I want to take a look at that question that seems to come up and a lot of movies and is answered in a lot of different ways, “what is the true meaning of Christmas?”
As much as the holiday season is loved by so many, there is a lot of controversy around it as well. Half of our country is doing everything possible to downplay anything Christian about Christmas or the holiday season and all, it seems like in the half that wants to keep Christ in Christmas is always fighting amongst themselves over how much of the Santa Claus and secular stuff is allowed in.
There is a lot of morally positive things in the secular holiday narrative. Whether or not there is any Christ left, the focus for the holiday season is usually on generosity, mercy, love, and peace for everyone. The mentality is really personified by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol story where a grumpy selfish person finds happiness because of the mercy and compassion that is shown to him and in the end, they get into the Christmas spirit. There is a lot of good and admirable sentimentality, there may not be anything specifically Christ focused about it, but it is nice to have a little bit of relief from the general feeling of animosity and selfishness that seems to characterize our culture nowadays. In those stories, the answer to the question, “what is the true meaning of Christmas,” is answered in some sort of call for kindness, generosity, or a time for family.
With all of the good stuff of course is the bad. As much as our culture tries to push the generosity sentimentality, there is a lot of greed still present in the Christmas season and far more dangerous is the slow but constant effort, both overtly and covertly, to remove anything Christian from the holiday season and even from Christmas itself. Which makes perfect sense, if you do not believe in Jesus, if you reject the Bible, you reject the virgin birth, you reject the whole Nativity scene then you have to make the Christmas season about something else. And that is why Santa and all of the stuff that comes with him is so necessary.
For those who do believe in the Bible and in who Jesus truly is, the question remains, “what is the true meaning of Christmas?” This is usually answered in movies like a Charlie Brown Christmas with a reading of Luke 2 where we are told of Joseph taking Mary to Bethlehem to register for the census and Jesus’s un-ceremonious birth in a stable with only a few shepherds around who heard the angels praising God saying, “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.”
And by no means do I want to downplay the truth of that message that is told over and over again in children’s Christmas programs and Nativity scenes in and outside of people’s houses. The truth of that story must be upheld, I believe that the virgin birth of Jesus is a necessary belief and that to reject it is to reject an essential doctrine of the faith. As we looked at last week, the announcement from the Angels gives the three greatest titles to the baby laying in that manger, “A Savior who is Christ, the Lord.” We need to maintain those as the purpose of Christmas and the reason we celebrate. We look to the coming of our Savior as a baby in a manger acknowledging what that led up to, his death on the cross to save us from the consequences of our sins. We see it as the beginning of his incarnation that flowed through the cross and sees our Lord serving as both prophet and priest before the throne of our heavenly Father as our intercessor.
But what do we do with all of the goodwill, generosity, and fuzzy feelings that the world focuses on at Christmas time? It is amazing how much people will try and get rid of the Bible while holding onto the morality and ethical standard that is based on it. When these questions come up, I am constantly reminded of the “tour of kindness” that I sat through at Selby School last spring. The whole focus of this message was to get people to be kind to one another, but there was no reason for it ever given. You should be kind, show generosity and grace toward others because it is good was about the best they could come up with.
We can take the misguided “good intentions” of our culture who is still being influenced by the truth of God whether they recognize it or not and use it. At Christmas time, we can look to the coming of Jesus as a demonstration of humility, kindness, and generosity that goes far beyond any human act in history.
The text that we are going to look at this morning is Paul’s exhortation to the Philippian believers, a call for humility, a call for selflessness, a call for putting others interests ahead of their own and using Christ’s coming to earth as the ultimate example. Let us read our text for this morning Philippians 2:1-11.
Philippians is really a letter of encouragement sent by Paul to the church in Philippi during a time of persecution. Unlike the church in Corinth who was plagued by sin issues that continually needed to be addressed, the church in Philippi was a great example for the gospel and witness within their city. Paul’s letter to them is focused on encouraging them in continuing their growth and sanctification and in their ministry, both in spreading the gospel and in serving believers throughout the world.
The first chapter is focused on Paul’s Thanksgiving and his prayers for the belief of the church in Philippi and for his desire to see the gospel progress even though he is currently suffering in prison. Even while suffering, he is joyful in the way that he has even been able to witness to his guards and calls the Philippian believers in 1:27 to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear that you are standing firm and one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
How are they to do this? How are they to make Paul’s joy complete? By conducting themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, by living in unity and in love. That is what he means in verse 2 of chapter 2. “Being of the same mind,” has the idea of actively striving to achieve a common understanding and genuine agreement in their thinking. Not that they are all too simply be robots, and they are not to have a blind or unthinking unity, Paul later gives practical advice for what this means in 4:8, “finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
They are to be united in spirit which means that they are to live in selfless harmony with their fellow believers which would by definition excludes personal ambition, selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, and the countless other evils that are the fruit of that self-love which brings disunity and discord to any relationship. The fourth mark of this unity is to be intent on one purpose which sums up the previous three statements while focusing them on Paul’s original point, that they are to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ to grow in their personal sanctification and to be a witness for the truth in their city.
In verses 3 and 4 Paul answers the question of how this genuine spiritual unity is to be achieved. If there is to be that unity it must come without any selfishness, any focus on self above others, without any empty conceit, which is a personal seeking of glory and acclaim above others.
Instead it is to be with a humility of mind. This idea is synonymous with the first beatitude that we looked at the beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. It is to be poor in spirit, recognizing our complete dependency on God and our position as spiritual beggars. It is the opposite of pride which is the sin that always separated fallen men from God, the chief sin from which all others find their origin, making ourselves into our own god to be worshiped. Humility of mind and spirit is a dominant virtue throughout both the Old and New Testament and one that is required for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, again as we saw in the first beatitude.
Genuine humility involves believers not thinking too highly of themselves and requires that they, as we see there at the end of verse three, “regard one another as more important than themselves.” That word “regard,” is from a verb that means more than just having an opinion, it refers to a carefully thought out conclusion based on the truth. It means that believers are not simply to pretend that others are more important but to actually believe it and the only way to show the truth of that belief is to live it out. This cannot be a façade of selflessness but a lifestyle defined by it.
So, what does Paul mean when he says that we are to regard one another as more important than yourself? He explains that in verse 4, “do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others.” We are to take care of our own interests, this is by no means a call to some sort of self-deprivation in order to prove our spirituality. We are to look out for our own personal interests, both in caring for ourselves and how we believe we can best serve the Lord through our desires and actions. But we do not “merely” look out for our own interests but also for the interests of others.
More than just looking out for ourselves and helping others when we can, we are to put the needs of others before ourselves. If we consider others as more important than ourselves then we will put their interests ahead of our own. Not in a sinful way and not interests or desires of others that are focused on sinful things, but we put both their spiritual and physical good ahead of our own interests.
So where does he ground this attitude of absolute humility and placing others above ourselves? As we look at the good and righteous attitudes of humility, kindness, generosity promoted during this holiday season even by the secular culture that cares nothing for Christ. Where do we as believers look to as both our reason and example? Paul points to the coming of Christ Jesus. The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity. To the Nativity. He uses the ultimate display of personal humility, the greatest act of placing others interests ahead of one’s own that has ever occurred in history and that will never be matched.
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” Look to the King, look to our Lord and Savior, this was the attitude that He exhibited and that you are also to be defined by. “Jesus…who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.”
This is who Jesus started as, this is what he was before he descended into the manger on the first Christmas morning. He existed in the form of God. Both before, during, and after his incarnation, Jesus was by his very nature fully and eternally God. Coequal in essence with the Father. Eternal and unchangable, Jesus exists in the very form, MORPHE, of God. That word Morphe, refers to the outward manifestation of an inner reality, something that does not change, a permanent characteristic. Jesus was equal with God the Father in every way, by his very nature and innate being. In Colossians 2:9 Paul writes that, “in him (Jesus) all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.”
He is and was before his incarnation the creator and sustainer of all that exists. In Colossians 1:16-17 Paul writes, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him, he is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
He is and was God very God, but he “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Although he continued to fully exist as God, during his incarnation he refused to hold onto his divine rights and prerogatives as the second person of the Godhead. Paul emphasizes again Jesus’s true nature and essence as God, it is absolute and incontestable reality with the word “equality” but he never used his power or authority for personal advantage because those rights and prerogatives of his divinity were not a thing to be grasped.
The Greek word “grasped” refers to something that is seized or held onto by force. Something clung on to. He had all the rights and privileges of God, which he never could lose, yet he refused to selfishly cling to his position as the divine second person of the Trinity, nor did he view it as a prized possession to be used for himself.
Instead, “he emptied himself,” as we see there at the beginning of verse 7. Not to say that he lost any of his divine glory or essence, but he willingly chose to give up certain aspects of his prerogatives of deity. All four Gospels make it clear that he did not forsake his divine power, but he did temporarily divest himself of the full visibility of His divine glory. He fully submitted himself to the Father and took on the form of a slave. That word “bond servant” is doulos, it could refer to someone who intentionally or willingly submitted themselves to the Lordship of another, a “bond servant,” but it is almost always translated as “slave.” It was someone who owned nothing, not even a clothes on his back. Everything he had, including his life, belonged to his master.
Jesus was not a slave, in his incarnation, to another man. But he was fully submitted to the Father and willingly relieved himself of his divine glory as the King of kings and Lord of lords to become the servant of others. His purpose in coming to earth by way of the manger, living as a man with all of the frailties and limitations that ensued was not to be served by mankind but to serve. He says of himself in Matthew 20:28, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
That is what Paul means by the next two statements, “and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man.” Jesus did not just look like a man, he actually became exactly like all other human beings, having all the attributes of humanity. In order to become the second, or last, Adam, in the incarnation Jesus took upon himself all the frailties, limitations, problems, and suffering that were the heritage of all of those who came after the fall, he endured all of sins terrible earthly consequences so that he could be, as Paul tells us in Hebrews 4 a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses, one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. He became hungry and thirsty, suffered pain and felt sadness. He became tired and weak and needed sleep and was tempted by the flesh in always that we are.
In all of this Jesus showed the ultimate act of humility. We see in verse eight, “he humbled himself.” This was an act of his own determination and will. This ultimate act of humiliation, of God very God descending into human form was an ultimate act of love by Jesus in order to place our good, our interests above his own. As we look at the nativity scene itself, we should be struck by how far he humbled himself. Had Jesus descended to earth to be born as the ultimate king with all of the power and pleasures of the greatest of this world’s monarchs, to have Authority over every person in the world, with the money and riches in glory beyond any king who has ever lived, it would still be the ultimate show of humiliation but Jesus went so far beyond that.
He was not born in a palace, but a stable. His mother was not renowned throughout the world for her beauty or her wisdom or her intelligence, rather she was a no-name girl from a backwater town. His bed was not the plush featherbed with the finest silks but a feeding trough. He was not attended to by the wisest physicians and noblest and greatest men, but a handful of lowly shepherds and farm animals.
Paul takes this act of humility even farther. The second person of the Trinity. The divine son. Did not simply descend to earth to live as a human, but he came willingly knowing that he would be put to death for our sins, even death on a cross.
The message of Christmas should include all of those warm fuzzy feelings of generosity, love, and peace that our culture highlights for one month out of the year. But if it is based on simply a desire to make ourselves feel better about how good humanity could be than it does not go far enough. Those are all good and noble virtues that should be elevated, but if they are not based on something then they become arbitrary and meaningless, foundation-less.
The message of Christmas should include Mary and Joseph and the virgin birth. The message of Christmas should include that Jesus came and was born in a stable. If we are celebrating the facts of Christmas, miraculous as they are, but that is not all we should see in those nativity scenes.
Even when we focus on the hope and joy that came along with the Savior being born into the world and the forgiveness that he brought, that does not go far enough because belief in these things requires that we recognize why Jesus came. To recognize why he came means that we must recognize our sin and our complete inability to reconcile ourselves back to God. It means that we must repent of our sin and submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus. It means that we must act on this repentance and submission, and that means having this attitude of ultimate humility, regarding others as more important than ourselves.
Remember that the message of Christmas is that the divine second person of the Trinity humbled himself in a way far greater than we could ever imagine, that he came to put our interests above his own and to give his life as a ransom for many. If you call yourself a Christian, if you are a member of the church, one who submits to Jesus as Lord, then you are called to a life of humility and selflessness on the same level. Looking to the coming of Christ, his incarnation and his sacrifice as both the reason and example for this command.
As you go out to celebrate Christmas, celebrate the nativity scene for all that it represents as the ultimate act of love. And whatever you do, do not just celebrate it for one morning with presents and a big meal, celebrate it all year long by seeking to have this attitude of humility in your own life.