The First Great Christian Hymn - Sermon

Pastor Rich Knight

Central Congregational Church

July 9, 2017

Philippians 2

 

 

We’re going to look at Paul’s great hymn that starts in vs. 6.

But first, take a look at vs. 12:

¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Note that Paul is not afraid of a paradox – two statements (or two parts of a statement) that seem or are contradictory, but are actually both true.

Work out your salvation – with fear and trembling.

For it’s God at work in you, both to will and to work.

“Work out your salvation - You work it out! – but it’s really God in you – but you get to work! – but it’s really God in you working it out for God’s good pleasure. Is it my work and effort, or is it God’s work?  Or is it both?

Maybe it’s like a couple ballroom dancing – both partners share in the creation of the dance.  It’s a beautiful partnership, shaped by all the time spent together practicing, forging the partnership. And in the midst of the dance there are gentle nudges, slight touches for direction, perhaps a look or a brief word. But the dance evolves as the partnership is expressed. Maybe that’s how God interacts and dances with us?  - we co-create the dance together?

Two other quick things on this page:

1. Paul’s affection for Timothy.    Vs. 19

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. ²⁰ I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. ²¹ All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But Timothy’s worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. ²³ I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me; ²⁴ and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.

Paul & Timothy were like Father & Son. It was a partnership that meant the world to Paul.

2. And then we come to Epaphroditus.    Vs. 25

²⁵ Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need; ²⁶ for he has been longing for all of you, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. ²⁸ I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹ Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people, ³⁰ because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.

This is one of the reason why Paul writes to the Philippians. He wants them to know that Epaphroditus has not deserted Paul. He’s actually being sent back to his home because he had an unpronounceable name.  Epaphrodontus?  Epa-phro-dee-dee?  Epa-aphro-di-tee?

It caused Paul so much confusion that he just sent him home.    “We’re gonna have to let you go.”

Actually he had been really ill, and Paul suggested he head home and recover fully, and also show the Philippians that we was okay. So he decides to send him back with a letter, and that letter is the Book of Philippians. So we have the guy with the crazy name, Epaphroditus, to thank for this amazing letter!

Now let’s look at the start of chapter 2.

2 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ² make my joy complete: be 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 regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. ⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was^[a] in Christ Jesus,

He starts with a serious of rhetorical questions:

-         If then there is any encouragement in Christ (Yes, of course there is)

-         If there is any consolation from love (Yes, God’s love provides incredible consolation)

-         If there is any sharing in the Spirit (Yes, we all share in the Holy Spirit)

-         If there is any compassion and sympathy (Yes, God’s compassion and sympathy are felt among us)

Yes, to all these things (4x!) – you’ve got us Paul! So he then calls them to unity!  If all these things are true then “Be of the same mind, having love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

How do we maintain this unity, Paul?

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 

He’s calling them to unity in the church, and the way to get there, says Paul, is humility, putting others first, treating others as better than ourselves, not looking out merely for self-interest, but for the good of others. And then he puts it in the loftiest and most challenging way that he can.

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

He challenges to have the mind of Christ – to think like Christ, to adopt the mindset of Jesus Christ - to have the attitude of Christ, the outlook and perspective of Christ, which leads to Christlike actions, habits and behaviors. Is there a higher goal than that?

To make his case, to articulate what part of the mind of Christ he wants them to have, Paul quotes what is likely The First Great Hymn of the Christian Faith. Many commentaries suggest that Paul is quoting a hymn sung by the earliest Christians. By saying this, they’re usually implying that Paul didn’t write it.   It’s just too good to come from Paul!

Some commentaries do this with I Corinthians 13 – Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians – “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am nothing.” It’s the greatest passage on love in the entire Bible. This, too, they say is just so perfect, Paul probably didn’t write it – which makes me feel bad for Paul, if he did write it.

It would be like saying to James Taylor – “You didn’t really write ‘Fire & Rain,’ did you?” Or it’s like saying to Handel, “You didn’t really write the Hallelujah Chorus, did you? It’s just so much better than anything else you’ve ever written.  Vivaldi helped you, right?"    

So Paul may have written it. He certainly was a masterful writer. Let’s take a look:  Beginning at Vs. 5

(Note how it’s printed differently in our Bibles. Greek scholars note that the words here are very different in style from the rest of the letter. They’re more lyrical and poetic, with a rhythm to it in the phrases. That’s why they believe it’s an ancient Christian hymn.)

⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
⁷ but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Paul loves the Philippians so much, he cares about them so much, that he pulls out everything in his theological arsenal to persuade them to stay on the path of love, humility and unity. And so the most powerful thing he can throw at them is simply the life of Jesus Christ. Have the mindset of Christ, who though he was co-equal with God, did not use his divinity for his own self-interest.  But he emptied himself, set aside his Almightiness. And became a Servant, a Humble, Obedient Servant.  So obedient that he willingly went to the Cross. He willingly died on the Cross  . . . for us.

Be like Jesus, he says, and empty yourselves out for others.

Be like Jesus, who was a humble servant, obedient to God in every way.

                     

One of the commentaries I looked at on this passage was written by David Guzik.

He writes about the humility of Christ.

 He humbled Himself.

- He was humble in that he took the form of a human, and not a more glorious creature like an angel.

- He was humble in that He was born into an obscure, little place.

- He was humble in that He was born into poverty, among a oppressed people.

- He was humble in that He was born as a child instead of appearing as a man.

- He was humble in submitting to the obedience of a child in a household.

- He was humble in learning and practicing a trade - and a humble trade of a carpenter.

- He was humble in the long wait until He launched out into public ministry.

- He was humble in the companions and disciples He chose.

- He was humble in the audience He appealed to and the way He taught.

- He was humble in the temptations He allowed and endured.

- He was humble in the weakness, hunger, thirst, and tiredness He endured.

- He was humble in His total obedience to His Heavenly Father.

- He was humble in His submission to the Holy Spirit.

- He was humble in choosing and submitting to the death of the cross.

- He was humble in the agony of His death.

- He was humble in the shame, mocking, and public humiliation of His death.

- He was humble in enduring the spiritual agony of His sacrifice on the cross.

Can you feel the impact of what Paul is saying? Our Savior was profoundly, willingly humble. Shouldn’t we be as well? If the Savior of the World was a humble servant, isn’t that our calling as well?

-     

Not to puff ourselves up, but to lay our lives down for others.

-      Not to lift ourselves up, but to lift others up in love.

Our goal is to be Christ-like, for Christ is the ultimate model of the self-sacrificing love. And that kind of love produces great things within a church and beyond.

There’s just one other thing I want you to know about this passage. It shines a light on the theology of the earliest Christians. This great hymn clearly teaches the Divinity of Christ. It spells out the Divine nature of our Savior – fully human, fully divine - in the mystery of the Incarnation.

Vs. 6 - ”though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited”

He was equal with God. He was and is Divine. So much so that following his resurrection he’s given quite a title, “kyrios,”  “Lord.” This is the title given to God, Yahweh, in the Hebrew Scriptures. Hundreds of times, God is called, “Lord” in the Old Testament. The New Testament also uses kyrios to refer to God the Father, to Yahweh, the God of Israel. But here, Paul says, “Jesus is Lord.” Jesus is God, the everlasting God, come to earth to win our salvation and our love.

“Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
             to the glory of God the Father.”

That’s how the first great Christian hymn ends. Let me end by telling you a very quick little story.

When my sons were little, someone said to them,  “Your father is a servant of God.” They had never heard the word servant used in this way. So Sam turned to me and said, “Are you a servant, Daddy?” And I had to ask myself, ”Am I?”

That’s Paul’s question to us. Do humility and servanthood characterize our lives and our church?

Think about it.

Let’s pray about it.

            Loving God, thank you for Paul’s challenge to us – to have the mind of Jesus, our humble servant Savior. Give us servant hearts in our daily lives, in our church lives and especially with You, our God. Amen.