What's your attitude to Jesus?

Well, good morning. I don't know about you, but I'm still feeling kind of excited after last Sunday.

Vision Sunday started with a whole heap of momentum. I went home feeling very challenged, but also very encouraged.

And it was great to chat to a few people who hung around after church and just there was a visible and a tangible energy

that I think people had because I think we're all getting a sense, as Deb was encouraged in South Africa,

that God is on the move and that he wants to use us to make stuff happen in Chatswood and in Sydney and in the world.

And so I'm excited to be in the book of Philippians with you today.

And I believe God's got something significant to teach us.

I just wanted to warn you that I'm not going to be able to deal with everything in the passage that we just read

because it is an incredibly rich passage.

But the good news is you get to do that in your small groups during the week.

So the downside is if you're not in a small group, you should get into one

so that you can get into the stuff that we don't get to today.

So if you're not and you want to be, can I encourage you to come and find Deb or myself or Chris Jones

or maybe somebody in a seat next to you who's in one and find out how you can get into a group

so that you can enjoy that as well.

Or worst case scenario, if you can't, grab a booklet from the back

and have a look through the studies that are there

so that you can be wrestling with all that God wants to teach you from this passage in Philippians.

How about I pray and then we're going to get stuck into it

and have that passage open in front of you because we're going to be looking at it in detail.

Father God, we want to thank you so much that you love us.

We want to thank you so much that you sent Jesus for us.

And we want to thank you so much that you have given us your word that we might know you better,

that we might know what it means to live for you,

that we might know what it is you would have us do in this life.

And Lord, I pray this morning that you would soften our hearts,

that you would help us to see things that need to change

and to have the honesty to acknowledge those things.

And I ask that by your spirit you would make us more like Jesus

so that we are better equipped to do your will.

Amen.

Do you ever feel like you're being set up?

Like you're in a conversation and people are just kind of talking you into a corner

so there's no way out of it?

Kids are particularly good at this.

You know the scenario when the kids come home from school

and maybe they've gotten a really bad report

or maybe they've gotten in trouble

and the conversation starts something like,

Mum, you remember how you said you love me no matter what?

And there's kind of this implicit commitment

that you know is going to come back to bite you

when they tell you what it is that they actually have to tell you.

Well, this is kind of how I feel like Paul opens this second chapter.

He's just finished chapter 1, if you have a look at verse 27,

by saying whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Then he opens this next section with what I think is as close to sarcasm

as we'll find in the Bible.

Have a look at verse 1 with me in Paul's questions.

He says,

Do you kind of feel how pointed that is?

It's kind of like he's slapping you.

It's like you could replace if with because, couldn't you?

I mean, because you have encouragement from being united with Christ.

I mean, every encouragement we have comes from Christ.

It's in him we're forgiven.

It's in him we have hope for the future.

It's in him we have constant support and unconditional love.

And every encouragement comes from Christ.

Every comfort comes from his love.

We have fellowship because of what he did.

We have fellowship by his spirit that he has given us,

that draws us together even though we're completely different

and don't deserve it at all.

And what we get from him is absolutely tenderness, compassion and love.

It's kind of sarcastic.

I mean, the grace that we have from God has transformed us.

It's changed who we are.

It is the absolute foundation of what it means for us to still be people.

And Paul says, if you've got any benefit from being in Christ Jesus,

if there's anything good for you about being a Christian,

he means because of the blessings and benefits you have in Jesus,

then, verse 2, make my joy complete by being like-minded,

having the same love and being one in spirit and purpose.

Paul says, be unified.

Be like-minded.

Share the purpose that he's been talking about through chapter 1.

Share the purpose that God has given us,

and we looked at last week, the purpose of the gospel.

The purpose of partnering in seeing other people come to know Jesus,

in seeing God glorified.

The purpose, back in chapter 1 and verse 7,

of defending and confirming the gospel.

The purpose of proclaiming it with our mouth

and the purpose of living it with our lives.

It's confirming it through the people that we are.

He says, be unified because of what Jesus has already done for you.

I think sometimes we get the idea that what brings unity

is the fact that we sit in the same building on a Sunday morning.

We think that unity is about being in the same area as one another,

having the same logo, the St. Paul's logo on our bags.

We think that brings unity.

Now, that might help a little bit, and I like the new logo,

but unity doesn't come just from sitting in a pew kind of near someone.

Unity comes, according to Paul, from being like-minded,

having the same purpose, having the same goal,

having the same thing that drives us,

being able to say like Paul did in chapter 1,

for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

When we share that value, that's what brings us together.

When everything about us is moving in the same direction,

it all of a sudden doesn't matter so much

if I'm sitting in a pew next to you.

It doesn't matter so much if I like different music to you.

It doesn't matter so much if I like to wear different clothes to church

than you would like me to wear.

What matters is we share the same purpose,

the same goal, and we're working in the same direction.

But it's not always an easy thing,

being unified at church, is it?

I knew a guy in a church that I was previously involved in,

and he was one of those people that just irritated me.

I don't think it was his fault.

Maybe, I don't know.

But he's one of those guys who every week at church,

he would kind of come up,

and you'd be in conversation with someone,

and out of nowhere, you'd get this massive slap on the back

just to let you know that they were there and to say hello.

Or you'd be having a conversation with someone,

and he'd come running down and jump onto your back,

and I'd be like...

And then afterwards, he'd kind of just stand next to you

and not say anything,

and just kind of wait for you to have a conversation.

And I used to get very frustrated.

You know, I'd kind of be walking into church,

and somewhere in the back of my head,

I'd be praying that,

please don't notice me so that I can sit by myself over there.

And, you know, people can be frustrating.

People can annoy us.

People can have habits that get on our nerves.

People can have, you know,

desires that maybe clash a little bit with ours.

People can disagree with us.

And in a group this big,

I'm fairly confident that there's some people in this room

that probably irritate you a little bit.

You might have found ways of managing it.

Maybe you can just kind of avoid them.

The group's big enough,

so you can just talk to the people that you like.

But maybe sometimes you wish...

Or church would be easier or better

if that person wasn't here.

I don't want them to not be a Christian.

Just maybe if they could be a Christian somewhere else

where I didn't have to kind of interact with them.

Now, you might not be as sinful as me,

but I wonder...

If sometimes you just think,

wouldn't it be easier

if church was just full of the people that I liked?

Or people who liked my sort of music

or my style of service

or my style of building

or whatever else?

See, in my eyes,

this guy at my church

was kind of getting in the way

of the gospel purpose.

When he was around,

I was less loving.

I was less encouraging.

I was less compassionate.

And so I kind of thought,

you know what?

If we're going to be about this purpose of,

you know, the gospel,

maybe he shouldn't be here.

We'd be better at it if he wasn't here

because he's kind of annoying.

And maybe church would be better

if it was just full of people that I liked.

But that's not the gospel.

It's not what Christ is about.

I mean, I had a well-intentioned idea

of fulfilling the purpose God had given us,

but a misguided idea.

And maybe you are wrestling with people

here at St. Paul's.

Maybe you're wrestling with decisions

that are made

and you wish

it could just be done

a little bit more

the way that you want it done.

We'd never say that out loud,

but maybe there's things that annoy you

and deep down,

you know,

the reason they annoy you

is because it's not the way

you want it done.

It's not the way

you would have us do church.

It's not the way

you would have us preach.

It's not the logo

you would have chosen.

Well, like me,

I think you need to hear

Paul's words to you today.

It's not about you.

It's not about you

even a little bit.

Have a look at verse 3.

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.

See, this is a community

made up of forgiven sinners,

made up of not the people

you choose,

but the people God chooses.

You know,

it doesn't actually matter

how long you've been

a part of this community.

It actually doesn't matter

how long you've been a Christian.

You have no claim

on this church.

You have no right

to demand anything

from anyone else

in this church

because you are here

by the same grace

that I am here.

You are only here

because of what Jesus did first.

Even if you were born

into Christian parents

in this church,

you are still here

because of what Jesus did

and you have no claim

on what we should

or shouldn't do.

See, humility

is the foundation

of unity.

Humility

is the absolute

cornerstone

of partnership

in the gospel.

Humility

that recognises

what God

has done for us

is what releases us

to serve like Jesus

in this context.

A couple of years ago,

Sal and I

had just started college

and we thought

we'd love to go

to a new church

and kind of see

what ministry was like

in a different place

and a friend of mine

rang me up

and he'd just finished

his study at Bible College

and he was starting

a new church

and it was exciting

and it was energetic

and there was this buzz

of we're going to

change the world

and things are going

to be fantastic

and we were looking around

for where do we go

and do this?

Where's the right place?

And the hardest part

about starting a church

is what brings

a building

do you have it in?

You know,

churches have buildings

and new churches

don't have buildings

so how do we deal

with that?

And the result was

we found a church

in Cogger,

Cogger Presbyterian Church

that was once

a powerhouse

of gospel ministry.

There was a time

when their Sunday school

had 400, 500 kids

in it every Sunday.

It was the place

to be south of the harbour.

Everyone was there

and they were faithfully

proclaiming the gospel.

But when we arrived there

there was 10

faithful older people

no minister

and a dying church.

These older people

approached my friend

who was looking

to plant a church

and said

we love Jesus.

They said

we love

our traditional service.

We love our organ.

We love our church building.

We love the way

that we do things.

But we love Jesus more.

And so we want you

to come.

We want you to do

church your way

as long as it's

about the gospel.

We want you to bring

young people in

and we want to see

people get to know Jesus.

And over 12 months

we basically pulled

the rug out

from under them.

By the time we left

we only got to spend

one year with them.

By the time we left

they had knocked down

the old church building.

We were meeting

in a rented hall

kind of down the road.

This was about

as dressed up

as anyone got for church

other than those

ten older people

who were faithfully

there in suit and tie

every week.

We didn't do hymns

very often

if ever.

There'd been

an intentional shift

in the way we were

doing church

to try and make it

accessible to other people.

And I remember

that I thought

that that would be

a really awkward thing.

I thought these people

some of them

had been in the church

for 80 years

and I thought

they'll be heartbroken.

And I remember

sitting down

at morning tea

with one of the

head elders there

a guy called

John Burgess

and I said

how are you finding

church at the moment?

And I was just

humbled by his response.

He had this huge

smile on his face

and he said

I'm so excited

to see young people

in church again.

I'm so excited

that people

are becoming Christians

through this ministry

again.

I said

you know

do you miss

the old church building?

He said

oh it was great

but this is better.

I said

do you miss

the organ?

He said

yeah I do like

the organ

but I don't care

as long as we get

to sing about Jesus.

What mattered

for them

was the actual

purpose of the church.

What mattered

to them

was Jesus.

What mattered

to them

was the gospel.

What mattered

to them

was God's

kingdom

growing.

What matters

for the Philippians

is the gospel

of Jesus

and for us

it must

be

the gospel

of Jesus.

The mission

statement

for us

as a church

says that

we exist

to know

Jesus

treasure

Jesus

and represent

Jesus

for God's

glory

and the joy

of all people.

That is

the only thing

worth fighting

over.

that is

the grid

that we need

to put

decisions

through now.

If we're

having

disagreements

or we're

having

fights

the question

has got

to be

not

do I

like it

not

is this

my favourite

style

not

do I

like

that

person

not

do I

get on

with them

but does

this help

us

all of

us

know

Jesus

treasure

Jesus

and represent

Jesus

because that's

all that

matters

that is

the purpose

God has

given his

church

that is

the purpose

we are

called to

share

that is

the purpose

that will

bring us

together

and unify

us

that is

the gospel

we received

that is

the grace

we received

that is

the forgiveness

we received

that is

the forgiveness

we share

and that is

the forgiveness

we're called

to proclaim

the gospel

of a humble

selfless

servant

saviour

king

have a look

with me

at verse

five

your attitude

should be

the same

as that

of Christ

Jesus

who being

in 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 appearance

as a man

he humbled

himself

and became

obedient

to death

even death

on a cross

I think

that is

one of the

most powerful

passages

in all of

scripture

that Jesus

who is

rightfully

God

who is

in his

very essence

and being

God

in all his

glory

and splendor

and majesty

who is

there

before

the

creation

of the

world

chose

to

humble

himself

for

us

chose

to

become

what

he

had

created

chose

to

submit

to

disobedient

humans

the

creator

of life

allowed

himself

to be

beaten

by

death

that

is the

savior

that we

follow

it's

his name

that we

bear

the

sovereign

king

who made

himself

nothing

and for

our

sake

do you

ever

realize

or think

about

that

he

didn't

have

to

do

any

of

that

he

sat

in

heaven

in

the

glory

of

God

he

could

have

put

his

feet

up

and

kicked

back

and

God

still

would

have

been

glorious

and

majestic

in

every

way

he

could

have

come

down

and

at

any

point

said

you

know

what

this

is

too

painful

this

is

too

hard

I

mean

he

is

all

powerful

and

control

of

everything

it's

by

his

will

that

we're

still

alive

and

yet

he

stood

there

and

let

measly

pathetic

disobedient

humans

crucify

him

and

at

no

point

did

he

go

you

know

what

this

is

too

hard

it

would

be

easier

for

me

if

I

just

went

back

to

heaven

because

he

could

have

at

any

point

he

could

have

but

he

didn't

because

of

you

and

because

of

me

that

is

when

Jesus

takes

his

rights

as

king

and

as

ruler

and

denies

himself

those

rights

for the

sake

of

other

people

it's

his

name

we

bear

a

community

like

this

that

follows

Jesus

should

be the

most

humble

community

that

there

is

I

mean

we

should

have

trouble

making

decisions

because

we're

all

so

insistent

that

the

other

person's

needs

come

first

I

remember

when I

was

in

high

school

we

had

an

English

teacher

that

really

wanted

to see

better

manners

from

us

year

eight

boys

so

she

introduced

a

policy

of

doorway

decorum

it

was

catchy

basically

the way

it

worked

is

when

you

came

to

a

doorway

you

were

supposed

to

wait

so

that

the

person

coming

the

other

direction

could

come

through

the

result

for

year

eight

boys

was

we

never

went

through

any

doors

when

we

came

near

a

door

we

would

just

stand

there

for

20

minutes

insisting

that

the

other

person

go

through

first

and

explain

that

the

reason

we

were

late

to

class

was

because

we

were

trying

to

be

polite

that's

kind

of

where

I

feel

like

we

should

be

we

should

be

so

gripped

by

the

humility

of

Jesus

to

lower

himself

that

we

should

be

tripping

over

each

other

to

try

and

put

others

first

we

should

be

so

consumed

by

the

needs

of

other

people

that

people

come

in

here

and

are

just

blown

away

by

the

service

they

see

by

the

humility

that

they

see

by

the

love

and

care

that

they

see

I

remember

when I

became

a

Christian

I

was

about

14

years

old

and

I

was

on

a

camp

with

150

teenagers

teenagers

are the

least

humble

and

caring

people

in

the

world

I

can

say

that

with

absolute

confidence

and

yet

on

this

camp

I

don't

remember

exactly

what

the

sermon

was

about

the

night

I

became

a

Christian

I

remember

it

was

about

Jesus

but

beyond

that

I

couldn't

tell

you

the

passage

but

you

know

what

I

do

remember

I

remember

the

community

that

week

I

started

the

week

knowing

about

three

other

kids

and

I

was

a

pretty

annoying

teenager

in

fact

I

remember

on one

of the

visits

to the

beach

I

spent

the

entire

return

bus

trip

all

35

minutes

of it

sitting

on the

back

seat

singing

this is

the

song

that

doesn't

end

as

loud

as

I

possibly

can

now

there

were

kids

that

probably

wanted

me

to

shut

up

there

was

a

few

that

politely

asked

me

to be

a bit

quieter

but

even

in

spite

of

my

being

annoying

I

remember

that

by

the

end

of

the

week

I

felt

like

I

had

150

people

who

just

wanted

to

make

sure

that

I

was

having

a

good

day

who

were

willing

to

put

themselves

out

for

my

sake

I

was

a

annoying

little

14

year

old

and

there

was

kids

who

were

18

in

year

12

who

had

taken

the

time

to

chat

to

me

and

say

how

are

you

finding

the

week

new

to

me

and

I

hope

and

pray

that

we

as

a

community

can

share

that

kind

of

love

I

hope

and

pray

that

when

anyone

walks

in

here

who

doesn't

know

Jesus

the

first

thing

they

spot

is

humble

service

the

first

thing

they

notice

is

that

we're

not

here

for

ourselves

it's

not

about

us

but

it's

about

others

it's

about

humility

because

that's

what

Jesus

did

for

us

that's

the

model

he

gave

us

that's

the

way

we

came

to

know

him

and

it's

his

name

that

we

bear

I

mean

it's

a little

bit

embarrassing

when you

really

think

about

the

kind

of

stuff

that

we're

precious

with

when

you

think

about

the

kind

of

sins

that

we've

been

forgiven

from

when

you

think

about

who

Jesus

was

and

what

he

became

and

how

he

lowered

himself

even

to

death

and

then

you

sit

there

and

you

realise

that

you

know

I'm

kind

of

precious

about

how

loud

the

music

is

in

church

I

get

upset

if

somebody

else

has

taken

all

the

clean

cups

from

morning

tea

I've

been

forgiven

willful

and

disgusting

rejection

of

God

but

when

somebody

hurts

me

I

remember

that

sort

of

stuff

I

think

it's

because

we

feel

like

we

have

rights

like

we

have

the

right

to

be

treated

with

a

level

of

dignity

and

respect

and

there's

a

truth

in

that

God

has

made

you

in

his

image

and

you

are

valuable

and

so

is

every

other

person

here

but

the

one

that

we

follow

willingly

gave

up

his

rights

the

one

we

follow

stepped

down

from

heaven

for

our

sake

the

one

we

follow

calls

us

to

forgive

the failings

of the

people

around us

and love

them

anyway

the one

we follow

calls us

to imitate

his humility

to deny

our rights

and actively

pursue

what other

people need

first

what Jesus

did for us

was something

we could

never deserve

and we're

called

to be

like him

to be

him

to the

people

around

us

humility

is about

denying

your rights

for the

sake of

others

and for

the sake

of the

purpose

we share

of the

gospel

people

I want

to embarrass

someone

right now

that I

actually

don't

know

I'm

going

to do

this

but

as I

was

preparing

this

week

this

was

summed

up

by

something

that I

saw

here

at

St.

Paul's

earlier

this

year

I've

only

been

here

for

12

months

and so

there

is

probably

other

examples

and I

want

to

encourage

you

if

you

have

been

working

hard

at

putting

the

needs

of

others

first

but I

remember

one

Sunday

rocking

up to

church

sitting

down

probably

somewhere

roughly

where

me

and

Sal

are

sitting

today

and

noticing

Judy

Green

standing

up the

front

with a

two day

old

baby

leading

us

in

worship

no one

would have

begrudged

her if

she stayed

home that

day

just to

recover

she had

a baby

two days

earlier

it's

well

within

her

rights

to

relax

and

take

it

easy

but

she

wanted

to

serve

us

it's

perfectly

reasonable

for her

to take

that Sunday

off and

relax

there's

nothing

bad

about

it

is

there

it's

fair

enough

but

she

chose

to

forego

that

right

and

serve

us

that

is

what

humility

is

about

denying

what

you

deserve

what

you

feel

you

are

entitled

to

for

the

sake

of

the

gospel

and

for

the

sake

of

your

partners

in

the

gospel

see

Jesus

humbling

himself

is

the

path

that

he

took

to

glory

instead

of

sitting

in

heaven

feet

up

and

just

kind

of

waiting

till

the

earth

destroyed

itself

he

came

to

heaven

and

suffered

instead

of

arriving

with

angels

and an

army

and

destroying

all his

enemies

he

came

and allowed

himself

to be

arrested

and put

on the

cross

he

submitted

to

punishment

but

then

verse

9

therefore

because

of his

humility

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

for

Jesus

humility

was a

choice

and it

was a

choice

he

could

make

confidently

because

he

trusted

God

having

lowered

himself

God

raised

him

up

having

sought

the

good

of

others

God

provided

for

him

having

suffered

God

restored

him

to

the name

above

every

name

to

a

position

of

ultimate

authority

on the

throne

in

heaven

see

the