“A/D Citizens”
Notes
Transcript
Intro: The past couple weeks with Taylor’s health.
We're going to be in Philippians, chapter 2, verses 1-11. Paul writes to the Philippian church with the authority of Christ and by the Holy Spirit and says: Read: Philippians 2:1-11
1 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.
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.
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.
What does it mean to be a citizen of God's kingdom? How can I know my life is resembling the citizenship I believe I have?
How can I know I am walking in this Christian life in a way that is Christlike, that is according to the citizenship I supposedly have?
I don't think there's any more important question we could be asking, because disciples of Jesus often confused what it means to be a citizen of God's kingdom.
In the book of Mark, James and John thought the kingdom citizenship looked like glory to self being crowned with Jesus, reigning, and ruling with Jesus.
They want to be exalted with Jesus…honor, prestige, platform. "Let us just sit with you at your right and your left."
I want you to consider a question with me. What are your expectations of kingdom citizenship?
If you are here and you claim to be a follower of Christ and a citizen of God's kingdom, what do you think that life looks like?
Would you ask the same question James and John asked? Do you want to reign and rule in power with Jesus?
What are your expectations for tomorrow, for next week, for next year, for 20 or 30 years from now if you're still walking with Christ?
What are you expecting your life to look like, your citizenship in the kingdom of God? This is exactly the question Paul is addressing in our text today in Philippians, chapter 2.
I want you to look back to Philippians and go a few verses previous in chapter 1. In chapter 1, verse 27, Paul is trying to address this question.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
He says, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…" This is a really interesting translation. The term manner of life in the Greek is only used here once by Paul.
He uses this term nowhere else. Manner of life can be translated several different ways. It's translated this way for a few reasons.
The Greek term is where we get the term polis or city from. Basically, what Paul is saying is, "Only let your citizenship be worthy of the gospel of the kingdom.
Walk as citizens who are worthy citizens of the kingdom of God, no longer citizens of the kingdom of Rome."
He's telling the Philippian church they should live in such a way that demonstrates they're no longer giving allegiance to Caesar; they're giving allegiance to King Jesus.
The Christians in Philippi have been living their entire lives as citizens of a different empire, of an empire from this world.
But now Paul is trying to tell them, "If you claim to have a new citizenship, if you claim to not be giving allegiance to Caesar anymore but to Jesus, what does it look like?
What does it look like to live a life in a manner that is worthy of the gospel or to be a citizen that is worthy of the kingdom of God?"
Paul says, if we have experienced a transfer of citizenship from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of God, we also have experienced a transfer of allegiance.
This should be reflected in our lives in the rights, responsibilities, and rules for living as a kingdom citizen.
Here is the main point for the day: kingdom citizens live in humble imitation of Jesus by living cross-shaped lives.
Look back at chapter 2 with me. What Paul is going to do in these first four or five verses is set at odds or contrast two ways of life or two citizenship's or two ways of living.
He's going to say, "Complete my joy by being of the same mind, same love. No selfish ambition, no conceit. Don't look out for your own interests but the interests of others."
He's contrasting two ways of life. The first we'll call the A-shaped life. This is an A-shaped life that Paul would have called a life of ascent.
This is a life of progress, a life of things constantly getting a little bit better. We can have an individualistic mind and desires: You should pursue what you want.
You should pursue what your desires are. You should set personal goals for yourself and constantly be getting just a little bit better.
What should govern and rule your life is your own personal ambition. You want to be better tomorrow than you were today and better today than you were yesterday.
Ultimately, you should be proud of the life you're living. You should be ascending to your own throne, establishing your lordship.
We believe that will actually lead us to a life of flourishing, a life of health, a life of prosperity, a life that might look like the kingdom.
But Paul says this is not the kind of life kingdom citizens live. This is the life that is lived by Roman citizens or by you and me every single day. Paul says to crucify the A-shaped life.
Paul contrasts this A-shaped life with what we'll call a D-shaped life. He contrasts this life of ascent with a life of descent.
He says that we think the basic pattern of our lives should be progress, but the basic pattern of the Christian life is not one of continually getting better but one of following Christ to the cross.
The D-shaped life is this kingdom citizenship Paul says. It's not of ascent but descent. People who are living in the D-shaped life look different.
He says, "You should participate in the Spirit. You should, as a community of faith, be living together, considering each other's interests.
You shouldn't have divisive minds or divisive desires or your own desires, but you should have unity of mind and unity of desires."
The Philippian church was living in a highly status centered community, whether it was race or social status or class.
Paul says status will not do in the kingdom of God, because citizenship in the kingdom of God is no respecter of persons, because God is no respecter of persons.
We are called to unity of mind, love, and reconciliation. This word humility, If you like writing in your Bible, mark this. This word humility is a brand-new word for the Christian community.
The Greek philosophy looked down upon humility. We live in a culture where humility is praised. For Paul, this was radical because that community would not have praised humility.
Paul says here, "Take the lower seat. Be humble." Paul knows a prideful attitude cannot bow to God's purposes. Often a prideful attitude will confuse one's own selfish desires with God's will.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Then he says in verse 5, "Have this mind, which is yours in Christ Jesus…" Think about this. There's no other place in the Bible where you can get insight into the mind of Christ.
Everywhere else in the Bible we have the actions of Jesus described and depicted for us, but what Paul says here is that this text is giving you insight into the why behind what Jesus did.
You and I could have the same mind Christ had. We could have insight and revelation into why Jesus did what he did.
He says, "This is the mind of Christ." Think about this for a second. What if Christ had pursued a life of ascent and not descent? We would be in our sins without any hope.
If Christ had considered his own personal desires, his own selfish ambitions, if he had lived a life of pride and not humility, he wouldn’t have descended to us. That's what Paul is trying to get at here.
He's contrasting this A-shaped life, the life you and I and the Philippian church would have wanted to pursue every single day of their life, with a D-shaped life.
He's saying, "If you're truly kingdom citizens, if you truly have been impacted by the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, you will no longer live an A-shaped life.”
That’s a life according to your own selfish ambitions, desires, pride, and conceit, but rather you'll give yourself away, because there's nothing better than Jesus.
So let me ask you a question, Do you, by default, think your life is a story of continual progress?
Do you think you'll be healthier next year than you were this year? Are you healthier this year than you were last year? Do you think you'll be wealthier next year than you were this year?
Are you wealthier this year than you were last year? Here's a question for fathers, as I'm a father myself. Which lifestyle are you going to encourage your children to embrace?
Are they going to embrace an A-shaped life or a D-shaped life? This is when Christian discipleship and family discipleship meet the road.
What if your children will be ostracized because of their faith, not embraced? Would you still encourage them to follow Christ?
Christ is calling us, and Paul is calling us to a D-shaped life, not a life of ascent but of descent. Which shape represents your life? Which shape represents the default you wake up with?
Look at verses 6-11. You could call this passage the master story of the Bible. In this passage you have everything. You have the entire gospel.
What's incredible about this passage, verses 6-11, is this is an early Christian song. This is a song the Philippian church was singing in worship services on a regular basis.
Paul had heard this song, and he takes the song and puts it in Scripture because this song encourages them to embody the way of Jesus in every part of their lives.
This is the D-shaped life of Christ. Read: Philippians 2:6-8
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.
Though he had a lofty status, the loftiest status imaginable, he didn't grasp after it; rather, he emptied himself. He didn't fill himself up with power; he emptied himself of power.
He took the form of a servant. Though he was in the form of God, he didn't grasp after it but embraced being the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
He would take upon our suffering, our powerlessness, our humiliation, our small stature. He then would live in humble obedience, obedience even to the point of death.
One of the most powerful elements of this early Christian song is that it's criticizing the world's picture of strength and saying, "Strength is not found in pride but in humility."
Remember what we just talked about a few minutes ago about humility? Not only is Paul saying you should be humble; he's saying God is humble.
If that doesn't strike your imagination to worship in adoration and praise… You don't serve a God who throws his weight around but humbles himself to come to you.
He meets you in your darkness, in your weakness. He doesn't desire that you would have to chase after him, but he chases after you. In Christ we see that God is humble.
No one would have expected him to live an D-shaped life? Instead, he doesn't grasp after his power, authority, and ambition, but He embraces humility, powerlessness, and humiliation.
I love verse 9, which says since her didn't embrace an A-shaped life but a D-shaped life… Let’s read what Paul said. Read: Philippians 2:9
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
What is this passage teaching us? It's teaching us that the cross comes before the crown. It's teaching us that suffering comes before glory.
It's teaching us that the story of the Bible is God's relentless pursuit to meet us in the grave and raise us to new life in Christ.
One of the greatest dangers to your discipleship, I'm absolutely convinced, is expecting the crown before the cross. One of the greatest dangers to your discipleship is to expect glory before glory is here.
That's exactly what Jesus' disciples were expecting. "We just want to reign and rule with you at your right and your left. We're expecting glory now."
But Jesus says, "You have no idea what kingdom citizenship is. You must embrace a D-shaped life, a life of weakness, suffering, powerlessness, and humiliation if you truly are citizens of my kingdom.
Then is when I will raise you up out of the grave, and then I will give you new life, and then I will exalt you, but the cross comes before the crown."
I want you to ask yourself, Do I want the benefits of the crown or the price of the cross? Are you just looking for the benefits of the crown or are you also willing to embrace the price of the cross?
Why should we reject the A-shaped life? Because it's an illusion. It's an absolute illusion that can be taken away from you at any single moment.
When you think you are your strongest, you're actually at your weakest. When you think you are climbing the hill of progress, it's then that the fall comes.
So instead, as a church and community, just like Paul encourages the Philippians, not just individual Christians but the community of Christians, embrace the D-shaped life.
That's the life that says, "Jesus is King, and I am his citizen. I'm imitating my life after his life." Christians who wish to imitate Jesus must follow the downward trajectory of the kingdom.
Friends, the kingdom is not up; the kingdom is down. The trajectory of our lives should not be up; the trajectory should be down.
When you think you are your strongest, you're actually your weakest, but when you are weak in Christ you are actually at your strongest. Do you get that?
When you are weak in Christ, when you hold your hands up in the air and say, "I have nothing left; I need you," you're proclaiming to the world there is nothing better than Jesus.
There's nothing better than Jesus and his cross. When we live lives of descent, we proclaim that Jesus is King. I can testify to this. I imagine you and I are afraid to live lives of descent.
It's costly. It hurts, and it's painful. I am afraid to live a life of descent because I think God isn't there.
We think we have to climb a mountain into the heavens in order to meet God, but in reality God has descended from the heavens in order to meet us on a cross.
Many want the kingdom, but few want the cross. Do you want the kingdom? Then embrace the cross, not just the crown. Many want to feast with Jesus, but few want to fast.
Many want to rejoice but few are prepared to suffer. Many want miracles but few will endure the shame of the cross. Kingdom citizens embrace the cross-shaped life.
Jesus says in Matthew 16, "Follow me to the cross. Follow me to self-denial, to pain, to suffering, to weakness, humiliation." He says, "Pick up your cross and follow me."
Friends, the passport of kingdom citizenship is not a crown; it is a cross. Paul was well acquainted with this when he says in Read: Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Friends, the pursuit of exaltation will lead to your destruction, but the pursuit of humility will lead you into the kingdom.
I want to ask you a question this morning. Where do you need to embrace your powerlessness? For some of you, that might be right in front of your face.
You are met with your powerlessness, your weakness every day. Maybe it's an unreconciled relationship. Maybe it's a health diagnosis. I don't know what it is for you, but it's front and center.
I want to encourage you to embrace your powerlessness and be reliant upon the Lord Jesus Christ who will meet you there, I assure you.
Where do you need to embrace your weakness, your humanity, your frailty? Kingdom citizens live in humble imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ by living cross-shaped lives. Let's pray.
Father, you are indeed a good Father, and you know our weakness and our powerlessness, even if we don't right now, but I know many of us do.
So, would you in this moment, by the power of your Holy Spirit, expose our weakness, expose our powerlessness, and would you by your Holy Spirit meet us there and heal that weakness and powerlessness?
Would you allow us, by the power of your Holy Spirit, to cling tightly to the cross of Christ so we might reign with him forever in the kingdom?
I pray for my brothers and sisters, asking that you would encourage them by the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would equip them.
I pray that the Word that has gone forth from Scripture would be like a medicine to their souls and a reminder that Jesus stoops low to be with his people.
He does it in sickness and in darkness and in powerlessness. We say these things in his perfect and beautiful name, amen.