Latest / Chapel Talks / The Secret of Christian Unity | Philippians 2:5–11 | Mike Kendall

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The Secret of Christian Unity | Philippians 2:5–11 | Mike Kendall · Chapel Talks

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It's great to see you. Thanks for having me.
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Let's pray and ask the Lord to help us. Our Father
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in heaven, we pray that through your word, by
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your spirit, you would help us now to see the
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Lord Jesus more clearly. To love him more dearly.
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and to follow him more nearly. Help us, we pray,
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for Jesus' sake. Amen. What is the secret of
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unity? Take an ordinary local church, take the
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church that you belong to, take the church that
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I... I belong to and serve an ordinary church
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made up of all sorts of different people, different
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ages, stages, different backgrounds and cultures,
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different outlooks and interests. Be so easy,
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wouldn't it, for those differences to get in
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the way. So easy in a church like that, different
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people for their relationships to break down.
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And what if an ordinary local church like that,
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with all its differences, what if a church like
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that comes under pressure too from outside? What
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if people take issue with what's being preached?
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What if stories start to appear about it online?
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How intolerant, how unloving the church is. What
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if... The members, what if you and me, we start
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to face opposition from our family, from our
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friends, our acquaintances? What then? How does
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an ordinary local church like that, with all
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its differences, with all that pressure, how
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does it stand firm? How does it strive together
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for the faith of the gospel? What is the secret
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of unity? That is the issue for us here in Philippians
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chapter 2. Paul says the secret of unity is to
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share the same mindset, the same attitude, a
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mindset of humble, selfless love. Just listen
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to what Paul says. Chapter 2 verse 1, he says,
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Therefore, if you have any encouragement from
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being united with Christ, if any comfort from
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his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,
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if any tenderness and compassion, Then make my
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joy complete by being like -minded, having the
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same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
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Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves,
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not looking to your own interests, but each of
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you to the interests of others. And Paul then
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gives us the ultimate example. of that mindset.
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Verse 5, in your relationships with one another,
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have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. And in
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the verses that follow, he paints the most stunning
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portrait of the mindset of Christ Jesus. And
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the point is really simple. Paul says, look at
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Jesus. And adopt the same mindset. That's the
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secret of unity. Look at Jesus. And adopt the
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same mindset. This section is at the very heart
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of the letter. But not just the letter. In many
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ways, the very heart of the New Testament too.
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One Christian writer puts it like this. He says,
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this is one of the most beautiful and rich descriptions
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of the person and work of Christ in the New Testament.
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Let's have a look at that beautiful, that rich
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description. There are two lessons for us. Let
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me show you what they are. Here's the first one.
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Look at Jesus and see how low he humbled himself.
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Look at Jesus. See how low he humbled himself.
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This is verses 6 to 8. The story of these verses
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is the story of a journey. It's the story of
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a journey from the very heights of heaven to
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the very depths of death on a cross. It is a
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shocking journey, an extraordinary journey. It's
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full of wonder and mystery. Listen again to Paul.
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Verse 5, in your relationships with one another,
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have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being
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in very nature God, did not consider equality
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with God something to be used to his own advantage.
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Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the
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very nature of a servant, being made in human
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likeness. is the eternal Son of God, equal with
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the Father in every way, equal in honor, equal
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in glory, equal in power, fully and truly God.
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In the memorable words of the Nicene Creed, God
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of God, light of light, very God of very God,
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begotten, not made, being of one substance with
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the Father, fully. equally truly God. And yet
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Paul says he didn't exploit his status or his
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position. He didn't use it to his own advantage
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the way that I so often do, the way that I try
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to use my status, my position to improve my lot,
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or at least to get out of something that I think
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might be beneath me. He never did that. Look
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at verse 7. Rather, he made himself nothing by
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taking the very nature of a servant, being made
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in human likeness. You will know that Paul literally
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says he emptied himself. He emptied himself.
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And yet you will also know how easy it is to
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get the wrong end of the stick with that. I love
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Charles Wesley's hymn, And Can It Be? I love
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the way it captures the wonder and the awe of
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being a Christian. I love the way, have you noticed
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that first verse? The way that every line finishes
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with a question mark. As though you just can't
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quite get your head around what the Lord Jesus
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has done for you. And can it be that I should
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gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died
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he for me who caused his pain, for me who him
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to death pursued. Could that really be true?
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I love verse 1. Verse 3 always makes me really
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uneasy. He left his father's throne above so
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free, so infinite in his grace, emptied himself
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of all but love. I don't know what he meant by
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that. I don't know what was going through his
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mind when he penned those words. But it sounds
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like he is saying, in that journey down, Christ
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gave up some or all of his godness. We know that's
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not right, don't we? That the point is not that
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he gives something up. The point, Paul says,
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is he took something on. Look at the next line.
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He took on the very nature of a servant. And
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you will know too that that word servant is the
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word slave. In other words, can you get your
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mind around this? That the one who is truly,
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fully, equally God with the Father, willingly
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became a slave. No rights. No status. No privilege.
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Isn't that remarkable? But notice something.
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He doesn't do that despite being God. He does
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that precisely because he is God. In other words,
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he empties himself. He makes himself nothing.
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He takes on the very nature of a servant because
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that is what he's really like. That is his, if
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I can use these words, that is his heart. In
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the words of the song, this is our God, the servant
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king. Let me ask you a question which I heard
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somewhere else but found really helpful. It's
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kind of stuck in my head. When Jesus grew up,
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it is not in any way surprising, is it, that
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he went around doing the most extraordinary things,
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things that only God himself can do. He was,
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after all, fully and truly God. But when you
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look at his earthly life, what do you think is
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the most God -like thing he did? Walk on water?
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It's pretty impressive. Heal the sick. Raise
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the dead. Calm the storm. Feed the hungry. What
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is the most God -like thing he did? Paul says
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that the most God -like thing he did was to make
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himself nothing. To empty himself. Why? Because
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that is who he is. That this is our God, the
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servant king. Isn't that remarkable? That the
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God of the Bible is a God who lacks nothing.
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He needs nothing. He is gloriously and wonderfully
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perfect in every way. And therefore, the God
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of the Bible, he is not a God who takes. He's
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a God who gives and who gives and who gives again.
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He's a God who made himself nothing and humbled
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himself and poured himself out. As the creed
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says, for us and for our salvation, for me and
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for you. And Paul says, look at him, look at
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him and adopt the same mindset. Literally, Paul
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says something like this. He says, have the mindset
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which you have in Christ. Christian, he says,
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you are united with him. You are united with
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the one who made himself nothing for you. He
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has taken hold of you and you now belong to him.
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And if that is true, which it is, and if that
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is his mindset, then how on earth can you and
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I possibly act out of selfish ambition? Or vain
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conceit. Look at Jesus. And adopt. The same mindset.
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But there's more. At the first Christmas. He
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came down from heaven. In the words of the apostle
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John. The word became flesh. He became a real
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human being. Without in any way ceasing. To be
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fully and truly God. How did Gregory of Nazianzus
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put it? He remained what he was and took up what
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he was not. But he wasn't done there. At the
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first Good Friday, he comes down further still
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to the lowest point imaginable. Verse 8. And
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being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
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himself by becoming obedient to death, even death
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on a cross. You and I, I think we tend to put
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limits. We tend to put limits on how far we're
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willing to go for the sake of others. How far
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down we will stoop. We go so far, but then we
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draw a line and we won't go any further. If it
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gets too hard, if it's too costly, if it just
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feels like too much, then that's it, we're done.
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Look at Jesus. He never drew a line. The cross
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shows the lengths that the Son is willing to
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go to in loving obedience. To the Father, there
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is no line there. Nothing is beneath him. Nothing
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is too much for him. Not even, Paul says, death
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on a cross. The cross has been described as the
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cruelest, the most shameful and painful death
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ever devised. As you know, victims were usually
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stripped of their clothes. They were typically
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nailed to the cross through their ankles and
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their wrists. They would die from suffocation
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when they could no longer lift themselves up
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to breathe. And yet Jesus' suffering on the cross
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is utterly unique, unlike the suffering of any
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other. Because as he hangs on the cross, not
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only does he endure that horrendous physical
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pain, but worse, far worse than all of that,
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he absorbs the awful, terrible, dreadful wrath
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of God that you and I deserve for the way that
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we have treated him. It's very appropriate that
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as we began earlier, we had those words of Isaiah
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53. Because that surely is what is in the background
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as Paul paints this portrait of the Lord Jesus
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here. Isaiah speaks of a servant. A servant who
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stoops down and down and down. A servant who
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is pierced for our transgressions. A servant
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who is crushed for our iniquities. And the punishment
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that brought us peace was laid on him. And by
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his wounds we are healed. And Paul says, look
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at Jesus. Nothing was beneath him. Even the lowest
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position was not too low for him. Someone has
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put it like this. He was not too proud to wear
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our skin or bear our sin. And Paul says, look
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at him. Look at Jesus. See how low he humbled
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himself. And adopt the same mindset. But what
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does that mean, do you think, for you and me?
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It certainly means being willing to give up our
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position, our rights, our privilege for the sake
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of others. Of course it does. It means being
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willing to pour out everything we have, our home,
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our stuff, our money, our time, our effort, our
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energy in humble, selfless love for others. It
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means being willing to lose out. to suffer, to
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bear shame and die so that others can gain and
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flourish and live. But what does it really mean?
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The cricketer and missionary C .T. Studd famously
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said, I'm sure you know these words. If Jesus
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Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice
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can be too great for me to make for him. The
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problem is all too often we, I, grumble and complain
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about even the smallest sacrifice. Let me give
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you an example. Try this on for size. How do
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you respond when people interrupt you? You have
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your day planned out. You know what you want
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to do. You know what you need to get done. And
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then you get a knock on the door or you get a
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phone call or a message. And someone needs your
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help. In his book, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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talks about the ministry of... helpfulness. He
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describes it like this. He says, this means initially
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simple assistance in trifling external matters.
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There is a multitude of these whenever people
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live together. That's true, isn't it? There are
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always demands on your time and not all of them
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feel very important, let's be honest. How do
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you respond when someone interrupts you when
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they want your help and it feels like something
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really small and really unimportant? What do
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you do? He goes on, nobody is too good for the
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meanest service. One who worries about the loss
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of time that such petty outward acts of helpfulness
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entail. is usually taking the importance of his
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own career too solemnly. We must be ready to
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allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God
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will be constantly crossing our paths and cancelling
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our plans by sending us people with claims and
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petitions. And then he presses it home like this.
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It is a strange fact. That Christians and even
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ministers frequently consider their work so important
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and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb
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them. They think they are doing God's service
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in this, but actually they're disdaining God's
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crooked yet straight path. I'm sure that raises
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questions for you, it does for me. You may want
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to discuss those later. But is he not right in
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what he says? It is so easy for the Christian
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worker to think that their work is too important
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to be disturbed. Paul says, look at Jesus and
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adopt the same mindset. Can you and I really
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look at him? And then grumble and complain when
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somebody asks for our help. Even in small, trifling
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little things. Firstly, look at Jesus and see
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how low he humbled himself. Secondly, we'll be
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briefer, look at Jesus. And see how high God
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exalted him. Look at Jesus. See how high God
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exalted him. This is verses 9 to 11. If verses
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6 to 8 are about the example of God the Son,
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then verses 9 to 11 are about the response of
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God the Father. Have a look. Therefore God exalted
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him to the highest place and gave him the name
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that is above every name. that at the name of
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Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on
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earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge
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that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
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the Father. Because the Son humbled himself to
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the very lowest place, it was fitting and right
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for the Father to exalt him then to the very
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highest place. After dying on the cross, the
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Father raised him from the dead and exalted him
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to his right hand in heaven. He gave him the
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name that is above every name. Take it that that's
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the name of Lord. And one day this same Lord
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Jesus will come again to judge the living and
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the dead, to judge me, to judge you. And on that
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day, everyone who has ever lived We'll bow before
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him. And we will acknowledge that the one who
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poured himself out in humble, selfless love is
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Lord and God. And some of us will do that willingly
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and gladly. We will sing, this is the God that
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we love. And others will do this in great shame
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and fear. Because this is the God they reject.
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And Paul says, look at Jesus and see how high
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God exalted him. How does that help us to live
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lives of humble, selfless love? I think it helps
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in two ways. Let me finish with these. Here's
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the first. Serving others. Serving others often
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feels like wading through treacle. It can feel
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more like a burden than a joy. And if we're not
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careful, we end up feeling resentful. But here's
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the thing, as we serve others in humble, selfless
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love, we can be absolutely sure that God loves
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and rewards. That attitude. God sees it. He loves
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it. He will reward it. Do you remember what the
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Lord Jesus said? He said, for those who exalt
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themselves, what will happen? They will be humbled.
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Everyone who humbles themselves will be exalted.
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The point is, those who lower themselves, who
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go down and down and down to serve others in
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this way, they never lose out in the end. Because
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God sees and he loves and he will reward that
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attitude. One day, one day God will say to us
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those wonderful words, well done, good and faithful
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servant. And when he does, it will dawn on us
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that every act of humble, selfless love, it really
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was worth it. Paul says, look at Jesus. And see
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how high God exalted him. But all of this, it
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helps in another way too. Because the Christian,
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we belong to Jesus. He's taken hold of us. We
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are united with him. Which means that we go the
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same way that he went. Our lives will reflect
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this pattern. That the Christian life is a life
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of stooping down and being lifted up. It is a
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life of suffering and glory. It is a life of
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loss and gain. It is a life of death and life.
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And that is true in terms of its overall shape.
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We live a life of suffering now and glory to
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come. But it's not just the overall shape I think
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that Paul is talking about here. That pattern.
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will be seen and lived out and reenacted in countless
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smaller ways throughout the course of our lives.
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And that shouldn't surprise us, I don't think.
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Tis the way the master went, should not the servant
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tread it still. The thing is, so often, even
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in ministry, suffering, And loss and death take
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us by surprise. That they shouldn't do. That
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the Bible is replete with those warnings. But
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so often they do. And when we experience them,
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we think that something is wrong. But it's not.
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In our happiest moments. We must remember that
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suffering and loss and death, they are normal
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in Christian life and ministry. And therefore,
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I think we hold lightly to the good things that
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God gives us. We mustn't ever think that God's
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good gifts are things to cling onto and to be
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used for our own advantage. And yet in times
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of suffering, loss and death, we must also remember
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that this is not the end of the story. It never
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was. And it never will be. Glory and gain and
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life are coming. So look at Jesus and take heart.
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And in those moments, Of death and loss and suffering.
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Don't despair. What's the secret of unity? Paul
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says it is a mindset of humble, selfless love.
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Look at Jesus and adopt the same mindset. See
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how low he humbled himself. See how high the
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Father exalted him. Let's pray. Our Father in
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heaven, we thank you so much for this stunning
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portrait of the Lord Jesus father we we are astounded
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that he should be willing to go to stoop to such
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depths for us and for our salvation how humbling
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to think that the one who was in very nature
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God should be willing to make himself nothing
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and pour himself out for us. Father, we pray.
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We pray that you would help us to look at him,
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to see how low he humbled himself, to see how
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high you exalted him, and then to adopt the same
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mindset. Help us, Father, please. Not to put
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our own interests first, but the interests of
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others. For Jesus' sake we pray.