Philippians 2:7-8 "The Jesus Who Is Like Us - Human"

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.

Will, if I didn't love you so much and care about Southwood, I would offer James Parker and the band a million dollars to come to Rock Hill, South Carolina.

And I'm not exaggerating. That was wonderful. It was just wonderful to be back and worshiping here.

And let me just make a couple of remarks. I'll be brief, and then I really just want to preach and talk about the one we have gathered to worship.

Barney, where are you? I know I heard you earlier. Ah, right there. I got to say this to Barney.

Barney, you'll remember this, but when I first came to Southwood, every once in a while I have a question.

So I'd call Barney, and Barney would say, yeah, da-da-da-da-da.

And yeah, thanks, Barney. That's what I needed.

And then I would, every time near the end of the conversation, I'd say, Barney, thank you for giving me such a great church.

You remember that? And you'd say, finally, after I did that a number of times, I'd say, Mike, you don't have to tell me that anymore.

I get it. Thank you.

And really, I mean, it was just such a dear church, dear congregation to be a part of.

And then, you know, humanly speaking,

I'm not supposed to do this, don't want to do this.

Ralph, kill.

You know, humanly speaking, between Barney and me, there was, I think, almost a year and a half.

Is that right, Ralph? Close to that?

Well, humanly speaking, Ralph really kept this congregation together.

And when I got here, Ralph realized pretty quickly I didn't have an administrative bone in my body.

And so he just did what needed to be done.

And there's so much more I could say.

But, you know, when I first got here, I was, I really still saw myself as a real estate developer who had gone to seminary.

And that's the truth.

And I was learning to be a pastor.

And learned a lot.

I'm not going to cry.

From you, Ralph, thank you.

Gosh, I'm going to say a few more words.

And Will told me to take my time.

So I'm going to take my time.

Six hours later, we'll have dinner on the grounds.

Ken Leggett, where are you?

I know you're somewhere around.

Ken!

I've just never seen a more vital youth ministry.

It was tremendous.

You're one of the craziest youth ministers I've ever known.

But, perhaps the best I've ever seen.

You're great.

And I love you and still love getting together with you on the porch at the beach anytime we can.

Nancy McCrite.

What a dear.

You know, you probably recognized pretty quickly, too, after I got here,

that I didn't know anything about running a children's ministry.

And I didn't need to.

You knew everything about it.

And I could say so much about you.

You're joy.

You're just, you're full of joy.

You're fun to be with.

The kids obviously saw that.

And one of the things that I treasure about you is that you did something very few people can do.

And you got to a place in the ministry where you just said,

I think it's time for someone else to come and to lead the ministry.

And after you told me that 150 times, I decided I better believe you.

I didn't want to believe you.

But I said, maybe I should just say okay.

And then we called somebody to lead the ministry, but we asked you to stay.

And you did.

And boy, the ministry would not have been the same without you.

It's just dear to see you.

Now, y'all don't know this about Will Spink,

but when we were considering calling an assistant pastor

and we realized that Will might be available,

he was finishing at Covenant Seminary,

somebody asked me about him.

And just looking at him and learning about him,

I said, that's the kind of person you just want to get on the team

and he'll find his way.

And he has.

And he's, y'all are really blessed to have Will here as your senior pastor.

I could say so much, but I could say,

I'm not going to talk anymore because I will cry,

but I will say this.

Whew.

It's just so dear.

To be back with people that we still love

and still feel loved by.

So we're here.

That's enough crying.

We're going to preach.

Let's look at Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

You'll find that on page 981 in the Bibles that we have for you in the pews.

When Wesley graduated from college,

one of the gifts that we gave him was a book called Love Does by Bob Goff.

So it's older now.

But in that book, he asks the question

that I want to begin to help us think about where we're going.

And the question was this,

have you ever been stalked before?

And then he describes how creepy it is to be stalked,

which we certainly understand.

But then he confesses that at one point in his life,

he was a stalker.

Pretty significant confession.

And he said,

like other stalkers,

I learned a lot of facts about this person,

studied those facts intently,

and got a lot of pictures that I put up on the wall

and studied those pictures as well.

But I never really got to know that person,

just like stalkers typically do.

They never really get to know the person.

They just get to know a lot about the person.

And then Bob, in his wonderful way,

said the person I used to stalk was Jesus.

And he said,

I was in a Bible study,

but it seems to me that all we did in that Bible study

was learn a lot of facts about Jesus,

but never really got to know Him,

never really began to enjoy Him

and delight in Him and love Him.

And then in his humorous way,

he says,

you know,

so what is it about equating Bible study

with getting to know God anyway?

And he said,

you know,

if I have people I care about,

I don't want to just learn facts about them,

how bad would that be?

And if I'm going to get married,

I don't want to just study the person.

I want to take her out for a ride on a Ferris wheel

or go sailing or go fishing,

do something.

And then he says,

you know,

and after all,

there's a word for men

who just kind of study the person

that they're interested in

but never take the initiative

to get to know that person.

They're called bachelors.

Now,

just so you're not worried about Bob Goff or me,

he is in a Bible study,

but the Bible study now is very different

from what he was in before.

Yes,

he's learning more and more about Jesus.

It's his life's ambition.

But he's also getting to know Jesus,

to delight in Jesus,

to spend time with Jesus,

to love Jesus.

And I would say the older I get,

I think the more focused my life becomes.

I want it to be

about knowing Jesus better.

I mean,

that's why he came to earth.

John 1, 14,

and the word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us.

And then in Hebrews 2,

we're told that he actually

shared in our humanity.

He did so much

for us

so that we could really get to know him,

not just learn about him.

The passage I want to read from today

is Philippians 2,

and I'm going to be reading it

from the message.

And let me just say up front,

this is not going to be

a typical sermon.

I'm not going to just work my way

through this passage.

I'm going to share bits and pieces

from a number of passages

to make one big point.

But let me start with

Philippians 2,

Philippians 2:7

verse 7,

reading from the message.

I rarely do that,

but every once in a while,

Eugene Peterson

has just captured so well

the meaning of a passage.

When the time came,

he, Jesus,

set aside the privileges of deity

and took on the status

of a slave,

became human.

Having become human,

he stayed human.

It was an incredibly humbling process.

He didn't claim special privileges.

Instead, he lived a selfless,

obedient life

and then died a selfless,

obedient death.

And the worst kind of death

at that,

a crucifixion.

Would you join me in prayer?

Father, how dear it is to us

that you have sent your Son to earth

that we might truly get to know you

and to love you

and to enjoy you

and to walk with you.

Would you help us

take a step forward

in that process

even now,

we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I'm a church historian,

so I like to go back to the past

and think about some of the great

men and women

who have really

set the stage for us,

people that we stand

on the shoulders of.

And one of those is

the great British pastor

in the 19th century,

Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

And at one point,

he made this interesting distinction

about worship.

He said in worship,

you know,

we worship one God,

but that God is both transcendent,

He is above us,

He's beyond us,

He is in many ways

different from us,

and yet He's also imminent.

He is the one who draws near,

especially, of course,

in the person of Christ

who came to live among us.

And then later,

the Spirit of God

who actually dwells in us.

And this is what he said, though,

that I thought was

actually pretty helpful.

He said, you know,

when I'm in worship

and I'm singing about

the great transcendent God

that I worship,

I find my heart admiring Him,

but it's only when

that same transcendent God

draws near

that I find my heart

being warmed.

perhaps Spurgeon

makes too sharp

a distinction

there,

but I think

there is a truth

that

until God

came near

in the person

of Jesus Christ,

I think it was

very difficult

for us really

to know Him,

to love Him,

to enjoy Him,

and to walk

in relationship

with Him.

What I want to do

for our time together

is talk about

the God

who drew near,

who actually

became human.

Because even though

we can state

in our creeds

and even though

we can say,

yes,

we believe that God

is in the person

of Jesus,

both divine and human,

and I don't

really think

we've thought

much about

the Jesus

who is human.

I think we have

a hard time,

quite frankly,

believing that He

was as much

like us

in ways,

in some ways,

that are kind of

really interesting.

This is what

I think we,

I think we think

maybe He kind of

cheated.

You know,

this is God

after all,

and I love the way

one person put this.

He said,

when we read

what we would call

Jesus' more human moments,

we feel like Jesus

was sort of cheating.

You know,

with a nod and a wink,

we know that really

what's happened

is Einstein

has dropped in

on a first grade

math class

taking the test

as the genius,

but just pretending

not to be the genius,

or Mozart

playing a measure

in the kindergarten

flute choir.

I mean,

really,

this is the Son of God

that we're talking about,

the second member

of the Trinity.

This is Jesus.

Now,

let me take it

another step further

and just say,

here's where I think

we really get mixed up

and have a hard time

understanding

just how human

Jesus was.

Matthew 8,

very common part

of Scripture

that's known

to many of us.

It's a story

that has been preached

on many,

many times,

but I read it

anew recently,

saw things in it

that I hadn't been

able to figure out

before,

and it's the story

of a centurion,

a soldier,

a leader of soldiers

who comes to Jesus.

Jesus has begun

to heal people,

and the centurion

goes up to Jesus

and asks him

to heal his servant

back home,

and Jesus says,

yes,

I'll do it.

I'll go home with you,

and the centurion says,

no,

no,

you don't need to go

under my roof.

You don't need to come

home with me.

You just say the word,

and my servant

will be healed.

And then,

we read these words,

when Jesus heard this,

he was astonished.

You know what that word

can mean?

It can mean surprised.

It can mean caught off guard.

I think,

when we read that,

we think of,

well,

he was deeply impressed

by the man's faith,

but surely not caught off guard.

Let me give you another story

before I circle back around.

Another place in Scripture,

Luke 8.

Jesus, again,

has begun his healing ministry already.

A woman comes up from behind,

a woman who has been

very, very ill.

No doctor has been able

to help her,

and she touches the garment,

the fringe of Jesus' garment.

And do you remember

what Jesus then asks?

Who touched me?

Now,

did he really not know

who touched him?

I mean,

again,

he's the son of God.

God is omniscient.

He is all-knowing.

He knows things

even before they happen.

Well,

let me answer

both of these questions.

Was Jesus surprised

by the centurion's faith?

Was he caught off guard?

Yes,

he was.

He did not expect it.

And he did not know

who touched him.

It wasn't just a,

the setting up

of a teaching moment.

It was

a question

Jesus asked

so that someone

would help him know

who touched him.

Well,

how can that be?

The answer is found

in the Philippians passage

that we read a moment ago.

And there we're told

that Jesus set aside

the privileges of deity

or in the ESV,

he made himself nothing

when he became human.

But here's where

that's been taken wrong.

Some have said,

well,

that means he really did

lay aside his deity

altogether.

That is not the truth.

Instead,

it means that Christ

chose at times

in his life

not to use

some of the divine abilities

that were available to him.

And so,

yes,

did he have divine knowledge

within reach of him?

Of course he did.

But he chose not to use that

at times.

And so,

this is what's true.

This is what we have

to acknowledge.

There were times

in the life of Jesus

on this earth

when he shared

the ignorance

of the people around him.

He didn't know

who touched him.

He was surprised

by the centurion's faith.

And so,

here's the point.

Jesus really was human.

Jesus had to learn

to walk.

The Word of God

had to learn

to talk.

You know,

he who calls the stars

by name

had to learn

the name of everything.

Just like you and I did.

This is a cup.

That's a tree.

We've got grandchildren.

They're perfect.

They're amazingly perfect.

And they're having to learn.

Every, you know,

cow,

what does the cow say?

Moo.

What does the cat say?

Meow.

I mean,

that's the stage we're in.

Well,

Jesus had to learn

just like that.

Baby Jesus

did not come into the world

with the vocabulary

of dictionary.com.

And that's the God

that I want to know.

He's the God

who would become small

for my sake.

He's the God

who would squeeze himself

into the shape

of a seven-pound,

four-ounce baby boy.

I don't know how much

he weighed,

but that's what I weighed,

so I'm sure it was

seven pounds,

four ounces.

I want to know

the God

who would refuse

the privileges of deity,

the God who would become

like me

for me.

But again,

I think

until we grasp

just how human

he is,

it's very difficult

to enjoy

a very personal

relationship

with Christ.

And I think

one of the things

that theologians

have done

to kind of

hurt that

or harm that

is to throw out

this big word

called impassibility.

And impassibility,

it means something

like God

is not capable

of emotions

like joy

or like grief.

He's not even

capable then

of being affected

by us.

Now,

they're trying

to protect

the God

who does not change,

but they've gone

too far,

and that is not

what Scripture says.

Even before God

becomes human,

you see in the Old Testament

so many places

where you see

how God's heart

is affected by us.

Hosea 11

is one of those

famous outbursts

of God

where he cries out

to his people,

how can I give you up?

I mean,

his heart is broken

over his people

because they continue

to sin,

and yet he cannot

give up on them.

How can I hand you over?

My heart is changed

within me.

All my compassion

is aroused.

There is

something in God

even before

he becomes a man

that accords

with our human emotions.

He is deeply

affected by us,

and that becomes

patently clear

when God becomes man.

I mean,

just think of

one example.

You get a sense

of the humanity

of Christ

when his cousin,

John the Baptist,

is beheaded

by Herod,

and we read

these words

in Matthew 14.

He withdrew

after he learned,

he had to be told

that John the Baptist

had been beheaded,

he withdrew

by boat

privately

to a solitary place.

Now,

why is that?

Well,

I agree with

the person

who put it this way.

The man

who has

unceasingly

offered himself

to others

needs to get away.

He needs room

to grieve

just as you would.

And then he goes on

to say about Jesus.

I cannot say

this more emphatically.

Life affected Jesus.

And

Jesus is just

so much more like us

than we might have imagined.

And I love him

all the more for it.

So,

when I hurt,

one of the things

I have learned

is that Christ hurts

for me

and with me.

And when I

enjoy the good

pleasures

of his good creation,

he takes

great delight

in my delight

of the good gifts

he's given.

And when I'm

discouraged,

he's the one

who,

through his spirit,

comes

alongside

to cheer me up.

And more importantly

than all of that,

when in my sin

and have no way out,

I'm reminded

that he was

unwilling

for me

to be swallowed up

by my own folly.

And so he took on

the unimaginable

horror

of a cross.

And here's,

again,

where you have to see

just how human

it was for him

in the moment

when he went

to the cross

for us.

He did so

all by himself.

There was no one

there for him

in the midst

of his pain

as he is always

there for us

in the midst

of our pain.

And again,

let me go back

to history.

Robert Murray McShane,

wonderful old

Scottish pastor

in the 1800s,

early 19th century.

He does such

a good job

of sharing

how alone

our Savior

was

on the cross.

He said,

Jesus,

was without

any comfort

from God.

Now think

about that.

His father,

whom he had

known for all

eternity

in perfect

relationship,

now he could

find no feeling

that God

even loved him

or cared about him,

no feeling

that he had

any compassion

for him,

no feeling

that God

supported him.

I mean,

God was his

light before,

and now

there was

nothing

for Christ

on the cross

but darkness.

He was

without God.

He was

as if he

had no God

and all

that God

had been

to him

before

has now

been taken

from him.

He had

the feeling,

as McShane

goes on to say,

of the person

condemned

when the judge

says,

depart from me,

you who shall

be punished

with everlasting

destruction.

He felt

that God

had said

the same

to him.

And so

when we

hear those

words,

those dreadful,

terrible words

on the cross,

when Christ

cries out

to his Father,

my God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me?

He was forsaken

in that moment

and he felt

the weight of it.

But the answer

to the why

is that he

did that for us,

he did that for me,

he did that for you.

And see,

that's the Jesus

that I love

and delight in.

That's the Jesus

I speak to

as I read

through the Psalms

or the Jesus

I cry to

when I can find

comfort nowhere else.

This is the Jesus

I turn to

when I'm weak.

This is the Jesus

I look to

for wisdom

when I'm unsure.

And this is the Jesus

that I thank

when I'm filled

with joy.

See,

this is the Jesus

who wants to be

known by you

and enjoyed

by you.

He is real

and He wants

to become

real to you

and He will

if He will

stop stalking Him.

It is not enough

to know about Him.

You need to get

to know Him.

I'll finish with this

if you're thinking,

well,

how do I do that?

there are so many ways

and so many people

here could tell you

ways that have helped them

but I want to tell you

the one thing

that has been

my mainstay

for decades

and it's something

I learned in college

and it's what's kept me

in a real relationship

with Jesus.

It's the Psalms.

the Psalms

has become

my prayer book.

It became

my prayer book

in college

and I think

one of the things

if you've never

read through the Psalms

just start at the beginning

and work your way through.

What you're going to see

is that

the authors

of those Psalms

express

every emotion

you have ever been through

or will ever go through.

there is joy

there is pain

there is grief

there is anger

even at God

there is questioning

of God

which gives us

permission to be

real with our

real God

by the way.

But the thing

you're going to learn

as you see

as you read these Psalms

is that the authors

knew their God

it was a real person

speaking with a real God

who eventually

became one of us

so that we could

get to know Him

and love Him

and enjoy Him.

Yes, learn the facts

about Jesus

the whole Bible

is about Jesus

in one way or another

but turn those facts

into prayers

and joy

and fellowship

and relationship

with the living God.

If you want to get

to know God

go to the Psalms

meet with Him

He will meet with you

and you will learn

to love Him

and trust Him

and enjoy Him.

Would you pray with me?

Again, all I can say

is thank you

that you would

become one of us

so that we could

know you

like we know

someone else.

Of course,

you're different

and yet

in many ways

you're the same.

Jesus, thank you

that you're here with us

that you take

great delight in us

that you enjoy us

that you enjoy

spending time with us.

Lord, forgive our stalking

and would you turn

our stalking

into fellowship.

We pray

in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Mike, thank you

for pointing us

to Jesus

and knowing Him.

When we were thinking

about this service

my first thought

is there's so much

to do this Sunday

we shouldn't do

the Lord's Supper.

immediately after that

my thought was

how can we not

do the Lord's Supper

together

celebrate together

what Mike was just

describing to us

that what we celebrate

here

is God

coming to

meet with us

giving Himself

for us.

This is the

defining chapter

in Southwood's history

not anything

that's happened

in the last 30 years.

This moment

where the Son of God

became man

and went to a cross

for us

so that we could have

relationship with Him

and so that we would be

His bride

forever

because He loved us.

This is what we celebrate.

This is actually

the thing that unites

all of us.

Past members

of Southwood

current members

future members

of Southwood

and people

who've never

set foot in these doors

who know

and trust

their Savior

and so how could we

not celebrate

that together?

Remember what

Jesus said

to His disciples.

Paul tells us

this way

I received from the Lord

what I also delivered

to you

that the Lord Jesus

the night He was

betrayed

took bread

and He broke it

and gave it

to His disciples

as I am ministering

in His name

give this bread

to you.

Jesus said

take

eat

this is my body

broken for you

do this

in remembrance

of me

and in the same way

He took the cup

saying

this cup

is the new covenant

in my blood

shed for many

for the forgiveness

of sins

drink from it

all of you.

This is our

joy

and privilege

to celebrate.

If you know Jesus

not

not in the way

of know about Him

but in the way

Mike was talking about

where your heart's

beginning to

love Him

where you're

desperate for Him

where there's

no one else

that can fulfill you

whether you're a member

of this church or not

come

celebrate Him

with us.

If that's not

who you are

if you think

I know a lot of things

about Jesus

or maybe I'm learning

some things

but I don't really

know who He is

I don't know Him

don't come to this table

but do know

you can come

we'd love to pray

with you

there's nothing

that any of us

here at this church

would rather get to

share with you

than Jesus

we'd love to talk

with you about Him

you can come this morning

as we come to these tables

and we'll just pray with you

and we'd be delighted

to be able to do that

let's pray

and we'll come

celebrate together

Jesus thank you

for giving yourself

so that we could

know you

for showing us

the glory of God

in human flesh

thank you for

this bread

and juice

would you set them apart

from their common

use

for a sacred purpose

this morning

would be strengthened

in our faith

that we might know

and taste

and see

that you are good

and we might truly

know our Savior

we ask in His name

for more information

visit us online

at southwood.org

you

you

you

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.