PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 - Look to Serve Others as Christ Served Us

One of the first things we are regularly told is that we are unique and beautiful. This uniqueness is a gift from God, having given each of us our own interests, ideas, and way of thinking. This concept of uniqueness can be both a blessing and a curse. Some of us search out others with our same ‘unique’ ideas and form groups for mutual support. These groups sometimes turn against those who are different. We see all around how divisive celebrating this ‘uniqueness’ can be. Sometimes this uniqueness becomes a rallying cry, at the expense of coming together and enjoying each other as Jesus instructed during his time with us. A perfect example is sports. We get involved with our favorite teams and whoever does not follow our favorites is castigated, mocked, even beaten and killed.

For those of you who don’t know me, my teams are from the Detroit area: the Tigers, Lions, Redwings and the University of Michigan. Back in 1991, my dad offered to take me to see the Lions for the first time in my life. This particular season they were coming to play both the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders, my choice. I quickly said the 49ers, and he responded, ‘Why? I thought you would want to see them in Oakland (it was closer to our house).’ I told him, ‘People rooting for the visiting teams get stabbed and beaten up in Oakland.’ Ironically it was also the day of the great Oakland Hills fire that shut down all of the Oakland area, so I made the right choice and we made it home safely. By the way the Lions lost, 35 – 3 and Barry Sanders only had 16 yards that day. God must have been busy saving people from the fire instead that day. But back to today’s message.

Throughout history there have been clashes over differences in beliefs and religious dogma since time began. This was also the case with Christianity as soon as Jesus ascended. The apostles worked together to maintain the integrity of the gospel amidst opposition and expansion. As the years turned into decades after Jesus died, the word was spreading throughout the Roman Empire and with it came the inevitable mutation of the message. During this period came Paul, the former Pharisee and persecutor, proclaiming the gospel as given him by Jesus and reconciled with Peter. Paul was painfully aware of the dissention and disparate messages being passed around the fledgling churches and strove to get everyone on the message that was left by Jesus. What we are looking at today is Paul’s epistle to Philippians, where he addresses the differences of thought in the Philippian church and his attempt to bring their beliefs back in line with the true gospel. He also went to remind the church of Christ Jesus’s voluntary sacrifice for our benefit and Jesus’s request that we be servants to others.

Philippi in the 1st century BC was a prosperous, important city in the Roman Empire. Philippi had recently been elevated in status to a colony city of Rome which gave the population numerous legal and financial benefits and a growing civic pride. Paul first visited Philippi on his second missionary trip around 50 A.D., after receiving his ‘Macedonian vision’, mentioned in Acts 16:9. Paul and his traveling companions, Luke and Timothy, soon arrived at Philippi. There he found a small, poor Jewish population with no synagogue, meeting only at a gathering place near a river. This weak Jewish influence in the area allowed him to establish his church with little outside distractions or opposition. The Jewish population was poor but stayed dedicated to Paul and his word.

However, soon after the church started to grow, the external forces of bias and persecution began to take shape. False teachers and Judaizers also started to stir up trouble between the Jews and Gentiles of the church. Paul was informed of this dissension and conflict arising among the Philippians of the church and became very concerned. Paul wrote this epistle to address the numerous issues and encourage them to unite in Christ and look to serve each other. This message can be relayed directly into our lives as well, to support and love one another and model Christ’s behavior in serving each other.

The section we will be looking over in regards to Paul’s plea to the Philippians is Phil 2:1 – 11, also known as the Humility of Christ. This can easily be broken into three parts, Phil 2:1 – 4, Phil 2:5 – 8 and Phil 2:9 – 11. The first part is Paul’s plea to the Philippians to change their heart from inward to outward and serve others. Here is what Phil 2:1 – 4 says:

2. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

This is Paul’s call to the Philippians to look at themselves and find the qualities that show they are of the same frame of mind as Christ Jesus, with the attitude of service and sacrifice that Jesus tried to impart upon his believers. This was an attitude of encouragement, love, participation/partnership with the Spirit, affection and sympathy towards others.

Paul is also implying that by if the Philippians fulfill his wishes and achieve this objective, it would fill him with joy and happiness. More than that, he adds that this would also put everyone on the same sheet of music and moving in the same direction. This uniformity of attitude is compared to Jesus’s mindset of servitude and lovingkindness, a benchmark to make sure that everybody is striving to the same level of love as the supreme instrument of love, Christ Jesus.

In verse three, Paul now challenges the Philippians to take their attitude of love and add service to others. He implores them to exchange their selfish ambitions and self-centered focus and turn it outwards. He is asking them to look to others and serve them selflessly and not be wishy-washy. This, Paul implies, can be done by looking at others as more important than themselves. He reiterates this in verse 4, giving this idea additional emphasis.

But what is the encouragement in Christ that we are talking about? The original Greek is translated as ‘consolation’ but this may make better sense with the alternate Greek definition as ‘comfort’ which would turn that opening segment into ‘comfort in Christ’. This comfort would be from knowing Jesus as the Christ and the joy of being a part of his flock. At the same time this point of knowing Christ might also serve as a litmus test where the believer, if truly filled with the Holy Spirit, would also want to model the type of love and selfishness that Jesus showed through his ministry. Along the same lines, the comfort found in love sounds like someone comforted at being the recipient of Jesus’ love, which with receiving the Holy Spirit, should fill us with affection and sympathy as well. One would expect this of true believers of Christ Jesus, given the message that he brought and the mission that he served. Paul is saying, ‘Here is the list of virtues Jesus had. This is necessary for us to have as well’. We must think about this laundry list of qualities we should all have and put them at the forefront of our lives.

Paul next beseeches the Philippians to again model their behavior to that of Christ Jesus and place others above themselves. This can be accomplished by showing a servant’s attitude and selflessness like Jesus did. This can be plainly seen in the Gospels during the last supper. Luke 22:26 - 27 says:

26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

This subservient servant is also addressed in John 13 with Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. In the time of the Bible, people made their way around primarily by walking. Whether they had sandals or barefoot, their feet became dirty, smelly and generally nasty (there was no sanitation system in the ancient world so when the apostles went to the Last Supper they essentially had to walk through their supper from the previous night). Thus, when someone arrived at another’s house, it was customary for the owner of the house to have the feet washed, mostly by a slave. This was generally viewed by the Jews as near the bottom of the list of nasty things to do. But Jesus did so as a teaching point where he showed them that their behavior should duplicate his, performing an otherwise humiliating task as a means to serve others.

This servile posture by Jesus is what I see as second only to Jesus’ sacrifice. In doing this for his disciples he demonstrates that in order to mimic Jesus’s actions and behaviors, you have to put others ahead of yourself. This submissive servant theme is also seen in Mark 10:43 -45:

43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In the second section, Paul takes that mentality of Christ’s lovingkindness and extends it further. He reminds the Philippians that Jesus voluntarily came down in human form, having veiled his glory so he could take up the mission that God had given him as the sacrifice for our benefit. Phil 2:5 – 8 says:

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Paul is now asking the Philippians to put themselves in Jesus’s head and see what he was thinking. We know that Jesus was part of the Trinity and had all of the powers God and the Holy Spirit had, but the difference is that Jesus saw this glory as an impediment to his mission. Thus, Jesus willfully ‘emptied himself’ (a process known as ‘kenosis’) so he could take on the mantle of humanity, coexist with us and perform the task that he was given. So, Jesus was born and took on the likeness of man, humbling himself and starting a string of events that he knew would end in his torture and death on the cross. This was all so that we would benefit from his death and resurrection.

But what was this part about ‘a thing to be grasped’? There are a few different ways to determine what Paul meant. In this context it can best be known that Jesus knew his glory would be best held on to, keeping him on par with God and the Holy Spirit in terms of glory, but he also knew he could not accomplish the mission if he held tight. He had to undergo this great transformation from divine to human. But this ‘emptying’ was not depriving himself of his glory, leaving it in a box in heaven to be grabbed later, but only concealing it from others. This way he could make his way through his ministry.

Since Jesus was part of the Trinity with all of the properties of God and his holiness, it would be impossible for us to interact with him if he did not take on human qualities. There are numerous examples where God spoke with someone and told them or advised them that if they saw God in all of his glory, they would die. Even then there are also numerous mentions of mere angels speaking with people who fell to the ground terrified when they saw them, unless they altered their appearance.

With Jesus now 100% human (and still 100% divine), it was possible for him to perform his final task. Jesus came to the earth because we were not capable of being with God on our own accord. Jesus knew that and accordingly volunteered himself as the sacrifice without blemish.

When God passed the Law to Moses, the part that covered sacrifice was pretty detailed on what would suffice for the atonement of the sinner. In looking over Lev 4:27, the law specifies that the sin offering for a commoner is a female goat or lamb for an unintentional sin. At the time, the cost of a sheep or goat would run about three days wages. Also lost is that the female goat could birth and raise young, so in actuality, the loss of a female goat would be deep, adding in the value of the lost young that could be sold or bred in the future. This is just one example of the value placed on atoning for sin. Looking back at Leviticus, the greater the sin, the greater the cost.

But what would be the cost of the sin of the nation? The cost of sin from all mankind? The cost of sin from every person yet to come? How can you calculate this sacrifice? You can’t but God can. He determined the cost of absolving the world of sin as his only son, Jesus of Nazareth. Who else would be a sufficient sacrifice? He was sinless, unblemished. Spotless always held a greater value as they were harder to find, and since Jesus was the only one on earth to be without sin, his one of a kind status would be priceless. This was the cost of washing away our sins, a priceless sacrifice. This sacrifice however, would entail suffering the insufferable, tolerating the intolerable, undergoing the ultimate humiliation, naked and alone. According to W.W. Wiersbe, however, exaltation always follows humiliation.

In this last section, Paul reminds the Philippians of the greatness of Jesus and God’s response to Jesus’s completed mission:

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so 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.

God validates Christ’s mission completion and honors him by exalting Jesus and bestowing on him a moniker of unsurpassed magnitude. He does this so that everyone will know that Jesus succeeded in performing his task as sacrifice for all of mankind and that his actions are without equal. The implied message of his exaltation is transmitted to every element of our universe, so that whoever hears the message knows without a doubt that Jesus has scaled the pinnacle and that no other can or will surpass him.

This message also is meant to penetrate all realms. With Paul’s statement in verse 10, ‘in heaven, on earth and under the earth’, he is making a direct statement to those of the world and most importantly, to Satan’s world. This status is also to be acknowledged, whether they like it or not.

With God placing the name of Jesus at the apex, he is telling everyone that Jesus is to be revered and he is without equal. This seems to be a no-doubt-about-it proclamation that Jesus is at the highest and reinforce the result of his mission on earth. This combined with verse 6 confirms Jesus in his position as part of the Trinity. This also points to not just the Philippians, but also all mankind that, now unveiled, he was who he said he was, with all of the divine capabilities associated with that exalted status.

With Paul also explicitly addressing Satan and his followers, he is telling mankind that Satan and his followers have been put on notice that Jesus has power over the Satan’s empire. This should give comfort to those who are concerned about spiritual warfare and by extension their eschatological future. This would also be important to the people of the time since the gospels had not been written yet, and it should not be assumed that everyone knew about the instances where Jesus showed power over demons by casting them out. Nevertheless, verses 10 and 11 should have provided comfort to those who read or heard the word that Jesus is Lord over all aspects of God’s universe.

So what does this mean for us? In relation to what I just said, we can rest assured that there is no other above Jesus as Paul pointed out. This should also give us peace of mind that there is no other more powerful than Jesus. As mentioned in 1 John 4:4, ‘he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’, so this should allow us to rest comfortably at night knowing that Jesus is more powerful than anything or anyone on earth. You can also look at Romans 8:31, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’

SUMMATION

The focus of this passage is about all of us being of the same mind and spirit as Jesus in regards to serving each other and comforting each other. Going back to Deut 6:5, we are to love each other as ourselves and not to place ourselves above others. Jesus carried this serving attitude knowing what his fate would be. He did this willingly to glorify God. How much easier should it be for us? We are not at such a risk as to lose our lives for helping others.

Who here would not stop and help someone who has fallen down? Who would not help someone who is overburdened with grocery bags coming out of a grocery store? Someone who needs directions somewhere? And should we only limit ourselves to mothers with children? Senior citizens or those who are impaired? No, we should look to anyone who is need of help of any kind, whether it is helping someone across a busy street or someone in need of shelter. For it says in Matthew 26:35-40:

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

This is what Jesus was getting at, that we should help those in need wherever we find them. And when did Jesus say to do these things? From the day after Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day only? He meant for us to serve our neighbors every day regardless. Loving and serving are year-round objectives that Jesus asked his followers to pursue, and it is something that we should as well. We should feel the Holy Spirit driving us towards loving, caring and comforting others. We should aspire to model Christ’s behavior, in essence live as Christ, so that we may glorify God as Christ did.