Christ-Centered?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Well, we now have the opportunity to turn to the good book, the Scripture. We have three different sections that we are going to read this morning. We want to start with Philippians, Chapter 2 and then we will move on to the other ones. I invite you to follow along as we read those. (Philippians 2:5-8)
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death –
even to death on a cross!”
And then 1 John 2:6:
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
And then, finally, from Matthew 11:29, part of a very famous verse:
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…”
God’s word for us this morning! Would you once again join me in prayer?
Lord we do thank you that you are here in every sense of the word and we thank you that you are Messiah. So Lord, in your presence we ask that you through your Spirit would quicken our hearts to hear what you are saying to us. That we are asking because you are Lord over all and with us completely, our Emanuel. Amen
Well I am going to start right off the bat with a confession, and that is that I usually don’t read the magazine, Christianity Today, very much. The reality is that most of the articles that, as I look at them, really don’t scratch where I itch. But recently I found an article that did get my attention because it had been something I had been thinking about lately. It was an article about the uniqueness of Jesus. The seminary professor that wrote this article was making the case that Jesus is unique, the only way to God; and he was using Jesus’ famous words from John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” In the midst of that he was trying to address some information that was kind of in a sidebar as a part of the article that said that there is a growing trend in our churches today that more and more people who call themselves Christians, believe that you can get to God in ways other than through Jesus Christ. It was a good article. And I think it makes a strong call for us to affirm the exclusivity of Jesus. Now that is all for me to say that Jesus is unique and that is what I want to talk about today, but I don’t want to look at it from that perspective of how do we come to God. Rather I want to say if Jesus is unique, if there is something special about him, what was it? What made him unique and what, as followers of his, can we say or do to begin to emulate his life, to live, if you will, a Christ-centered life? Christ-centeredness is part of our core values for this church, so we need to understand, what does it mean to be Christ-centered?
From our scriptures you can see that it is clear that Jesus is our example. He is our example in how we are to live our lives. So if Jesus was unique in his life on earth, what was it? What was it that made him different? What can we say about Jesus? Well let’s think about that. Maybe a place to start is by looking at his character. We could say that Jesus lived simply, right? Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, the birds … have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head.” He didn’t have much. Jesus we could also say refused what might be called the spectacular. He spoke a common language, the language of the people. He wore very ordinary clothes even though he was the King of kings and entitled to great clothes. He was just a normal guy. He hung out and lived in common ways. We could also say that Jesus was humble. He said, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.” And as part of our scripture I think Steve read that “he is gentile and lowly of heart.” We could also say that Jesus was frugal. He didn’t live for money, did he? Many times he passed on food and sleep. Scripture tells us that “for our sake, he became poor, so that through his poverty, we might become rich.” But he was also generous, wasn’t he? He was generous. He gave everything he had to God. He gave his days, he gave his dreams, he gave his will, and eventually he even gave his life. He gave everything to God. He also gave to those around him, didn’t he, whether it was healing those who came looking for a healing touch; whether it was teaching the truth; or whether it was his time or his companionship. Jesus said he saw us as “sheep without a shepherd.” Beyond that we could also say that Jesus was true. Even his enemies claim that. They said, “We know you teach the way of God.” Yet in the midst of that he never deceived, he never pulled any punches, he spoke the truth at all times, didn’t he? And he was pure. He was never motivated by his own self-interest. He lived out the Beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” And I am sure if we were to go around we could make a whole other list of characteristics that make Jesus unique. As we look at those, we say, “Yes!” This made Jesus’ life stand out, didn’t it?” His life was above reproach, so in a word we could say that Jesus was unique.
But because of that uniqueness, I think it also could present us with a problem, can’t it?, because, as we look at Jesus’ life, we go, “How? I could never live like Jesus. Jesus was really super spiritual and I could never be like that. His life was too far above mine. I could never do the things he did, live the way he lived. I am not good enough.” Or, perhaps we could say “Buck, Wait, wait, wait. You don’t understand. My life is real busy. My life is very different from Jesus’. The world we live in is very different from Jesus’. How could we live like Jesus? That doesn’t fit.” Or maybe we could even take a theological perspective and go, “Buck, you are missing the point. Jesus was God! Hello?” So the result is that we look at Jesus’ life and we go “Wow. That is really a nice goal to shoot for. It is a nice goal but the reality is that it is just that. It is just a goal. It is not something that we can really do, it’s not attainable.” So when we take that kind of perspective and we discount our ability to truly follow Jesus’ example, I think we forget an important part about who Jesus was and what you and I share with him.
Yeah, for sure, Jesus was fully God, we know that; but the truth is that he was also just as fully human. Jesus was not this kind of half God half human guy. That was a heresy that the Church fought in the fourth century. Jesus was as human as you and I, and he experienced everything that you and I as humans experience; we read through the gospels and look at how his humanness comes out. It says he grew in wisdom and stature. He had to learn things; he had to figure out how stuff worked. He had a job, he used his hands. And then in Hebrews, the fourth chapter, it says “He was tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin.” He knows what you and I go through. He has experienced it. He is just like you and me. So saying that he is God is not an excuse. Sorry folks, you got to check that one off. Beyond that, what does Jesus have that every one of his followers have? – The Holy Spirit living within. We share the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had the Holy Spirit directing him as he walked in his life. We, too, have that same Holy Spirit living within us, desiring to direct our lives, as well.
So we can’t use the excuse that Jesus was somehow different, had some kind of inside track that you and I don’t; because the truth is it is not biblical and, frankly, I think it let’s us off the hook. So if we are called to follow Jesus then where does that leave us? If we are called to live like Jesus, there’s got to be another way to begin to get at that. I think that is where our passage from Philippians can maybe begin to help us see a way, perhaps to see in a way we have not seen before. The phrase that we have here is “he made himself nothing.” Another version says, “He emptied himself.” That phrase has been what might be called through the theological meat grinder; in other words, there has been a lot of talk, a lot of discussion around what that phrase means. My goal is not for us to unpack that; but rather to say, when you empty yourself, when you make yourself nothing, you are giving up something, aren’t you? You have got to be giving up something; and whatever it is that Jesus gave up, and that is where most of the arguments are, one of the things that we can say about that is that as he gave it up, he became more dependent than he was before. He became more dependent. Jesus became human. He became more dependent on God. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that he was utterly dependent on God. Living in a dependent relationship means that we are focused on the person we are dependent on, and less on ourselves, doesn’t it? We all know kind of the idea of being in a dependent relationship in our world, that’s not always seen as a good thing, has it; because we have heard, maybe seen or maybe even experienced, the stories of abuse that has been given in a dependent relationship and abuse that has been received through dependent relationships. So we kind of hold that idea and go, eeeeh; but for Jesus it was a very good thing to live in that kind of a dependent relationship. I think as we begin to think about that that begins to unlock some of the keys to living like Jesus. Jesus sought wholly and completely to live for the Father, “not my will be done, but yours.” He said, “I only do what the Father tells me to do.” –Just two examples of that kind of dependence. To live as Jesus did. To follow his example means that we need to become utterly dependent on Jesus, just as Jesus was utterly dependent on the Father.
That obviously raises the question, well, where does that take us? What does dependence look like? And that is where I think our scriptures speak again. It says in Philippians that Jesus took the form of a servant, or a slave, really. When you think about being a slave, what is a slave? A slave was someone who was on call at all times, right? Someone who was ready to serve the master in any way the master desired, at a moments notice. They had to be dedicated to the master. They had to be pursuing the master’s desires whatever their desires happened to be. So, dedication is one of those keys to living like Jesus. It is about pursuing those things that the Master desires.
Well, it is the beginning of a New Year, isn’t it? And as part of the beginning of a new year it is time to start new things, right? One of the things that a lot of people want to do is, what? Lose some weight and get in shape, right? We all know it. So if you go to one of the local health clubs, you notice that in the beginning of the year there is a huge influx of people. They are all going to do that. And if you talk to the personal trainers or if you stay there long enough, you will notice that most of those people are gone by March. Why? Well, maybe they lose interest; maybe they want to move outside because it is moving toward spring, whatever the case may be. But when you boil it down, the real reason they are not there any more is that they are not dedicated. They are not dedicated to what they are trying to do. They are not dedicated to losing weight, to getting in shape. So being dedicated is as much about perseverance and persistence as it is the actual things that you do. Continuing to use that exercise example, those who kind of start in January after they have been exercising for a while, what typically happens? After they work out, they go, “Man, my leg hurts.” It is the build up of lactic acid in their muscles. Or it is like, “Man, I didn’t even know I had a muscle there. You know, it’s these aches and pains that come out of nowhere.” But over time as you are persistent and stay with it, it gets easier. It gets better. All of a sudden your muscles aren’t hurting any more and you are beginning to make progress. That is what dedication is about. It is staying with it even when you are not sure it is making a difference.
Think about Jesus. Do you think Jesus ever got a little frustrated because the people around him weren’t tracking with what he was talking about? They just didn’t get it. Even his disciples didn’t get it. You have to think that Jesus is going, “What do I have to do to get these guys to understand this?” And yet, Jesus stayed with it, didn’t he? He stayed with it all the way to the point of the cross. We know there are lots of stories of that kind of dedication in people in our lives, people in this church. In fact, I know one person that comes to mind right away for me. It is a woman who a couple years ago came to me and said that she believed that God was stirring something up inside of her and she was not quite sure what it was. She was a successful business woman. She has many gifts. In the process of our talking she believed that God was calling her to increase her prayer life, in particular to pray for Faith Church. So she began to dedicate herself to prayer, unsure where it was going to go, unsure what track it would take. Now, she prayed in her life. It wasn’t like she never prayed before and all of a sudden she started praying; but it was this next step where she began to devote herself and go deeper and spend more time in prayer and that is what she did. I don’t think it is too much to say that many times she did not always know where this increased prayer time was going to take her. Over time, because of that dedication, she grew deeper in her relationship with the Lord. She grew closer to the Lord. She was able to hear him better. So that today, Karol Allen has a powerful teaching ministry with many women beyond the walls of Faith Church that started simply because she dedicated herself to the Lord and the Lord responded to that kind of dedication, that kind of persistence and perseverance. And I don’t think it is too much to say that her life more clearly reflected Jesus more than it did before.
So dedication, I think, is one of those first steps in beginning to live like Jesus. Well if dedication is one of the avenues for living like Jesus, I think another road is obedience. Our text says that “Jesus became obedient.” When we think about obedience, what is it? When you are obedient you are completely buying into whatever it is that you are obedient to, aren’t you? You are going, “I’m after this. I am staying on track.” It is not veering to the right or veering to the left, when you are obedient you are on track with the target of whatever you are obedient towards.
Obedience, when we think about it, that it is one of those scary words, isn’t it? It is a scary word because we know that we may not be as obedient as we like to think we are. I think that is why the words of Jesus in Revelation 3 at least hit me between the eyes. I think it hits a lot of us between the eyes. What Jesus says, “I wish you were hot or you were cold, but you are lukewarm and I will spit you out of my mouth.” Those are scary words, aren’t they? They are scary words because Jesus is saying that there is no middle ground in obedience. Either you are obedient or you are not. There is no kinda, sorta. That is hard for us to handle. If you want to find out more about that, I think that there is a very challenging book to read called Crazy Love by Francis Chan that talks about this idea of being lukewarm and what does it mean to truly be obedient. It will challenge your socks off, folks. It will challenge your socks off. But I invite you to read it, because it really makes us think about how we live our lives. Jesus is tracking with this, he says, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” He is saying you have to be obedient.
Well how do we begin to be in total obedience? How do we begin to do that? That is really a tough road, isn’t it? Well I like what George MacDonald says. He simply says, “Get up and do something,” kind of the pre-Nike statement: Do something. Be obedient in something. Listen to this quote: He says,” Instead of asking yourself whether or not you believe, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing He has said to do, or you have abstained from one thing He has said not to do.” Then he says, “It is simply absurd to say you believe if you do not do anything He tells you.”
So what is it? What is God telling you to do today? What is God telling you to stop doing today? That is the kind of total obedience; that is where obedience starts, in something small. And when you become obedient in a small thing, the next day becoming obedient in another small thing will be a little bit easier, then the next day a little bit easier, then the next day a little bit easier, and the obedience will be bigger. Then you will look back and go, I could have never done that, but I am doing it now. Being obedient in one thing right now, over time will have a cumulative effect if you continue do it day after day after day. And that’s the end result. The end result when we become obedient, when we become dedicated, is that we will begin to live like Jesus because that is how Jesus lived. We will live a Christ-centered life. In the process of that you will notice that both of things will take you deeper in your relationship with Christ.
So as you dedicate yourself and you live in that complete total obedience, your character will also change over time as you begin to reflect the One in whom you have become dependent. So I invite you to do that. I invite you to live like Jesus, not only for his glory, but for your good and the world’s good. Amen.
Let me pray for us.
Lord, Thank you. Thank you that you are Lord over all and that the life that you are calling us to is not beyond our reach; that is not to say it is not easy, but it is not beyond our reach. So Lord whatever you are saying to us today, whether it is getting dedicated to you in a new way or whether it is simply taking the small first step of obedience, in whatever form that takes. Lord, speak to us. Speak to us because we want to live a Christ-centered life, we want to center ourselves on you Lord. So help us to do that Lord that is what we are crying out for this day. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.