Joy: Obedience
Joy in Humility and Obedience
Philippians 2:1-13
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. September 27th, 2020
When you’ve fallen in love, you can’t stop talking about it. Your mind is always focused on that girl or that boy. And you want the world to know. Is it any wonder we’ve written so many love songs? That experience of having fallen in love, is akin to the experience of gospel joy. Paul is a man who had that Gospel joy. He knew his Lord and wanted the world to know. Paul’s joy in the Gospel was so powerful that it was stronger than any adversity. He could endure all things because of the love of Christ.
This morning Paul tells the congregation at Philippi to make his joy complete. Not in the sense that his joy in the Lord was incomplete. But in the sense that he wanted them to experience the same joy he had. He wanted the Philippians to make his joy complete by evidencing in their lives the joy of the Gospel. “Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” When Paul says “be of the same mind” or “be of one mind” he doesn’t mean that they have to agree on everything. We’re not going to agree on everything. There are days I don’t even agree with myself. If the standard was we have to agree on everything then there will be no unity.
When Paul tells the Philippians to be of one mind, he means for them to have the same attitude. We might say he wanted them to have the same spirit. He wants them to put aside selfish ambition and conceit. He wants them to put aside their own interests. He wants them to serve the interests of others, he wants them to be humble. He wants them, in other words, to have the mind, the attitude, the disposition of Jesus Christ.
And what was Jesus’ attitude like? In order to tell us Paul tells us a story. And the story Paul tells is the good news. The Gospel. And he tells it in something like a hymn. He says that though Jesus was equal with God, he did not count that equality as something to be exploited for his own benefit. It was not a privilege of his own that he could put to his own use. Equality with God was not about lording himself over others. Rather, he emptied himself. In his great strength, wisdom, and power, he took the form of a slave, and entered into human likeness. He underwent the indignity of human birth. He joined the human race.
More than that, Jesus humbled himself and was obedient. Obedient even to the point of the cross. I don’t need to tell you that this world is hard. I don’t need to tell you that this is a sinful world. And that if you want to get ahead in this world, at least in the world’s terms, you’ve got to do some things you’d rather not do. Jesus never gave in. He was obedient to the point of death. Where we might falter, Jesus remained steadfast. Jesus lived a truly sinless life. That is why he goes to the cross. He spoke with authority, he lived a life of love, he upset the jealous religious leaders, and he was crucified for it.
But Jesus’ humility and obedience does not end in his being crucified. But “therefore,” Paul says, God highly exulted him. That’s a pretty big therefore. Because Jesus did not count his equality as something to be exploited. Because Jesus took the form of a slave. Because Jesus acted in obedience and love in all the things he did, therefore the Father in his love could not bear to leave him in his grave. But he is highly exalted. He has been given the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To God’s glory.
That is the Gospel. That is Paul’s joy. That Jesus would leave heaven to die for us, that the Father would raise him up that we might know his life. And Paul says if you would complete my joy then live according to this good news.
Friends. This is the good news we proclaim. Jesus is alive forevermore. He has defeated death. He has overcome the power of the Devil. And he has done this all out of love. And calls us to be his own. And if we are to be his own he asks that we repent. That we turn to him. That we call on his grace. And that we too walk in humility and obedience. That we have that same mind as was in Christ Jesus.
Humility and obedience do not come naturally. And, dare I say, they do not come easily either. We are very prideful. Pride is at the heart of our sin. But our pride leads to so much conflict, because everyone needs to be number one. And our pride leads to a lot of personal suffering, when our egos get hurt. True joy does not come from getting everything we ever wanted. It does not come from having all the glory for ourselves. It does not come from being better than other people. True joy is the gift of the presence of God. Joy comes from being with God, and eagerly anticipating the fullness of the presence of God. And joy may be found in walking the way of Christ, following him in his humility and obedience.
Lately in my personal devotion I’ve been reading through the book of Esther. Reading Esther while pondering Paul’s message this morning opened the story up for me in a new way. Esther is the Queen of Persia, but she’s also a Jew. Haman is one of the King’s courtiers, and has a vendetta against the Jews because one Jew, Mordecai, won’t bow to him. Esther is Mordecai’s niece, and is obedient to him and does what he asks. Mordecai is a faithful Jew, who will only follow the Law. But Haman is a prideful wretch, who can’t be happy if even one person won’t bow. So Haman plots to kill all the Jews, and especially Mordecai. But God works through Mordecai and Esther to shame and then overcome Haman. Haman’s own pride does him in, but because Esther and Mordecai are faithful, humble, and obedient, they save their people. So too in our pride, it leads to suffering, but humility can bring life.
The Gospel is the message of Jesus’ obedience winning life for us. If we have accepted this good news. If we truly know Jesus as our Lord. If we truly know that he has defeated death for our sake. If we truly know our sins our forgiven. Then we will truly experience his joy. And that joy will be complete when we walk as Jesus walked. When we are joyfully humble, knowing that the King of Kings is humble. When we are joyfully obedient, when we know that our crucified savior was obedient. When we turn aside our self-interest, our vain conceit, and our selfish ambition, we will know the true joys that Christ alone provides on the way to the Kingdom.