Palm Sundsy 3/16/08/ Text: Philippians 2:5-11 Title: Sucess, Jesus' Way
Palm Sunday
03/16/08
Text: Philippians 2:5-11
Title: Success, Jesus' Way
This morning, the day we celebrate the successful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, I want to talk to you about how you can be successful in this life. I picked this topic for today because the story of Jesus entering the holy city is a story of success. Jesus has everything going for him. The crowds love him. He is going to be the new king and they want to be part of his success.
There are two ways that one can get ahead in the world, ways that one can be successful. The first and most honored is to work hard. You know, pour your heart and soul into whatever it is that you want to be successful in. That is the American way. The other way is to use people. You either use them as rungs in the ladder to the top or you push them out of the way, so they don’t slow you down. As I think about it, there is another way. That way, although I don’t think you can separate it from the other two, is to make others less than you.
To be successful is hard work. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get ahead. Think about it for a moment and I think you will have to agree with me. Maybe you have been the one climbed over or put down. Maybe you have done the climbing over or the putting down. Most of us, I believe, have at some time or the other been there, one way or the other. We think that that is the only way to get ahead, for after all, if one is not looked up to, then one surely cannot be successful. That is what we think, but is that what God thinks? That is the question.
Christ shows us a different way to be successful. It is not the world’s way and why should we be surprised at that? Everything God does through Jesus is the polar opposite of the world’s way. Through his birth, life, and death Christ shows a new way to be successful. We will still be rewarded living our lives his way, but it will not be the world’s way, for we are told that his way to success is to bear a cross. In other words, we will have hardships because of him. But in those hardships we have success.
His way is not the world’s way, but his way is the only way to true success, for his way is the way our relationship with God is restored.
You see, Jesus in his life and death redefined not only the game of life, but its goal. This is what I mean. With Jesus, success is not measured by how many goodies one has. It is not measured by one’s position in life. It is not measured by anything the world thinks of as success. I know that goes against what many of you are hearing on the TV and radio, but it is true.
And we should not be surprised that it is true, for what Jesus did while he was living in our world as one of us, went against what the world thought he should be and do. He was not rich. He did not have a permanent home. He did not have a huge following. In fact, he really only had a faithful few. And most of them deserted him. No, Jesus’ life was not the world’s idea of success then, anymore than it is today.
Jesus’ idea of success was and is not the same as the world’s idea of success and we all need to thank God for that, because the world’s way to success is only temporary, while Jesus’ way is forever. It is true success.
You say that that success is only in the future and you want to know how to be successful now, while you are living. Well, the answer still is in Jesus’ success, for you see, what he accomplished, what he shows us, is as applicable to our lives as it was in Jesus’ time. Jesus’ way to success is a good way to live one’s life, even if it does not match what we normally call success.
To show you what I mean we are going to look at our Philippians reading for this morning. I have to start at verse one of the chapter our reading is from. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Let me stop there a minute. You would think God just told us through Paul that we all need to agree with each other in all things. But the text is not saying that. What it is talking about is being of same mind, having the same love, and being in full accord and of one mind with Christ, not each other.
You see, God is talking about our vertical relationship with him, the relationship that spills over into our horizontal relationships with others. Verse 3, the next verse, talks about that relationship. It says, “3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Then In the first half of verse 5, Paul restates once more where this successful life comes from, “5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”
In the Greek it says that this mind, this ability to not have rivalry, or to be conceited, or be humble comes from Christ, it belongs to him, we get it from him because it is his. It is his because we cannot do this on our own. We cannot be humble apart from Christ. I read a story one time about a young man who received a little pin, you know, the kind you stick on the label of your jacket, for being the humblest person in town. But then had it taken away for putting the pin on his jacket.
We, on our own cannot be humble, for as soon as you think you are, you are no longer humble. This lack of humbleness is found in all parts of our lives. It is found in our physical relationships to our spiritual lives. We see it as we serve others, all the while thinking how humble we are. We see it in our spiritual lives when we think we have a better faith than others. You know, that you are on a higher level and that makes you better.
It is impossible to be humble, yet that is what it takes to be successful in God’s eyes. Well, we are all in deep trouble then, aren’t we? Yes, we are except for one thing; that is Jesus Christ. For when we have Christ’s mind we are not thinking of whether or not we are being humble. We are just who we are, forgiven children of God. We, who in our sinfulness cannot be humble, are humble because of Jesus’ humbleness.
I can say that is the truth because in Philippians 2:5-7 we are told, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
The whole story of Lent, the season we are in now, indeed, the whole Gospel, declares the humble nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. Humility is a difficult thing to grasp. We like to measure ourselves, depend on ourselves, promote ourselves, and reward ourselves.
While we see in this text the pure example of humility, we also see in the New Testament the very opposite of humility. For in the New Testament we see the Pharisees and Scribes, men who were meant to be the religious leaders and examples to the nation, making sure that they are being seen and praised for their 'religious' behavior.
Now I know that there is not a single person here this morning that would be guilty of doing something like that. I know that, but you know we still have the same problem. We still wrestle with the same problems of humility. You just cannot be humble and know you are humble.
It is impossible, just like black cannot be white and white cannot be black. And because it is an impossibility for us, Jesus came to be one of us. God who has everything humbled himself to be one of us because we cannot be humble. In his humbleness he fulfilled what we cannot do. And because of that we do not have to fear the wrath of God. Glory be to God.
The problem is within our hearts and that is where Jesus comes in. He shines his light in our black sin-filled hearts, exposing our lack of humbleness, plus all the other sins we suffer with, driving them out with his love and forgiveness.
If you are looking for a way to be successful, this is it. You do not have to search any further. It is true that those of the world will not think you are successful, but by whose standard of success should we go , the world’s or God’s? God’s of course, for his view of success is all that counts.
I want to close with this little poem I ran across earlier in the week. It is just a little something to think about when you are being pulled by the world’s definition of success. It was written by Ruth Harms Calkin, “Tell Me Again, Lord, I Forget.”
“You know, Lord, how I serve You with great emotional fervor in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for you at the women’s club.
You know how I effervesce when I promote a fellowship group.
You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder, if you pointed to a basin of water
And asked me to wash the calloused feet of a bent and wrinkled old woman day after day, month after month in a room where nobody saw, and nobody knew?
Amen.
03/16/08
Text: Philippians 2:5-11
Title: Success, Jesus' Way
This morning, the day we celebrate the successful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, I want to talk to you about how you can be successful in this life. I picked this topic for today because the story of Jesus entering the holy city is a story of success. Jesus has everything going for him. The crowds love him. He is going to be the new king and they want to be part of his success.
There are two ways that one can get ahead in the world, ways that one can be successful. The first and most honored is to work hard. You know, pour your heart and soul into whatever it is that you want to be successful in. That is the American way. The other way is to use people. You either use them as rungs in the ladder to the top or you push them out of the way, so they don’t slow you down. As I think about it, there is another way. That way, although I don’t think you can separate it from the other two, is to make others less than you.
To be successful is hard work. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get ahead. Think about it for a moment and I think you will have to agree with me. Maybe you have been the one climbed over or put down. Maybe you have done the climbing over or the putting down. Most of us, I believe, have at some time or the other been there, one way or the other. We think that that is the only way to get ahead, for after all, if one is not looked up to, then one surely cannot be successful. That is what we think, but is that what God thinks? That is the question.
Christ shows us a different way to be successful. It is not the world’s way and why should we be surprised at that? Everything God does through Jesus is the polar opposite of the world’s way. Through his birth, life, and death Christ shows a new way to be successful. We will still be rewarded living our lives his way, but it will not be the world’s way, for we are told that his way to success is to bear a cross. In other words, we will have hardships because of him. But in those hardships we have success.
His way is not the world’s way, but his way is the only way to true success, for his way is the way our relationship with God is restored.
You see, Jesus in his life and death redefined not only the game of life, but its goal. This is what I mean. With Jesus, success is not measured by how many goodies one has. It is not measured by one’s position in life. It is not measured by anything the world thinks of as success. I know that goes against what many of you are hearing on the TV and radio, but it is true.
And we should not be surprised that it is true, for what Jesus did while he was living in our world as one of us, went against what the world thought he should be and do. He was not rich. He did not have a permanent home. He did not have a huge following. In fact, he really only had a faithful few. And most of them deserted him. No, Jesus’ life was not the world’s idea of success then, anymore than it is today.
Jesus’ idea of success was and is not the same as the world’s idea of success and we all need to thank God for that, because the world’s way to success is only temporary, while Jesus’ way is forever. It is true success.
You say that that success is only in the future and you want to know how to be successful now, while you are living. Well, the answer still is in Jesus’ success, for you see, what he accomplished, what he shows us, is as applicable to our lives as it was in Jesus’ time. Jesus’ way to success is a good way to live one’s life, even if it does not match what we normally call success.
To show you what I mean we are going to look at our Philippians reading for this morning. I have to start at verse one of the chapter our reading is from. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Let me stop there a minute. You would think God just told us through Paul that we all need to agree with each other in all things. But the text is not saying that. What it is talking about is being of same mind, having the same love, and being in full accord and of one mind with Christ, not each other.
You see, God is talking about our vertical relationship with him, the relationship that spills over into our horizontal relationships with others. Verse 3, the next verse, talks about that relationship. It says, “3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Then In the first half of verse 5, Paul restates once more where this successful life comes from, “5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”
In the Greek it says that this mind, this ability to not have rivalry, or to be conceited, or be humble comes from Christ, it belongs to him, we get it from him because it is his. It is his because we cannot do this on our own. We cannot be humble apart from Christ. I read a story one time about a young man who received a little pin, you know, the kind you stick on the label of your jacket, for being the humblest person in town. But then had it taken away for putting the pin on his jacket.
We, on our own cannot be humble, for as soon as you think you are, you are no longer humble. This lack of humbleness is found in all parts of our lives. It is found in our physical relationships to our spiritual lives. We see it as we serve others, all the while thinking how humble we are. We see it in our spiritual lives when we think we have a better faith than others. You know, that you are on a higher level and that makes you better.
It is impossible to be humble, yet that is what it takes to be successful in God’s eyes. Well, we are all in deep trouble then, aren’t we? Yes, we are except for one thing; that is Jesus Christ. For when we have Christ’s mind we are not thinking of whether or not we are being humble. We are just who we are, forgiven children of God. We, who in our sinfulness cannot be humble, are humble because of Jesus’ humbleness.
I can say that is the truth because in Philippians 2:5-7 we are told, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
The whole story of Lent, the season we are in now, indeed, the whole Gospel, declares the humble nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. Humility is a difficult thing to grasp. We like to measure ourselves, depend on ourselves, promote ourselves, and reward ourselves.
While we see in this text the pure example of humility, we also see in the New Testament the very opposite of humility. For in the New Testament we see the Pharisees and Scribes, men who were meant to be the religious leaders and examples to the nation, making sure that they are being seen and praised for their 'religious' behavior.
Now I know that there is not a single person here this morning that would be guilty of doing something like that. I know that, but you know we still have the same problem. We still wrestle with the same problems of humility. You just cannot be humble and know you are humble.
It is impossible, just like black cannot be white and white cannot be black. And because it is an impossibility for us, Jesus came to be one of us. God who has everything humbled himself to be one of us because we cannot be humble. In his humbleness he fulfilled what we cannot do. And because of that we do not have to fear the wrath of God. Glory be to God.
The problem is within our hearts and that is where Jesus comes in. He shines his light in our black sin-filled hearts, exposing our lack of humbleness, plus all the other sins we suffer with, driving them out with his love and forgiveness.
If you are looking for a way to be successful, this is it. You do not have to search any further. It is true that those of the world will not think you are successful, but by whose standard of success should we go , the world’s or God’s? God’s of course, for his view of success is all that counts.
I want to close with this little poem I ran across earlier in the week. It is just a little something to think about when you are being pulled by the world’s definition of success. It was written by Ruth Harms Calkin, “Tell Me Again, Lord, I Forget.”
“You know, Lord, how I serve You with great emotional fervor in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for you at the women’s club.
You know how I effervesce when I promote a fellowship group.
You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder, if you pointed to a basin of water
And asked me to wash the calloused feet of a bent and wrinkled old woman day after day, month after month in a room where nobody saw, and nobody knew?
Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 3:33 PM
|
0 comments
