God he could not. But he was made into sin itself,
and judged guilty, so that God’s grace and mercy might be revealed in saving
sinners.
This is the humility which we must grasp. We are to be humble when we look at
ourselves, because of how desperate is our need, that God must descend so deep
to deliver. And we are to be humble when we look at God, because of how divine
is the humility which Christ displays. Everything about the humanity of Christ
screams for humility.
C. J. Mahaney (Sovereign Grace Ministries) wrote a great book on humility. Ligon
Duncan (First Presbyterian, Jackson, MS) writes in the blurb on the front
flyleaf: “A ‘proud Christian’ is an oxymoron. May the Lord of Glory, who humbled
himself unto death, use this book to slay pride in you, and to form in you the
true greatness of servanthood and self-denial.”
Yes, Dr. Duncan, may the Lord of Glory make it so.
3. We Must Hold Fast Because of Jesus Exalted Glory (Philippians 2.9-11)
When Jesus first came to earth, his divine nature was hidden under his humanity;
when he returns, he will display his deity.
Christ’s First Coming - When Christ Returns
Was in humility and he was despised - it will be in glory and he will be
worshipped
Was in rags and we rejected him - In royal robes and all will revere
Was in meekness and we mocked - Will be in power and he will be praised
Was in the form of a suffering servant - It will be as the glorified God
Was in poverty - Will be in wealth
Was disguised as a man and scorned - Will be revealed as God and received
Was ignored by most - Will get the attention of all
Was cursed as a criminal - Will be confessed as King
Was ugly - Will be beautiful
We need to see the difference so that we will hold fast until the glory is
revealed. We are in the time of humility, and those who truly believe in Christ
share in his sufferings. There will be times when we feel certain that we
ourselves are under the “sentence of death. But that is to make us rely not on
ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2Corinthians 1.9).
Romans 8.18-25: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation
waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation
was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it,
in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption
and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption
of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not
hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we
wait for it with patience.
4. Conclusion
Read “The Parable” (Preface) from Crabb, Shattered Dreams. (Long quote):
Hope and humility and the courage to hold fast come not from the promise of a
pleasant life, but from the promise of who God is and what he does. Let us
desire to drink from his streams of living water.