4-10-22 Grace-Tucson Palm Sunday Sermon

Pastor Tim Patoka

His Humility, Our Hope

April 10, 2022

Let Christ’s Attitude Be in You Philippians 2:5-11 1) Humble to Serve Others 2) Hopeful for God’s Exaltation Suppose it was your birthday or you were gone for a long while and you were about to enter a room filled with all your friends and family. You know that you are going to be the center of everyone’s attention the moment you step in with people greeting you with happy shouts and mobbing around you so they can be close to you. What is your first reaction going to be? Will you be red in the face and trying to find a way to deflect the attention? Will you be glad-handing the praise and wishing for more? Or will you land somewhere in the middle? Your answer likely depends on what your attitude is – whether or not you want the attention at this time or place, whether or not you have plans to use this attention for something else.

Jesus was in the same situation when he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As he came riding in on a young donkey, he was greeted by the crowds shouting “Hosanna!”, waving palm branches, and laying down their cloaks on the road.

They gave him a king’s welcome that drew everyone’s attention. Jesus responded to this attention he got by striking a middle-of-the-road approach – he didn’t stop the people from giving him the praise he’s due as the Son of God, but neither did he ask for this kingly welcome. Jesus reacted this way because of his attitude, that is, his resolved state of mind, to continue to his cross without any distractions.

As our verses from Philippians tell us, Jesus’ attitude is marked by humility and hopefulness. It was humility that drove Jesus to empty himself so that he could humbly serve us. It was hopefulness of how God would later exalt Jesus that in turn encouraged him to remain a humble servant. This humble and hopeful attitude is not just for Jesus though. Rather, it is for all us Christians to have as we are humble to serve others and hopeful for how God will exalt us so that we too may remain humble servants.

Humble to Serve Others Jesus’s humble attitude had him come to our world in the nature of a servant.

Though he is true God by nature, Jesus didn’t display this as a prize for us to gaze at. Rather, Jesus largely kept his divine glory and power under wraps. On top of that, he emptied himself of his position and prestige as God for 33 years when he 1

Pastor Tim Patoka

His Humility, Our Hope

April 10, 2022

took on human flesh in Bethlehem’s manager and looked like any 1st century Israelite man. As a servant, Jesus would also become obedient to other’s wills and wishes. His obedience would stretch all the way to dying on a cross, which was one of the worst ways to die due to its physical, cultural, and religious stigmas.

Only an incredibly humble person with a servant’s heart would do all this for someone else! Could you imagine if an airline CEO were to do something like this? Instead of jumping on their private jet in their picture worthy clothes, they instead stand in line at security dressed like everyone else in athleisure and pajamas to fly in coach. And if there’s an overbooked flight, they’re the first to give up their seat and change their travel plans so that someone else doesn’t have to. Such a humble attitude is not common at all.

Yet this humble attitude is what we are to have just as Christ himself had in service to us. But that’s near impossible. So often we’d prefer to display something about ourselves as prize for other to gaze at – who we are, where we come from, or what we have done. Yet when we do, we fail to serve those who aren’t like us. While we don’t want to be the center of attention, we don’t want to be overlooked! After all, who is it that gets the scholarships at school, the promotions at work, or the companionship of a loved one? The one who stands out! Yet such “look-at-me” thinking does little to serve others who can’t help us. We also value our personal comfort over our neighbor’s need. Rather than give a little of ourselves to help someone else, we leave an opportunity to show Christ’s love unfulfilled because it entails personal cost.

It’s not easy to find someone with this humble attitude that will have a person empty themselves so as to serve another. Yet Jesus was. He was resolved to serve us despite having nothing in common with us, emptying himself of his godly power and prestige, and paying the ultimate price on the shameful cross.

We greatly benefit from Jesus’ humble service. As Hebrews chapter 2(:14,17b) tells us, “Therefore, since the children share flesh and blood, he also shared the same flesh and blood, so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death (that is, the Devil)…so that he could pay for the sins of the people.”

As a humble servant, Jesus took on human likeness and placed himself under God’s law so that he could fulfill it in our place and die on the cross as punishment for our sins. Jesus has since destroyed the Devil and paid for our sins. And so, as a humble servant, Jesus shares his victory with us so that we are free from sin and the Devil. We have been forgiven of all our wrongs.

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Pastor Tim Patoka

His Humility, Our Hope

April 10, 2022

It was Jesus’ humble attitude that had him serve us. Out of thanks to Jesus, we too get to show this humble attitude as we serve our neighbor. Put aside your claims to fame instead of displaying them as a prize to gaze at so that we drive no wedges between ourselves and the people we serve. Be content to blend in with the crowd rather than sticking out so that we keep the attention off ourselves. Give up of yourself where it’s wise to do so that we can serve our neighbor in their need. And there are lots of people you can serve in this way. Those in our families going up and down the generations. The people we regularly see at work and the clubs/organizations we’ve joined. Your fellow Christians as we encourage one another to remain on the straight and narrow path to heaven.

It’s not easy to maintain this humble attitude as we serve others as Christ humbly served us. That’s why it’s helpful to consider a second component of Jesus’ attitude that we are to have within ourselves – how we are hopeful for God’s exaltation.

Hopeful for God’s Exaltation The word “hope” can mean a few things. For us, hope is typically understood as something you wish for but don’t necessarily expect. When the Bible uses hope, it means it to be a certain truth that we can be confident of and trust in. Jesus foreknew and hoped for how God the Father would exalt him once his 33 years of emptying himself were over. After dying on the cross, the Father would exalt Jesus by raising him from the dead and giving him the name that is above every name.

Along with that would come every knee bowing in honor and every tongue confessing Jesus’ exalted name as the Lord himself whether they be the angels and Christians in heaven, everyone on earth, or the demons and condemned in hell.

Those who believe in Jesus will gladly do this knee bending and tongue confessing! But those who don’t will do these things in shame and against their will much like how a person will say “Uncle!” after losing a wrestling match with their sibling.

While Jesus’ foreknowledge and certain hope for his Father’s exaltation didn’t make his 33 years on earth any easier, it surely helped Jesus maintain his humble attitude while serving us! Because he knew that his current hardships would soon be replaced with far better joys. We also know that God will exalt us when we finally enter our heavenly home. Granted, we won’t have anyone bending the knee to us or confessing our name. But that’s okay, because we’ll finally be in a world where sin and its consequences have no place. And that is more than good enough.

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Pastor Tim Patoka

His Humility, Our Hope

April 10, 2022

This hopeful attitude helps us keep our current humble attitude as well. How many of you have used the promise of the future to help you get through the hardships of the present? Maybe it’s a certain date that’s circled on your calendar, the number on a scale, or the big-ticket item you’ve had your eye on. Until you reach that goal, you have to give up things you’d prefer not to – the down time in your schedule, the tasty yet empty calories, or the impulse to buy that one, little thing. But because you have that future promise in mind, it’s easier to stick to your current attitude that endures hardships because the time is coming when you’ll be done with it and finally where you hope to be. So it can be with our humble attitude in serving others. We maintain a humble attitude because we are hopeful of how God will surely exalt us when we finally enter heaven.

But is it a hopeful attitude that is behind your humble service to others? Or is it a begrudging attitude because it what’s you have to do? Is it a fearful attitude because you’re afraid of what God might otherwise do to you? Is it a resigned attitude that sees this humble service as a rite of passage we have to put up with before we get to our goal? So often it’s one of these instead.

Rather, this is what our attitude should be – humble and hopeful. Humble to empty ourselves so we may serve our neighbor and hopeful of how God will exalt us when our time of humble service is done. Not only does Jesus demonstrate this humble and hopeful attitude, he makes it happen. As we’ve heard this morning, Jesus’ humility is our hope. Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross so that we have the certain hope of a Savior and his salvation. He graciously gives this salvation and the hope of heaven’s exaltation to all who have faith in him. So out of love to God and as our way to say thanks to Jesus for all he’s done for us, we take on this humble and hopeful attitude.

Hopeful of the eternal R & R that we will have, we therefore view now as our time to humbly serve others as Jesus did. Empty yourself of anything that gets in the way of you showing Christ’s love to our neighbor! Share the good news of Jesus’ humble service to us on cross with those who need to know or better know their Savior! Pray that they may join us in gladly bowing their knee and confessing with their tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. As we do so, may we have Christ’s humble and hopeful attitude in us. Amen.

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