YouTube video sermon

Philippians 2:1-4

Whether you’re into Mickey Mouse or not, there’s no denying that there’s nothing quite like Disney World. It’s the most visited vacation resort in the world. In a given week, a million people will visit Disney World. (I’ve stood in line behind 900,000 of them once.) Before COVID-19, they recorded their largest annual attendance of 58,778,000. The property covers 27,258 acres, which is the size of San Francisco and twice the size of Manhattan. Every day, guests will wake up to 30,000 hotel rooms, 409 wilderness cabins, 799 campsites, and they’re all served by nearly 70,000 cast members who are part of the Disney World staff.

Now, if you get hungry, you can eat at one of the more than 300 distinct restaurant outlets, and each year they serve:
• 10 million hamburgers
• 6 million hot dogs
• 9 million lbs. of French fries
• 300 thousand lbs. of pop corn
• 1.6 million turkey legs
• 13 million bottles of water, and
• 79 million Coca-colas.
It is a big deal. And, by the way, Disney better keep the ball rolling, because their annual budget is $59.4 billion. That’s over $1B a week, and roughly equal to the entire Gross Domestic Product of the nation of Croatia.

Look, you don’t have to know those facts to realize that Disney World is a special place. All you have to do is visit and you realize how special it is. My first visit was in 1981. I was 5 years old. My last visit was in 2016 when Jordan was 13 and Parker was 11, and there were a few other trips in the middle. And if you’ve ever walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom and strolled down Main Street, U.S.A. then you know what makes Disney so special.

What makes Disney so special is not how big it is (though it’s big), and not how beautiful it is (though it’s beautiful), rather the magic of Disney is how hard they work to accomplish the one purpose that inspired Walt Disney to build it in the first place. Someone captured it this way: “Every last brick that holds up Disney World was built to inspire joy for children.” And, boy, do they ever hit the nail on the head. Because Disney, when he built this magnificent monstrosity of entertainment said, I want every rider and every attraction and every experience to bring joy to kids and grandkids. And for those of you that have taken your children or grandchildren, you know that it will test every religious bone in your body, but you will also agree with me (no doubt) that the memories you have of watching your children and grandchildren and the joy on their faces was absolutely priceless.

To be honest with you, if you go to Disney World and you don’t have joy in your heart, then it’s your fault. You can’t blame them. They pull out ever stop to make that happen. There’s only one problem with Disney World joy. You can’t take it with you. When you leave Disney, you leave the Disney joy behind. But God never intended for life to be that way. With all of its troubles, headaches and heartaches, pain and suffering, God created this beautiful universe so that His children might have joy. That’s why Jesus came. Do you remember what He said in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Today, we’re turning to chapter 2 in our sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. So, if you have your copy of God’s Word, then let me invite you to turn to Philippians 2. What we’ve discovered, so far, is that this letter is Paul’s most joy-filled correspondence. God wants our life to be a life of joy. Now let me pause for just a second and make a distinction. I have not used the word “happy” or “happiness.” It’s not God’s plan that our lives always be “happy.” In fact, if you’re always happy there’s something wrong with you. (You need counseling. You need help.) Let me give you an example. You say, “Lee, you’re a pastor, are you not always happy?” Listen: read my lips, when the Braves lost in the NLDS (National League Divisional Series) on Thursday night I was not happy. When the LA Dodgers lost to the AZ Diamondbacks, I was deliriously happy, but when the Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, I was not happy. So, no, I’m not always happy, but I do have a joy that sustains me through the good and the bad.

Follow along with me as we read the first the four verses of Philippians 2: “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

“Our God and our Father, we pray that – with our Bibles open before us – You will be our teacher. We’re unable to understand the Bible unless You come to illumine the printed page. We’re certainly unable to take it to heart, because we are by nature disobedient, rebellious, and self-focused. So, we’re in desperate need of the enablement of the Holy Spirit, and we anticipate that You will come to honor Your Word, and in the spirit of expectation, we now seek You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

In these opening verses of the second chapter of Philippians, Paul gives us a three-step formula on how to maintain a joy-filled life. In fact, Paul even tells us why he’s giving us this advice. In verse 2 he says, “If you live a joy-filled life, then you actually complete my joy.” His joy is somehow connected to theirs and vice versa. If you’re a married man then you the truth of this, right? If momma ain’t happy, then nobody is happy. Your joy isn’t complete until her joy is complete. So, if you want to enjoy the ride of life and have a deep sense of joy, then follow these three steps. First…

Give Jesus Preeminence

The very first verse appears to set up a conditional statement: if this, then this. But that’s not how it reads in the Greek. In English, it appears that what Paul is saying amounts (only) to a possibility, but in the Greek it’s a probability. The word that most of our Bibles translates as “if” could be better translated as “since.” Paul assumes that the focal point of your life will be Jesus. That means that nothing or no one surpasses Jesus in importance. Think about it. The fact that Jesus came to us, died for us, lives in us, to be with us through all eternity that alone should bring you inexpressible, irrepressible joy. And more than that; it’s not just that we have Jesus in us, but beyond that we have the “comfort” from His love. It’s not just that Jesus lives in us; Jesus loves us. This Jesus that created us, this Jesus that holds the power of life and death in His hand, this Jesus who determines where we’ll spend all of eternity, this Jesus loves you and me. It’s because He loves us that we love Him (1 John 4:19).

Think about the added benefit. Here’s what Paul was saying, “If I love Jesus and you love Jesus, then we’re going to love each other.” Do you understand why that’s so important not just for you and me, but for us and our church? Why do we exist? To point people to Jesus and inspire them to live for Him. Right? Do you know the number one way that we (as a church) point people to Jesus? By loving one another. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). When people on the outside of our church come into the church and they sense that we truly love each other, then they will know we are real followers of Jesus. That’s when they’ll know there’s a difference that Jesus makes in our lives.

Then, to make sure that we give Jesus preeminence, that we keep Him first, Paul introduces us to the “participation in the Spirit” or some of your Bibles might call it the “fellowship of the Spirit.” The Greek word for “participation” or “fellowship” or “common sharing” is the word koinonia. Listen, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to keep us focused on Jesus, to keep us in love with Jesus, to keep us pointing people to Jesus, to keep our minds and hearts on Jesus. But that raises a question. If the Holy Spirit lives in every Christian, why is it that sometimes Christians fight and divide and don’t get along? Well, there’s a difference between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the influence of the Holy Spirit. See, every believer is equally indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but not every believer is equally influenced by the Holy Spirit.

The truth of the matter is (and what Paul was saying is) when we get out of fellowship with the Holy Spirit, guess what? We get out of fellowship with each other. Think about it this way. You cannot pit the Holy Spirit against the Holy Spirit. He will not fight Himself. You can’t divide the Holy Spirit. So, what Paul was saying was, “Lee, as long as you’re filled with the Holy Spirit and you’re in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and, John, as long as you’re full of the Holy Spirit and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, you’re going to get along.” Oh, sure, we may disagree, and we may debate, and we might discuss, but we cannot divide unless it’s over an essential matter of the faith.

That’s why Paul continues and says “Then make my joy complete by being like-minded…” (Philippians 2:2, NIV). To be like-minded doesn’t mean we always will think the same way, but it does mean we will think on the same things. Being “like-minded” means we all agree that we should give Jesus preeminence. We are to stay in love with Him and each other, and we are to be in full fellowship with the Holy Spirit. If I love Jesus supremely and you love Jesus supremely then we will love each other. And when we’re hitting on all eight cylinders with the Son of God, the love of God, and the Spirit of God, then we’ll be full of joy because we’ll be giving Jesus the place He deserves – preeminence.

Give Others Priority

When you give Jesus preeminence, you give others priority. How do you know that you’ve given Jesus preeminence? How do you know that Jesus is truly in first place? Well, you put others second and yourself third. That (my friends) does not come naturally. It comes supernaturally. We have to die to ourselves. That’s why Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit…” Selfish ambition is when you seek to put others down. Vain conceit is when you seek to build yourself up. Selfish ambition is when you want to win even if everybody else loses. Vain conceit is when you believe you deserve to win and everybody else deserves to lose. It’s so difficult to deal with that because we’re all born this way. We’re all born with selfish ambition and vain conceit.

Think about it. The first thing you have to teach a child is not to be selfish. Oh, you might think they’re an angel and they have wings, but they also have horns. Let me tell you something. Little Johnny has to be taught that he’s not the only person on the planet. Do you know what the favorite words of a child are when he first learns to talk? Me, my, and mine. Give it to me. That toy is mine. That is my doll. And one of the first lessons you have to teach a child is how to think of others first before they think of themselves. The problem is we’re born with this desire that others put us first.

I love this story about a mom and her two young boys: Kevin (5) and Ryan (3). She was making pancakes for breakfast and the boys started arguing over who should get the first pancake, and she saw the perfect opportunity for a teachable moment. So, she looked at the boys and said, “Now boys, if Jesus was sitting here, he would say, ‘let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus.”

Isn’t that the way we are. Listen, I’m not preaching to you. I’m preaching to me. Don’t we all have that kind of attitude? “Hey, you be Jesus.” Husbands, don’t we want to say to our wives, “You be Jesus.” Don’t the kids say to the parents, “You be Jesus.” Don’t the parents say to the in-laws, “You be Jesus.” We all want to do that. Let’s face it; we all want everybody else to be Jesus and there’s only one antidote to selfishness. There’s one way you will put others second and yourself third and here it is (this is so hard), “but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Now remember, the assumption is that Jesus is already in first place. So, instead of running all over each other trying to be in second place, we ought to be falling over each other trying to be in third place. I know that’s counterintuitive and countercultural. Everything we read and watch and hear in the world says that we should look out for number one, but the way to joy is to look out for number two. The world tells us to do everything we can to get ahead. The Bible says, “No, do everything you can to get behind.” We’re told that if you have to step on other people to get to the top, then you just step on them. God comes along and says, “No, put other people on your shoulders and help them get to the top.” And there’s only one way you will ever get that way of thinking, and that’s by “count[ing] others [as] more significant than yourselves.”

Some of your Bibles use the phrase, “value others,” and some have the phrase “thinking of others,” and some say “consider others,” and some even say “esteem others,” the word refers to a conclusion that’s carefully thought out based on what is true. So, you don’t just pretend that others are more important than you are. Rather, understanding who you are in Christ, you actually view others as more important than you. Paul would put it this way in Romans, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…” (12:3, NIV). At some point, all of us have thought more highly of ourselves than we should have.

There’s a story that happened many years ago when Don Shula was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. As many of you know, he is the only coach that’s ever won a Super Bowl with an undefeated team and he was at the height of his popularity. He was having difficulty with privacy and just going somewhere and enjoying himself and not being asked for an autograph or hounded by people. He and his wife went away to a very small town in Maine thinking they would be anonymous and get some rest.

When they got there and unpacked, they decided to go to a movie. As they entered the theater, everyone in attendance stood up and applauded. Shula was just disgusted and irritated. He sat down and leaned over to the man next to him and said, “I sure didn’t think you would recognize me!” The fellow looked at him and said, “Am I supposed to know you?” Shula shot back, “I’m Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins. We just went undefeated and won the Super Bowl and all of you applauded when I walked in.” The man said, “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shula, but the reason why we applauded was because the manager had just walked in and said if two more people didn’t show up, then he wouldn’t run the movie.” Don’t think too highly of yourself and think more highly of others.

But that raises another question: If I’m going to think everybody else is more important than I am, then who’s going to think I’m more important? Well, when you think it out, you’ll reach the conclusion that another man did who said this, “If I think you’re more important than I am…and you think I’m more important than you are…and he thinks she’s more important than he is…and she thinks he’s more important than she is…then, in the end, everyone feels important but no one acts important.” See how that works. And there’s no better place to practice that than here – in the church, as part of the body of Christ. Joy is giving Jesus preeminence and giving others priority. Lastly…

Give Yourself Purpose

Do you realize that when you give Jesus first place, others second place, and yourself third place you’re going to be full of joy and that’s what’s going to give you the most purpose. Look at verse 4. Paul ends by saying, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” No one who has ever lived was more full of joy than Jesus. No one who has ever lived gave more joy than Jesus. The reason that His life was pure, unadulterated, undiluted, undeniable joy was because from the moment that He came to this planet to the moment He left, He was looking out for our interest, not His own. He was looking out for us.

The late Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker and University of South Carolina alum put it this way, “if you want to get to where you want to go, help others get to where they want to go.” So, let me stop and answer a question that you are asking, “if I look out for others, who’s going to look out for me?” I’ve discovered this principle to be true. When I’ve studied my own life, I’ve found it to be true 100% of the time. When you look out for others, God will look out for you. There’s a strange law in the Kingdom of God that works like this. The lower you get the higher you go. I don’t understand it. It runs counter to everything you read or study or hear, but it’s true. The lower you get the higher you go. The secret to joy is not being able to climb to the top of the ladder; it is being willing to go to the lowest rung and give a helping hand up. It was a wise person who said, “there is no life so empty as a self-centered life, and there is no life so centered as self-emptied life.”

When Ronald Reagan died, his vice president, who became president, George H. W. Bush gave the eulogy. He told the story of how in 1981, Reagan was recovering from the gunshot wound he received when there was an assassination attempt on his life. Just a few days after the surgery that saved his life, some of his aids walked into his hospital room and there he was on his hands and knees wiping water off the floor. They asked him what he was doing and he said, “I was afraid that my nurse would get into trouble, so I wanted to clean this mess up myself.” Let me pull all of this together and watch what happens:

Give Jesus Preeminence
Give Others Priority
Give Yourself Purpose