Christ Emptied Himself (Sung)
Christ emptied himself
Becoming
a slave
To
save humankind
God
lifted his name
So
we shall sing
That
Jesus is Lord
I needed to start us with song, because an important song hums its tune behind every word that Paul speaks throughout his letter to the Philippians.
Paul is smart to allow this beloved, ancient song to sing within his letter because music has a way of speaking to your soul in a way that sermons and speeches just really fail.
Music can express the pain of heartbreak, or cry out the agony of unrequited love. I am certain that my parents were sick of hearing the song, “There’s Me” from the amazing, roller skating musical theatre spectacle, Starlight Express. The show was lots of people pretending to be train cars on roller skates on a high theatrical stage. What could possibly go wrong? But, the song, “There’s Me,” was about the pain experienced by my own unrequited love stricken teenaged heart.
Here are some of the lyrics:
“I may not be
The one you want to see
But if you need someone who's kind
Then look behind
And then you'll find
There's me”
The show is about a train car who is literally behind the one he loves, who does not even see him, because she is a train car in front. Oh the heartache! As ridiculous as that seems, the song spoke to my teenage soul and expressed feeling that I could not quite express through the primal grunts of teenage boy.
In only mention this because we have hymns that work in the exact same way. I had a pastor when I was very young who loved “Amazing Grace.” I know that loving Amazing Grace is not a rare thing, but having the power to force people to sing it every single Sunday was.
“Amazing Grace” just does not quite have the same power the 123rd time of singing it as it does the first or second time. But, it was that pastor’s “There’s Me” song. It spoke deeply to his broken soul and how Jesus put him back together, a personal story that we heard many, many times.
The pastor was crazy about the thing though because songs have that sort of deep power over us. And, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul captures and uses the deep power of song to make his point. He uses a well loved, ancient song that goes like this:
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6who, though he was in
the form of God,
did not regard equality
with God
as something to be
exploited,
7but emptied himself,
taking the form of a
slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human
form,
8he humbled himself
and became obedient to
the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every
name,
10so that at the name of
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.
Now, we do not know the tune, that is long lost to history, but we do know the words.
The words speak of a man who was powerful enough to do anything in the world that he wanted for himself, but instead of doing that, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, and in this humbled state died on a cross to save others. He is the king who jumps in front of the arrow to save the servant who was just washing his feet. He is the military general who jumps on the grenade to save the life of the private. He is the star football player who goes to the dance with the awkward nobody. He is God’s Son, deciding to use his almighty power to love the sinner in a self-sacrificing way rather than wielding it to condemn that same sinner.
And, this is all in the form of an ancient song that the community loved, which touched their souls. I have taken the ideas of this ancient song and set them to a simple tune so that they can touch your soul too.
Christ Emptied Himself (Sung)
Christ emptied himself
Becoming
a slave
To
save humankind
God
lifted his name
So
we shall sing
That
Jesus is Lord
This song of Jesus’ humility and self-giving love is still ringing through the listeners ears as Paul encourages his people in Philippi to not allow their Jewish-ness to get in the way of those who seem to be hearing the call to follow the Lord; even those who are not Jewish. The words of the beloved song echo in his people’s minds, reminding them that Jesus emptied himself rather than seeing himself as better than others.
In fact, Paul says that more than anyone, he could claim to be better than them all! He says to his people that he was “circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:4b-6).
He is like a candidate on television, standing in front of the flag with his wife and 2.5 children, barn shovel in hand, cuffs rolled up, and the red, white, and blue tie protruding from his not too formal dress shirt. Only, he is like the candidate who takes that picture from the screen and rips it all up, revealing a humiliated looking man with a shirt bearing the very real stains of Jesus’ blood.
Paul says, “whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7-8).
None of those things that we think are so important in life really matter. The success does not matter. The accomplishments, as wonderful as they are, do not matter. The carefully cultivated image of the in-control and well put together person does not matter. None of it matters!
“I regard them as utter trash,” Paul continues “in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith” (Philippians 3:8-9).
The point of life is not that I am great. The point of life is that Christ is great. Jesus, our Lord, is great. We have faith in him. We trust in him. It is in him that we find life. It is in him that the whole world finds life.
It is in him that the smelly, unkempt woman who wandered into the back of the church will find true life. We do not hold her back from finding Jesus. It is in him that the secretly addicted man will find true life. We invite him forward to reveal himself and find Jesus. It is in him that you, as frail and imperfect as you are, will find true life. And, we pray that no one who thinks too much of themselves stands in the way getting to know the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ our Lord.
So that we do not forget, we sing the ancient song. We allow the ancient song of Christ’s humility to penetrate our soul over and over again until we truly believe it. Until we truly believe that losing life means finding it. That crosses and dying for the unworthy is able to make everything new. Until we remember to keep our eyes always on the humble Jesus.
After-all, he is the one who was worthy to have every knee bend to him and every tongue confess that he is Lord. Sometimes, songs help with things like that.
Christ Emptied
Himself (Sung)
Christ emptied himself
Becoming
a slave
To
save humankind
God
lifted his name
So
we shall sing
That
Jesus is Lord
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