"Down and Out"
Philippians 2:5-8
Sunday, May 27, 2012

Introduction: I don’t know if you are like me, but I love to go to the movies. Now I don’t like every kind of movie, but one of the genres I like the best is action and adventure movies. One of the interesting things about movies is that the actors are playing a character. The character you see on the screen is not the real person. It is a made up character. Maybe it is a spy, or maybe a war hero, or a police detective. But the actor is not being themselves, but the character that was created. They are being someone other than themselves. This morning our passage challenges us to be like someone beyond ourselves: we are to be like Christ, who humbled Himself and took on flesh. GOD TOOK ON FLESH. He became something other than Himself. There is a difference here though, and that is we are not being asked to be someone other than ourselves, we are asked to humble ourselves and become what God has created us to be; to become our true self. Even more, in this true self, we will be able to reach out and relate to others different than who we are!

I.                   Let Go of Your Privileges- (Psalm 37:4; Romans 3:23; Philippians 2:6-7)

a.      What we think we deserve- 
EX. There is a story of a woman who had to testify at a murder trial. She was asked to raise her right hand. The bailiff started out, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." She stood there and waited, but did not answer. Then the bailiff asked again: "Do you?" She was so stunned that she blurted out, "What happened to "so help me God?" The bailiff simply asked one more time: "Do you?" She replied, "Yes," but she was still perplexed. Then the judge said:  "You can say that if you want to." She stopped, raised her right hand and finished: "So help me God!"

It is interesting how in the United States, people feel like they deserve many things. Why is this? Maybe it is that they feel privileged because most are born into families that are able to give them most everything they need. Or maybe it is because they live in a free country that allows them to pursue what they desire. People are so self-centered. For so many it is all about what they think they deserve. The dictionary says that a “privilege” is a right granted to someone. I don’t know why people think they are privileged to have their needs and wants and desires met, but they do. Remember the slogan for Burger King? “Have it your way.” It is as if God doesn’t fit into the picture any more. Just like in the trial, God has been taken out of the equation.

But the Bible reminds us in Psalm 37:4- “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”/ What this verse is really saying is that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, we will delight ourselves in God’s ways, God’s will and God’s desires, and He will give us our desires because His desires will be our desires. Our desire won’t be to please ourselves, but to please God. Our desire won’t be to seek things for ourselves, but to seek to make a difference for the kingdom of God.

b.      What we really deserve- If we really understood how things are, we

would see that what we really deserve is much different than what we think we deserve. Romans 6:23a tells us, “For the penalty of (our) sin is death….” What we really deserve, because of our sin, is spiritual death; which is eternal separation from God. EX. It’s like this. Let’s say I was coming home one day, it is raining, and so I am trying to get home to be out of the rain. Then a terrible thing happens; I get a flat tire. I have no choice but to pull over to the side in the dirt (which is now mud) and change my tire. By the time I get home I am wet and muddy. As I walk up to the door Tami is standing there. Will she let me in the clean house? NO!! Not until I take off my muddy clothes and clean the mud off my body./ We have to let Jesus remove the dirt (the sin) from our body, so that we can be clean. That is why the second part of

Romans 6:23 is important: “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”

EX. “SIN” There is a story of a man who was driving with his 6-year old daughter. It was rainy as they were driving along one of the main streets of town, so he took extra precautions that you should take when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, his daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something." "What are you thinking?" he asked. "The rain, is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away." This sent chills up his arms. "That's really good, Aspen," he said. Then he asked: "Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"  Aspen didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."

We are privileged, and that is that we are given a wonderful gift of forgiveness, which should cause us to seek to be a faithful servant for Christ. As Philippians 2:6-7 tells us, “(Christ) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…”

            We have to let go of our perceived privileges, and take hold of the real privileges we have from God; the opportunity to be forgiven, have eternal life, and to serve Him.

II.                Let Go of Your Preferences- (Romans 3:23, 5:12, 18; Jn. 3:16; Phil. 2:8)

a.      What we prefer- The second thing we have to let go of, is our

preferences. We prefer things a certain way. There have been many times when my family and I have traveled for our vacation where we stay in hotels or in friends’ homes. While these places are nice in their own way, ultimately I prefer my own home and my own bed! After our trip, when we are putting the kids to bed, we often hear them say: “We enjoyed the trip, but it sure is nice to be in my own bed.” We prefer our own things our own way.

            I’m sure this was true for Jesus as well. Jesus, the Bible tells us, came down from heaven and took on flesh. Jesus left the comfortable confines of heaven, to come to live in a small village. Jesus left the glory of His heavenly being, to take on the confining body of a man. Jesus left the unlimited power of being the second person of the Trinity, to have limited power of being human, complete with temptation. Jesus left His place by the Father, to be questioned, rebuked, arrested, beaten, and ultimately crucified on a cross. I’m sure that Jesus’ preference was not to leave heaven to come here, just like our preference wouldn’t be to leave our comfortable home to become a homeless person.

So why would Jesus do this? And why should we give up what is comfortable for us?

b.      What is best- To best answer this question, we have to again

remember that we are in a state of sin. Paul tells us in Romans 3:23- “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”/ This sin goes back to the beginning of human being’s existence, back to Adam and Eve; back to the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve sinned and brought sin into the world. As Romans 5:12 tells us: ^“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”/ We are all under the sin that came into the world through Adam and Eve.

            As God saw that we were lost in our sin, God’s love for us was too great to let us stay in our sin. And so God decided to enter the world to save us from our sin. We see this truth in many wonderful scriptures: John 3:16, “For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son…” Or Romans 5:18, “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s/  (Christ’s) act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.” And Philippians 2:8 from the scripture we read this morning: “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”

            Jesus knew that is was best to leave heaven to come to earth so that we might have eternal life, but even more, so that we could rise above our sin and do great things in this world by loving God and by loving others. So it is beneficial….. it is best, to leave the life of our preferences, to follow the call of God in our lives.

III.             Let Go of Your Passion- (Philippians 2:4)

a.      Our passion- If you were to ask somebody what their passion is, you 

would get many answers. Answers like: my family, my job, my career, my hobbies. Usually this passion has its place in life, but it will never fully satisfy what we were created to do and to be. Those of you who went through the Focused Living process a number of years ago saw that God has a purpose for us to be here, and God has a vision for each of our lives. If we don’t understand this vision God has for us, or if we for whatever reason choose not to follow it, we will go through life searching, and wanting, and being unfulfilled. 

            EX. There is a story of a man who was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone! Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

Now you might think that the point of this story is about keeping the treasure that we have. But that is not the point. The point is, that there is hidden treasure that we don’t know about. That treasure is found in discovering Christ’s passion, and making Christ’s passion our passion.

b.      Make Christ’s Passion Your passion-  What was Christ’s passion?

Christ’s passion was people. When Christ looked at people, He didn’t see a tax collector, or a prostitute, or a fisherman. Christ looked at them as sinners needing to be saved. But even more, as children needing to be loved and as His creation created to do good works.

When we look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it./   We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy.  But if we do this, we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

We are called to be in the world. When we do this, we will meet people

who are like the clay balls; not always attractive on the outside. I’m not talking about the physical looks. I’m talking about their behavior or their demeanor. The people we will encounter will often be different from us. But if our passion is people, then we will be determined to get to know them and love them and lead them to Christ.

Conclusion: This sermon is titled “Down and Out.” Christ came down from heaven and went out into the world. We need to come down from our privileges, preferences, and selfish passions, and go out into the world. As Philippians 2:4 tells us, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”/ We need to bring Christ to the world, because the world sorely needs Christ.

            Today is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday is the day we remember how the Holy Spirit was fully given by God to His people. The Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus when He told them in John 16:7-11, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Jesus knew that He must return to heaven. But He also didn’t want to leave us, His followers alone. So He has given us the Holy Spirit. Pentecost Sunday is about remembering that Jesus has empowered us with the Spirit of God so that we can come down from our sinfulness, and be forgiven and filled with God’s Spirit, and then go out into the world with this new found power! Pentecost Sunday is about remembering that we are given the Holy Spirit to do the work and will of God. While that may not always be our first choice, it is always the best choice. Let

us make the decision to, like Christ, go “Down and Out.” Amen.