Dr. Harold Brack, the much beloved professor of Speech and Communications at Drew Theological Seminary, often shared with us that there are some Biblical texts which should be approached with great awe and reverence and preached only with fear and trembling, because no matter how much we share, it is only a glimpse or a snapshot of a much greater picture of truth. St. Jerome once said, "The Bible is like a stream in which elephants must swim and lambs may wade." This is especially true of this passage.
As a Boy Scout, I twice had the privilege of attending the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. We spent the good part of a day climbing up one of the majestic mountains that filled the landscape of this historic camp. From the top of the mountain, we had a gorgeous view of the countryside. Many of the scouts, including myself, attempted to take a number of "pictures" with our cameras to capture the beauty and inspiration of the moment. After we got back to New Jersey and developed our pictures, we all agreed that even the very best picture taken could not capture or record the full impact of what we had experienced. That is exactly what will happen today as I attempt to preach on one of the great Biblical lessons of the New Testament.
One of the great doctrinal truths of the Christian faith is that of the Trinity. We believe in the Christian faith that we have experienced and know God in three ways: as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To further complicate this doctrine is our belief that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was fully God and fully man. It is easy to get so caught up in crude dogma that we fail to see the great hope for our Christian lives and sacred journey that is found in knowing we love and serve a God who entered into time and space and experienced all we will experience, yet without sinning.
Herb Vander Lugt, of the Radio Bible Class, shares in a printed booklet that "the early church fathers could not fully explain how Jesus could live as a genuine human being while remaining God, and neither can we." (1) He is so right. The doctrine of the Trinity has to be experienced before it can be fully explained.
I still have in my filing cabinet cassette tapes of actual classroom lectures by Dr. Thomas C. Oden, when I took a class under him at Drew Seminary on the doctrine of God. Dr. Oden, who has one of the finest theological minds in United Methodism on this truth of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, ended our three month class on this study by explaining it was a mystery, not because we did not have adequate thinking on this academic pursuit, but that this doctrine went beyond reason and logic because it was first based on an experience of God to which words were added later. I also affirm the doctrine of Trinity more by experience than explanation.
My studies of this great Biblical text from Philippians 2:5-11 this time around reveals to me for the first time that Paul never wrote these lines as a theological masterpiece, but as an explanation to amplify a truth that he was making in Philippians 2:4. That truth was for the Christians at Philippi not to be selfish and arrogant, but to be humble and sacrificial. So in the next twenty-six verses in Chapter two he gives four examples of persons known to them in order to drive the point across. He gives the example of the Jesus Christ, himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. While we can gather much theological truth from this awesome passage, it was written primarily to address the old problem of arrogance and selfishness.
Today, I want to share with you two words that I believe will benefit all of us in our study of this great text. The words are EMPTYING and EXALTING. I believe I find some of the same truths taught in this passage by Paul in our Lord Jesus Christ''s teaching in Luke 18:9-14 of the familiar story of two men who went to the temple to pray.
It is not surprising to me that I studied this great text with an incomplete focus for a number of years. I got so involved with theology that I forgot the obvious practical truth that was to be incarnate in my life as a servant of the Lord. I once heard Dr. William Sloane Coffin share at Riverside Church that "the human race has such great knowledge which enables us to soar through the air like birds, to swim through the seas like fish, but we are unable to walk on earth in peace as the children of God. We can have guided missiles, but we still have misguided men and women who control the buttons of the missiles." That is truth with a capital "T".
Rodney Dangerfield, the well-known comedian, tells of going to his psychiatrist and saying, "Doc, there is something wrong with me. Every time I look in the mirror, I vomit". His doctor replies, "Look at it this way. At least your eyesight is perfect."
Well, the Apostle Paul''s eyesight is absolutely on target with the problem the Christian believers are facing at Philippi, and therefore, the number-one problem facing the human family today.
Two truths emerge that I want to share with you today. There are many other truths to be sure, but I will focus on these two.
FIRST, GOD LAID ASIDE HIS GLORY AND CAME TO EARTH TO FULLY IDENTIFY WITH THE HUMAN RACE. HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OF HIS GLORY IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING WE WILL EXPERIENCE.
In 1959 in Fort Worth, Texas, a white gentleman by the name of John Howard Griffin approached the editor of a magazine written specifically for African Americans with an interesting proposal. He suggested that through a combination of diet, pills, and the use of a sun lamp he transform himself from a southern white man to pass as a black man. He then would write in a journal the experience gathered as a black man living in the South as compared to a white man. With the help of a dermatologist in New Orleans he was officially declared the status of a black man. His findings and writings eventually were published under the title, "Black Like Me." The book and subsequent television drama helped to break down the barriers that separated people because of something as simple as the color of a person''s skin. The key words found in Paul''s ancient writing that we read today and the experience of John Howard Griffin are EMPTYING and IDENTIFYING. When we can identify with another, we know the footsteps they must travel in, and it makes us that much more understanding of another.
The reason Jesus can fully identify with us is that he has walked the dusty and dirty roads of life before us, and now with us. Christ has experienced and understands isolation, rejection, humiliation, misunderstanding, hurt, pain, and even the greatest enemy, which is death. He felt all of these and much more.
C. S. Lewis is absolutely correct when he so beautifully writes:
"God could, had He pleased, have been incarnate in a man of iron nerves, the Stoic sort who lets no sign escape him. Of His great humility, He chose to be incarnate in a man of delicate sensibilities who wept at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane. Otherwise, we should have missed the great lesson that it is by His will alone that a man is good or bad, and that feelings are not, in themselves, of any importance. We should also have missed the all-important help of knowing that He has faced all that the weakest of us face, has shared not only the strength of our nature but every weakness of it except sin."
One day in Sunday School, a young girl shared so beautifully what our text for today is expressing. She said, "Jesus is the best picture of God ever recorded or penned in human history." Jesus is the human face of God. Paul writes, "Although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men."
SECONDLY, JESUS REVEALS TO US THAT SELF IS SOMETHING TO BE POURED OUT, NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT IS A DEFENSE AGAINST SELFISHNESS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT IS THE ESSENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Dr. Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Church shared in a Preaching Today tape an insight about this passage that has caused a great stirring in my soul and my Christian walk. Dr. Hybels shares, "It is ironic that best selling books in this country, both inside and outside the Christian community, are the rags-to-riches books, the bottom to the top books." However, Dr. Bill Hybels reminds all of us that the most important story in the world is the story of our Lord, and it is a story of riches to rags--burial rags. It is a top to bottom story. It is the story of a God who voluntarily demoted himself." (2)
In this great scripture text, Paul is teaching us a second language or model to follow. I love the story told of a mother mouse who felt it was time to introduce her children to the larger world. So she gathered her brood of little mice together and set out for a walk.
They walked down the hall and made a turn to the right. They went down a little further and made another turn to the right. Then, quite by surprise, they came upon the family''s cat, dozing in the sunlight. Well, the mother mouse was scared. But she didn't give in to her fright. She crept forward ever so slowly. Just as she was about to get past the cat, however, the cat''s eyes popped open and she raised her paw. What would the mother mouse do? Well, right before the cat''s paw came down, the mother mouse looked the cat right in the face and began barking like a dog. And do you know what? The cat was so frightened that it jumped to its feet and ran away! Then the mother mouse gave her kids an important lesson. "Children," she said, "sometimes it''s good to know a second language!"
Our culture teaches us the language of power, prestige, and titles, always wanting us to capitulate to their standards and norms. Paul wants us to conform to the mind, attitude, and example of Christ, the Lord, rather than Caesar, the King.
Warren W. Wierbse writes, "It would be worthwhile to contrast Christ''s attitude with that of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-15) and Adam (Gen. 3:1-7). Many Bible students believe that the fall of Lucifer is a description of the fall of Satan. He once was the highest of the angelic beings, close to the throne of God (Ezek. 28:11-19), but he desired to be on the throne of God! Lucifer said, `I will!'' but Jesus said, `Thy will.'' Lucifer was not satisfied to be a creature; he wanted to be the Creator! Jesus was the Creator, yet He willingly became man. Christ''s humility is a rebuke to Satan''s pride." (3) Remember, Jesus did not pretend to be a servant, he was a servant. This is our calling as well.
THE REAL BEAUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS ALWAYS FOUND IN THE SCRATCHED AND NAIL-SCARRED HANDS OF GOD.
Dr. Fred Craddock tells the story of a certain father who was riding in the country on a Sunday afternoon with his wife and children. The father saw a cat. He hoped the children wouldn't see it. As he drove by, he speeded up and the children said, "Daddy, a cat!" It really wasn't a cat. It had been a cat. It had been there on the side of the road for some time. It had only patches of fur left on its body. It was just the remains of a cat. It was a horrible sight. The children said, "Stop!"
"Why, children? Why stop?" "We want to get the cat." "No, we are not going to get the cat." The father continued driving. The children leaned over the back seat, beginning to sing in unison, "Daddy''s a meany!" He stopped and backed up.
"Well, we are going to look at the cat." He looked at it. He could not believe that it had been a cat, for its eyes were no longer cat eyes. There was that matting in its eyes and its nose was running. "Children, somebody will help this cat sometime."
"No, Daddy, we want to take the cat home. It needs a home."
"No, no, no, not our home."
"Yes, Daddy."
"Well, I''ll take it home and get it to the humane society." He found something in the back and said, "Now keep it on that."
On their way home, they talked about the cat. "Where are we going to keep the cat?"
The father said, "I''ll tell you; we''ll keep it outside. We''ll find some way to keep it outside tonight and we''ll work it out tomorrow where...."
"No, Daddy, it can''t stay outside."
"Well, where can we keep it, children?"
"We''re going to keep it in your bedroom, Daddy."
When they got home, he started to pick up the cat. It was between the seats. When he started to pick up the cat, the cat arched its back and reached for him. He took it inside. Oh, the smell! He tried to wash it. A neighbor saw it and said, "That''s a cat?"
A few weeks went by. The same neighbor came back. The cat was no longer arching its back. Where there were no patches of fur, it had been filled in. His eyes had begun to clear and his nose did not run. His ears were perked. His fur was brushed. The neighbor asked, "What happened?" Then she looked over at the father''s hand. On the hand were scratches, and the neighbor understood.
For me, that is what CHRISTMAS is all about--an invitation to live life the way God intended it to be. Christmas is the SPIRITUAL OBSERVANCE of the birth of Jesus Christ into the pages of our history to SAVE US--when we first scratched the hand that came to deliver us. EMMANUAL means God with us. God did not remain in heaven, receiving a computer copy on the world''s sufferings and then issuing a memo to form a committee to work on our dilemmas. NO, God came to the front line trenches. God became one of the WOUNDED. His hands are nail-scarred. In Christ, God became the wounded healer. That is what makes Christmas so important. GOD, through JESUS CHRIST, sat where we sit and walked alongside us in the journey. Jesus Christ continues, even to this very moment, to walk the corridors of our lives, offering us his hands of healing. This Christmas don''t scratch them, accept them. Allow God to hold them. Let Christ wash your life clean and flood your soul with His Love.
George Beverly Shea describes this love when he writes,
There''s the Wonder of Sunset at Evening,
the Wonder as Sunrise, I see,
But the Wonder of Wonders that thrills my Soul,
Is the Wonder that God Loves Me."
That truth alone is motivation for me to bow my knees and confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life, to the Glory of God the Father.
However, this great scriptural text teaches us a truth that we often are prone to forget in our attempts to be inclusive. Someday everybody will bow their knees, but for some, unfortunately, it will be a confession by default. It will be a confession forced by the fact that they failed to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ during their earthly journey. They will have failed to learn a second language.
But for others it will be an extension of that grand and glorious confession that they have carried in the depths of their soul from that moment in which they had the good sense in this lifetime to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ.
Yes, by one mighty, supernatural, loving act of God the Father, the body of Christ which was emptied and poured out on the Cross is now exalted and placed at the right hand of God the Father. The Son who voluntarily demoted himself is now promoted to the position of greatest honor.
The Head that once was crowned with thorns,
Is crowned with Glory now;
A royal diadem adorns
That mighty victor''s brow."
No more the bloody crown of thorns,The Cross and nails no more,
For Hell itself falls at his feet,
And all the heavens adore--Him!
Yes, the Lord who humbled himself is now exalted above all things. Now, because he is lifted up, he is able to lift us up to be with him. Just don''t forget that first you must bow the knee and love him. It will make all the difference in this world and in the world to come.
1. Radio Bible Class, Discovery Series, "God: His Trinity," 1992, p. 17.
2. Preaching Today, Tape No. 103.
3. Warren Wierbse, Vol. 2, EPHESIANS - REVELATION (Victor Books, 1989), p. 75.