Philippians 1:27-2:11 (NIV)
27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
2:1Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death —
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Reflection
When reading, some of us tend to skip over the preface and go straight to chapter 1. We might be so used to doing that, that we don’t even realize that a book has a preface. Something similar can happen when we try to live out the calling. We can get caught up in what we are doing that we ‘skip over Christ’, forgetting the reference point for living as a Christian. Not so with Paul. Encouragement for him is sharing in what Christ has done and is doing, and the only way to live is following his example. Christ has to remain the focus throughout, the ‘preface’ of a called people, or we are left only with good deeds and intentions. Here specifically it is the divine humility that Paul is focusing on. God’s people are to be united, sharing in Christ’s humility and service.
Responding to the Transmission
Just like Paul, let’s be led into worship today and caught up into who Christ is and what He has done. Read over the section describing Christ’s humility a few times. Allow the Spirit to give us this deep desire to imitate our Lord in every way and especially in His humility. May this increasingly become the mark of who we are as His people.
