A Jesus Paradigm

Peter Voorhees

Philippians • Sermon • Submitted 8 months ago • Presented 8 months ago

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In times of relational conflict or stressful situations, our natural instinct is to turn inward and adopt a defensive, protective posture. However, Jesus offers a different paradigm. A paradigm is a model, example, or way of thinking and being. The apostle Paul recognizes the challenges faced by the Philippian church, both from within and outside. Can you relate to this? Paul emphasizes that there is a God-given blessing in suffering hardships for following Him. To navigate these hardships well, Paul guides the church (and us) toward a Jesus paradigm that we can align our lives with. By following Jesus in this way, we can experience the fullness of life, even in difficult times.

Notes

Transcript

Synopsis:

Introduction

A paradigm is a model, an example, or a way of thinking. It is a lens that you use in order to understand something.

It could be knowing how to involve oneself in another culture.

One of the things I learned in my cross-cultural experiences is adapt to the way that people live out their daily routines and seek to adopt those ways as much as possible.

Example: If complete strangers greet you on the street… you greet complete strangers

You learn the customary greetings in the culture and use those (Pakistan: salem alle lechem, alle lechem salem)

When offered something to eat or drink it is a sign of kindness and graciousness (Illus. Dagmar & Coffee in Austria)

These paradigms also include deep cultural observations on life…

Innocence- Guilt (Western)

Honor- Shame (Middle East/Asian)

Power- Fear (Animistic- Africa/SE Asia)

(Biblical paradigms expand this list a little bit further)

Clean - Defiled

Belong - Lost

Shalom - Chaos

Hope - Despair

The Philippian church lives in the world of Honor/Shame. We need to keep this in mind as we read through the scriptures. Much of the scripture narrative has the paradigm of honor/shame (one of the facets about Jesus hanging on a cross/tree, is that the law considers them cursed of God (Deut. 21))… those in the Philippian church operate in this paradigm as well of honor/shame.

This is also why it is a big deal the things that Paul has said what he has said up to this point about being in chains for Christ… to be arrested and in prison is a great shame, but Paul reminds the church what a great honor it is to not only believe in Christ but to suffer for Him as well.

Let’s read our text this morning. If you have your Bibles or on your devices would you turn to Philippians 2:1-11… if you are able and/or willing, would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray.

Amen. Please be seated.

Bringing in the ingredients (vv. 1-4)

We left off in chapter 1 that the church was experiencing the things that Paul had experienced while there, Philippians 1:30 “since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”

Read Acts 16 to see Paul and Silas’ journey as they spent time in Philippi. Really difficult circumstances. Beaten, flogged, attacked by a mob, ridiculed, judged, arrested, imprisoned, etc.

When you encounter difficult circumstances… our natural tendency is to look out for ourselves. I need to take care of me and mine at all cost. It is natural for us to get selfish and inward focus.

In my work with impoverished communities, and especially seeing folks come into those communities who are not apart of the community, there is often times a tendency to judge others on a perception but we evaluate our actions on our best intentions.

Paul sees this inward focus happening for those in the church. Paul starts to build this Jesus paradigm for them.

This paradigm is trinitarian in nature:

vs 1a: Encouragement from being united with Christ … (Philippians 1:29) granted to believe in him but suffer too

vs 1b: Any comfort from his love (euphemism for the Father)… John 3:16 Jesus, a demonstration of His love… For God so loved the world, he did it in this way, that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life… for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.

vs 1c: Common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion/mercy: This is simply the work of God that the Spirit of God highlights in our own lives… was God compassionate towards you and me? Was/Is God gentle with you and me?

vs2: Paul speaks to them about Joy… he says, “make my joy complete by...” … Paul is in prison. Paul is in chains. Notice… his joy is not based on his circumstance but on the community he so dearly loves. It’s not make my joy complete by busting me out of here… but his joy is made complete by their adopting a paradigm, a lens, that same Jesus paradigm. It’s embodying Christ-like humility, deference, and harmony.

Philippians 2:2 “then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”

We have that Greek word φρονεω again. This word from chapter one. It’s setting our mind purposefully on something. That as we think about something, utilizing a paradigm to see it through, we start to see it materialize before us.

Having the same love… being one in spirit and one mind.

Paul here is calling for deep unity within the body. Unity in the body is hard.

This was really hard for the early church… the entire book of Romans is a testimony to that. Paul is telling the Gentile followers of Jesus and the Jewish followers of Jesus that God has brought us all who were afar off and reconciled us unto himself… no one has any right to boast or think they are more favored or better than the other.

Unity not uniformity… that means difference but still of one mind. It can be difficult to be in deep community with people that are different from you. This is a great struggle in my opinion for the modern church.

I think one of the biggest obstacles we have today is church consumerism. We want it our way, right away, and if we don’t get what we want, we’re out. Or if there are people that don’t agree with our ideals, our politics, our view of what should or shouldn’t be said from the pulpit, or songs sung from the stage, or the way one participates in communion, or who is welcome to the table/who is not, or whatever… They look for the door and find something where they get what they want.

(Facetiously) We know how things should be. This might be too soon… but I do “love” how the internet has made us all experts. You know them, you have them in your life… heck, you might be one. I do an internet search and now I know more than scientists, doctors, epidemiologists, political science experts, sociologists, who am I forgetting… lol

There’s a story of man who while at the doctor asked his physician about his wife who he thought was losing her hearing. The physician recommended a simple test that he could do at home. When he got home, stand behind her at a certain distance and say something. If she doesn’t hear you move closer and closer until she hears you. So he did that. He came home and his wife was cooking dinner in the kitchen. He stood about 20’ behind her and asked, “What’s for dinner?” He heard nothing… he moved up closer about 10’ and asked the same question… nothing… he got right behind her and asked again, “What’s for dinner?” His wife then responded, “For the third time, chicken.” A little humility goes a long way… looking at maybe our own short-comings before we look to lay blame on others.

I don’t get told all the time… but some folks are not shy about what they think the church should do and how I should be more like so and so.

Deep community cuts into our “rights” of individual choice and self-expression.

It also cuts into our American value of efficiency. It takes lots of work to be united at the deep level of gospel. This is the really hard work of putting someone else’s wishes and honor above your own. It means in Paul’s world that the owner will serve the slave. It means the patron will take a lesson from her client. In the American context, it means at the very least socioeconomic and racial/ethnic divides are openly addressed and talked about.

Why is this important… the internal vitality of the church secures the church’s public witness.

I’m personally not convinced the world is looking at the church. Not many are driving to work wondering if the church is effectively living out the implications of the gospel. You know who is looking at the church, are those that have interacted with the church (good or bad) and seeing is what they are saying or living, true?

The one who has experienced hurt/trauma/pain by the church (but has been touched and redeemed of God) is looking at the church trying to reconcile who God is, what the church did to them, and is there hope of being in a community that is compassionate, merciful, forgiving, and reflects the love of God (and all it entails).

The one who doesn’t know God but has been a recipient of the fruit of the Spirit (taste and see God is good… church goodness/kindness towards them) and is looking to see is this place what it’s cracked up to be. Do they practice what it is they preach? Am I welcomed like they said?

The inward vitality of the church secure’s our public witness. May we give ourselves to the discomfort that comes when creating deep community. Many a great thing has been accomplished through pressing into the awkward.

Our love “generates a proactive self-giving and a consistent, humbling self-denial.”

But Paul’s world was highly stratified according to class, wealth, and social rank.

Sameness was horrifying to them, though for different reasons. Could an owner and her slave be the same? Could a Roman citizen and a Jewish immigrant be the same? “Same” cut across the social and cultural boundaries. It was great news to those on the bottom of the social pile, but unsettling to those who rode the crest of the social wave. Then or now, “same” is scary and freeing, all at the same time. Paul’s injunction to have the same love was a call to have the same view of humanity as God the Father, who is no respecter of persons (Eph 6:9), and God the Son, who died to redeem the fallen world.

Cohick, L. H. (2013). Philippians (T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; p. 90). Zondervan.

Philippians 2:3–4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

The second noun, “vainglory” or “vain conceit” (kenodoxia), is found only here in Paul, but a cognate adjective is found in Galatians 5:26, where Paul warns the Galatians against competing with each other and notes that their conceit leads to envy and strife. The word is a combination of the Greek terms “empty” and “opinion, honor.” Interestingly, in the next few verses, Paul will speak of Christ “emptying” himself and receiving “glory.” Paul implies a sharp contrast between the vacuous assertions of self-promotion and the releasing or giving up of what is rightfully one’s own to lift up others. In the honor-seeking Roman world, Paul’s words cut deep. In Philippi, people stressed not your character, but what was thought about your character. Perception is reality—a truism in the first century, and perhaps today as well.

Cohick, L. H. (2013). Philippians (T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; p. 92). Zondervan.

Corrie ten Boom (and her family helped many Jewish people escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II by hiding them in her home. They were caught, and she was arrested and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Her most famous book, The Hiding Place, is a biography that recounts the story of her family's efforts and how she found and shared hope in God while she was imprisoned at the concentration camp. She would become a Christian writer and public speaker) was once asked if it was difficult for her to remain humble. Her reply was simple. “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments on the road, and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him?”

She continued, “If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in His glory, I give him all the praise and all the honor.”

Often in our consumeristic, individualistic, American-exceptionalism, we do think we are God’s gift to (fill in the blank)… family, friends, work, the internet, etc. Paul’s words cut straight to that heart calling for repentance.

Today Christians, and many others, praise humility as a virtue. This was not the case in the Roman world; there was virtually no difference between humility and humiliation—both ended with the reality of low status. Paul’s call for humility is unprecedented in the ethics of his day; no self-respecting Gentile would concede that humility is a virtue. Deeds were to be done where people could see them and thus praise the one doing those actions. Personal self-worth and value were determined in the public sphere, not in the private reflections of the individual. It would also be a social system that sought a reciprocal relationship… you do this for me (gain more honor, then I will owe you one)… This creates strife as this sort of interaction is subjective and destroys relationships, community, and snuffs out joy and peace for the individual.

Cohick, L. H. (2013). Philippians (T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; p. 93). Zondervan.

Humility is key. Humility is necessary because God is humble. He shows no respecter of persons (doesn’t play favorites) showing no partiality.

the goal is far greater—namely, the obedience of each believer to the will of God (2:12–14). A prideful attitude cannot bow to God’s good purposes and might confuse one’s selfish desires with God’s will. Only from a posture of humility can one see clearly both God’s good works laid out for them and their own need for God’s strength in doing those works

Cohick, L. H. (2013). Philippians (T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; p. 94). Zondervan.

I want to say that at this point, Paul is not here arguing for us to be doormats for one another. The verse aims to de-center the self, not to set up guidelines that establish when enough is enough and when you can focus on yourself. The point is that just as people work to feed themselves and their families, Paul asks that they think now of their family as much larger than those who reside in their home.

As we’ll see in a moment… Jesus was not a doormat. He intentionally, willingly did what he did; not under compulsion but love. Love is the key. Love for self, love for others, love for God. If it’s not loving, it’s not from God. For example…

Jesus noted that the second great command is to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matt 22:39; Mark 12:31). The assumption here is that people naturally look out for themselves. They know they must feed their bodies and keep themselves dry, warm, and hydrated. Such self-interest is not selfish; it is basic to life. The Christian is to take that basic trait and enlarge the focus to include other believers in that circle of need. We should not be surprised at this teaching because Paul taught his churches that they were the body of Christ, members of Christ’s body, the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16–17; 12:12–27; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). I might be an eye, needing my brother “ear” and my sister “hand” to complete the body, being Christ to the world.

Cohick, L. H. (2013). Philippians (T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; p. 95). Zondervan.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” -attributed to CS Lewis

Jesus is our example—bringing it together (vv. 5-11)

Philippians 2:6–11 “Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming 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 acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”

What does this look like (application)

On February 18, 1942, the US Navy destroyer Truxtun was escorting the USS Pollux, which carried supplies for the Allies in Europe. A terrible winter storm blew up, rendering the navigational equipment useless. Both the Truxtun and the Pollux ran aground off the coast of Newfoundland and were torn apart by the high waves and savage wind. Few reached land alive. One fortunate soldier was an African-American mess attendant, Lanier Philipps, from Georgia. He was covered in oil, soaking wet and freezing, as he began to walk toward a village. He fainted on his journey but was found, put on a sled, and brought to town, where a group of women were cleaning and bandaging the soldiers.

As Mr. Phillips tells the story, he awoke to find the women cleaning his now naked body—he a black man, naked in the presence of white women. Back in Georgia, simply talking to a white woman could lead to a beating or even hanging. Yet these women kept up their massaging of his limbs, trying to restore circulation and prevent permanent damage from the cold. They were rubbing his arms and legs not only to keep them warm, but also to remove the oil that had spilled from the sinking vessel and covered his wet body. Soon Mr. Phillips realized that they had never seen a black man, because they kept trying to get the dark color off his skin. Later, one of the women, Violet Pike, took Mr. Philips to her house to continue his convalescence until the Navy could collect him the following day. She fed him, clothed him, and treated him as if he was her own son. Such generosity overwhelmed Mr. Phillips, whose boyhood school had been burned by the KKK. Her kindness offered to him a new vision of racial relations and a new conviction to work for civil rights. Mr. Phillips became the first African American in the Navy’s history to hold the post of sonar technician (1957). He endured the difficult journey for equal rights and reconciliation in large part because of the vision cast by Violet Pike, a vision created not by eloquent words but by the simple acts of cleaning and feeding a dirty, half-frozen sailor.

Cohick, L. H. (2013). Philippians (T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; pp. 102–103). Zondervan.

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