Being Like Jesus

Reading

Philippians 2:1-16a

Introduction

It will be helpful if you keep your Bible open at Philippians 2 so you can refer to it as we go on.

Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi when he was in Rome under house arrest.  We read about this in Acts 28, where we are told he was in his own rented home guarded by Roman soldiers—probably chained to one of them!

While he awaited trial, he was allowed to preach freely and to receive visitors. 

One of his visitors was a man called Epaphroditus, who came to Paul with aid from the Philippian church, and he writes his letter to express his gratitude to them for their practical support and to encourage them.

Whilst Paul seems to have been under no particular duress at this time, his future, from a human point of view was uncertain; he could be tried and released, or tried and executed.  For Paul, however, the future was positive whatever the outcome; 'For me to live is Christ and to die is gain,' he writes. 

His letter is full of joy, contentment and thankfulness.  He seems to have been fairly confident of being released—and we know he was after two years—but at the time of writing, he recognises that the judgement could go either way. 

He doesn't want the Philippians to be discouraged if he ends up dead.  'Whatever happens,' he writes in chapter one, 'conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.'  He wanted them to understand that their continuation in the faith didn't depend on him, but on Christ.

In the passage we've read, there's some practical teaching about what constitutes worthy conduct but before we consider that I want to look at verses 6-11.

The Humility of Christ

It's believed that this section was a hymn used in the early church.  We don't know that it definitely was or who wrote it—perhaps it was a poem penned by Paul himself—but Paul gives it authority by including it in his letter.

It's an important passage of scripture because it underpins our belief in the divinity of Christ and in the Trinity.

Verse 6 shows us that before Christ came to earth as a man he existed with the full status of God; he was God the Son alongside God the Father. 

As God, he had every right to remain where he was.  But he didn't.  He had a mission to accomplish and he put his mission before his status.  The only way we could be rescued from judgement and certain destruction, the only way we could be reconciled with God was for him to come down and do something about it.  And so he did. 

That's our Jesus!

Verse 7 tells us that, by his own choice, he set aside his status and became one of us.  He remained fully God but he became fully human, and chose to be a servant. 

The greek word translated 'servant' is doulos, a bond-servant or slave; someone who had no rights. 

Christ's attitude was very different from people of our time, who demand that their rights are respected.  Christ laid down his rights and served the Father faithfully all his human life.

And he did that for us. 

That's our Jesus!

Verse 8 shows us Jesus stepping down even lower.  Even as a man, we might say he had a certain status or reputation as a teacher and preacher, but his mission involved taking on all of our sins, and suffering the penalty that should have been ours. 

In the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his arrest, with the horror of what lay before him, we see him asking the Father if there was another way to save us.  But there was no other way and he submitted obediently to the Father's plan. 

He humbled himself even further, dying the death of a common criminal on a Roman cross, worthless as far as the Romans were concerned—someone to get rid of; cursed by God as far as the Jewish authorities were concerned. 

But it was our curse he bore, it was our penalty he paid.  He did that for us. 

That's our Jesus!

Verse 9 shows us that the Father was fully pleased with Jesus, which implies that his sacrifice for us is fully effective, and that through faith in Christ we can be fully saved.

In response to Christ's humility and obedience, the Father raised Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name above every name. 

This speaks of his absolute authority.  As Jesus himself says in Matthew 28:18, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' 

And Paul writes in Ephesians 1, '[God] raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.'

Jesus lives, and he lives for us! 

That's our Jesus!

Verses 10 and 11 declare that Jesus is Lord and is worthy of our worship.  We, of course, proclaim and submit to his rule willingly but the time will come when Christ returns in power, and no-one will be able to deny his right and authority. 

For those who have not bowed the knee to Jesus before then it will be too late!  Not everyone gets to heaven – only those who surrender their lives to his Majesty. 

Those who bow the knee now are assured of God's love and his full and free salvation.  We can live our lives, here on earth, in personal relationship with our Maker!  All because of what our Jesus did for us!

He:

• disregarded his personal status
• committed himself to the life of a servant
• demonstrated true humility
• put obedience before cost, and now he
• is conferred with all authority, and
• is worthy of our praise.

That's our Jesus!

Worthy Conduct

I now want to link back to Paul's point about conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. 

In verse five, Paul introduced this passage we've just considered with the words, 'In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.' 

It's the attitudes in our minds that determine how we live our lives.  This verse tells us that God wants us to change our thinking.  We could translate that as, 'In your relationships with one another,' don't be yourselves, … be … like … Jesus! 

The passage shows us what Jesus is like, and the point of it was to demonstrate how we should be with one another.

Let me be clear on this: to 'have the same mindset as Christ Jesus' does not mean to 'imitate Jesus', it means to become like him.  Imitation is never the real thing. 

We walk our dog around the area we live in, and the Hadrian Cycle path runs through it.  On numerous occasions, we've heard the ting! ting! of a bicycle bell behind us and have turned around to see … well, nothing!  Eventually, we realised that some of the birds around us are fantastic mimics! 

But imitating a bicycle bell doesn't make them a bicycle bell—they remain birds; there is no change of nature.  Merely imitating Jesus doesn't make us Christians—that requires a change of nature. 

At the beginning of chapter two, Paul talks about the Philippians being 'united with Christ', and having 'a common sharing in the Spirit'. 

Through the good news of the gospel of Christ, God calls us into relationship with himself.  Worthy conduct is rooted in right relationship with God. 

Worthy conduct is expressing on the outside what God has already done on the inside.  This is what it means when Paul writes, 'continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.'  (Verses 12 and 13.)

God is working it in, we work it out.

Paul puts it in a different way in Romans 12:2.  He writes, 'Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.'

God is renewing our thinking, we need to allow this new mindset to transform us.

Now our transformation into Christ-likeness is an on-going process.  That's why the Philippians needed instruction from Paul, and why we need it today.  Our destiny is to be like Christ but God doesn't impose it on us.  We need to cooperate with him.

It's taken God 47 years to get me to be what I am today, and he hasn't finished with me yet!  There are things about the old me that I don't like very much at all.  I don't want to be the old me.  I wish I'd been more open to the changes he wanted to make.  I wish I'd learnt sooner about how to conduct myself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

What can we do to be more cooperative?  Paul's description of Jesus gives us some insight on how to do that.

Worthy conduct is expressed in unity: Paul writes about 'being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of the same mind.' 

There were two women in Philippi who were struggling with this.  We read about Euodia and Syntyche in chapter four.  These were women held in honour by Paul but they've hit a point of disagreement. 

Disagreement, if we're not careful can lead to division, and division to devastation in the life of a church.  I've seen it happen more than once!

We don't know what these women were falling out over but Paul pleads with them 'to be of the same mind in the Lord.'  Was one right and the other wrong?  Were they both wrong but stubborn?  No-one knows. 

Somehow these women had to find reconciliation.  They couldn't achieve that by standing on their rights.  Both would have to find the humility to change their stance.  Neither could insist on her own way.  Both would have to step back and hear what God was saying, perhaps by listening to their fellow believers, who Paul asked to help them. 

The greek language behind verse five gives us a collective responsibility.  We're not called only into relationship with God but also into relationship with each other.  We're to help one another grow in Christ-likeness. 

When we disagree, we have to recognise that unity is more important than our views being right.  People on both sides of the argument have to seek the way forward, listening and showing love, and being willing to discover that perhaps what is in Christ's mind is different from what's in the minds of either party.

Worthy conduct is expressed in humility: there must be no 'selfish ambition or vain conceit.'  People who want a position of authority because it appeals to their sense of self-importance are exactly the people who should not be appointed. 

If status is our goal, we'll be proud of our humility, expect praise for our service, and obey God when it benefits us.  But what did Jesus say?  '… whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of  all.' Mk 10:43-44

True humility is the way forward.  Humility is not thinking of yourself as a worm or a doormat to be misused or abused.  It means having a right view of yourself in relation to others.

We've all heard stories of people like nurses and paramedics who save lives and say, 'I was just doing my job.'  That's a picture of humility.

There are lots of things I am good at, and I can, in all humility, take great satisfaction from a good job well done.   But my being good at something doesn't make me better than you. Our talents are gifts to be used for good, not to make demi-gods of us.

Have a good look at the people around you now.  Paul writes, '… in humility value [them] above yourself …'   No exceptions! 

There's a mutuality about this.  We end up giving proper respect and dignity to those around us, and in return are treated with proper respect and dignity, something that wouldn't happen if we each thought ourselves more valuable than everyone else.

Worthy conduct is expressed in service.  We live in a society that's largely governed by the saying, 'Look out for number one.' 

Now, Paul doesn't say you shouldn't be mindful of your own interests, but he does exhort us to be concerned about the interests of others.  And that doesn't mean being an interfering busy-body, poking our noses in where they're not wanted or needed. 

But it does mean caring lovingly and practically for others, doing the very best we can for those who are sick, or grieving, or struggling with life.

Paul says,  'Do everything without grumbling or arguing.'  Who are we really serving?  If the things we are asked to do are for our Saviour who loved us and gave himself for us, then why should we complain? 

What service has God called you to do?  Are you engaged with it?  We all have gifts and skills.  Let's use them in service with joyful hearts. 

Summary

We've explored what motivated Jesus' living so we have a model against which to measure our own thinking and motives, and which defines what it means to live lives worthy of the gospel.

We've seen how this is to affect our relationships, through unity, humility and service.

God is in the process of renewing us in Christ.  He's renewing our thinking, so that we can live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Let's allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can be more and more like Jesus.

Planning for Growth

Readings

Romans 8:28-38
Matthew 5:13-16

Introduction

As I understand it, Conference has placed two alternatives before each and every chapel: we are to plan either for growth or for end of life.  That's quite a stark choice!  But I can understand why it's been done.  A church in decline needs to draw back and regroup and decide where to use its diminishing resources so that it can be more effective in its mission.

But taking a more positive view, perhaps we can ask, how can we best fulfil the calling God has placed on our lives?  How can we become all he's called us to be?  How can we best live out all the potential that he's placed in each one of us as individuals and collectively as his church?

To plan for growth is to commit ourselves deliberately and intentionally to our King and to his cause.

To my mind, there are two ways of growing:

1. Growing in maturity of faith, or growing deeper
2. Growing numerically, or growing wider.

We'll consider each of these, beginning with

Growing Deeper

A good guiding principle when making plans is to find out what God is doing, and to join in with that.  The passage we've just heard read shows us that God already has a plan for us—more than that, a destiny!

Long ago God foresaw that we would believe and follow, if only we had half a chance.  And so he set about making it possible for us.  Our first hymn recounted all that God has done through Christ to bring us into a personal relationship with himself.  He made sure we heard the gospel message, and lavished love and forgiveness on us.  He brought us into his family, and his goal for us now is to refine us so that we become more like Jesus.

Like brothers and sisters in an earthly family, we are all different but we all are to bear the family traits. Each one of us is to become “a chip off the old block.”  Our destiny is to be like Jesus—but, somehow, still uniquely ourselves.

God's plan is that we grow in maturity of faith until our lives fully portray Christ.  And this is here and now for this life.  We don't have to wait until we get to heaven!  In fact it's important that it happens in this life so the world can see the difference Christ makes!

That's what God is doing.  So how do we join in? 

Well, the first question is, have you found that personal relationship with God through Christ?  That's where it all starts.  God doesn't call us to be religious or church-goers—in fact, that doesn't really satisfy him at all; he calls us into personal relationship.

Do you know you're safe and secure in Jesus? 

If you do, then how do you cooperate with God to help him fulfil his longing for you?

There's nothing overly complicated about it.  We just need to keep ourselves where God can influence us, a place where we can listen to what he's saying, and follow his lead. 

Make use of the means of grace that we've talked about on previous occasions.  Read your Bible; study scripture and meditate on it.  Spend time in God's company in prayer.  Make his kingdom your priority.

Jesus promises that those who hunger and thirst for right relationship with God shall be filled.  Scripture promises us that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.  It's our own responsibility to draw near. 

In planning for our church to grow, we need to make sure that things are in place that build discipleship, things that encourage the life of Christ in us. 

We may find we need additional things—especially for those just beginning their walk with Christ—but already in our church we have the means to help us grow in the company of other people on the same journey.  We have house groups and other daytime groups that do the same sort of things as house groups.  We meet to worship and pray, to talk about scripture, and to share with and care for each other.

Are you in a study group?  If not, let me encourage you to join one.  If, for some reason, the times those groups meet just don't work for you, have a word with me or one of the other stewards and we'll see if we can start another group at a time that helps you.

Testimony  There are things we can do for ourselves to help us grow, and I've asked [someone] to share with us some ideas that have helped her grow in her faith.

[testimony]

We're on a journey.  Our destination is fully mature faith in the likeness of Christ.  But our starting point is right here, just where we are.  For some of us that may be a difficult place to be.  Perhaps we're struggling with life, struggling with faith itself…  We can help each other to face our issues and move forward.  And we can trust in God to come alongside us and lead us on. 

Growing Wider

You may have heard it said that faith is a private thing, something to keep to yourself.  But actually, that is a lie of Satan.

Our reading reveals to us another part of God's plan: that we should be a visible witness to the world.  We are the salt of the earth!  We are the light of the world!

We've all heard the metaphors for salt: salt preserves, salt gives flavour, and we can make useful sermon points out of those things.  But to the rabbis of Jesus' time on earth, salt was a metaphor for wisdom.  Our role is to show the wisdom of God, the message of the gospel, in a clear and untainted way.  What do we do with salt that's lost its saltiness?  We throw it out; it's good for nothing.  If we dilute the message, it's no message at all.  It's useless. 

The full gospel message is summarised quite nicely for us in the Four Alls of Methodism:

• All need to be saved.
• All can be saved.
• All can know they are saved.
• All can be saved to the uttermost.

If we're to grow numerically—and I believe God wants that because he wants his kingdom to be full—then, to a large extent, our success (if that's the right word) will depend on the visibility of our witness. 

When you drive down Holeyn Hall Road, you can't help but notice Prudhoe: there it is, on the hill opposite!  We're like a town built on a hill; we're here to demonstrate visibly the life of God, to reveal his kingdom. 

We're God's oil lamps.  We carry a flame that God himself has lit, so that we can give light to those in darkness. 

When people look at us, what do they see?  Are we nice people but not really any different?  Or do they see people with something worth living for, people who have something they need?

In planning for our church to grow, we need to make sure that things are in place to help us grow confident in witness, and that reach relevantly into the lives of those outside.

We may need new ideas but already we have things that help people across the threshold of our building; things like Messy Church which brings people in who would be put off as yet by our traditional Sunday morning services; things like Soft Play that bring families into contact with us and, hopefully, with the gospel.  And we're experimenting with Café Church as a way of being more relevant. 

But, for those who won't come in, perhaps we need to find ways of taking church out there to where the people are, and ways of blessing the community that demonstrate God's love and goodness.

But how do we get people actually to cross over into God's kingdom?  Coming into church is not the same thing.  Perhaps this is an area where we need those new ideas, but we need to carry on being faithful witnesses and relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Planning for Growth

As a healthy church, as a vibrant Christian community, we should be growing in maturity, and growing in number.  And as we look to the future and formulate plans to help us do those things, we need to build in things that help us mature, and that help us to take opportunities for sharing our faith.  Both approaches are needed.

2 Kings 19:30 says, 'Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.'  If we are to be fruitful as a church, then we need to grow good roots.  Growing wider, like a spreading tree, depends on our growing deeper.

But we don't have to wait until we are mature enough to begin looking outwards.  Trees don't grow all their roots and then all their branches; roots and branches  grow at the same time. 

By way of example, I have more qualifications in maths than any other subject but my understanding of maths grew by tutoring someone else. 

Discipleship and witness go hand-in-hand.  Our discipleship sharpens our witness and our witness hones our discipleship.  Often we learn more by stepping out in faith, by taking the risk of faith.  That way, we learn to rely on the Holy Spirit.

Growth, whether deeper or wider, begins with us.  It depends on our commitment.  Personal growth is really good for us personally, and it's vital to our witness.  Our witness helps others find the same joy in salvation that we know, and it helps us to grow personally.

As we look forward to preparing our plan for growth, it's important that we all pray specifically for God's guidance; pray that he'll show us what to build into the plan, what to leave out, what to change. Pray for yourselves, that he'll help you grow in maturity and the courage to share your faith.  Let's commit ourselves to growing the kingdom of God.

This probably all sounds a bit challenging, and perhaps daunting, but Rome wasn't built in a day; it doesn't all have to happen by next week.  And I'm confident of this, God is with us, and if we will do our part he will certainly do his. 

We can become a more vibrant Christian community with a richer, deeper and fuller experience of God; a community growing in maturity; a community that helps others find God's kingdom.