{Because of the length of the Passion reading and the particular rites for Palm Sunday, the sermon is shorter. Very few complain about a shorter sermon... providing it makes sense. Actually shorter, more concise sermons are harder to develop.}
Philippians
2:5-11
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with
God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a
slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he
humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a
cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is
above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even
death on a cross.
o
Every time I read this passage, I’m amazed and ‘convicted.’ The
second term means I am made to face my own failure and sinfulness. I must face
the fact that I am not who I should be and I have not done what the Lord has
asked of me. Such is the power of Jesus’ example.
o
The humility of Jesus is truly beyond us. We cannot be so humble
since we do not start so high. Yet his humility is our exultation… and our
example. The Passion narratives in the four Gospels tell the story, and Paul’s
words capture the meaning of that event for Jesus. Humility and obedience is
the meaning for Jesus. Grace, salvation, and the endless love of God is the
meaning for us.
o
One of the major words here is “emptying.” It is a theological
term of tremendous significance but it means what it says. Jesus came among us
not as the embodiment of the Divine; He emptied himself, taking the form of a
slave, being born in human likeness. Likeness, no matter what we
might think, means far more than the simple appearance, but also the fullness
of the experience. That little word carries a lot of weight.
o
Jesus utterly abandons the form and experience of God, the
“likeness” of God. This is something which Jesus does for himself. No one
chooses it for him; No one forces it on him or requires it of him. He chooses
to do it and he chooses to submit to the humiliation of the crucifixion as the
Gospels describe. Although we don’t hear it today, we know Jesus did this in
the face of his own desire to “… remove this cup from me;
Still he goes on: yet, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
o
Paul tells the Philippian Christians to do this, not for any
reason than to be obedient to God and to be like Jesus. Let the same mind be in you
that was in Christ Jesus… Just what this means will depend on each
individual. In the face of the example of Jesus’ “emptying” and under the grace
of God, each of us will have to consider just what we need to be emptied of to
be faithful to God and to our Saviour Jesus Christ who always show us the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment