PREPARING THE WAY – “The Name Above Every Name”
Philippians 2:1-11
Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025
A few weeks ago, Emily and Rachel imposed Ashes on our foreheads
as we began the Lenten journey toward Holy Week and Easter.
This 40-day Lenten journey is meant to be a time of spiritual reflection and renewal,
a time of preparation leading up to the Passion of Holy Week and the joy of Easter morning.
I encourage you to participate, as you are able, in our various Holy Week services.
There will be a daily community service at noon at First United Methodist Church,
and we will host Maundy Thursday service here at 5:30pm and Good Friday Tenebrae at 8pm.
Participating in these services helps prepare our hearts and souls for the joy of Easter morning.
Our New Testament text for Palm/Passion Sunday comes from Paul’s letter
to the Church in Philippi.
Paul wrote this letter to early believers in a congregation which Paul himself had started.
Beginning with only a few converts at a Jewish gathering place by a river outside of town,
the small house congregation grew and ultimately became deeply rooted
in the secular town of Philippi, a town full of Gentile people searching for meaning.
Paul loved this congregation, but he had noticed some tendencies within the church
towards pride and individualism, towards seeking one’s own desires and interests
to the neglect of the needs of others.
Some reports of petty gossip reached Paul that revealed self-serving attitudes.
What Paul desired instead was that would discover unity of purpose in Jesus Christ,
that they would live in humility before God, and that they would seek other-oriented love –
the same characteristics that they had learned from the life and example of Jesus of Nazareth.
Listen to the Word of God as found in Philippians 2:1-11.
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit,
any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind,
having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition
or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Dot Per-Lee was a strong woman of faith.
In the morning, she would read her Moravian devotional book –
a few verses of Holy Scripture, a prayer, and a hymn. Always a hymn.
Dot could sing dozens of hymns by heart.
At night time, Dot would kneel at her bedside and offer her prayers.
Dot was not a perfect person, of course, but she was a good person.
She was a wonderful mother; she was a faithful, supportive wife.
For her eulogy at her recent memorial service here at the church,
one of her sons wrote her a thank you note:
Thank you, Mom, for reading scripture to us before school in the morning.
Thank you, Mom, for teaching us to sing songs of faith.
Thank you, Mom, for reminding us that we were not the center of the universe,
and that the most important thing in the world was not to seek what made us “happy”,
but to try to do what would make us faithful before God and others.
When we consider Paul’s encouragements from prison, we hear the words:
empty yourselves, humble yourselves, become obedient to the will of God.
As broad as these encouragements may seem, they can reasonably be pursued
with a prayer, a promise, and another prayer:
First, empty yourselves.
What does it mean to “empty ourselves”?
There is a prayer I have offered when visiting a hospice bedside or hospital room,
or when engaging in a pastoral care conversation with about a difficult subject –
“less of me; more of you.” Less of me; more of you.
We all have plenty of “us” inside of us. We all have our worries, concerns, and anxieties
that can get in the way of being fully available to other human beings or to God.
Emptying ourselves may be another way of saying “get over yourself”.
Get beyond whatever keeps you from being fully present for the human being in front of you.
All that self-worry, self-absorption, self-concern, selfish desire – let it go,
and instead, seek to be filled with the Spirit of God.
In order to move toward this ideal, we can imagine how Jesus must have interacted with others.
Imagine how Jesus must have been fully available to the people around him,
fully attuned to their hearts and souls, to their fears and concerns,
not worried all the time about himself and what he desired or wanted.
Of course, part of the reason that Jesus could do this was because he would spend
long periods of time in prayer, walking on the hillsides of Galilee by himself,
offering his own fears, worries, and concerns before God
before seeking to be present for others.
I can imagine Jesus praying on that hillside – “Less of me; more of you, oh God.”
Second, humble yourselves.
Consider others as better than yourselves.
Instead of chasing after your own selfish ambitions in life,
look to the needs and interests of those around you.
Instead of seeking to lift yourself up by our own bootstraps,
try lifting up the needs of someone else, working to serve and help your neighbor.
There’s a little verse in the Letter of James, chapter 4, verse 10,
that has become another mantra for many:
“Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”
This verse is less a prayer and more of an encouragement and a promise.
The verse comes in the context of James’ conversation about pride and greed,
about living with a lack of faith before God.
The verse offers a worthy promise countless souls have found to be trustworthy:
Humble yourself before Almighty God, and, ultimately, God will lift you up.
Many of the most successful business persons have found this to be true, over time.
Over time, the best way to run most any company is to realize that you’re in the service business.
It doesn’t matter if you are selling cars or refrigerators or offering legal services
or designing a drainage culvert or a dress, you are ultimately providing an other-oriented service.
Over time, if your business model serves your clients or customers fairly and well,
you will likely have the opportunity to keep providing that service.
If it’s all about you and what product you want to offer and how much you want to charge,
then you will likely find yourself alone at the end of the day.
Humble yourself before God and God will take care of the rest.
Third, become obedient to the will of God.
Do not exploit whatever position of power you may find yourself in.
Instead, become obedient to God’s will, obedient even to the point of great sacrifice.
The classic prayer for this movement comes from the Garden of Gethsemane, from Luke 22:
Jesus “withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed,
‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.’
Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength.
In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, (not my will, but thy will be done),
and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.”
What might it mean for your life this week, this month, to pray:
“Not my will, O God, but thy will be done.” Not my will, but thy will?
Self-emptying, humility, obedience.
Are we concerned that people who call themselves Christian lost such ideals in life?
Have we become so busy with work and entertainments
that we have forgotten to look to the needs and interests of others?
Do we feel so pressured to make our own way in this world
that we have forgotten to help clear the way for others?
Are we so afraid that our group or our tribe might lose whatever ground we have gained
that we step on others on our way up the ladder and ignore the commands of Almighty God?
On this Palm Sunday, we remember the One who could have become a powerful earthly king,
but who instead emptied himself, and gave up power.
We worship the One who could have garnered an army and overthrown the oppressors,
but who instead gave up his own life for the sake of all, even those who oppressed him.
We praise the One who could have taken revenge and destroyed his enemies,
but who instead drew a circle of love intended to envelope all of humanity,
from the least of them to the greatest.
Throughout history, the ones who were prideful and ambitious,
the ones who were always seeking first their own interests,
the ones who puffed themselves up and pushed others down,
they are all either long forgotten or cursed in the memory of those who recall them.
But the One who showed concern for the least of humanity,
the One who cared for the outcasts, who lifted up the broken-hearted,
the One who provided for the downtrodden, his is the name above every name.
His is the name that will always be remembered with wonder and awe and gratitude.
Jesus emptied himself and became obedient, even unto death,
and the world was saved from sin and death.
When the Church takes steps to seek his ideal,
when the people of the Church take steps to empty themselves in concern for the least of these,
to humble themselves by seeking the needs of others, to seek obedience to God’s will,
then the hope of salvation is renewed among all.
We recently watched a Netflix documentary about Audrey Hepburn,
the iconic 1950’s movie star. The documentary is simply titled “Audrey.”
I did not know that her parents had been Nazi sympathizers in the 1930’s.
I did not know that she had come of age in the Netherlands, under the occupation of the Nazis,
and that when she was a teenager, the war brought hunger and severe malnutrition
to her and her entire community.
After the war, Hepburn was fortunate to receive a scholarship to study ballet in London.
She was disappointed not to become a prima ballerina, but her natural charm
and ability to dance opened the door to other opportunities on stage.
Eventually, she began to act in movies, and ultimately, she became an iconic movie star.
In her late fifties, Audrey Hepburn was asked to serve as an ambassador for UNICEF.
UNICEF, the United Natiions International Children’s Emergency Fund,
continues today to pursue relentlessly a better world for every child.
Within two years of Audrey Hepburn’s involvement in UNICEF, its resources had doubled
and thousands upon thousands of children were able to receive critical life-saving help.
Though Audrey Hepburn much enjoyed her comfortable life in her beautiful villa in Italy,
among her family and friends, she continued to travel all over the world,
visiting children in abject poverty and spreading awareness about the work of UNICEF.
She could have focused only on herself and her desires,
but she went to testify before the U.S. Congress, and her charming and passionate influence
helped lead to millions of dollars in additional support.
Even when Audrey began to have tremendous abdominal pain, she continued her work.
She had known as a child what it was like to go without,
and she wanted to help as many sick and hungry children as she possibly could.
Only months before an aggressive cancer cut short her storied life far too short, in her early 60’s,
she was still traveling to raise funds and awareness for the sake of those most in need.
When the congregation in Philippi began to seek first its own interests
and neglect the interests of others, their actions grieved Paul,
for they had stopped imitating the self-emptying ministry of Christ.
The other-oriented, self-giving attitude of Jesus Christ was the model Paul gave them
for the way he desired those early Christians to live together.
In order to nurture a Christian community that lives in the world but not of the world,
in order to make the joy of the Lord complete, in order to embody and continue
the ministry of Jesus Christ, Paul encouraged those Philippians:
Empty yourselves, humble yourselves, become obedient to the will of God.
What might the related prayer, the promise, and the other prayer from Philippians 2
look like in our lives this week? This month? This year?
Less of me; more of you, O God.
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and God will lift you up.
Not my will, O God, but thy will be done.
Amen.
Rev. J. Todd Speed
Decatur Presbyterian Church
Decatur, Georgia
Psalm 147
Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.
He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
