Jesus humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The Palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier. Why? Because that His what God does Roger Barrier preaches from Philippians on Christ’s amazing sacrifice to come to earth as a baby and sacrifice His life for us.
Jesus: Christmas Servant
Philippians 2:1-11
S-1719
Gift to myself from family
Selfish Christmas gifts: three gifts to one.
Children’s Pictures: Not one of a servant
READ Philippians 2:1-5: 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with 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 purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Paul is encouraging us to stop allowing two strong tendencies—selfishness and conceit—to dominate the relationships in their church and instead replace them with deep sacrifice and humility.
Philippians 4:2-3: “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche (Euodia means “fragrance” and Syntyche means “fortunate.”) to agree with each other in the Lord. Help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel . . . whose names are in the Book of Life.”
I don’t know what Fragrance and Fortunate were fighting about, but Paul was concerned. With them in mind he penned one of the most precious descriptions of Jesus Christ to be found anywhere.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:”
I know that our day is not enamored with the idea of giving and caring and serving others.
Bings and twinkles
•SLIDE: In what seems to be a cross generational attitude, Clint Eastwood looks you in the eye and says,: “Go ahead. Make my day.”
SLIDE: In the Matrix Orpheus in the midst of sparring gestured to his opponent, “Come, let’s get it on.
SLIDE: And it doesn’t sound much like St. Francis of Assissi who prayed, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”
But up here in our minds, where it all begins, we called upon to have the mind of Christ, which is the mind of a servant.
·SLIDE: Notice the seven step descent from Heaven to the Cross.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:6a: Who, being in very nature God,
In order to understand this meaning we need to have a simple lesson in grammar.
“Being” is a verbal adjective. It is a verb used to describe a noun.
For example, “a crying baby.” The word crying used there would be a participle.
In Greek the context or circumstances in determine the meaning.
·SLIDE: The participle may be causal and you would use the word because in front of it (because the baby is crying);
Or it might be concessive (although the baby was crying);
Or it might be conditional (if the baby is crying);
Or it might be durative (while the baby is crying).
·SLIDE: “______Being an Arizona Wildcat fan, I think we will win the Pac-10.”
Which of those words or phrases would you use to fill in the blank?
Because of, although, if, while?
“Jesus, __________ (because of, although, if, while) being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.”
If you understand the context, this ought to be translated,
·SLIDE: “Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus who precisely because He was in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to hang on to at all costs”
He humbled Himself and took off His glory to become a man, to become a servant, to die on the cross sins of the world, not in spite of the fact that He was God, but because He was God.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Precisely because I am God. This is how I do things.”
It is the nature of God to serve. Isn’t that fantastic? That is our God. That’s the God that we serve.
“Very nature God” is the Greek word “morphe” or “form.” This word refers to the outward expression of one’s inward nature.
In Heaven His inward nature is God. His outward manifestation is the glory of God.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:6b: did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
It is difficult for any of us to get this concept into language. The Lord Jesus Christ was God.
It was no effort for Him to be God. He did not go to school and get special training and earn a special degree to become God. He did not work overtime in order to be advanced to the position of God.
Nor was it something that after He transitioned to earth that He had to hold on to and work hard to keep from losing.
When He left Heaven’s glory to come down to this earth He didn’t say to the Father, “Keep Your eye on Gabriel. I think he’s after My job.”
Yet, He did not consider this something to be clung to at any price. He gives it up. He comes down the rungs on the ladder and becomes a servant, a man, and soon to the cross.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:7a: but made himself nothing,
Greek word “kenosis” means “He emptied himself.” It is a Greek word which describes pouring out something until it is empty.
Paul did not specify what He emptied out? He laid the stress upon the “emptying”.
He did not empty Himself of His Deity, since Paul says that the expression of His deity was a fact after His incarnation.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:7b: taking the very nature of a servant,
This is about One Who went down the ladder as far as He could go, not in spite of the fact that He was God, but precisely because of the fact that He was God.
Have you noticed in the Gospels that it is Jesus who serves others, not others who serve Jesus? He is at the beck and call of fishermen, harlots, tax collectors, the sick, the sorrowing.
In the Upper Room, when His disciples refused to minister, Jesus arose, laid aside his outer garments, put on the long linen towel, and washed their feet.
An illustration of this self-emptying of the Son of God is found in John 13:1-17. Our Lord seated at the table, the Master and Lord of the disciples, is illustrative of Him in His preincarnate glory, giving outward expression of the glory of His deity to the angels. Our Lord, girded with a towel, and washing the feet of the disciples, is illustrative of His taking the outward expression of a servant in His incarnation. His outer garments laid aside for the time being, point to His setting aside the outward expression of His preincarnate glory while He expressed Himself as a bondslave. The fact that He was still their Master and Lord while kneeling on the floor doing the work of an oriental slave, speaks of the fact that our Lord’s assumption of humanity did not mean that He relinquished His deity. He was just as much God while on earth in His humiliation, as He was before He came and as He is now. His act of taking His outer garments again, tells us of the resumption of the expression of His glory after the resurrection
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:7c: being made in human likeness.
It was the outward expression of the essence of His deity which He emptied out in order to put on the body.
He exchanged one form of expression for another. In verse six He was in His pre-incarnate state expressing Himself as Deity. In verse seven He expresses Himself in incarnation as a servant.
What we see now is what people saw when they saw Him on earth.
He laid aside His glory. In John 17, He prays to get His glory back.
How real is the humanity of Jesus? It is 100% genuine. As man, Jesus experiences a physical, super-natural, virgin birth (Luke 1:35). The Gospels reveal His hunger, thirst, disappointment, and joy. The Williams translation of John 11:35 says that “Jesus burst into tears” at the grave of Lazarus. He knew the bitterness of temptation, but He was “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14). He understands our way of life because He identified with us.
He could get weary and sit down at a well. He need to eat and sleep. He arranged it so that His enemies could spit in His face; they could crucify Him. He made himself nothing.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:8a: And being found in appearance as a man,
How people see Him
Each word in the description emphasizes the outward semblance. “Being found, discovered to be.” The verdict of his fellow-creatures upon Him. They classed him as an “anthropos”. His outward guise was altogether human.
While in a human body He bears the marks of His Father in Heaven.
¥SLIDE: USA TODAY this week: “Genetically, It Seems, Your Face Belongs To Daddy.”
“Sorry moms, according to a new theory, babies are more likely to look like their dads. It is self preservation. The theory is that the father confers face genes on the baby that will make the baby’s face resemble his own. While a mother can be sure that the baby is hers no matter what it looks like, the father cannot. It is to the baby’s advantage to look like the father to encourage paternal investment.
122 people matched photos of children ages 1, 10, and 20 to photos of adults. Nobody could consistently match photos of 10 and 20 year olds with their parents. Nor could anyone match 1-year olds with their mothers. But they did match 1-year olds Ñ both sons and daughters Ñ with their fathers.”
This is why Jesus said so often, “I and my Father are one.” He was consistently doing the things God would do if He were on earth.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:8b: he humbled himself and became obedient to death-
Does anybody remember a modern-day athlete whose tag line is, “I am the greatest”? Muhammed Ali. He tells this story about himself. One time, he was on a plane, and everybody was supposed to buckle up their seat belts, but he didn’t want to do it. The flight attendant said, “You have to put on your seatbelt.” He answered, “I’m not going to put a seatbelt on, because I’m Superman.” He went on about how he didn’t have to do this, and she kept telling him that he had to do it, explaining to him that it was like a safety law. They couldn’t take off until he put it on. And finally he said, “I’m not going to do it, because I’m Superman, and Superman don’t need no seatbelt!” And she said to him, “Superman don’t need no airplane!”
Charles Jefferson wrote The Minister as Shepherd. Not on main street.
·SLIDE: “A Pastor’s greatest works is done on the backside of the desert where nobody is looking.”
Christ’s best work done under the cover of darkness.
Media gives glory to everybody but the servants. Over 100 murders will occur in Tucson this year and everyone of them will make the front page of both newspapers here in Tucson.
On the other hand, 40 or 50 of you will donate your cars to Casas instead of trading them in to a car dealer and we will pass them on to needy single moms. And not one of you will make the newspaper.
Two weeks ago I reached the largest funeral I ever preached. It was for J.L. Goodman. The sanctuary was filled. Here is my last picture of J.L. and me under the Big Tent on our new property. Two hours later he had a heart attack. Two weeks later he died.
I invited people to give testimonies at the funeral. Set up microphone.
•Young man told of rough growing up. “Always a meal and bed at J.L.’s house.”
•”I served in the air force with J.L. He wanted to know where I was going to go when I died. I didn’t know. He led me to Chhrist.”
•Single Mothers’ ministry at NW Baptist
•Repair service: Widow’s repairs for free when they couldn’t pay.
•Pastor: “Up at three to cure concrete for our church floor.”
J.L. developed the of Christ. He had a servant’s heart.
I knew why the church was full at his funeral.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:8c: even death on a cross!
The word “unto” is a translation of a Greek word which means, “up to the point of”. Our Lord was obedient to the Father up to the point of dying. He said, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” (Heb. 10:9).
Many people wear today beautiful crosses of glittering gold. These are not at all like the one on which Jesus died.” He died on one of rough-hewn wood, with splinters in it, stuck into a hole on Jerusalem’s common crucifixion ground.
·SLIDE #22: But God did not leave Him there. Now we see the exaltation of Jesus Christ. Notice the three steps back up!
He grasps once more the ladder, and we mark…
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:9a: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:9b: and gave him the name that is above every name,
On earth He was given the name, Jesus. The angel said, “Call Him Jesus because He’ll save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
After His exaltation, He was given the name, “Lord.”
Observe how aptly this view fits the context. In verse 10, which is the climax of the whole passage, we read that God gave Jesus Christ as a gift, “echarisato” the name above every name (including position, dignity, and authority, of (Greek looks like “Κύριος”), Lord, the name which represents the Old Testament Jehovah.
But this is the highest place Christ has reached. He has always (in Paul’s view) shared the divine nature (μ. Θεοΰ). But it is only as the result of His Incarnation, Atonement, Resurrection, and Exaltation that He appears to men as on an quality with God, that He is worshipped by them in the way in which Jehovah is worshipped. This position of “Κύριος” is the reward and crowning-point of the whole process of His voluntary Humiliation.
“He hath changed the ineffable name into a name unutterable by man, and desirable by all the world; the majesty is all arrayed in robes of mercy, the tetragrammaton or adorable mystery of the patriarchs is made fit for pronunciation and expression when it becometh the name of the Lord’s Christ.”
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:10: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Charles Lamb, a literary genius, said that if Shakespeare were to enter a room, all those present would rise to their feet, but if Christ should enter that room, all would bow.
·SLIDE: Philippians 2:11: and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
“Eis doxa theos”. The whole purpose of the working out of salvation is the glory of God the Father. This end is attained when men yield to His operations and acknowledge Christ as Lord. Cf. esp. Eph. 1:9-12.
“Jesus Christ is Lord” became the earliest creed of the Christian church.
This put the early Christians in direct conflict with the emperors of Rome: Annual ceremony offering incense to Emperor declared: “Caesar is Lord.” Then you could worship any god you wanted. You just had to acknowledge Caesar as your Lord.
Early Christians refused. Many took the moment to declare “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and paid for it with their lives. As many Christians around the world still do today.
There is a DAY APPOINTED in God’s future time scheme when every creature will acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Of course, it is possible for people to bow before Him and confess today, and receive the gift of salvation.
To bow before Him now means salvation. To bow before Him at the Judgment means condemnation.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
SLIDE: Some PRACTICAL LESSONS WORTH CONSIDERING
SLIDE: 1. A Servant’s Heart Yields.
Why would a servant yield? When Jesus saw the crowds like sheep without a shepherd he was moved with compassion. When your heart is finally filled with compassion, the head of a servant bows, the heart of a servant yields.
I’ve tired a number of different “hoods” in my life – Childhood, Manhood, Brotherhood, Fatherhood – but the toughest “hood” of all is servanthood.
Anyone who has a new baby at home knows what it means to yield. As a parent, you give up everything. You give up your schedule, give up your sleep, give up your leisure time, give up your hobbies, give up your privacy, give up your sex life (Julie told me not to say that).
But how many would give up that new baby.
The baby cries and the heart is moved with compassion—instantly we move into action.
As we develop into servants, our hearts are more and more like Jesus moved by compassion, and we start yielding our rights to meet the needs of other people’s children.
SLIDE: 2. A Servant’s Heart Develops Over Time.
This verse troubles me—and to speak of Him becoming bothers me a bit.
He did not, as St. Alfonsus suggests: “Shortly after birth, sat up in straw, umbilical cord still wet and said, ‘Hi, Mary, I am Jesus, the Son of God.’”
That is not what happened. His mind had to develop. So must ours
When did He finally know that he was Messiah?
Not at 2 or 4 when – Holman Hunt’s painting of Mary seeing the shadow of His cross on the wall of the carpenter shop.
When Mary taught him Psalm 22? Isaiah 53? Passover Lamb?
I love the idea of Jesus Christ discovering who He is—learning—studying—understanding—and the discoveries go on and on through His ministry.
I love to watch the development in my little ones:
I remember one day when one of my children was quite young.
“Raining cats and dogs” Oh, dad, it’s not really…
“Teaching to swim”…”The goggles make me float”
“Why are you kissing…”
The mind of a servant is always in the process of becoming. Not only that:
Nobody does servanthood right the first time. It is something we grow into.
We teach our children to be respectful. And, then, one day, the children turn around and take care of their aging parents.
I grew up in a household of boys. When my brother and I were in our teenage years my grandmother, Nana, had a stroke and I watched my mom care for her. My brother and I were still in the process of developing into servants.
I remember the day my mom went on strike. I am sure Ron and I were not very sympathetic with her plight.
When boys go to the bathroom where they aim can be rather hit and miss. One day mom called from our bathroom. Holding in her hand the small, blue, plastic trash can that sat beside the toilet. Well, boys will be boys, it was an inch or so deep with some of the hit and miss—more miss than hit. She was livid.
I think it was Ronnie who said, (I can’t imagine me being so calloused), “Well, I can’t imagine why you are so upset, all you have to do is pour it back in the toilet—no big deal.”
Can you imagine? Well, if you have teen-age boys, sure, you can imagine. We were clueless.
At that point she went on strike: fix own meals, wash clothes, etc.
Not much servant there. But it was at that same time that we watched her caring for her dying mom. She gave up everything for a while to nurse her in her time of need. Made a deep impression on both of us: “Oh, this is how you are supposed to do it. We never got over that.
SLIDE: 3. A Servant Is Often Forced To Live With Mystery.
I love those passages in Christ’s life when he had to say, “I don’t know everything!”
One day the disciples asked, “When will your coming be?” And Jesus, not having the read Tim LaHaye’s new Left Behind Prophecy Series, was forced to say, “I don’t know.”
One day James and John asked, “Can we sit, one on your right and one on the left?” And He said, “I don’t know. That’s not mine to give.” It was a mystery to Him.
When did he finally know that He was Messiah?
Not 2 or 4 or when – Mary first read Psalm 22? Isaiah 53? Passover Lamb?
He as forced to live with mystery: Even at the end, “Is this the right way? Nevertheless, thy will be done.”
All the time He was serving on earth, He did not know who would respond and who would not.
Rich Young Ruler? Nicodemus?
Judas? Or Peter? Or John?
When we are serving, we live in mystery as to how much of it will turn out. We often don’t know whether or not any particular action will be worth it, or do any good. But, we serve anyway.
How does an adult know, when he or she is sacrificing their own time and energy to work with some hyperactive, disrespectful, attention-deficit, trouble making eleven year old that one day that child will turn out to be Glenn Barteau?!
That is the mystery a servant lives with.
STORY of boy two Sundays ago who reminded me of praying with him and his mom one night in a concert of prayer.
I love old fable about the traveler going through the night. He sees a monastery up ahead of him in the dim rainy mist. Cold and indecent was the weather. And when he stopped and knocked on the door the keeper of the monastery came and he said, “May I come in?” And the abbot said, “Not only may you come in, you may eat with us.”
The food was wonderful. The monks were warm. It was a wonderful evening, safe and dry and warm. The monks, because the weather was so bad, asked the traveler to spend the night. He agreed on the basis that they would supply him with three or four things. “What is it that you want?” they asked.
“If I spend the night with you, I must have in my own room a pound of butter, a pair of rubber pants, a poker, a cricket bat, and a bass saxophone.” It was unusual. But they scurried around the monastery and found it all.
Weather continued to be bad. As they went to sleep that night, the monks heard an awesome progression of half tones and squeaks and squawks coming from his room.
Because the weather continued badly they asked him to stay another night. He did do that, and he asked again for that mysterious list: a pound of butter, a pair of rubber pants, a poker, a cricket bat, and a bass saxophone. Each night he requested these things and each night they heard those awful noises. And finally it was time for him to leave.
The old abbot walked him to the door and said, “We were glad to supply all of those things, but if you don’t mind, would you mind telling us why you asked for those things?”
Traveler said, “Well, it is a family secret. It’s been in my family for years and years. But if you promise not to tell another living soul, I’ll tell you.”
And so he told the old abbot, and the abbot, being a man of his word, never told another living soul. And so we shall never know.
When we serve, we often have no idea of how it will all turn out. And that is OK.
Following Jesus Christ, and developing the mind of Christ, is sometimes like that.
If Jesus cannot answer it all, neither can we. And we wait in darkness and talk of God giving light, and live without knowing, inhabited by the mind of Christ.
Let me share the words of one Methodist poet:
•SLIDE #29: “That fool Noah trusted and built a stupid boat on dry land for years and years…and man lived.
•SLIDE 30: “That fool Job trusted and the world kicked him, and his friends did, too, and so did his own religion…and, he showed us a new face for God.
•SLIDE #31: “That fool John the Baptist trusted and ate crunchy insects and dressed like a jerk…and, baptized Jesus.
•SLIDE #32: “That fool woman trusted, squeezing and elbowing through the crowd just so she could grab at Jesus with her hand frail…sick, sick, sick from years of a woman’s sickness, and she was healed.
•SLIDE #33: “But now, we don’t have to trust. We have aptitude tests, counselors, advisors, rest camps, psychiatrists lots of brains.
“We don’t trust anymore. We act. We run to counseling more than the word of God.”
SLIDE: 4. A Servant’s Heart Is A Humble Heart.
Charles Jefferson wrote The Minister as Shepherd. Not on main street.
·SLIDE #36: “A Pastor’s greatest works is done on the backside of the desert where nobody is looking.”
Media gives glory to everybody but the servants. Over 100 murders will occur in Tucson this year and everyone of them will make the front page of both newspapers here in Tucson.
On the other hand, 40 or 50 of you will donate your cars to Casas instead of trading them in to a car dealer and we will pass them on to needy single moms. And not one of you will make the newspaper.
SLIDE: 5. Servanthood Is Not Without Reward.
The Velvetine Rabbit is a delightful children’s story about a little stuffed rabbit, all shiny and new, who goes through the process of becoming “real” in the toy room.
He is not long in the toy box before he has a conversation with the Skin Horse about reality.
The skin horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the other toys. He was no longer very pretty to look at. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed seams underneath. Most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out long ago.
“What is real?” asked the Rabbit one day, “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s something that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real.”
“Does becoming real hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to toys who break easily, or have sharp edges. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
We are all looking for love with skin on. As we give ourselves away, the love relationships we develop forever enrich our lives.
One day Jesus became love with skin on. He took off His glory so that He could love and be known and real to us.
Only Xnty offers a God with skin—not some impersonal force, not some undefinable inner consciousness, but a God who got dirty and tired and suffered for us—to show us what it really means to be real.
Close with this Sonnet to Jesus. If you are a Christian, here is your example. If you are not a Christian, here is the man who died to save you from your faults and imperfections and make you forgiven before God.
·SLIDE #41; 1478: “It was Jesus’ hands I noticed first.
Big, tough, weathered, hammer gripping, sweating fists.
Quite used to driving nails into the rough.
·SLIDE #42: And bronzed, blue-bruised, where once the iron missed.
A hand’s a thing of beauty in the eye.
Whose trained vision can pierce the skin
And see the study steel of bone laid white
·SLIDE #43: And fragile tiny filaments – and thin.
I understand the riddle of a hand.
How leathered callouses breed tougher skin
Hiding tiny porcelain machines within.
·SLIDE #44: Yet, yet love defies my will to understand
How hands that swing the crushing iron grow frail
And welcome to each palm, a killing nail.”
SLIDE: 6. Responding To The Sacrifice Of Christ Is The Only Relational And Logical Thing To Do.