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Philippians 2:3-11
Imitating Christ’s Humility
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of the others.
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped;
7 but made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Philippians is one of the most under-appreciated books in the Bible. It seems to me that it has some of the most important passages in the New Testament, but I’m not sure many people think of them as that important. John 3:16 is widely quoted, and lots of people think of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and the Parable of the Prodigal Son as central to their faith. The accounts of the discovery of the resurrection are obviously important. But I’ll bet not many people would name this passage from the second chapter of Philippians as being in the same ballpark, in terms of its theological importance.
But in my mind, that’s a shame. I say that because you could make a case that this passage from the second chapter of Philippians expresses the way the early church came to understand who Jesus was and the central meaning of his life and ministry and his death on the cross.
Bible scholars say we should pay special attention to the part of this passage from verses six to eleven – which appears in most Bibles set off like a poem or the lyrics of a song. The reason it’s printed that way is that the scholars say it’s actually an excerpt from an ancient hymn. In fact, they say it’s probably one of the first hymns that the early Christians sang in their services of worship. So that might mean it’s the oldest thing in the whole New Testament. So in a sense, when we read this passage, we’re getting a glimpse back into the very first years of the church.
And this ancient hymn fragment expresses a critically important idea: that even though Jesus was a member of the Trinity, with all the rights and privileges that went along with it, he voluntarily laid aside those rights and privileges when he came into this world. And instead of appearing in this world as the incredibly powerful divine being he is, Jesus took the form of a humble servant.
Jesus delivered some important teaching of great theological insight, and issued some commandments that allowed his followers to change the world. But this ancient hymn says that the most important thing about Jesus is that he obeyed God’s plan, that he humbly served others and sacrificed himself on the cross. Theologians call this faithful sacrifice of his power and privileges kenosis – literally “self-emptying.”
Obedience to God, humble service to others and self-sacrifice – according to this passage, those are the most important things we need to know about the life and ministry of Jesus. And Paul says that those of us who are followers of Jesus are supposed to adopt the same attitude as Jesus himself. Our lives of faith are not supposed to be about the rights and privileges we feel entitled to. Instead, we’re supposed to do as Jesus did – to humbly serve others and to sacrifice our own interests for the sake of God’s kingdom and people in need. We’re to empty ourselves of our selfish egos, to make room for Jesus.
It seems to me that a lot of people who call themselves Christians who find this idea of kenosis pretty uncomfortable. They prefer to think of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, judging and striking down all his enemies. And it’s not hard to see why. It’s because if that’s how you think of Jesus, then living in imitation of him means you get to judge and strike down those you think are his enemies. Our human nature includes a craving to make others do what you think they should. That’s why some Christians sound so judgmental and condemning.
That may be human nature, but according to the writings of Paul and the teachings of Jesus himself, we’re not called to live by human nature. Just as Jesus “emptied himself” of his divine nature and took on the form of a self-sacrificing servant, we’re called to lay aside our human nature and become self-sacrificing servants to our neighbors, as well.
And that’s the point this ancient hymn makes – that because Jesus obeyed God, served others and went to the cross, God “exalted him to the highest place.” So sharing in the glory of Jesus doesn’t come from judging and condemning others and trying to force them to do what we think they should. Sharing in the glory of Jesus comes from sharing in his self-sacrificing service to others – taking on the nature of a servant, humbling ourselves as he did. Being obedient to God, even when that obedience works against our own interests.
Because of our natural tendency to self-glorification, humbling ourselves in service to others doesn’t sound that good to us. The truth is that humbling ourselves is sometimes hard, and even painful. But sharing in the joy that our master promised to those who follow him – the joy that he called ‘his joy’ – that sounds like about the greatest experience it’s possible to have. And that’s the reward that’s promised to those who are genuinely willing to live a Christ-like life.
So it turns out from this ancient hymn fragment that one of the first things the Holy Spirit revealed to the early church was that the heart of the life of true discipleship is following Jesus in humble, self-sacrificing service to others.
Let’s pray. Lord, you know it’s not our nature to sacrifice ourselves in the service of others. So we ask that you would touch our hearts, and keep the example of Jesus always before us, so that we can devote our lives to humble servanthood, as he did. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
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