7.4.46a 10.1.2023 Designing a Durable Church Philippians 2.1-11 (LeRoy Anniversary)
Completing the Work God Began • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Entice: The Church has been around for a long time. One Hundred Thirty-five years for this congregation is but a drop in the bucket. Two millennia have passed and the Church continues to bear witness to the risen Christ.
An anniversary is a good time to ask some reflective questions.
Every day I have a “ToDo” that comes up entitled
Five Useful Questions.
Five Useful Questions.
It comes from one of my favorite bloggers, Seth Godin and they are questions which never grow old…
What’s the hard part?
What’s the hard part?
Which part of your work, if it suddenly got much better, would have the biggest impact on the outcome you seek?
Which part of your work, if it suddenly got much better, would have the biggest impact on the outcome you seek?
How are you spending your time?
How are you spending your time?
What do you need to know?
What do you need to know?
What is the scary part?
What is the scary part?
Engage: Admittedly, virtually every question we ask ourselves is asked in the light of that last one: What’s the scary part?
After 2,000 years,
a resurrected Lord,
the gift of the Holy Spirit,
the truthfulness of scripture,
and the transformative power of the Gospel
you would think that we are beyond fear.
Not so much.
Yet any fear we might harbor is clearly not the end of the story. We are still here.
When I think of the Church; both big “C” and little “c” there are some words that come to mind.
Robust.
Robust.
Durable.
Durable.
Enduring.
Enduring.
We find that robustness, that durability, that endurance in sound exegesis of scripture, clear theology, and a healthy understanding of history.
Little Churches like ours in little towns like ours, far off the grid at the margins of our culture do not continue ministry for more than a century by accident.
It is intentional.
It is intentional.
So,
how do we strengthen our intent?
how do we strengthen our intent?
Expand: In Our era, in our world, little towns like LeRoy and Grayville are not unlike Philippi. And our Churches have a lot of commonalities with the Church then and there. We live in an Empire which claims ultimate authority. We serve One who makes the same claim, and whose claim was confirmed by resurrection. So, Philippians offers lots of encouragement and information about how to be Kingdom people amid the realities of Empire. Strong Churches are focused on Jesus. I think that this is a key to that focus. Philippians 2:5 “5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”
Excite: There is a lot to consider from our text this morning, Philippians 2.1-11, but it all really comes down to this.
Mind Like Christ.
Mind Like Christ.
Explore:
Because
Who we are in Christ is directly related to who He is.
Who we are in Christ is directly related to who He is.
Expand: Paul lays out some qualities of the Church related to the person of Jesus.
Body of Sermon: Quality number 1 is
1 Unity.
1 Unity.
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,
Unity expresses the Mind of Christ. Unity expresses Christ’s desire in the design of discipleship.
Unity is expressed in
1.1 Variety.
1.1 Variety.
We discover variety in unity when we think like Jesus.
Then
We will encourage others rather than discourage them.
Then
We will comfort those who are afflicted.
Then
We will not only be indwelt by the Holy Spirit but participate in the Spirit’s
redemptive work.
Then
We will show affection to the brotherhood and express sympathy to those whose lives are damaged by living in a sinful culture.
And, then Mind of Christ is the source of
1.2 Integrity
1.2 Integrity
Which can be slippery to define, but verse 2 nails it for the church
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Rather than thinking of “integrity as an isolated, personal, selfish attribute Paul reframes it as participatory, communal, and shared.
And then he is able to transition to
1.3 Humility.
1.3 Humility.
Humility is found in what we omit...
Selfish ambition And Conceit
And humility is found in how we commit (think and do).
Humility means counting others as more significant than ourselves.
Humility means looking out for the interests of others.
The sheer variety of attributes that contribute to unity, demonstrated by integrity and humility require design and intention. Hence, the mind of Christ.
We don’t have to think this stuff up. He did.
Next, we must have
2 Clarity.
2 Clarity.
Doctrinal clarity. For the Church doctrinal clarity begins with the Deity of Christ. Bluntly, If Jesus isn’t God…we’re wasting our time. Yet, if we affirm what Paul affirms in this text then we need to be absolutely certain what that means and all it entails.
Christianity rises and falls with the truth-claims about Jesus. When we think about the deity of Christ, consider the following.
Jesus redefines for all people, everywhere, and always how we should think about God.
To that end, Jesus models
2.1 Real Victory in Surrender.
2.1 Real Victory in Surrender.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Caesar of course defined victory as the very kind of rapacity that Jesus renounces in this verse. The real path to greatness is surrender.
And in an age typified by searches for authenticity Jesus demonstrates
2.2 Authentic Fullness in emptiness.
2.2 Authentic Fullness in emptiness.
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Jesus shows us the true face of God by becoming incarnate.
And for humans, always operating from our fears, Jesus shows us
2.3 True Security in Sacrifice.
2.3 True Security in Sacrifice.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus shows us what it means to be truly human in submitting to the Cross.
This is not an understanding of God that was produced from the “bottom up”. This is not a cultural expression. Humans focus on self. We are all Narcissus. Jesus reveals that God’s nature is to give Himself in redemptive love.
I am shocked by the number of professed Christians who have missed the central truth of the faith they claim to follow. Jesus only won one battle.
In
Surrender,
Sacrifice,
and
Emptiness
Jesus shows us the true face of God.
Once we have genuine unity founded in doctrinal clarity then we can truly accept Jesus’
3 Authority
3 Authority
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.
I mentioned that Jesus only won one battle. The monument to that victory is the empty tomb the ultimate, universal testimony to the Lordship of Christ.
Consider what Paul says about the Lordship of Christ. First describing His
3.1 Exaltation.
3.1 Exaltation.
In resurrection the Father calls the Son by “The Name.” The one they share…YHWH.
His exaltation is about Who He is…Next Paul describes the extent of His
3.2 Sovereignty.
3.2 Sovereignty.
At His name, Everything, everywhere, at all times, places, and spaces, shall bow the knee, and say the name of Jesus, in worshipful awe—bringing glory to God.
Shut Down
Let me sum things up as clearly as I can.
The Church—
this congregation,
the one I now serve,
the global Church
still ministers more than 2,000 years after the cross because
we exhibit the mind of Christ,
we exhibit the mind of Christ,
celebrate the Deity of Christ,
celebrate the Deity of Christ,
and
proclaim the Lordship of Christ.
proclaim the Lordship of Christ.
Who said Christian theology had to be complex, or that it was impractical?
A robust Church, a durable Church, an enduring Church will be built upon robust, durable, enduring theology. It will root its practice in the old, old story.
A robust, enduring, and durable Church will come to understand its place in its culture without surrendering to its culture.
A Church truly functioning as the body of Christ will exhibit the mind of Christ. We will celebrate His Lordship, Confess His Deity, and Copy His mind. Whenever and wherever the Church has lived like that it has changed the world.
When a congregation lives like that—>we can change the trajectory for little towns like ours.