3 – Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4 – Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 – Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 – Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 – but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 – And, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!
9 – Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name.
10 – that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
If you’ve ever walked the aisles at BLOCKBUSTER looking for a video to rent-then you know that the movies Hollywood produces tend to fall into one of several basic categories. There are action films, science fiction films, drama films, comedy films, family films, romantic films, and so on. And…one of the more popular types of films has always seemed to be “the disaster epic.” This category includes films like TITANIC and DAYLIGHT … DANTE’S PEAK and ARMAGEDDON. I remember when I was a teen going to see a particular disaster epic entitled, The POSEIDEN ADVENTURE. This movie was based on what I believe was a true story of an ocean liner in the ’60’s that was struck by a mountain-sized tidal wave.
And, although the huge ship was lifted and thrown like a toy, it didn’t sink but instead was flipped completely upside down so that the upper decks were submerged and the only part of the ship remaining above the surface was the bottom part. I think it is called the “keel.” In the movie, there was central group of characters (about eight passengers) led by Gene Hackman who was playing the part of a Catholic Priest. This group realized that their only way up to the surface and safety was to go “down” through the lower decks. For these frightened individuals the way “up”-the way to life and rescue-was literally “down.” During their climb up lower decks they encountered many other survivors who thought Hackman’s plan was ridiculous. Even though everything was upside down they were so disoriented that they just knew that the way to be saved was to head for the bridge and the upper decks not the lower ones.
There is one pivotal scene in which a large group of survivors led by the ship’s doctor met Hackman and his small entourage and ridiculed them for their proposed route to rescue and then the larger group parted ways with the smaller group; one heading “down” to safety and the larger group heading “up” to drowning and death. I remember this being such a realistic film that I experienced an almost claustrophobic feeling as I watched and then when Hackman’s group finally made it to the blue-skied surface I breathed a sigh of relief as if I had actually been trapped inside that ship along with them.
You know when our Lord entered our world He modeled a different perspective on things. In coming and dying for our sins, He in essence said, “The way up….the way to life and fulfillment and joy is not to put self and personal needs first….NO….the way up is DOWN…the way to find happiness is to become a servant and put the needs of others first.” And this is exactly opposite of the way our society tends to look at things. The vast majority of the people in our country tend to think that the way up is UP……the way to GAIN is to get. They would think that to do otherwise would be absurd. I love this quote from Bill Hybel’s book, Descending Into Greatness. He writes:
“In the vocabulary of our world “DOWN” is a word reserved for losers, cowards, and the bear market. It is a word to be avoided or ignored….it is a word that negatively colors whatever it touches. We say: DOWN and out, DOWNfall, DOWNscale, DOWNhearted and worst of all, DOWN under. And down’s antonym is ‘UP’ — a word in our high-voltage society that has come to be cherished and worshiped….a word reserved to describe winners and heroes. Unlike the word, ‘down,’ ‘up’ positively colors whatever it touches. We say things like: UPscale, UP and coming, UPper class, and UPWARDLY MOBILE. We believe in ASCENDING to fame, money, power, comfort, and pleasure. In our society UP is clearly the direction of greatness. From the world’s perspective, it is the only way to go…just as a compass needle points north, the human needle points UP.”
But you know like a tidal wave, Jesus crashed into our worldly way of thinking and flips things. He turns everything upside down by teaching that if you truly want to be great, you must go down. You must descend into greatness. You see, according to Jesus’ way of thinking, greatness is not a measure of self-will but self-abandonment. The more you give, the more you gain.
And, Christians who have embraced this philosophy of greatness …. Christians who have committed themselves to a servant lifestyle….have discovered something. Unlike their peers in the world, who strive to be UPWARDLY MOBILE and end up drowning in emptiness and frustration. Unlike them Christians who are DOWNWARDLY MOBILE find fulfillment, and joy in life. They discover that you REALLY DO gain when you follow Jesus’ example and give yourself way. They have learned in essence that the way “UP” is “DOWN.” The way to happiness and meaning during their three score and ten years on this planet is to humble themselves and put the needs of others above their own. Living this way allows them to experience first hand the quality of existence Jesus promised when He said, “I am come that you might have LIFE and LIFE in all its fulness.” (John 10:10 ) This morning, as we use communion to help us remember Jesus’ descent to earth to provide our salvation, I want us to consider this truly ironic principle:
You gain when you give…the way up is down. What have these Christians who have embraced the attitude of Christ Jesus discovered?
1. Well first of all Christian servants learn that it is actually FUN….PLEASURABLE to humble themselves and meet the needs of others.
This month’s issue of Discipleship Journal includes an article listing example after example of Christians who have experienced amazing pleasure just in the simple act of giving. It tells of a group of girls attending Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. These students have taken the time to found a community service organization called Community Connections that investigates the needs in their area and recruits student volunteers to meet those needs. They work with the homeless, the elderly, impoverished children-anyone in need. One day a month these girls each scrape together five dollars and they go bargain hunting in consignment shops to find meaningful gifts for needy people. They say they do this to give the recipients of their gifts a glimpse of the love of Christ.
On one such shopping trip they found a guitar, cleaned and tuned it, and gave it to Roberta, a 48-year-old woman in a rehabilitation center who had told them that she always wanted to learn to play the guitar.
Now Roberta spends endless hours learning to strum, “Jesus Loves Me.” One of the girls was teaching a 63-year-old woman how to read. On a Saturday shopping trip, she found a great deal on a large-print Bible and had the woman’s name, GERTY, engraved on it. When Gerty had learned enough to be able to read her first Bible verse, JOHN 3:16, she cried as she read it over and over again. On another Saturday the smart shoppers found a slightly used pair of roller blades and gave them to a boy living in a shelter whom they had met. The girls report, “Not only is this project fun, easy, and cheap, but it is very rewarding. Doors open to share Christ just by loving people through the gifts we find for them. Our project has taken us a deeper level in serving people: we have gone from addressing needs to building relationships. And if anything is truly priceless, it’s relationships.” You see these girls have discovered that as Jesus said, “It IS more blessed-more FUN-to give than it is to receive.” (Acts 20:35 ) And then…..Christian servants have found that it is not only fulfilling to give in little ways…
2. …they also find a special brand of joy in COSTLY sacrifice.
You see, the fulfilment that comes from humble servanthood is not always fun or pleasurable. In fact servanthood is often very costly…but Christian servants have learned that even if it is they still experience intense fulfillment that motivates them to continue to be DOWNWARDLY MOBILE.
Bob Pierce, the founder of WORLD VISION, the international Christian relief agency suffered from advance leukemia. Before he died, he went to Indonesia and as he was walking through a small village there, he came upon a young girl lying on a bamboo mat next to a river. His guide informed him that she was dying of cancer and had only a short time to live. Pierce was curious as to why she was laying by this river instead of in a bed in the medical clinic and was told this was because of her desire to spend her last days next to the river where it was cool and pleasant. As he gazed at her, he felt such compassion that he got down on his knees in the mud, took her hand, and began stroking it. Then, he prayed for her even though he knew she didn’t understand English. When he finished, she looked up and said something. His guide and translator informed Pierce that she had said, “If I could only sleep again.”
Apparently her pain was too intense to allow her the relief of rest. Pierce began to weep and then he reached into his pocket and took out his own sleeping pills, the ones his doctor had given him because the pain from his leukemia was too great for him to sleep at night. He handed the bottle to the guide and said, “You make sure this young lady gets a good night’s sleep….as long as these pills last.” Now…Pierce was ten days away from a place where he could get his prescription refilled. That meant ten painful and restless nights. His humble act of servant hood cost him greatly but even in the midst of his own suffering, God infused him with a supernatural sense of satisfaction that he had done the right thing. Pierce provides a perfect example of a servant who, “in humility considered others better than himself…SOMEONE WHO…did not look only after his own interests but after the interests of others.” Perhaps he remembered Jesus’ words in Matthew 10, “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple….he will certainly not lose his reward.” Being a Christian servant….following Jesus by taking up our own crosses….inevitably carries a cost but even when the cost is high, servants know that God can be counted on to bring immense fulfillment to His followers. But you know the main thing Christian servants have learned in their downward “climb” in life…
3. is that they find contentment in simple OBEDIENCE TO GOD…no matter what the task…whether it be big or small…
You probably know that John Newton wrote the words to the much-loved hymn, Amazing Grace.
Well, Newton once speculated that if two angels in heaven were given assignments by God at the same instant, one of them to go and rule over the greatest nation on earth and the other to go sweep the streets of the dirtiest village. He said that if this happened each angel would be completely indifferent as to which one got which assignment.
It simply wouldn’t matter to these angels because they know that the real joy lies not in the task itself but in simply being obedient to God.. And Christian servants have likewise discovered that the important thing in life isn’t what God has us doing.
No, the truly important thing is that we’re simply doing what God wants us to do. Experience has taught true servants that when they are obedient to God’s leading, the Holy Spirit gives them a quiet sense of affirmation…sort of a “celestial pat on the back.” And they live for this…God’s smile of approval in their lives. It fires them up and spurs them on like nothing else.
Servants know that someday, when they reach the end of their lifetimes, they will stand face to face with God. And they live and serve so that when that time comes God will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful SERVANT…..come and share your Master’s happiness!” They believe that God will not forget their acts of service toward others. And He will not! Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” Now……think about it….what will God remember about you? Kenneth Leech writes, “Christian spirituality is the spirituality of the Poor Man of Nazareth Who took upon Himself the form of a Servant. To follow the way of the Kingdom is therefore to follow Him who fed the hungry, healed the sick, befriended the outcast, and blessed the peacemakers.” Bill Hybels puts it this way, “I would never want to reach out someday [at the end of my life] with a soft, un-callused hand-a hand never dirtied by serving-and shake the nail-pierced hand of Jesus.” Whenever we eat from this table….we remember those hands…pierced for our transgressions, we celebrate the fact that the way up is down for in Jesus God indeed came down to our level. He put our needs above His own privileges. He humbled Himself and was obedient even to the point of death on the cross on our behalf.
THE ORDINANCE OF COMMUNION
You know, as Christians, we commit to live “downwardly mobile” lives in response to all that Christ has done for us. We love others because God has first loved us. And we close our service by inviting you to respond to God’s love in Christ. If you are not a Christian then we invite you to make that commitment to Christ now. Maybe you’re here and you feel like you’re headed in the wrong direction in the ship of life. You’ve tried all the things the world has to offer and have discovered that “up” isn’t all its cracked up to be. If so, then we invite you today to turn and head in the right direction. Repent of your sins and turn your life over to Jesus so that He can equip you to find the joy that comes from serving others.If you are a Christian and have other commitments to make public-whether it is to move your letter and join this church or to dedicate your life to Jesus in some special way, we invite you to do so now as we stand and sing.