“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:29
In Matthew 11, Jesus famously invites the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him for rest and describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart.” This is a two-fold humility: in the original Greek, praus (gentle) describes a Biblical meekness that is not weakness but rather refers to exercising God’s strength under his control, and tapeinos (lowly) describes a person is God-reliant, not self-reliant. In his book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Tim Keller describes gospel humility as “not thinking more of myself or less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” This is the kind of humility we’ll be exploring in our new series, The Lowly, as we walk through the book of Philippians. This Sunday, Pastor Amy Perez shared key takeaways from Philippians 1:12-30, unpacking the freedom and rest that gospel humility can bring to our lives.
Free From Comparison
- In Freedom of Self Forgetfulness, Tim Keller asks, “Wouldn’t you like to be the type of person who, in their imaginary life, does not sit around fantasizing about hitting self-esteem home-runs, daydreaming about successes that give them the edge over others?”
- We are often bound by comparison and rivalry, feeling as though our accomplishments define us.
- In Philippians 1:15, Paul describes fellow preachers who attempt to capitalize on his imprisonment and “proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry” but Paul is unphased by comparison and rejoices that the gospel is shared, regardless of motive.
- In 1 Corinthians 4:3-5, Paul says, “ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”
- When we don’t rely on God alone as our judge, we return to the courtroom every day awaiting a verdict from a human court or ourselves, wondering if we have proved our worth.
- But Jesus himself paid our ransom, so we can now live confident in the final verdict that “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
- Paul refers to himself as the chief of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), and yet he is still confident in Christ and his calling, regardless of how the world defines success.
- The city of Philippi, a Roman outpost in Greece, was populated by a legacy of Roman veterans who fought in the famous battle that defeated Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar.
- These Roman citizens started a religious cult called divus Augustus that worshiped Octavian and deified the Roman empire.
- Paul enters this city—and many like it—declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel or “good news” was a politically-charged phrase that was commonly used by Roman rulers when proclaiming victory in battle or the entrance of a ruling authority to a city. Paul uses “gospel” to describe the reign of risen King Jesus.
- Paul did not expect that his life would look like the world’s definition of success. How often are we willing to defy the picture culture paints of success?
Living With Limits
- Philippians 1:18-21 says, “On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform!”
- Paul says that prison became his platform; the places that we can see as limits can actually be a platform for God to move.
- Paul even finds that the limit of death does not phase him. He does not pray to be like Enoch or Elijah who did not face death but says that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phililppians 1:21).
- Paul sees that even the ultimate enemy, death itself, has no sting. Every “limit” to our humanity has no sting.
- God made you with limits, with a human frame—which means that he’s aware of the limits to your time, talent and treasure.
- God took on human flesh and embraced limits, choosing to be born into humble circumstances and a human body.
- Jesus only met the Samaritan woman in John 4 because he was tired and hungry.
- How often do we try to live beyond our limits in a misguided attempt of selfish ambition?
- Many times, Paul was broken out of prison, but he is content even behind bars: prison or no prison, the gospel is unhindered.
- 2 Corinthians 13:4 says, “Although he was weak when he was nailed to the cross, he now lives by the power of God. We are weak, just as Christ was. But you will see that we will live by the power of God, just as Christ does.”
- Where are you attempting to defy your limits? Where are you obsessed with being strong or putting up a front of strength? Where instead could you embrace your limits and see weakness as a place for God’s power to flow?
Undaunted & Unified by Suffering
- In Philippians 1:27, Paul describes how the church will face opposition: “Standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind.”
- Not only do we have the Spirit who strengthens our steps in the face of suffering or where we are weak, but we are invited into a community who will support us and stand by our side.
- Once we are free of comparison and the pride that hinders us, we can take off our masks and be honest about our weaknesses and pains.
- Shame would separate and divide us, keeping us hidden like Adam and Eve who hid and tried to cover themselves in Genesis 3 after rebelling against God.
- We do not have to fight an individual battle—with temptation, with fear, with persecution—alone.
- What in the mess or suffering of your life could you bring it to the light so that you are strengthened?
- James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Dinner Party Questions
- Have you found yourself returning to the courtroom, putting yourself on trial with other people’s opinions or your own self-condemnation? How would you feel to live from a verdict of freedom, not waiting for a verdict?
- Where are you attempting to defy your limits? Where instead could you embrace your limits and see weakness as a place for God’s power to flow?
- What places of “weakness” or suffering could you bring to godly community for support, wisdom and prayer?
