Spiritual Mindset II

  

Text: Philippians 2:5-11

Focus: spirit life

Function: the reward of surrender

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶who, though he existed in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be grasped,
⁷but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
⁸    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

⁹Therefore God exalted him even more highly
    and gave him the name
    that is above every other name,
¹⁰so that at the name given to Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Good morning to the beloved children of the living God.

Today, we are celebrating Palm Sunday and taking a look at what it means for us that Jesus Christ gave his life for our redemption.

On Palm Sunday, the crowd of people welcomed Jesus because they thought that he was going to set them free from the power of Rome and restore Israel to the great nation it was when David was King.

They were looking for a military solution to the problem of the injustice that was taking place among them because of the Roman occupation.

And that phrase that they cried out on Palm Sunday: “Hosannah, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” literally means “Oh Lord, come and save.”

Or more simply put: “Save us.” It is the heartfelt cry to God for help in the midst of trials. Crying out to God for help in any situation is similar to what they were doing and the neat thing is that the book of Romans tells us that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

To be saved means to be healed by our restoration to God. It is the act of God to heal us by the power of the Spirit that is given to us when we decide to follow Jesus. The more we trust Jesus, it appears, the more the Spirit has power in our lives to help us live like Jesus calls us to live.

So, by God’s grace we are saved and healed.

We have 35 hours of training before the Kairos team goes into the prison. They last most of the day on Saturday. Yesterday at our team meeting we were thinking about Holy Week and someone commented on the fickleness of the crowd that one week could cry out blessed is Jesus and 5 days later call for his murder.

They were looking for a political solution and God was looking for a spiritual solution.

We are called first as spiritual beings and should develop the same spiritual mindset that Jesus had.

So, our text calls us to have the same mind inside of us that was in Christ Jesus.

He speaks of the fact that in heaven, Jesus sat at the throne of the power of God where he commanded the universe and all that is in it and he gave that up to become a mere human. It is funny that the devil tempted him with something that he had already possessed and gave up.

He gave up power and privilege in order to redeem humanity and the scripture calls us to do the same.

The world we live in tells us that it is okay to hoard and not care about the effects of our hoarding on other people. Wealth is considered a sign of blessing, even from God.

But Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who hoards their wealth to gain reward in heaven.

Let the spiritual mindset of sacrifice for the good of others as well as ourselves be in us.

Paul says that because of his willingness to give up his power and privilege God gave him more back in return.

And we assume the promise is the same for us. We too will be rewarded in heaven and with the presence of God here on earth.

This whole text is a poem, most likely it is a song that the early church sang.

And it gives them hope in the midst of suffering because God exalted Jesus when Jesus was willing to suffer loss for the sake of others.

And it is Easter season and lent and we are going to revel in the sacrifice of Christ.

I just got done promising you that God will be with you and bless you, even eternally, when we are willing to suffer for Christ.

But it is important to understand that only Jesus is the Christ.

The Spirit of Christ lives in all of us and we are one with Christ.

But this text speaks to the uniqueness of what Jesus did for us.

Jesus opened the door for salvation for all of humanity.

The text says that in the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is lord.

I have been reading NT scholars who say that the Greek language that it was written in implies that they will all willingly confess.

Revelation 20 speaks of a final gathering when the dead are judged for their works and the book of life is opened and salvation is given.

It is a symbolic book and I could have the symbolism wrong, but it speaks of a transition time between a new heaven and a new earth and all of humanity is standing before God on a giant crystal sea and God’s throne is there with the Emerald Rainbow and the flashes of lightning and the thousands of angels and it seems to be a scene of tremendous majesty.

And then Jesus is revealed. And I believe that the lies of the deceiver will be unveiled and people will clearly see the love of God for us through Jesus and rush to embrace Jesus. The Church, by the way, is those who have already done it.

The cool thing is it speaks of the fact that in the end, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, everyone will be brought back to God.

Praise God.

And God calls us to have that same loving and sacrificial mindset for others as well.