We are continuing this morning in a sermon series through the New Testament book known as Philippians, which I am calling “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” a line from last week’s passage. Philippians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul sometime between 60-64 AD to a church in Philippi that he had a deep affection for, which he had started about 10-15 years earlier. This morning we will be in verses 1-11 of chapter 2. Remember that Paul has expressed his affection for this church, prayed that they would have a wise and discerning love, and let them know that even though he is in prison unjustly, that God is doing good things, and for this he rejoices, and will continue to be faithful whether he lives or dies.
Philippians 2:1-11 - If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of 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, 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul is clearly concerned in this passage about the unity of the Philippian church. He asks them to make his joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and truth. He exhorts them to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility to consider others better than themselves, to look not only to their own interests but to the interests of others.
This is a tall order. After all, we naturally look out for our own interests. Most of us routinely make decisions out of selfish ambition and vain conceit. We don’t usually consider others better than ourselves, or the needs of others more important than our own. Most of us just instinctively operate as if the world revolves around us. We try to accumulate wealth and pleasure and joy and to find comfort for ourselves and those we love. And our culture promotes authenticity and self-expression as two of the highest values – you do you, and no one can tell you what is right for you. Think about it - what do you get when you have an orchestra full of musicians who believe in self-expression? Chaos. And what do you get when you have a world full of people who believe that self-expression and authenticity are the highest values? Chaos.
