PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13

2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Don’t tell me what to do.   You hear that a lot these days. You hear it from children.  Tell them what to do and they’ll say, “I don’t want to go to bed.”  You hear it from teenagers.   Tell them what to do and they’ll say, “Why can’t I stay out late?  All my friends get to stay out late.”   The Duke of Windsor heard statements like that many years ago when he visited this country. It led him to make a very interesting observation.  Just before he left to go back to England he was asked what he would remember most about this country.  He replied, “The thing that I shall remember most about your country is how well parents obey their children.”

Children don’t like to be told what to do.  Teenagers don’t like to be told what to do and here’s a news bulletin for you.  Adults also don’t like to be told what to do.  That’s why it’s not unusual these days to hear comments like this: “Don’t tell me what to do.  I’ll park in that handicap spot if I want to and if you don’t like it that’s your problem.” Or, “Don’t tell me what to do.  If I want to I’ll rev my motorcycle all the way from one end of Haverhill Street to the other.”

Yes, people don’t like to be told what to do.   That’s also true when it comes to religion.  Any minister who tells people what to do is going to end up in hot water sooner or later.  That’s why I like the story someone sent me recently.  It goes like his:  

When a Methodist minister falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "That was an experience I’ll never forget. How do I learn from it?"
When a Catholic priest falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "I must have done something really bad to deserve that."                                                                             When a Presbyterian minister falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "That was predestined to happen. I'm glad its behind me now."
When a Congregational minister falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "Which one of my deacons pushed me?"

Tell people what to do and there’s a good chance you’re going to make someone angry. It’s in our DNA and it goes all the way back to Adam and Eve.  God said, “Don’t eat that apple” and what’s the first thing Adam and Eve did when they were alone?  That’s right. They ate the apple.

Adam and Eve weren’t very obedient.  There are lots of reasons why people find it hard to be obedient.  Sometimes it’s because your pride gets in the way.  Sometimes it’s a control issue.  Sometimes it’s because you don’t trust or you don’t like the person who is telling you what to do.

All of this by the way is one of the reasons why we live in such a secular society.  People won’t admit it but one of the reasons why we live in a secular society is because people don’t want God telling them what to do.  It’s like the 93 year old woman who was told that one of her son’s friends had did and left behind three small children.  The elderly woman shook her head and said, “Why couldn’t it have been me.  I’ve lived a full life.  I’ve served the Lord and I’m ready to go.” Her son replied, “Maybe you’re still her mother because God has something else He wants you to do.”  “Well,” the elderly woman said very defiantly, “I’ll tell you right now that if He has something He wants me to do I’m not going to do it.”

People won’t admit it but they don’t like God telling them what to do.  Jesus on the other hand didn’t have a problem doing what God wanted him to do.  Jesus was obedient and his spirit of obedience is what inspired the Apostle Paul to write those wonderful faith filled words in his Letter to the Philippians.  Paul tells us that “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…”

That’s really amazing when you think about it.  Jesus walked on water.  Jesus healed the sick.  He was an incredibly gifted teacher.  He was God’s only begotten Son and yet he was still and because he was obedient it brought him honor and glory.

That’s what makes the words in Paul’s letter so wonderful. They show you that there is another way of looking at obedience. We see obedience as a sign of weakness.  It means someone has power over you.  It means someone has the ability to tell you what you can and can’t do.  Jesus shows us that obedience can be a sign of great strength.

Roger Staubauch saw that during his football career. Roger Staubauch was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys who eventually made it into the Hall of Fame. Early on in his career though he had a hard time letting Coach Tom Landry tell him what to do. Coach Landry call every play.  He told Roger when to run.  He told him when to hand the ball of.  He told him when to throw a pass.. Roger knew Coach Landry had a brilliant mind when it came to football strategy yet pride kept telling him that he should be able to call the plays. Roger later wrote, "I (eventually) faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned the joy of obedience there was harmony, fulfillment and victory."

Roger Staubauch was obedient on the football field and it eventually led him to victory in the Super Bowl.  It works the same when  you’re a Christian.   When you’re obedient to God it will lead you to victory over things like bitterness, fear and worry; depression and low self-esteem.   Obedience will lead you to the peace that passes all understanding and the life that is truly abundant.  Obedience will lead you to victory.

So, obedience isn’t a sign of weakness.  It’s a sign of great strength.  That’s why Paul says we should be like Jesus.  In his Letter to the Philippians Paul says, “Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who…humbled himself by becoming obedient…”

Obedience will lead you to the blessings of this life and it will lead you to the blessings of everlasting life.  That’s what happened many years ago when a Christian missionary obeyed the commandment that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper.  It’s the commandment that says, “Love one another even as I have loved you.”  This story of obedience came to light one night at a meeting of the National Secular Society.  The meeting was over in London, England.  The National Secular Society was founded back in 1866 by a man by the name of Charles Bradlaugh.  Bradlaugh was a resolute atheist and a well known critic of the Christian faith.  One night he challenged anyone in the audience to make a convincing case for the Christian faith.  No one said a word except for a pipefitter who stood up and said, “You all know me.  I have been a member of this society for five years.  Some months ago I lost my job and I was ill and to make matters worse my wife was ill.  Not one of you came to help me even though you all knew the predicament I was in.  But someone else did come and his wife nursed us and provided for us.  Without their love neither my wife or I would be here today.  That man was a Christian missionary who I had driven from my door with threats.  When I was well enough to think I asked him why he had been so kind to us and he told me he did it for the love of Christ.  I say a religion that will bring a man to the bedside of one who has hated him and cursed him is a good thing for this life.”

Obedience means you love your enemies.  Obedience means you feed the least among us.  Obedience means you honor the Sabbath.  It means you forgive those who trespass against you.  Obedience means you do what God wants you to do and you do it knowing that you will be blessed and that it in the end it will lead you to victory.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

September 25, 2011