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by GLENN PEASE
04/10/18
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Based on Phil. 2:1-11

     On Dec. 7, 1682 the Great Law of Pennsylvania was passed which became the basis for governing the state for 94 years. It represented William Penn's ideal of a Christian state. It provided for religious freedom and the protection of individual rights. It provided for the care of poor and orphans. It gave work to prisoners in contrast to England where they were merely locked up. William Penn was a man concerned about the interests of others. He made just treaties with the Indians, and the Delaware chief-Tammany and he were great personal friends. As long as they lived there was peace and harmony between their peoples.

     Penn arranged the famous "Walking Purchase" by which he bought from the Indians all the land North along the Delaware River that a man could cover in a three day walk. He walked off the first day himself in leisurely fashion. After his death his son Governor Thomas Penn hired three back woodsmen to complete the purchase. The fastest of them ran, and did not walk, more than 60 miles in 36 hours. He defrauded the Indians of valuable hunting grounds. This selfish act lead to wars on the Pennsylvania frontier in which hundreds of lives were lost. The beautiful harmony became ugly discord.

     Selfishness has thrown a money wrench into every smooth operation in history. We see it in the New Testament.   The church at Philippi was the best church in the New Testament. Paul's letter to them is almost totally positive, and it is filled with praise and joy. They were not trouble makers like the Corinthians, nor emotional infants like the Thessalonians. They were well-balanced mature Christians, but they still had the flaw, that universal flaw of every church because it is the flaw of all men-selfishness.

     Selfishness is that sin we can hardly stand in others, or hardly see in ourselves. It is so hard to forgive in others, and so hard to forsake in ourselves. It was the one weakness of the Philippian church, and it led to strife and disunity. No group of people, not even God's people can agree on everything, and this is not all bad, for God loves variety. We do also, but it so often leads to conflict in human relations. Paul tells the Philippians there is only one cure for the flaw of selfishness, and it is not the blood of Christ. His blood atoned for this sin, but His death did not eliminate it in believers. He is writing to men who are already saved, but they are still selfish, and they still face all the potential evils of selfishness. Paul says the answer is not the blood of Christ, but the mind of Christ. He says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

     You can be saved by the blood of Christ, but still be selfish because you are not controlled by the mind of Christ. Only the mind of Christ in us can enable us to be selfless rather than selfish. It was the mind of Christ that thought of Christmas, and made all that Christmas means a reality. It didn't just happen, it was planned and carried out by that unique mind of the Master as the most selfless act of love in all of history. The only way we can properly prepare for Christmas, and enter into the Christmas spirit is to let the mind of Christ dwell in us. Only as we have His mind can we be selfless rather than selfish.

     This passage of Paul's is one of the most profound in all the New Testament, and yet it is so simple. It deals with the basic realities of life and God's plan. It consists of a simple exhortation, and a sublime example, and we want to examine each of them.

I. THE SIMPLE EXHORTATION.

     Paul says in verse 4, "Don't look only at your own interests, but consider the interests of others also." There is nothing profound about that, but giving heed to it can profoundly change your life.
The fact is, we must be perpetually freeing ourselves from the jail of self-imprisonment. Millions whom seem free are in the solitary confinement of their own self-interest. Someone said, "You can pick out entertainers by the glazed look that comes into their eyes when the conversation wonders away from themselves." We don't have to look to famous people to find selfishness, however, for we need only look at our own lives to discover that even the good things we do are selfish in part.

     I have given money to Bethel College and Seminary, not just because I think it is a great school deserving of support, but also because I wanted to be on the list of loyal alumni. I have given to mission organizations, not only because I believe in the work they are doing, but also because I got a tax deduction, and the good feeling of supporting the work of God. I have given to feed the needy, not only because I have compassion for the hungry, but also because I have felt guilty for having so much, and it gave relief by making me feel good to be of help.

     I know I am not confessing to any shocking sin because I know most Christians have the same experience. The point is, we tend to be somewhat selfish even at our best. Fortunately, we do not need to feel crushed by a heavy weight of guilt because of it, for Paul does not say here that we are never to look to our own interests, but that we are not to look to them only. Paul Rees comments, "What is forbidden is the fixing of one's eye on one's own interests to the exclusion of the interests of others." The Bible does not set a standard so high that it is beyond the reach of the redeemed. God does not expect us to be so super selfless that we are to say, "I don't care what my Christmas is like as long as I can make someone else happy." God expects us each to desire to be happy, but to recognize that everyone else has that same desire, and to be concerned about their needs as well as your own.

     When self-interest is balanced with interest in others it is not only not a sin, but it is of the essence of obedience to God, for it is a fulfillment of the whole law of God to love your neighbor as yourself. You do not cease to love yourself when you add your neighbor to your love list. The movement of the good life God wants for us is always in a positive direction. You don't cut self off, or others off. You add both and love both. The positive addition of others into your concern redeems your natural selfishness and transforms it into selflessness. The Word of God does not say to not love yourself, to not be yourself, to not please yourself, but rather, do not limit yourself to yourself, but reach out and take others in. When you do this you are not selfish.

     We grow in Christlikeness according to the extension of our vision. If we look only at our own interest we get I strain, and we are blind to the needs of others, and so do not have the mind of Christ. Many have heard the prayer of the man who said,
Lord, bless me and my wife, My son, John, and his wife; Us four and no more.

A childless couple had an even narrower vision, and prayed,
Lord, bless us two, And that will do.
A bachelor went the final step and prayed,
Bless only me, That's as far as I can see.

     In contrast, we see the mind of Christ in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believes in Him should not parish but have everlasting life." The further we see from the one to the all, the closer we come to seeing with the mind of Christ. The Christian ideal is not to live and let live, but to live and help live.

     We live in a world where specialization leads to tunnel vision. We see only a very limited segment of life that revolves around the self. There is a story of a man who was promoted to vice president of his company. He was so proud and boasted so much that his wife finally got sick of it and told him that vice presidents were a dime a dozen. She said the supermarket even has a vice president in charge of prunes. He was furious, and he phoned the supermarket to refute his wife. He asked to speak to the vice president in charge of prunes, and the one who answered the phone if he wanted the one in charge of packaged or bulk prunes. The story is far fetched, of course, but the fact is that we live in a world where specialization leads people to focus on less and less. This produces people whose world gets smaller and smaller. The mind of Christ, however, is an expanding mind, and is ever reaching out to take in more so that there might be more of self to give.

     It is not to be assumed that one is selfless, however, just because he seeks to give others what they want. We often give people what they want in order to win their approval. Our own interests dominate the giving, and so it really is being selfish. Selfless giving must often deny another what they want in order to give them what they need. God gave His Son at Christmas, but nobody really wanted a Son or a Savior. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. They wanted a warrior to kill their enemies, and not a Savior to die for their sin. God is like a wise Father who does not always give His children what they want, but what they most need.

     It is selfish to give only what people want, for it is seldom enough, nor is it right for their best interest. If a child had its way, it would eat candy, cake, and desserts of all kinds almost exclusively, but no parent would be loving who allowed it. Men want so much that is harmful to themselves. They want the shallow and the shocking, and so Hollywood gives it to them. This is not loving giving, but selfish, for it gets Hollywood plenty of bucks. As Christians we are to rise above this kind of giving, and not just in the Christmas season, but always. Christlike giving says that I have an interest in well being for time and eternity, and that is why I give you this book and urge you to study, for this is what you need. We need to give heed to Paul's simple exhortation and focus on the interests of others, and what they most need. The second thing we see is-

II. THE SUBLIME EXAMPLE.

     In verse 5 Paul exhorts us to have the mind of Christ, and then he describes for us just how that mind function to bring about Christmas and the whole plan of salvation. This most sublime of Christological passages is used by Paul to illustrate his simple exhortation to be selfless rather than selfish. This fact alone ought to make us realize that we are dealing with one of the most important and practical subjects of life. The effort to be guided by the selfless mind of Christ is no minor message. It is no side road on the theological map. It is a super highway leading to everywhere that it is important to get to in the Christian experience.

     An example is meant to be imitated, and, thereby, multiplied and extended. It is not optional, but a necessity for us to have the mind of Christ to be in the spirit of Christmas, which is the spirit of selfless giving. Having Him mind is a must. The poet writes,

Ever patient, gentle, meek,
Holy Savior, was Thy mind;
Vainly in myself I seek
Likeness to my Lord to find;
Yet that mind which was in Thee
May be, must be formed in me.

Days of toil, mid throngs of men,
Vexed not, ruffled not Thy soul;
Still, collected, calm, serene,
Thou each feeling couldst control:
Lord, that mind which was in Thee
May be must be formed in me.

Though such grief's were Thine to bear,
For each sufferer Thou couldst feel;
Every mourner's burden share,
Every wounded spirit heal:
Savior! Let Thy grace in me
Form that mind which was in Thee.
Author unknown

     Paul does not mean that we must have the intelligence of Christ, but the attitudes of his mind that made him other-centered rather than self-centered. In Rom. 12 Paul says we are not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This process of letting the mind of Christ take control of us is called sanctification. All Christians are equally saved, but they are not all equally sanctified. We are all on different levels in this process. That explains why so much of what we do as Christians is not always Christlike. To have the mind of Christ is not a mere matter of imitating some aspect of the life of Christ. Almost everyone does that at times, and even non-Christians do it. To have the mind of Christ is to have a lifestyle that is consistently other-centered rather than self-centered.

     Had Jesus put His own self interest first there never would have been a Christmas. He would have clung to the glory of His equality with God the Father, and He never would have left the throne of heaven. He never would have dirtied His feet with the scum of this earth, and He never would have stooped to wash His disciples dirty feet. But thank God Jesus did not have a selfish mind, but He had a mind that said, "I must reach out and stoop down to meet the needs of others." That is the spirit of Christmas, and that is true Christlike giving.

     There is nothing wrong with exchanging gifts. There is nothing wrong with the way we buy each other nice things, but in itself it is not the true spirit of Christlike giving. Selfless giving is a matter of self-denial where something you might have kept for yourself is sacrificed for the sake of others. During the battle of Yorktown, the last and decisive battle in the American Revolution, it became necessary to dislodge the enemy from a prominent home where they had set up headquarters. It happened to be the home of General Nelson who was governor of Virginia, and the leader of the Colonial troops. With full knowledge that he was ordering the destruction of all his cherished possessions, he turned to his artillery squadron and gave the order, "Sargent, train your cannon on my house!" The battery roared and the cannon balls met their mark, and the enemy was driven out.

     General Nelson paid a heavy personal price for the freedom of Americans. Here was selfless sacrificial giving for the good of others. He did not cling to what was his, but he gave it up for the sake of others. That is the kind of giving that is truly Christlike. Paul says that Jesus had it made in the glory of heaven, but He did not grasp it and cling to it. He gave it up to enter the flesh in order to meet our needs, and not His own. That is the kind of selfless giving that represents the mind of God. God loves this kind of giving so much that it receives His highest reward.

     Jesus gave up equality with the Father to become a servant, and to die for our sin. The result is that God exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name, and that includes the name of God Himself. Before Jesus came into the world He was equal with the Father, but after His incarnation, death, and resurrection, He was given a name superior to that of the Father. Now every knee in all the universe will bow to Him. The precious name of Jesus means more to believers than any other name, and His name carries more authority that any other name in the universe.

     If you want to make a name for yourself, and a name that is to last, and is to be loved, you must imitate the glorious example of Christ, and be selfless rather than selfish. But no matter how much we fail in this area it is such good news to know that the mind of Christ is the mind that controls the destiny of the universe. All the mindless madness of selfish men, including ourselves, is so often discouraging. We need this encouraging truth to build on; that the mind that reigns on the throne of the universe is not the selfish and self-centered mind of man, but the selfless mind of Christ. It is the mind that gave us Christmas, life, hope, forgiveness, and all that salvation means for time and eternity.

     Jesus is the greatest name in the universe, and not because of what He got, but because of what He gave. Jesus said that it is better to give than to receive, and He practiced what He preached. He gave up all the riches of glory to become poor. He took on the form of a servant, and a suffering servant, and He laid down His life to atone for our sin. Giving is better than receiving because in God's plan giving leads to greater receiving. Jesus could have grasped at equality with God and never let go. He could have had an eternity of praise from all the angels of heaven, but by letting go and giving His all for our redemption, He received a name above every name, and will have the added praise of all the redeemed forever.

     Selfless giving leads to greater benefits for the self than what selfish grasping can ever achieve. It is one of the great paradoxes that God has built into the fabric of reality. If you loose your life you will find it. Give and it shall be given unto you. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you. It would seem that God's way up is down. Jesus is the greatest example of this truth. He emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant. He looked on the interests of others; in fact, all others, and their greatest interests. Here is the essence of the Christmas spirit. It is the denying of self, and the giving of self for others. The wonder of what Jesus did is put in poetry by Milton.

That glorious form, that light insufferable
And that far-beaming blaze of majesty,
Wherewith He wont at Heaven's high council table
To sit the midst of Trinal unity,
He laid aside; and here with us to be,
Forsook the courts of everlasting day
And chose with us a darksome house of clay.

      We cannot comprehend it, but we are to do likewise to some degree, and let the mind of Christ be in us. We cannot give what Jesus gave, but we can, like Him, be selfless in our giving, and there is no better time than Christmas time, for this is a season to be selfless.

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