Make Yourself Nothing

Pentecost 19 – “Make Yourself Nothing” – Philippians 2:1-11
Vicar Matthew Peters, St. Paul’s, Union Grove – September 22nd & 24th, 2005

Grace, Mercy, and Peace, to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for this morning’s message is the Epistle lesson, taken from the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, especially verses 5-7:

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing…”

Whenever you come across a mirror, what is your first reaction? Maybe its in a store, maybe at home, maybe you happen to catch a reflection off of a car window… what do you do? Well, let’s see… It’s a nice little mirror from a boy scout hiking kit, hmm… Hey, there I am! Oh, pardon me!
When a person sees a mirror, they have the tendency to look at themselves. Humans are likely to be drawn to a mirror in order to see what they look like. We are very concerned with appearances, we are very concerned with ourselves.
In most cases, we are much more concerned with ourselves than with others.

Sure, there are the examples of humanitarian giving and generosity. We look at the relief efforts in the Southern States as proof of this; but how much of the good that you do for others is out of a feeling of obligation? Or perhaps even more common, how much of the good you do is out of some feeling of expectation?
If I’m nice to him, he’ll be nice to me. If I do this for her, she’ll do that for me. Give and get, get and give. The economics of being nice – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Certainly that’s how things tend to operate, but considering this, in the end of it all the primary concern is really for none other than yourself.

But Paul reminds the Philippian Christians, as well as he reminds us:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing…”

So be like Christ! Be a servant, be humble, be obedient to God and others! Christ is the perfect example for your lives… and you are Christians, you have His name in your title. Live like Christ!
Why isn’t your life like Christ? Haven’t you tried? I imagine that we’ve all tried. I would think that everyone here has tried to live a better life. Many of us have probably even asked God to send the Holy Spirit to guide our ways so that we might be pleasing to God… but still we fail. We still sin, we still mess everything up, and end up thinking about ourselves and our own interests. What are we going to do? …We can’t be like Christ!

Instead, let us once again look at what Christ did. Let’s read how Paul describes these actions:
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, 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.”

From this passage we understand that God glories in humility, God values service, and God loves obedience – and it is God alone who does these things well. It was Jesus who made Himself humble, a slave, and obedient even to death. And Jesus did these things for YOU.

Since we are not able to humbly serve, or be obedient to God’s will – and because of these sins we would be lost – God sent Christ Jesus to do it in our place. Jesus did not look into a mirror and glory in the fact that He is God – He looked into the mirror and made Himself a humble man. Even though Jesus was God, the true God of the universe – he took on the humble body of a man – for you. Even though he was obedient to all of God’s laws, Jesus then set aside His own considerations – putting the mirror of selfishness down – and died a death that the worst of sinners deserves. He did this for you. In your place, for your sins, Jesus came for this reason.
And therefore God has exalted Him to the highest place. The Father honors Jesus, and we honor Jesus. Jesus Christ is the humble servant who took no interest in Himself, and died upon the cross in order to save the world. God now puts Him into the highest place!

“…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.”

So if we take the mirror and look at ourselves, what do we see? Ugh! We see sin and pride, and selfishness – and the list goes on. We look into a mirror and it acts as the Law, it reflects our failures and shows our sins. But there is a use for this mirror in our lives after all. A mirror can be depressing and can show us the reality that we don’t want to see – but a mirror can also serve to show a reality that is good and wonderful.
If we take the mirror that we have been given in our lives and point it to the light… …whew! The light is reflected. Our lives can serve as mirrors to reflect the light of God – we can reflect the glory of God, the glory and honor that God has given to Jesus can shine forth from us. It is not because we are shining lights, but since the light of God’s glory shines down and forgives us… …we are enabled to live a life that reflects and shares the forgiveness that we have from above.

We can reflect the divine truth and grace that Jesus has come and served perfectly. That Jesus has come and made Himself humble for our sakes. That Jesus has served the world so much that we are all forgiven by faith in Him. The light shines with God’s words – as we share the good news as we have been given it in the Bible – as we are strengthened in His sacraments – and God’s light shines in our lives as we know that God says to us:
You are forgiven all of your sins – you are saved – “to the Glory of God the Father.”

Amen.