From Nothing, To Something
Grace and peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The words of Paul which we have before us today are the prelude to one of the most impactful sections of Scripture from his pin. He is about to give us what is truly the first creed of the Christian Church. It is a very succinct declaration of who Christ is and what He did, written in such a way that it can be stored away in your heart and in your memory so that you may hold on to the truth of your faith even without the written Word.
This great confession is prefaced with the words of our text today, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4
Certainly, when we are Speaking of self-sacrifice and the desire to place others before ourselves, Christ is our example. Christ did not look out after His own interests but rather those which would benefit others. It was not to His benefit that He sacrificed himself upon the cross but to save humanity, which is obviously a blessing to you. What Paul is declaring is that if you have been so blessed by God then should this not be your attitude as you live in relation to other people in this world?
Now this passage can be applied in the simplest way. Think of your friends. When Paul says do not merely look out for your own interests but also for the interests of others would that not mean that we seek to safeguard our friends’ possessions. Or would we just turn a blind eye to someone taking or breaking what belonged to our friend. This same verse can also be applied to our job with reference to our employer. Protecting what belongs to our boss from someone who would steal it, all the way to giving an honest day's work for the wage he is paying. You see it's not about us, it is about doing what is right and proper in relation to others.
It is easy to see how this text would apply to a friend or a brother, but what about a stranger? Do we consider ourselves responsible for what happens in the lives of the people we do not even know? Sadly, while this was at one time the mentality of people in our world it is not so much today. We have adopted the “me and mine” mentality which in essence says if you're not important to me then you don't matter.
Aren't we thankful that God didn't think this way. When all of us turned our back on Him, He did not turn His back on us. But rather He made the choice to do what was best for us even if it was detrimental to Him.
The first part of our text Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; are words which are in no way understood by people today. Selfishness and conceit stand in direct opposition to the understanding of humility. We live in a world that does not believe others are more important than self but rather that I'm the most important person around. We are taught this in every arena of life.
Look at those who are idolized today. The movie stars and entertainers who are sat upon a pedestal and treated as if they are uniquely special, to the point that they begin to believe they are better than others and thus demands such treatment. Or the politicians who live in their ivory towers and make rules and pass laws which affect everyone else but they in turn exempt themselves from the same laws they inflict upon others. Those who have much demand much power. The rest of us are left to fend for ourselves, and our reactions are typically to put the person beside us down and make ourselves feel good, and of value.
This even filters its way into the church. The preacher who runs the congregation with an iron fist insisting that everyone bow to his every need, follow his every command, while he himself lives contrary to the word he preaches. Religious leaders are not exempt from selfishness and conceit. You see Paul is setting up a contrast, which we do well to take to heart.
It is not possible to consider others more important than yourself if your focus is upon yourself. If I am the most important then I will use you for my purpose, and when you no longer serve my purpose, I will cast you aside. This is what we see in the world, and this is what we see in the church, and this is why people are hurt and made to feel like God does not care nor does he love them.
It really only changes in a person's heart when that individual truly understands the love of God in Christ and the grace of God in their lives. When we finally come to understand that God set aside His own needs for the purpose of loving us and this love moved Him to make the ultimate sacrifice to save us, only then this selfishness and conceit give way to humility.
When we understand that God loved us when we we're Nothing, it is then that we can love the people of this world who are so often told but they are Nothing. And it is when the Nothing receives the love and grace of God that the Nothing understands that they are Truly Something. Then and only then does a life changed, and then that heart which has been changed is moved to change the world by loving others in a selfless way.
Christ became “Nothing” upon the cross that we might become “Something” in the heart of God. I pray we set aside all personal desires and ambitions and truly become “nothing” that we might proclaim Jesus as everything to the world.
Blessings in Jesus our Savior,
Pastor Russ
The words of Paul which we have before us today are the prelude to one of the most impactful sections of Scripture from his pin. He is about to give us what is truly the first creed of the Christian Church. It is a very succinct declaration of who Christ is and what He did, written in such a way that it can be stored away in your heart and in your memory so that you may hold on to the truth of your faith even without the written Word.
This great confession is prefaced with the words of our text today, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4
Certainly, when we are Speaking of self-sacrifice and the desire to place others before ourselves, Christ is our example. Christ did not look out after His own interests but rather those which would benefit others. It was not to His benefit that He sacrificed himself upon the cross but to save humanity, which is obviously a blessing to you. What Paul is declaring is that if you have been so blessed by God then should this not be your attitude as you live in relation to other people in this world?
Now this passage can be applied in the simplest way. Think of your friends. When Paul says do not merely look out for your own interests but also for the interests of others would that not mean that we seek to safeguard our friends’ possessions. Or would we just turn a blind eye to someone taking or breaking what belonged to our friend. This same verse can also be applied to our job with reference to our employer. Protecting what belongs to our boss from someone who would steal it, all the way to giving an honest day's work for the wage he is paying. You see it's not about us, it is about doing what is right and proper in relation to others.
It is easy to see how this text would apply to a friend or a brother, but what about a stranger? Do we consider ourselves responsible for what happens in the lives of the people we do not even know? Sadly, while this was at one time the mentality of people in our world it is not so much today. We have adopted the “me and mine” mentality which in essence says if you're not important to me then you don't matter.
Aren't we thankful that God didn't think this way. When all of us turned our back on Him, He did not turn His back on us. But rather He made the choice to do what was best for us even if it was detrimental to Him.
The first part of our text Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; are words which are in no way understood by people today. Selfishness and conceit stand in direct opposition to the understanding of humility. We live in a world that does not believe others are more important than self but rather that I'm the most important person around. We are taught this in every arena of life.
Look at those who are idolized today. The movie stars and entertainers who are sat upon a pedestal and treated as if they are uniquely special, to the point that they begin to believe they are better than others and thus demands such treatment. Or the politicians who live in their ivory towers and make rules and pass laws which affect everyone else but they in turn exempt themselves from the same laws they inflict upon others. Those who have much demand much power. The rest of us are left to fend for ourselves, and our reactions are typically to put the person beside us down and make ourselves feel good, and of value.
This even filters its way into the church. The preacher who runs the congregation with an iron fist insisting that everyone bow to his every need, follow his every command, while he himself lives contrary to the word he preaches. Religious leaders are not exempt from selfishness and conceit. You see Paul is setting up a contrast, which we do well to take to heart.
It is not possible to consider others more important than yourself if your focus is upon yourself. If I am the most important then I will use you for my purpose, and when you no longer serve my purpose, I will cast you aside. This is what we see in the world, and this is what we see in the church, and this is why people are hurt and made to feel like God does not care nor does he love them.
It really only changes in a person's heart when that individual truly understands the love of God in Christ and the grace of God in their lives. When we finally come to understand that God set aside His own needs for the purpose of loving us and this love moved Him to make the ultimate sacrifice to save us, only then this selfishness and conceit give way to humility.
When we understand that God loved us when we we're Nothing, it is then that we can love the people of this world who are so often told but they are Nothing. And it is when the Nothing receives the love and grace of God that the Nothing understands that they are Truly Something. Then and only then does a life changed, and then that heart which has been changed is moved to change the world by loving others in a selfless way.
Christ became “Nothing” upon the cross that we might become “Something” in the heart of God. I pray we set aside all personal desires and ambitions and truly become “nothing” that we might proclaim Jesus as everything to the world.
Blessings in Jesus our Savior,
Pastor Russ
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