HAVE THIS MIND
Last week Monday, I went to the college to teach my course as per usual. I spent the morning talking about Jesus and the Holy Spirit with my students and the nature of Scripture. It was a typical Monday morning for me.
When my last student left, I walked out to my truck, put my stuff away and got ready to head for lunch. Just as I was about to put the truck in reverse and leave, I noticed a sticky note under my wiper. I got out and discovered a note that read, “Good morning, I think we may have been assigned the same staff parking spot (S217). If so, please let me know and I’ll get it changed. Thanks! Kim Eichorst.”
My first reaction: I laughed. When I arrived that morning, there were five empty spots to my left and five empty spots to my right. But my spot was the coveted spot. Now there was a car to my left. I thought, what’s the big deal?
The situation started to gnaw at me. I emailed the secretary and explained the humorous predicament and said that I had been parking in that spot for 8 years and never had a problem. Now this. The secretary promptly replied apologizing (but not) and wrote that the SCS has been hiring more teachers, and they needed more parking spots. Period. Then my pride was hurt. I’m just an adjunct professor. I’m a college professor with no pull at my school. I’m not important. I’ve put in my time and have my degrees, but I’m nothing. Cast aside. What would you think? Would you fight for your privileges? Would you press your case?
I immediately thought of the passage that I was about to preach to you today and thought “Have this mind.” Ugh! Jesus! I was stricken by the words, “who though he was in the form of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…” I preach about following Jesus, was I prepared to be like him in this situation?
If I claim to have my attitude in life shaped by Jesus, this text (2:5-11) illustrates what that looks like.
The Bridge (2:5)
Michael unpacked Paul’s challenge to the Philippian believers to live in unity. The appeal of 2:1-4 was to put aside selfish ambition and conceit and to consider others as more important than ourselves. We are to embrace self-sacrificial humility for the sake of the unity of the church.
Verse 5 is a bridge or transition between that thought and the example of Christ in the Carmen Christi. When we look at different translations, we see that they interpret the text rather than give it to us directly (see trans.). We are going to go with the ESV that says, “Have this mind…” Think like Jesus, not just in your relationships, but in all situations.
To “have this mind” is then underlined heavily in the Carmen Christi – that’s a fancy name for 2:6-11 meaning, “Song of Christ” or “hymn of Christ.” It is probably the most beautiful song/poem ever written about who Christ is and what he did for us. I invite you to worship Jesus as we study this song.
1. The Humiliation of Christ (2:6-8)
Though he was God – Verse 6 begins a descent, a downward movement that should shock you. “…who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…” (6). Jesus was in the “form of God.” What does that mean? It could mean that he was exactly God. He was the divine essence, in very nature God himself. He was surrounded by glory; his very appearance was of visible splendor. We are not at this point talking about his inner character or attributes, but about the unapproachable brilliance of his being as God. In the OT, people could not see God directly, but they could see representations of his glory.
Now it says that Jesus did not consider this “equality” with God something to be grasped. That is, to be taken advantage of – Jesus did not consider holding onto this position that he already possessed. He was willing to let it go and rather set it aside. You could say, Jesus did not regard equality with God to be an excuse to keep him from saving humankind through suffering.
He became a servant – The astonishing word Paul uses next is “emptied.” “…but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men…” (7). I like how Marc Sims puts it: Does this mean that when Jesus became a man, He un-God-ed himself? When Jesus became a man, did he cease to be God? No, of course not. It seems that Jesus took off the “form” of God to take on the “form” of man; he emptied himself of the Shekinah glory of God (like a robe) and put on the clothing of a man. Even though Jesus was God, he did not take advantage of being God, we might say. Or, rather than say, “though he was in the form of God,” we should say, “because he was in the form of God.” Christ did not cease to be in the form of God when he emptied himself and took the form of a servant (slave); it was in fact because he was in the form of God that impelled him to take on the form of a slave. Why? Because it is the very essence of God’s character to give himself away. Christ emptying himself is exactly who God is – giving himself away is his true self.
So, Jesus becomes a servant, a slave actually. Philippians would know how degrading being a slave would be; how powerless, how taken advantage of. Jesus went from a position of total power, to utter powerlessness; from glory to shame; from the rights of being God, to having no rights at all. Paul is not making this up; Jesus taught this to his disciples (Mark 10:43-45) and demonstrated it (John 13).
John 13
The Footwashing
· Knowing he had come from God, Jesus rises from the table and lays aside his outer garment.
· Jesus clothes himself with a towel
· Jesus performs a menial task reserved for slaves – washing feet
· When finished, Jesus again takes his outer garments and puts them on
· Jesus resumes his place at the table
· Jesus says, “you call me teacher and Lord and you are right, for so I am.
Philippians 2:6-11
Carmen Christi
· From his position of eternal, pre-existent equality with God, Jesus…lays aside the garment of his visible glory
· Clothes himself with human nature
· Jesus takes the form of a slave and serves others
· After his work on earth is finished, Jesus returns to the visible glory he shared with the Father before time
· Jesus is exalted by the Father and sits down on his heavenly throne
· Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (credit: Sam Storms)
He became a man – Jesus didn’t just look like a man; he was a man. “…being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form…” In the OT, the debate is whether the angel of the LORD or the fourth man in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, was the pre-existent Jesus. If it was, those were occasions where Jesus just showed up. When Jesus broke into history in “human form,” he fully and entirely took on human nature to the degree that he was born! Jesus became an infant going through the microscopic stages of being a zygote in his mother’s womb till he was born in the typical contractions and pain of any birth. He was born into poverty and servitude – at the whim of his “betters.”
He humbled himself to death – Please note this carefully: Jesus humbled himself. No one humbled him; he did it. You and I are often humbled by others when we are cut down to size. Jesus did this himself: “…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…” (8).
To speak of crucifixion is to speak of a slave’s death. He didn’t just die, Jesus died a horrible, torturous death. Crucifixion was designed to be the ultimate insult to injury – the removal of all dignity. It was humiliating and demoralizing. Degradation was the point. A victim was executed publicly at a major crossroads (like Portage and Main), stripped of all clothing, left to be eaten by birds and rats, ridiculed by passersby. Why would Jesus humble himself to be treated so grossly?
Remember, Jesus was in the form of God. Being God, he did not take advantage of it. BECAUSE he was God! Jesus did not renounce his being God, he EXPRESSED supremely who God is, ON THE CROSS!
These first three stanzas do not lift our eyes up to heaven to see the wonders of creation; they do not even lift up our hearts by showing us wonderful miracles; no, they take us down, down, down, to the deepest, darkest hell-hole in human history to see the horrific torture and unspeakable abuse, and bloody execution of a slave on a cross (Hansen, PNTC).
2. The Exaltation of Christ (2:9-11)
“Therefore…” – What is the “therefore” there for? It connects what we just read to what happens next. We read that Christ humbled himself with the causal result that the Father responds by exalting Jesus, his Son. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” And Jesus said, “If you want to be first, you must be last and the servant of all,” (Mk 9:35).
The preacher at my friend’s funeral said something profound: when Dennis entered into the presence of Jesus, Jesus gave him a crown. And Dennis took that crown and threw it down at Jesus’ feet. If we pursue honor before humility we get nothing; if we pursue humility like Jesus, we find more than we expected. Much more.
He is given the “Name” – The giving of a name in the Bible marks a new stage in that person’s life. Abram became Abraham when he received the promise of God (Gen 17). Jacob became Israel when God began a new relationship with him (Gen 32). We get a new name when we overcome the world through Jesus (Rev. 2:17). What is Christ’s new name?
LORD! Jesus came to be known in the early church as Lord. It was revolutionary, even treasonous. Only Roman emperors were called “lord”, and the Philippians knew how dangerous it was to give this honor to anyone else. It was blasphemous to the Jews to call Jesus “Lord” because to them it was the most holy name, a name they dared not utter. But in this song, Jesus is called LORD – Yahweh!
Every knee will bow – At this name Jesus has been given, “…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.” It is a remarkable thing that this song reflects exactly Isaiah’s prophecy where the God of Israel is alone worthy of the title Lord (Isaiah 45:22-23).
“Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together,
you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge
who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.
21 Declare and present your case;
let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ (Isaiah 45:20-23)
Do you see what Paul is saying? How is Jesus worthy of this honor and this glory?
The startling reality is that this Jesus, our Jesus, humbled himself and was crucified, and God raised him up and gave him this highest of names – a name like no other. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in glory because he said, “Hey, that’s my parking spot!” He reached the highest heavens because he stepped on others and climbed his way to the top! He discovered his purpose in life and said, “Me first. I have to take care of myself before I take care of others.” No – he is exalted to the highest place because he chose to lose everything, to die, to go to the lowest place a human being could go.
This goes against everything our world tells you. The way to win is to gather the most, to get on top, look out for number one, love yourself first, and “unfriend” those who hurt you or don’t affirm you. But Jesus shows us a different way – a path of lowliness and service. A path that goes against the flow and honestly seems illogical. In God’s book of life, that’s the path to the highest place.
Have this mind…
My son thinks that I’m weird because I hold the door open for others, or when I let others go first. He thinks I’m too nice to strangers at times. I’m not bragging to you; I’m trying to show him and others that I am working at having this mind – the mind of Christ.
“Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus…” Carmen Christi is a restatement of 2:1-4. It is the basis and reason for Paul saying, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Having this mind, this mind of Christ, gives us peace when we are last, when we are brought low in the esteem of others, when we are forced to be servants – or choose to be – because we know that we are living the V-shaped life. Like Jesus, we can draw the downward stroke of the V and trust God to draw the up stroke. We need to learn to trust God that when we choose the lowest place and serve others, that he will affirm us and lift us up.
Have this mind…
I have to say again, Jesus did not stop being God when he became a human being and took on the lowly servant role. No, in fact he showed us exactly what God is like by bending down and loving us right to the cross.
If you know Jesus, this all makes sense. We can have this mind because it is already ours in Christ Jesus. He calls us to participate in this downward life for the sake of others.
If this Jesus is foreign to you, then I invite you to get to know him. Pray over this Carmen Christi and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the path he walked in the Gospel narratives. He was not a doormat. He was not kicked to the corner. Jesus chose to be a servant and God exalted him.
Choose to be a servant and trust God to lift you up.
Have this mind…
AMEN
