BLESSED
HUMILITY
March
28, 2021
Rev.
Mark F. Bartels
Old Testament Lesson; Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm of the Day:
Psalm 24
Gospel Lesson; Mark 11:1-10
Sermon Text; Philippians 2:5-11
Today is Palm Sunday. It is traditional on Palm Sunday to have as
the Epistle Text, the text from Philippians chapter two, verses five through
eleven. This is one of the deepest texts
in all of scripture. And so today, at
best I can do is just scratch the surface.
Let's hear this text, in Jesus' name.
It talks about Jesus' humility.
Indeed let this attitude be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Though He was by nature God, He did not consider quality with God as a
prize to be displayed, but He emptied Himself by taking the nature of a servant. When He was born in human likeness, and His
appearance was like that of any other man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and
gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
These are your words,
Heavenly Father. Lead us in the way of
truth. Your Word is truth.
Amen
There were two little
brothers. One named Kevin, and the other
named Ryan. They were sitting at the
kitchen table. It was Saturday morning,
and Mom was cooking breakfast. She was
making pancakes. Kevin and Ryan could
smell the pancakes. They smelled
amazing.
Kevin said to Ryan, “I am
going to eat the first pancake”.
Ryan said, “No, I am going
to get the first pancake”.
And then, they started to
bicker with each other. Pretty soon,
they were in an all out fight, as to who was going to get the first
pancake.
Mom, who was standing at the
stove, cooking the pancakes thought, “I am going to use this as a moment to
teach something about the Christian faith”.
And so, she said to the boys,
“Stop! Stop fighting. Boys, if Jesus were your brother, and He
would be sitting at the kitchen table right now, what would He do? What would Jesus do?”
And then, she answered it for
them. She said, “Jesus would let his
brother have the first pancake”.
Both boys were quiet. Then, Kevin looked at Ryan, and said, “Ryan,
you be Jesus”.
In our hearts we all know we
should have this attitude of humility.
We know that. But, we don't
always act in an attitude of humility.
Humility
The Bible talks a lot about
it. Humility is not going around with
your head down, thinking, “I am the worst person in the world. I am worthless. I am nothing.”
The Bible describes, right
before our text for today, describes humility.
It says,
“Think not only of your own interests,
but also the interests of others.”
Then, it says,
“In humility,
consider others better than yourself.”
It is putting other people's
interests more important than our own.
C. S. Lewis put it really
succinctly, when he said it this way. “Humility
is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”
Humility is not thinking less
of yourself, but it is thinking of yourself less, and thinking of others, more.
One time St. Augustine, who
lived back in the 300's was explaining the Christian way, and the way of
God. He said, “The first thing to
know about the way of God is humility.
And, the second thing to know about God is humility. And, the third thing to know about God is
humility.”
Martin Luther, 1,100 years
later was asked, “What do you think are the three most important, Christian
virtues?”
Martin Luther said, “Well the first most important Christian virtue is
humility. And the second is humility,
and the third is humility.”
They were both saying the same thing.
Humility is such a critical thing in the life of a Christian faith.
But, we have a problem with
humility, every one of us has a problem with humility. You see the flip side to humility is
pride. Pride is the basic, basic sin
we all struggle with, and deal with. In
fact, if you were to look at all of these stones on our front wall, and say you
are one of these stones, pride wants to put itself above the other stones. Pride wants to get on top. Pride is competitive. Pride compares itself to other people. That is what we are like in our hearts, whether
we want to admit it, or not. Deep in our
hearts, we want to look at somebody else, and say, “I am smarter than he
is.” “I am faster than he is.” “I am stronger than she is.” “I know more than that person.”
We like to take satisfaction
in saying, “I am better than that person”.
If we see somebody who is
better looking, or smarter, or stronger, do you know what we do? We say, “Yeah, but they think they are so
special. I don't think that about
myself.”
And, we pull them down. We say, “I am better than them, because I
don't think so much about myself.”
Pride always wants to get itself higher than the next person. Pride would be happy if everybody would look
at me, put the spotlight on me, and say, “Man, does he know a lot!” “Man, is
that person fast!” “Man, is he smart!” “He is super important at work.” “Man,
does he know all of the answers!”
Or, whatever. Pride wants to put itself on top. It wants to put itself in the center.
Did you know The Bible, (and
we think about all kinds of sins, but I don't think we often think about the
sin of pride), but do you know what The Bible says about God's attitude
toward the proud of heart? It says,
“God detests the proud at heart.”
Those are powerful
words. Did you ever look at somebody,
and just detest them? Wow!
“God detests the proud at heart.”
We all know we should have
this heart of humility. So, how do we
get what this text says?
“Indeed, let this attitude be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus.”
How do I get that heart of
humility? What our text for today is
going to do is it is going to take us sinners, us proud sinners right to Jesus.
Here is the first thing it
does. (It is talking about Jesus.)
“Though He was by nature God...”
So, let's compare. Pride likes to compare. So, let's compare. If you want to compare yourself to somebody,
just compare yourself to Jesus. It says,
“Though He was by nature God...”
OK, now you look at all of
the stones on this wall in the front of the church, and think, “how high you
could get up the stack there”.
Jesus, by nature was God. That is
the top of the stack, and beyond. So, in
comparison to us, Jesus is so unbelievably superior.
In fact, if anybody ever
tells you, “You know, The Bible does not really say Jesus was God”, or
have you ever had a Jehovah Witness, or a Mormon knock on your door, and say, “You
will never find that in The Bible”?
That is not true at all. The Bible is so clear that Jesus is God. In fact, The Bible approaches it from a whole
bunch of different directions.
-First of all, our Catechism
asks, “Why do you believe Jesus is God?”
It says,
“I believe Jesus is God,
because number one The Bible just point blank calls Him God. After Jesus rose from the dead, Thomas fell
down on his knees, and said to Jesus,
“My Lord and my God”.
Jesus did not correct
him. He did not stop him. He didn't say, “I am not God”. The Bible point blank called Jesus, “God”.
The Bible does not come
anywhere near calling you God. He is the
top of the stack, and beyond.
-Not only that but, The
Bible also says Jesus has the attributes of God. For example, Jesus said this about
Himself.
“Behold, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world.”
In other words, Jesus is
saying, “I am present everywhere, no matter where you go, I am there. No matter when you are born, whether it is
you, your grandchildren, your great, great, great, grandchildren, I am going to
be with them, because I am present everywhere, and I am eternal.”
Wow! Talk about being far superior to us. Did you ever say to somebody, “You think
you are so good. You act like you are
holy.”? We are not holy, but The
Bible says Jesus was holy. It says He
was tempted in every point just like we are, and yet He was without sin.
Wow! He has the attributes of God.
Did you ever have anybody
say, “You think you know everything?”
We don't even come close to knowing everything. But, one of the disciples said to Jesus,
“Lord, you know all things”.
Wow! In comparison to Jesus, He is so far above
us. That is the point scripture is
making.
-Then, not only does The
Bible call Him God, and say He has the attributes of God, but it also says
He does the works of God.
Maybe you have done some
pretty special things in your life, made some special things, accomplished some
special things. But, here is what The
Bible says about Jesus.
“Nothing that was made
was made without Him.”
In other words, Jesus was
involved in the creation of the world.
Jesus could look at you, and say, “Yeah, you have done some pretty
special things. Do you know what I
did? I made you. I made your DNA. I made the neurons in your brain. I know everything about how you work, and how
your body works. I made this whole
universe.”
Wow!
He was in very nature God.
-In fact, it goes on. The Bible says He deserves the honor of
God. The Bible says,
“Whoever does not honor the Son,
just like he honors the Father,
does not honor the Father, either.”
Now, what other human being
could we get down on our knees, bow down, and worship him, as God. Boy, you want to compare yourself to
Jesus? You want to start with pride, and
in pride, compare yourself? He is so, so
far above us that it is not even funny.
So, it sets the stage here.
-Then, look at what it says,
next.
“Though He was by nature God,
He did not consider equality with God
as a prize to be displayed,
but emptied Himself
taking the nature of a servant.”
You see, Jesus could have, in
His human nature, He could have made it so unbelievably, patently evident to
everybody, “Wow. That Person is God.”
Jesus could have displayed
it, but He chose to hold back the full use of His divine power, in His human
nature.
For example, Jesus could have
come to this earth, and been the most unbelievably handsome person in the
entire world. He could have displayed
His absolute glory of God. But you know
what The Bible says about Him? It says,
“He had no beauty that we should desire Him.
He was One from whom men hid their faces.”
You see, He did not put that
full glory on display. He hid it.
Jesus could have put His full
power on display. He could have made it
evident to everybody that He was God.
They had Olympics, back then, too.
Jesus could have entered the Olympics.
He could have won every single event in the Olympics, blown the entire competition
away, and set every world record, for all eternity. But, Jesus did not do that. He held back.
And, He even appeared so
weak, as to be nailed to a cross. He did
not put that full glory that He has on display.
Jesus could have come up with
the theory of relativity two thousand years before Albert Einstein did. But, Jesus did not do that. He did not make it apparent to everybody of
His incredible brilliance. He just
taught a simple, simple message that even little children can
understand.
We are saved by faith in Jesus, as our Savior.
So, The Bible says,
“...by nature God,
He did not consider equality with God
as a prize to be displayed,
but He emptied Himself
by taking the nature of a servant.”
Now, I want you to see what
The Bible does. It takes Jesus from the
pinnacle of who He is. He is God in the
flesh. In comparison to us, He is so far
superior. But, look at what He does,
willingly. He is going to bring Himself
from the highest spot, down to the very lowest spot you could possibly get 'on
this wall'. And even below that, in
comparison to you and me. It says,
“When He was born in human likeness,
and His appearance was like that of any other man,
He humbled Himself, humbled Himself,
and became obedient to the point of death -
even death on a cross.”
Look at what The Bible does
there. It takes two events in Jesus'
life. Basically, the beginning of His
earthly life, His birth, and then, it takes the end of His earthly life, His
death. It puts them side by side in
these two verses. They are kind of 'the
bookends' of Jesus' life.
Interestingly, last week
somebody sent me an email reminding me of three days ago, which was March 25th. Did you know March 25th is a
really, really big day in The Church Year? Do you know what day it is? If you go nine months after March 25th,
guess what you get to? You get to
Christmas. Just three days ago is what
we call, The Annunciation. It is when the angel announced to Mary, “You
are going to have a baby”. So that
is the day we celebrate Jesus took on human flesh. That is Jesus taking on our flesh.
Then, four days from now, we
are going to get to Jesus' trial, His arrest, and ultimately five days from
now, His crucifixion, and His death. So,
it is not very far from The Annunciation to the death of Jesus. And, this verse puts them both together. It wants you to see how far Jesus has
stooped, how low He had become.
Think about His birth. Did you ever have your mom say to you, when
you were a kid, or maybe you have said this to your own kids, when you walk in
to the room, and the room was all a mess, “What? Were you born in a barn?” ?
I don't know anybody who was
born in a barn. But, I do know some
people who were born in their own homes on the farm. I know somebody who was born in the entryway
to a hospital, because they did not quite make it. I know some people who were born in
cars. But, I don't know anybody, I
don't know anybody who was born in a barn, except God, God in the
flesh. Talk about the lowest of the low,
born in the dirtiest place, a feed trough for animals.
I don't know anybody who was
told, “Sorry, but you can't come in here, and have your baby”, except
God Himself, who was told, “There is no room for you in the inn”.
Look how low He went. This is God.
He has His little, tiny hands wrapped around His mother's fingers. If you ever want to read something really
endearing, just read Martin Luther's description about Jesus' birth. He does this masterful job of showing you,
look, when Jesus was born in such humble circumstances, He wanted to show that
no matter who you are, no matter how proud you might be of yourself, or what
kind of sins you are committing, Jesus came in such a way that who could be
afraid of Jesus? Nobody can be afraid of
going to Jesus. He came in the most humble, kind way. And, He came to show that no matter who you
are, He came to be your friend, and He came to help you.”
Then, as He grew up, listen
to this description of how His humility drew people to Him. It says,
“God chose to reveal Himself through a human
body.
The tongue that called forth the dead, with a human
one,
the hand that touched the leper, had dirt under its
nail,
the feet upon which the woman wept were calloused and
dusty.
His tears, oh don't miss the tears,
they came from a heart as broken as yours and mine has
ever been.
So people came to Him.
My, how they came to Him.
They came at night.
They touched Him, as He walked down the street.
They followed Him around the sea.
They invited Him in to their homes.
They placed their children at His feet.
Why? Because He
refused to be a statue in a cathedral,
or a priest in an elevated pulpit.
He chose instead to be a touchable, approachable,
reachable Jesus.
This humble Jesus.”
Ultimately our text says,
“...He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death -
even death on the cross.”
So now remember who this
is. This is God.
I know some people who have
gone through some tough, tough deaths.
But, I don't know anybody who has gone so low as Jesus has gone. I personally don't know anybody who was
executed, executed for crimes against the church, and the state. I personally don't know anybody who was
executed in a very inhumane, (and I mean) inhumane way. Roman crucifixion was intended to be the most
shameful, humiliating, painful death you could inflict on somebody. I don't know anybody who has died that type
of death. I don't know anybody, anybody
in the world who has died that type of death, and had a friend betray him,
another one deny them, and all of the rest of them forsake him. I don't know anybody like that. I don't know anybody who has had people, as
he was dying, standing and mock him. I
don't know anybody else who has his own Father, God the Father, forsake him, as
he dies.
But look.
-Look at what He has done.
-Look how humble He has made Himself,
-how low He has made Himself.
And why? The ultimate, amazing reason why is because
He knows where we think we might be on that stack. He knows our sin. God has every right in His heart to detest
the proud. But, God in His mercy, look
at what He has done. In His mercy He has
said, “I love you so much, so much.
You are such value to me. Not
because you deserve it. Not because you
are worthy of it. You are not worthy of
it. But, I love you so much that I will
do all of that just for you, so you can be mine. You can be my child. You can be with me in Heaven, for eternity.”
Wow!
And so our text goes on, and
says this.
“Therefore, (because of what Jesus has done), God also highly exalted Him and gave Him
the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will
bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
So, a day is coming when every
creature that exists, whether they want to, or not, are going to see Jesus
in all of His glory, and everybody, whether they want to, or not, is
going to have to bow down to Him, and say, “You are God. You are Lord.”
If it has happened to you right now, already, and in your heart, in your
heart you confess that basic confession:
“Jesus Christ, today I confess Jesus Christ is Lord.”, do you
know what The Bible tells us? It tells
us something amazing. It says,
“No one can say Jesus Christ is Lord,
except by the Holy Spirit.”
It means that the Holy Spirit
has reached in to your heart. He has
stirred your heart. It has caused this
heart of faith to look at Jesus, and say, “Yes Jesus, you are, you are
Lord. You are my Savior. I trust in you. I believe in you, for the forgiveness of my
sins.”
Now, give all of that, given
all of that, let's go back to the top of the text.
“Indeed, let this attitude be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus.”
You know what? God loves you so unbelievably in Christ. He has made you of such great value. You don't have to try to stack yourself up
against somebody else. You don't have to
try to get people to think more highly of you.
Think of how highly God
thinks of you, and what He has done for you.
He said, “Let your attitude be that of Christ.” It is not that we think less of
ourselves. But, we think of ourselves
less, and we think of others more. We
strive to serve them, and treat them as more important than we are.
Pride divides. Do you know what humility does? It unites.
Humility unites. In the home
where Mom and Dad, husband and wife, and children treat each other with
humility, it unites. In The Church,
where church members treat one another with humility, it unites. And, look what happens when we are all
united. Look at what is in the
center. All of the attention goes to
Christ, and Christ crucified!
Amen