People don’t usually look for ways to get demoted. They try to go up the ladder of success not down. But if the eternal Son of God had a birthday on that first Christmas, it was a voluntary choice for demotion. It was the ultimate pay cut. It was the ultimate story of riches to rags. And he did it willingly. The Creator willingly became part of his creation. The Master Artist willingly became part of his painting. The Eternal One willingly became part history and subject to time. The Apostle Paul’s Carmen Christi (“Hymn to Christ”) in Philippians 2:5-11 describes just how low he went. And then how high.

The song is a summary of his full journey—as represented by the Passion Sunday donkey (humiliation) and the Palm Sunday palms (exaltation). In fact, the Carmen Christi becomes the Carmen Patri (“Hymn to the Father”). But why? How does a hymn that is so radically focused on Jesus Christ end up being a hymn “to the glory of God the Father” (v. 11)? That’s the question we seek to answer in this sermon, one in which we learn that self-emptying love is what true godliness looks like. No wonder Jesus said on more than one occasion, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11, 18:14).

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