On our church calendar it is important to note…Guess what?  It’s still Christmas! It’s not just one day and it didn’t end on December 26th, we are not quite halfway through!

I have been in stores after Christmas Day and sometimes say “Merry Christmas” to people and they look at me kind of strange and say, “Christmas is over now!”   And I remind them that it is still Christmas as it is more than a day.  Ever heard of the song, 12 days of Christmas?  People mistakenly put it with 12 days before Christmas.  But it is speaking about the 12 days OF Christmas, not before Christmas.  This leads us up to Epiphany Sunday which will be next Sunday.  So, we are on the 5th day of Christmas. I like the church emphasis…Look at this way, with the 12 days of Christmas we have 11 more days of joyful celebration!!

 The other part of this is the upcoming New Year’s focus.  Once again, our church calendar is quite different than the secular calendar.  The church calendar has our New Year’s Day starting at Advent.  We might look at this as the Advent of a New Year, right?  But for our culture and the world it’s about to happen on January 1st.

More traditionally we are looking at 2025 and often use the words…HAPPY NEW YEAR!  And many try to peer into this New Year and make some resolutions.  Some have become more cynical about resolutions.  But I think they are good to help us continue to grow and keep us from becoming lackadaisical or mediocre in our faith.  While the word “resolution” isn’t explicitly stated in the Bible, the concept of “resolve” or firm determination is very much present throughout the scriptures, often encouraging believers to make strong decisions and commitments to live righteously.  Later in Philippians Paul famously stated he was forgetting those things behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, and pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”.  (Philippians 3:13f) That sounds like a great resolution to me!  I will come back to this a little later in the sermon.

If you look up the word resolution, and I did, here is the definition:

A resolution is defined as “a firm decision to do or not to do something.”

 Resolutions are normally set around goals for self-improvement, built around the ambitions of who we want to be, what is important to us, or what we want to accomplish.

I normally make resolutions, particularly toward self-improvement.  A couple I have made already:  Yes… like most other feast friendly people, I want to lose some weight.  I want to learn Spanish more fluently to communicate with those we remain in mission with.  This year I am resolving to sing more.  No, I am not joining the choir yet.  But I am resolved to live out the exhortation from Ephesians which teaches us about speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19).  I think we all might do better if we carried a song in our hearts in all seasons…even if we cannot carry a tune in a bucket.

Sadly, resolutions carry a high failure rate.  Most resolutions fail before January is over.   We stay in this cycle, year after year, becoming more frustrated or discouraged.  This is often why we decide not to make resolutions.

So maybe the place to start is not with our ambition, but our attitude.

We need the attitude of CHRIST.   

Philippians 2:5 says:

Let this attitude be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.  Other versions read, Let this mind be in you.  Some versions say, let this disposition be in you. Still others say, Let this thinking be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.  It should be noted here that this is the mind of Christ in us…

  It’s not just the mind of Christ for Christ but it is the mind of Christ for us, his followers, that we are to emulate, that we are to possess.

-We don’t think of Philippians 2 as a Christmas passage, but it is about what Jesus did by becoming a baby.  It gives us a greater understanding of the fuller reason why Jesus took on flesh that we celebrate at Christmas.  But there is more here… JD Walt put it this way:

– To be like CHRIST is not a resolution, but a reorientation. – Resolutions are about working harder, doing more, trying to improve our old nature. Attitude is a settled way of thinking.

Many believe this passage was an early hymn of the church to help them remember how Christ accomplished our full salvation.   It gives us incredible insight into God’s plan in giving us His Son.  Think about the implications of this incredible story of God’s love.

– How did CHRIST humble himself?

He emptied himself of all ambition and privilege.

If you had unlimited wealth, more than Bill Gates or Elon Musk, would you give up all your wealth to become an impoverished person? Even more, would you give up your riches for people that you considered unworthy?  Think about that before you answer quickly.

If you had all power and glory and were invincible, would you give it up to become a limited human, susceptible to injury and pain and death?  Again, for sinners who broke your laws.

If you dwelt in eternity and superseded all time, would you give it up to become a finite human being, limited by space and time and face death?

These are great questions to help us think about Christmas and New Year’s.  Here is the simple outline.  Jesus was equal as God.  He gave it up to become a human being.  Even more, he became a poor/servant human being.  Even more he was subjected to a death associated with the worst of human beings as Jesus became obedient to death, even the death of a cross. But God has exalted him and given Him a Name above all names.

This is all related to the mind/attitude of God that we celebrate at Christmas and gives us an eternal hope regardless of how this New Year might unfold.   Let’s quickly look at some of the key points of this passage regarding the attitude or mindset of Jesus.

I  The mind/attitude of Christ is a servant attitude.   He emptied himself, made himself of no reputation taking the form of a servant, this translation says a slave. In the original language, the word is doulos, which basically means a slave…translated bond-servant.

I was reminded in John 13 when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.  They were so surprised their Lord, their Master, their Rabbi would get a basin and wash their dirty feet.  None of them were willing to do that.  None of them were going to take the form of a servant. But Jesus did.  The Lord of glory in the form of a servant washing dirty feet.   Would that be like Nick Saban and Hugh Freeze becoming the water boy?  Or President Biden or President-elect Donald Trump becoming garbage collectors.  Many may want to see such things happen.  I don’t know.  Maybe that’s just a superficial example.   All at the same time the disciples were arguing over who was the number one disciple, who was the greatest, who was going to sit at the right hand of Jesus. Their attitude/mindset was all about power and position.  The attitude of Christ said the one who is the greatest will be servant of all as he washed their feet.

Mother Teresa was once asked, “How do you measure the success of your work?”  There was a long pause.   She said, “Jesus never spoke about success.  He only spoke of faithfulness and love”.   And if we are faithful to serve as God desires success will take care of itself.

 Isn’t that a profound statement?  Might we resolve to have the attitude of Christ in being a greater servant in 2025.  Jesus said it best when he said:

Matthew 20:28 New Living Translation

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  The attitude of Christ is a servant attitude.

He goes on in verse 8 and we see a second key part of the attitude of Jesus.

II The attitude of Christ is a humble attitude.    The word is often misunderstood.  I misunderstood it for many years even growing up in the church.   The Old Testament reminds us that Moses was one of the humblest men on the planet. Numbers 12:3 “Now the man Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone living on Earth”.  But Moses was no weakling.  Just the opposite. He was a strong man.   He was a leader greatly used by God.   Humility doesn’t mean that we lack strength and ability.  But it means that our ability and our strength is yielded to love and to serve.

John Milton’s classic book, Paradise Lost, has the line that has captivated my attention across the years since I first read it in college.  The words of Satan, “I would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.”   There’s not a note of humility in that statement is there?   But notice here the attitude of Christ which is essentially the opposite of that, “I would rather serve on earth than rule in heaven”.  If that’s what it takes to restore the human race, if that’s what it takes for the salvation of humankind, I’ll do it.  Jesus was willing to humble himself and serve on earth.

I was reading a story online yesterday that was told by the late actress, Kathryn Hepburn.  She was a young girl with her father in a long line to see the circus.  There was a family in front of them with 8 children.  She could tell the family was very poor but clean and tidy.  The children were well behaved behind their parents each holding hands and so excited to see the circus acts and animals. When they came to the counter the father said, “We need tickets for 8 children and 2 adults”.   The price was blurted out by the attendant and the mother immediately dropped her head. The father then replied and asked, “How much did you say?”  Kathryn’s father took his 20-dollar bill and dropped on the ground.  He picked it up and then said to the father, “Excuse me, I think you dropped this out of your pocket”.  The man turned and was speechless.  He reached out his hand to hold and embrace her father with intense gratitude and tears streamed down his face.   That 20 dollars was the money to cover their cost.  So, Kathryn never made it to the circus that night.  But she never forgot the great act of kindness and humility shown by her father.  He had the money, but he yielded it to help others, even though it meant he would not see the circus.

 I’m reading a book by Calvin Miller entitled, “The Book of Jesus”.  It is an anthology of what others have written about Jesus through the ages.  There was one that I thought very pertinent concerning humility by W. Dyer…Christ uncrowned Himself to crown us and put off his robes to put on our rags and came down from heaven to keep us out of hell.  He fasted 40 days that he might let us feast for all eternity, He came down from heaven to earth that He might send us from earth to heaven…

2 Corinthians 8:9 puts it like this, for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.  The attitude of Christ is a humble attitude.

We move quickly to the next part of Christ’s attitude, found in the latter part of verse 8.

III. The attitude of Christ is an obedient attitude.  

 This was complete obedience to God.  Look at verse 8, “He became obedient unto death, even death on the cross.” 

When Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan River, John was so surprised!  John the Baptist was saying, “Lord I need to be baptized by you. You’re the sinless Son of God, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  Why are you being baptized?”   And Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so”.  It was the will of God, the plan of God. Jesus was identifying once again with the sin of humanity.   When Jesus waded into the waters of baptism, he was setting his journey toward the cross. Others as Martin Luther have stated that this was his dress rehearsal for death.  Jesus did humble himself and even suffered humiliation.  He was obedient even in the humiliation of the cross. This was the ultimate humiliation of dying like a criminal.  And the reality is that he didn’t have to.  The scripture says that he could have called heaven’s angels that were standing by. As the old gospel song relays, “He could have called them to set him free. But he stayed on the cross for you and for me”. Here we must understand that we cannot separate Christmas from Good Friday and Easter. This is the completed work of Christ for our salvation.  They all stand together although they are separated in time, all parts of them are necessary.  And it begins with this season and Christ taking on flesh and becoming a baby.

Reflecting further on this attitude of obedience, Henry Blackaby in his work, “Experiencing God” talks about an obedience problem being a love problem. This truth is relayed very clearly when Jesus said:

John 14:15

if you love me, you will obey my commands.

What if Jesus had gone through the incarnation becoming the babe in the manger… What if he had gone through the waters of baptism as he did…What if he had gotten right to the brink of the cross and said, “NO, I’M NOT GOING TO DO THAT.  THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT WORTH IT”.  But Jesus was FULLY obedient and went to the cross for all of us.   And he said, “Not my will but what you will God”– an obedient mind/attitude.

Again, folks this is not just the attitude of Christ for Christ.  Paul was saying let this mind or attitude of Christ be in YOU and ME.    As I thought about this further one thing stood out for me.  Maybe this is just me… But I think it is quite possible that we might have a servant attitude.  We might even have a humble attitude.  But do we have an obedient mind or attitude?   My suspicion is that for most Christians we may be good at serving.  We may even have a great deal of humility. But are we fully obedient to what Christ might be calling us to do?

So, is the mind or attitude of Christ in you? Somewhat like the old Gatorade commercial, “Is it in you?”  Every component of it?  A servant attitude?  A humble attitude?  An obedient attitude?

As we look at this pivotal time of year and face the New Year 2025.

… Let’s do an Examination of Conscience a Year End Spiritual Inventory.

Jesus emptied himself…He gave up his glory  

Maybe there are some things that need to be emptied from your life.  Some things that will prevent you from doing God’s will.  This is not just bad things but maybe even good things that prevent you from do better things for God.

Stephen Collins wrote a popular text, Good to Great.  He mentioned that Good is the enemy of Great.  We hold on to good things that cause a stalemate or mediocrity.  Then we are not able to accomplish God’s greater plan.  Remember Paul said…I am forgetting the things behind me…are there some things you need to leave behind in 2024?

Then Jesus took on flesh and became like us

Maybe there are some things that we need to take up this coming year… Maybe more time in prayer or fasting… maybe more consistent worship… maybe more time in service to others.   Take the time to prayerfully ask how you might have the mind/attitude of Christ in the new year.

What might need to be emptied out of your life of as you look at 2025? 

What might you need to take up or take on that is different in 2025?

In our Methodist tradition this time of year was used by Wesley to renew people’s faith and commitment to Christ.  I would like for us to pray this Renewal Prayer together.

INVITATION/CHALLENGE:

– Wesley Covenant Renewal Prayer: (In unison with the Congregation)

I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your hope and service. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine, and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be confirmed in heaven. Amen.