The

verses in our Bible reading today may have come from an early hymn.

Back then no one had a Bible or anything in print. People had to

memorize whatever was important to know. So the early Christians

composed songs and brief sayings that helped them remember the core

teachings of their faith in Christ. They carried these truths in

their hearts.

This

song gets at the essence of who Jesus was, what he did, and how he

accomplished salvation: he did it through humility. He was the Son of

God. He had all power, all knowledge. It was the kind of position

that most of us would not want to give up.

But

Jesus did give it all up. He set aside his privileged place and

became a human being. And once he became human, he went even further

and made himself everyone’s servant. He was not some powerful

political leader. He did not even have a position in the religious

establishment of his day.

Jesus

came to serve. He came to die. He came to die shamefully, like some

criminal—though he never sinned. Paul uses these words to challenge

the Philippians not to let pride ruin their community. If the Son of

God could give up all that he gave up, including his own life for our

sake, surely the rest of us can give up our foolish pride and offer

our lives to him. It is very simply the gospel way.