God's Way

Old Mystic, April 5, 2009
Philippians 2:5-11

Summary

Paul’s enduring appeal to Christians as to how we lead our lives is a call to follow the example of Jesus in his sacrifice—a significant challenge by popular and cultural standards. To surrender and humble is the way of the cross, God’s Way, the way to glory.

Sermon

We often hear people say that attitude is everything. If we apply ourselves to a particular task and we have the right attitude, in most cases understood as perseverance, determination, and desire, we will be successful and achieve a desired goal. An attitude is a state of mind or a disposition. Parents have expectations about the attitude of their children, especially during their teenage years. They expect them to cooperate, to obey, and to apply themselves to work hard on their school work. That is the right attitude! As a minister, however, I have heard so many friends complain about their children “having an attitude,” meaning they don’t want to obey them.

If we go deeper and reflect upon the meaning of living a Christian life, or a “righteous” life, then a right attitude is very challenging. And Paul raises the bar for the people of the church at Philippi. This was a church with external threats as well as internal struggles. Very often in his letter Paul admonishes the congregation to be of the same mind. He reminds them that there is strength in unity; that any endeavor or fulfillment will happen if they have the right attitude; the attitude of Jesus Christ, that is. An attitude that would keep them together.

But having the mind of Jesus as it is portrayed in this beautiful hymn about his humility and sacrifice is against the grain of popular culture and even the logic of human individualistic—or rather egotistic—thought of the 21st century. Most of us—let’s be honest—we are overly concerned about our own interests; we care about our future, our success, our possessions, our rights, and even our peace of mind. We are about ourselves when we so often hear loud and clear that life, real life, life with a future, life with real freedom is life with God; life that is connected with the Living God; life that is lived God’s Way. Then, when we look at Paul’s Christological hymn in his letter to the Philippians, we come to the realization that to follow the steps of Jesus we have to surrender and humble ourselves.

1. GOD’S WAY TO LIFE CALLS FOR SURRENDER

“Surrender” is a very difficult word. Who wants to surrender in this life? It sounds like giving up or giving in when we think we shouldn’t. No one who picks a fight, or is engaged in war, or is fighting for a cause, or even playing a simple game of cards, wants to ever surrender. We believe that to surrender is to loose and who wants to be a looser! In God’s logic, God’s way, to win we must surrender. Jesus victory in the cross took place because he surrendered to the will of the Father. Paul says that, “he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” Jesus remained faithful to the relationship with his father and his humanity was fully realized in that relationship. As a human being, Jesus fulfilled his purpose by going to the cross and carrying the sins of us all. We know that he was victorious as he was raised from the dead, a victory he earned by surrendering.

To surrender is God’s way. To surrender to his will, to surrender to his Son, to surrender to a relationship with him. Only when we enter in that intimate relationship; when we open our lives to God’s movement; when we join God in what God is doing and wants to do in the world, only then, we begin to experience the joy that Paul so powerfully expresses in this letter; only then we begin to learn about life. We can live our lives on our own; we can pursue many goals and achieve them; we can boast professional excellence and success; or we may be a complete failure not matter what we try or how much we try. As a human being, confronted with the horror of the cross, Jesus knew that the way to victory was to surrender to his Father, to that precious relationship.

2. GOD’S WAY TO LIFE INVOLVES HUMBLING OURSELVES

Jesus’ example is powerful because it was when we he became fully human that he was aware of how distant he was from God. He was able to contemplate God’s majesty from the standpoint of human finitude and therefore he humbled himself before the father and obediently did what he was supposed to do: die on the cross. And that is one of the marks of his greatness. Paul says that, “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.” Jesus gave us an example of human awareness and a sense of duty by humbling himself.

But again, who wants to humble in this life? After all, pride is one of the most powerful features of our being human. We pride ourselves of being who we are. We take pride in what we do. How many times we have heard or made such a statement? We can be who we are supposed to be and we can do what we are supposed to do when we humble ourselves and become fully aware of our condition. When we become meek, when we come to terms with who we are, when we learn that we don’t have all the answers—if any, we are ready to surrender and come into that relationship with God which paradoxically will lift us up to a victorious life, according to the patterns of God’s kingdom, not the ways of the world.

Lent is a time of reflection and remembrance when we recall Jesus surrendering and humbling himself by going to the cross. His sacrifice means life to us. His example compels us. It is all about having a relationship with God; it is about discovering the joy of walking with God, doing things for God, and blessing our family, friends, and neighbors in Him. That is God’s way of life and God’s way to life. Let us humble ourselves and surrender to Him for life and life abundant.