NCC Daily

Our reading continues from yesterday in Philippians in the section called "lights in the world." About us—how we go about being in our world that reflects the light of Christ.

Now we find the spotlight on us, on the church, on the children of God in the world. In response to Jesus’ life, sacrifice, humility, obedience, and death, Paul exhorts the Philippians, and Paul exhorts us, how we are to live, and why.

Working out our own salvation has little to do with working for salvation, but everything to do with our work that pours out from Christ’s salvation. Paul is not charging us to understand the theological complexities of Christ’s salvific work, but he is charging us to embody the life of the gospel.

We know from the context of the New Testament that both Jesus and Paul would describe every “tongue” as not only individuals but nations as well. Remember on the day of Pentecost thousands of people all heard the glory of God being declared in their own nation’s or native tongue. When we zoom out and look at the big picture of this verse, here’s what we see and hear:
God wants everyone to belong to Jesus. Every nation has reserved seating in the house of God. Every. Single. One.

The cross was a cruel form of punishment reserved for slaves, and thieves, and others with little to no earthly status. In His obedience to the Father, Jesus willingly gave His life upon that cross. In this letter to the Philippians, Paul illuminates Jesus's character: that He’s self-emptying instead of self-magnifying. Don’t be mistaken—this isn’t just some coincidence happening to Jesus. He is actually entering into His mission fully and willingly, and not as a passive victim.

Jesus did not consider His equality with God to be like that—to be the kind of thing He needed to keep a grip on, to take for Himself. Instead, He knew that even His divinity was something He could hold with an open hand. His divine status was not the kind of thing He needed to keep on lockdown. That’s the way He thought about Himself and it decided the form of His incarnation. That, you might say, was Jesus’ humble mind.

Reading this passage is a reminder of one of Jesus’ more peculiar ways. Found in the thirteenth chapter of John’s gospel is a story that begins with Jesus eating dinner with his disciples (pretty normal). After Jesus gets up, He ties a towel around His waist, pours water into a basin, kneels before His disciples, and begins to wash their feet. Now, why would a teacher bow before His students to wash their dirty feet? If anything, it should be the other way around as a way to honor their leader.

Being of one mind doesn’t mean we’ll see eye-to-eye on every issue. God-fearing, Bible-believing, Christ-following Christians have disagreed on certain points of doctrine for thousands of years. But please hear this: what unites us is much stronger than the things that divide us. Our common ground is common grace.

Joy is having the awareness of God’s grace and favor. As we meditate on the suffering of Paul and perhaps our own or that of others, let us make that profound decision of faith and hope in the power of Jesus and His love. May we acknowledge God’s favor and grace in our lives for that is where true joy comes from.

Our call is to continue to stand unified because of the power of the gospel that transforms both hearts and minds for the restoration of the world. When we grasp the beauty of what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do, even when He paints in shades of gray, then friends, we can even find opportunities for joy, even on the grayscale.