SERMON
Down to Earth
Philippians 2:1-10 and Hebrews
4: 1-15
Pastor
God loves you just the way you are, and loves you enough not to leave you that way. God wants you to be just like Jesus. Now there is a statement you can take home with you. Let me say it again: God loves you just the way you are, and loves you enough not to leave you that way. God wants you to be just like Jesus.
Sometimes, I suspect, we want to hear only the first of those words: “God loves you just the way you are . . .” and that suits us just fine. We want God to accept us just as we are and then, we want God to leave us alone. After all, we can get nervous about needing to change. As long as God loves us just as we are, we’ve got it made.
But I suspect we’re longing for a deeper truth. Yes, God loves us just the way we are, but that is not enough. We long for a deeper, more satisfying connection with God. And there’s just so much in our way. God loves us just the way we are and, praise God, loves us enough not to leave us that way.
As we fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus we begin to
see the things in our lives that we want to change in order to be more like
Him. The Holy Spirit is always right beside us saying, “Robyn, you know that
pattern of sin that’s tripping you up? Well, I’m right here to help you work on
it whenever you’re ready.” God will not force us to change. God loves us enough
to invite us to change in order to become more like Jesus. God wants you to be just like Jesus.
This is Paul’s message to the Christians at Philippi. Listen
to his beautiful and profound words: Therefore
if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort
from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and
compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same
love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition
or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking
to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus . . .
Paul is encouraging the church at Philippi to live in harmony and humility following the example of Christ. Be like Jesus, he is saying to them. Humble yourselves as Jesus humbled himself, be a servant as Jesus became a servant. Have the same love . . . Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Note that Paul’s words are directed to a church. This characterizes a healthy church: we humble ourselves and serve one another.
That wonderful preacher and author Fred Craddock tells about visiting a church one time where he was supposed to hold services on Friday evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. When he pulled into the parking lot of the church, a funeral was concluding. People were moving to their automobiles; the hearse was still there. The minister saw him, recognized him, and motioned for him to come over. Craddock didn’t want to intrude; he was just waiting until the funeral was over. He was standing next to the widow. The pastor introduced her to Craddock, and Craddock felt awkward. He said to her, “This is no time for you to be meeting strangers. I’m sorry, and I’m really sorry about your loss.” Her husband had been killed in a car wreck and left her with four children. He said, “I know this is a very difficult time for you.”
She said, “It is. So I won’t be at the services tonight, but I’ll be there tomorrow night, and I’ll be there Sunday morning.”
Like any sensible and caring person, Craddock said, “Oh, you don’t need to.”
“Yes, I do,” she said.
He said, “Well, what I meant was, I know it’s a very hard time.”
And she said, “I know it’s hard. It’s already hard, but you see, this is my church, and they’re going to see that my children and I are okay.”
That is the way I need a church to function. That’s the kind of people I need. That’s the kind of church I hope we are trying to be.
What are we known for?
Almost everyone knows that Paris is the home of the Eiffel Tower. Rome has its Coliseum; London has Big Ben and the Tower Bridge; Moscow has the Kremlin. Tacoma has the Dome or the Museum of Glass. Around the world, many cities have landmarks by which they are recognized. Even small towns and villages often have unique features that give them a special identity. Think of Leavenworth.
Other cities are famous for what happens there. Los Angeles makes movies; Cannes has its annual film festival; New Orleans has Mardi Gras. Las Vegas—what happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas. Even if it is only Apple-Butter Makin’ Days or the Mid-Winter Ice Fishing Festival, communities identify themselves in distinctive ways.
So what is it that identifies the Christian community (the church) as such? What is the landmark that makes us recognizable to the world? We may get known as the church that does that peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the homeless ministry, but I want them to know that it is our love relationship with Jesus Christ that is behind that ministry of compassion. Jesus himself said, ‘By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another’ (John 13:35). Therefore, the identifying landmark in the church is love.
Simon and Garfunkel co-wrote a song that has become a classic: “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”
Some of you remember the lyrics: “When you’re weary/ Feeling small/ When tears are in your eyes/ I will dry them all/ I’m on your side/ When times get rough/ And friends just can’t be found/ Like a bridge over troubled water/ I will lay me down . . .”
That’s how we need the church to be. We need to be people who will bridge to others. There is an interesting phrase in our common vernacular. It is the phrase, “I’ve got your back.” If I say to someone, especially someone in a difficult situation, “I’ve got your back,” it means I’ll be there for you, look out for you, help you out if you’re in trouble. The testimony of the Bible is that God always has our back and we are to have one another’s back. Or, as in the Simon and Garfunkel analogy, God bridges over troubled water to us in our times of needs and we are to seek to be bridges for others. It means we might desire to live like Jesus and serve like Jesus…to be so down to earth like Jesus that others may see God’s love for them through us.
Think this through for a few moments. Did you know that it’s not our job to protect the church? Our task is not survival, but service. There’s a world of need in people around us. Nobody’s going to sue us if we look away, ignore their need. There’s also a world of need inside our own hearts. Paul is writing to the church when he said that we are to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Our job is not to protect the church but, as the church, to love and serve others… and be willing to lay down our life for those who are not yet part of our community.
To live like Jesus is to love God with everything you’ve got and to love others with everything you’ve got. Love God. Love others. Never stop. And they will know we are Christ’s disciples.