Adult Object Lesson: Philippians 2:5-11
Paul Teaches New Christians How to Think
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, a busy Sunday unto itself. In recent years the Church has combined Passion Sunday with Palm Sunday. The result is a marathon of emotions that is too broad for people to absorb. It doesn’t really work very well. We can neither enjoy Palm Sunday or take in the depth of the entire Passion Story.
There is probably little time in this liturgical panorama for an object lesson. The concentration will be on reading 114 verses from Luke. But let’s look at the lesson from Philippians and a bit of Isaiah 50:4-9a and Psalm 31:9-16, too. They are there for a reason.
Paul is teaching his new followers a new way of thinking.
Your object today is a pitcher of some sort and a bowl. You might even use the congregational chalice filled with water and be prepared as you end your talk to refill it with the wine that will be used for Communion—the blood of Christ shed for us.
Your pitcher is filled with water. Empty it slowly into a bowl.
Talk about how Christ emptied himself. The Passion Story is all about wearing down the Son of Man. Jesus took everything they threw at him. He turned his cheek to those who would pluck his beard—a wonderful image from Isaiah, today’s Old Testament lesson.
You might call attention to today’s Psalm in which the psalmist cries out that he is like a broken vessel. Totally empty.
But Christ’s empty vessel is not broken. It will be refilled. Christ empties himself and refills the void with something fresh, something no one expects of the Son of God.
He fills the empty space with the attributes of a slave. He becomes humble and accepting of God’s plan for him. He is obedient unto death — even a terrible death.
In his obedience, he becomes a servant.
It is hard enough for us to empty ourselves. It is painful. We would refill the void with our wants, our own sense of importance.
Christ fills the void with humility. It is a choice.
We, too, have the power to shape our thinking and passions—to fill the void in our hearts with things that are godly. That we would learn this lesson was one reason for Christ’s sacrifice. We should not ignore it.
How will we fill our hearts?