A high school orchestra was preparing for a concert that featured a pianist in a rendition of Grieg’s A-minor concerto. Before the performance, it was customary for the orchestra to tune up with an “A” sounded by the oboe player. But the oboist was a practical joker, and he had tuned his instrument a half step higher than the piano. You can imagine the effect. After the pianist played a beautiful introduction, the members of the orchestra joined in. What confusion! Every instrument was out of tune with the piano.
If we are going to effectively play the concerto of the Good News about Jesus Christ so that this world will hear it, understand it, and respond positively to it, then we must be unified as a church. Unity is the topic that the Apostle Paul deals with in this next section of his letter to the Church at Philippi. Let’s read together Philippians 2:1-11. Listen for God’s word to you…
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Why plug into the power of joy through unity? Paul gives us four reasons to do so. The first reason Paul offers is because we have been united with Christ. If Christ is living in us by his Holy Spirit, then we have literally been joined to him. And if all believers in Jesus are joined to him, that means we are also joined to one another. We need to recognize and realize the unity with other believers that Jesus has already put into effect.
Comedian Emo Philips used to tell this story…
In conversation with a person I had recently met, I asked, “Are you Protestant or Catholic?”
My new acquaintance replied, “Protestant.”
I said, “Me too! What franchise?”
He answered, “Baptist.”
“Me too,” I said. “Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
“Northern Baptist,” he replied.
“Me too,” I shouted.
We continued to go back and forth. Finally, I asked, “Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879 or Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912?”
He replied, “Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912.”
And I said, “Die, heretic!”
That story would be even funnier if it weren’t so true. And the same thing could be said about any denomination. But the truth is that being a Christian means being joined to Christ and therefore joined to other Christians around the world whether they be Catholic, or Orthodox, or any of the 28,000 different franchises of Protestantism. We need to recognize and realize the unity that Jesus wants to bring about in us and through us.
The second reason Paul gives for plugging into the power of joy through unity is because of Christ’s love. If we have truly experienced the love of Jesus, then we will want to love other believers in Jesus. It is when we forget how much God has forgiven us and loved us in Christ that we find it difficult to love other believers.
I have often quoted from this pulpit John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace. In old age, Newton often forgot what he was saying in the middle of a sermon and had to be reminded of the subject upon which he was preaching. That problem led him to say on one occasion: “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Jesus is a great Savior.” If we remember those two things, then we too will want to seek unity in the body of Christ.
A third reason Paul gives for plugging into the power of joy through unity is because of the fellowship we have with the Holy Spirit. Fellowship, relationship, with the Holy Spirit is not simply a “me and the Spirit” kind of experience. If we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, then we also have fellowship with everyone else who has fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
The famous Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. “Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired.
“Yes,” said the tourist.
“Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?” Barth asked.
“Yes,” said the tourist, “I’d love to meet the famous theologian, Karl Barth. Do you know him?”
Barth replied, “Well, as a matter of fact, I do, I give him a shave every morning.”
The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, “I met Karl Barth’s barber today!”
How often do we sit next to other believers and yet fail to recognize who they really are? Every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a person in whom Jesus lives by his Spirit. As C. S. Lewis once said in a sermon…
Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.[1]
The fourth reason Paul gives for plugging into the power of joy through unity is because of tenderness and compassion.
One of my favorite movies is On Golden Pond with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. For those who don’t know the movie, Fonda and Hepburn play this aging couple who are trying to get reacquainted with their teenage grandson with whom they have never spent much time. The movie is all about friction in family relationships and how unity can be restored. Henry Fonda plays a kind of surly character who is not dealing well with the aging process. His wife (Katherine Hepburn) calls him “You Old Poop”. After one wrenching scene where the grandfather yells at his grandson and the grandson can’t understand his grandfather’s anger, Hepburn tells the boy, “Sometimes you have to look people straight in the eye and know that they are doing the best job they possibly can.”
Sometimes it is seemingly impossible to have tenderness and compassion toward one another, even as fellow Christians. But if the tenderness and compassion of Christ has invaded our hearts, we will, by his power and grace, be able to look others in the eye and either know that they are doing the best job they can under the circumstances, or if they aren’t, we will be enabled to forgive them through Christ.
But this raises the question: exactly how do we do all this stuff? How do we plug into the power of joy through unity?
Paul in effect says, “If you have these reasons to realize unity in the church, and you do, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”
Paul wants the Philippians to be unified in mind, emotion, and will. Unity must be based upon the truth. And so, unity starts in the mind and then overflows into the emotions and the will.
Paul goes on to tell us how to realize this unity. He gives us two practical handles for steering the ship of the church toward unity. The first practical handle is humility. Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Humility is the mindset of the person who is not conceited but who has a right evaluation of themselves. Paul says in Romans 12:3, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
It is false humility to say, “I’m nobody. I’m worthless. But you are wonderful.” The person who thinks that way is still preoccupied with themselves.
What does Paul mean by: “Consider others better than yourselves.”? Notice, Paul does not say “Everyone else is better than you.” He says, “Consider others better than yourselves.” Imagine what life would be like if each of us gave preferential treatment to everyone else we met. We would be stumbling over each other to serve one another. I think that is how Paul is suggesting we should live. In other words, don’t act out of selfish motives, but do what is best for everyone else.
Thankfully, God puts people in our lives to help us grow into this new way of living. Chuck Swindoll once described how God does this…
What does the Lord do to help broaden my horizons and assist me in seeing how selfish I am? Very simple: He gives me four busy kids who step on shoes, wrinkle clothes, spill milk, lick car windows, and drop sticky candy on the carpet… Being unselfish in attitude strikes at the very core of our being. It means we are willing to forego our own comfort, our own preferences, our own schedule, our own desires for another’s benefit.
The second handle Paul gives us is helpfulness. He says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Humility should naturally lead to helpfulness.
On my many visits to Oxford, England, I have walked by the house where Edmund Halley lived countless times. Halley was the man who predicted the return of the comet that now bears his name. Halley was a friend of Isaac Newton and recognized the importance of Newton’s discovery of the law of gravity. Halley challenged Newton to perfect his original idea and corrected some of his mathematical equations. Halley then urged Newton to put his ideas into the form of a book. That work, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, made Newton famous. What few people realize is that Halley edited and supervised Newton’s publication and even financed its printing, though Newton could more easily have afforded it. Historians today call Halley’s action one of the most selfless examples in the record of modern science.
If you count others better than yourself, you will seek to help them, and you will put their interests before your own. Furthermore, humility and helpfulness serve to foster unity in the church.
I wonder: who is there in our church community that you might help in some way, even this week? Is there someone to whom you could write an encouraging note? Make an uplifting phone call? Provide a meal? Help with a project? I hope that the saying, “Find a need and fill it,” becomes a slogan we live by as a church.
But you know, it always helps in life to have an example to follow, doesn’t it? Whose example can we follow to plug into the power of joy through unity? Paul urges us to follow the example of Jesus, the greatest example of all time.
Jesus thought of others, not himself. Paul says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing.” Because Jesus thought of others, not himself, he gave up his divine privileges and became a human being so that we could be rescued.
Jesus is our example in that he serves. “…taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Jesus constantly served people throughout his life. He healed people. He fed people. He washed his disciples’ dirty feet. Jesus said of himself: “… the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
Jesus is our example in that he sacrifices. “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice. He gave his life that we might have life eternal.
Now, in one sense, we cannot imitate that sacrifice. Jesus’ sacrifice was one of a kind. We cannot give our lives in payment for sinners because we ourselves are sinners. But we arecalled to carry our own crosses. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
Finally, Jesus is our example in that he glorifies God. The early Christian hymn that Paul quotes here tells us that because Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross, “therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 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.”
The ultimate purpose of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and present reign, is to give glory to his heavenly Father. Right before his death Jesus said, “Father, the time has come; glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1)
In the same way, if we follow Jesus’ example, thinking of others, serving others, sacrificing for others, then I believe our lives will ultimately lead to the glory of our heavenly Father. As it says in the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”
However, I know that we are all human. And human suffering makes it difficult for us to even want to glorify God and enjoy him forever. In the book, The Fire of Your Life, Maggie Ross recounts the story of Emma, a survivor of the Holocaust, who regularly at 4 pm every day stood outside a Manhattan church and screamed insults at Jesus. Finally, the pastor, C. Kilmer Myers, went outside and said to Emma, “Why don’t you go inside and tell him?” She disappeared into the church. An hour went by, and the pastor, worried, decided to look in on her. He found Emma, prostrate before the cross, in absolute stillness. Reaching down, he touched her shoulder. She looked up with tears in her eyes and said quietly, “After all, he was a Jew too.”
I believe there is something about the cross, that when we have a true encounter with Christ, makes us want to lay down before him in humble adoration and thanks for his sacrifice. And when we do that, when we allow the Spirit of Jesus to really enter our souls, it changes our whole perspective on life. By his Spirit, he enables us to plug into the power of joy through unity with him and his church.
Comments