In his sermon titled 'Attitude Check - Philippians 2:1-11,' Martin McCorkle explores the profound implications of the incarnation of Christ, drawing a parallel between the preparation for the Queen of England's visit to Yosemite and the way people should prepare their hearts for Christ. He emphasizes the incomprehensibility of the incarnation, noting that God became fully human while remaining fully divine, a concept that is both amazing and challenging to understand. McCorkle discusses the importance of Christ's example of humility and service, urging listeners to adopt a similar mindset, focusing on others' needs rather than their own. He highlights the significance of incarnational ministry, encouraging believers to leave their comfort zones and serve others selflessly. The sermon also touches on the dangers of pride and the freedom found in living a life dedicated to God. Ultimately, McCorkle calls for an imitation of Christ's humility, service, and sacrificial love.

Let's pray together. Lord Christ we pray that you would show us who you are. And Having shown us Who you are Give us the courage to follow you Amen When I was in my early 20s, I was working in Yosemite National Park at the Iwanyi Hotel, the classiest or at least most expensive hotel in Yosemite. I did various jobs there. I was a maid, janitor, stuff like that.

And then one day we heard a rumor. The Queen of England was coming to our hotel. And very quickly this rumor was confirmed. And everything changed. First, sorry if you had reservations.

The entire hotel was vacated. They just said you can't come. Nobody but the Queen and her entourage. Sorry if that was your life plan to go to Yosemite, you missed it. The Queen's coming.

And every floor was buffed, every service dusted. My housekeeping manager got on her hands and knees with a toothbrush and went along the edge of the carpet to make sure it was spotless for the queen. I actually got to work while she was there, a few of us did. And when she left, she walked through the lobby and I was able to stand there She was a very Rebecca was that it's about that far away from the Queen. She was being ex Escorted by the company's president.

She didn't see me. She didn't smile at me. She walked out. I think about this story all the time. Especially around Advent.

Now, Jason has been teaching creation. He's doing a great job. I don't want to touch anything he's doing I Want him to do it love it, so I thought well Creation is a great act of God today. Let's talk about incarnation The second if you would great act of God so if you have a Bible turn to Philippians chapter 2 And let me start reading in verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and Coming in the likeness of men How does that strike you You know I say familiarity breeds contempt I say that a lot so what happens?

You forget that familiarity breeds contempt. That's a joke. You can't laugh. That's okay. But follow me here.

Creation kind of makes sense to me. That God would create. I can track that But the incarnation of Christ Is the strangest Bizarre st. Most surprising most incomprehensible thing that could possibly happen. It is so, so amazing.

New superlatives can get close to this. It's beyond understanding. Two things I want to do today. First, Christ's example what did we just see happen God became human Now there are a lot of rabbit trails in this text about language Not doing rabbit trails today. I Want to get the application?

Because we know the truth of the incarnation Jesus Christ was one person who was fully man and fully God Does that make sense? Do I get that? No Do I believe it's true? Yes. Is this what the scripture teaches?

Yes. So you see four steps down. From God to servant, to man. God became human. Now typically we emphasize the divinity of Christ, and that's right.

But you cannot forget Christ was fully man. Now think about the incarnation narratives. You know, it's so hard because Christmas time comes and you dress your kids up in sheep costumes. And we did that. We have this great picture of my two oldest sons with sheep ears.

It's just wonderful. You know, and the kids dress up as angels, and we have Christmas festivals. It's all good. But it's not anything like the Incarnation that counts. Think about The angels sang, but people didn't.

The shepherds heard, but kings didn't. The great of England got the whole hotel. Jesus couldn't get a room. Couldn't get our room. Wiseman came from the east.

Why, where, were the wisemen there? Why were they to come? And who is the only person Herod. And why is Herod want to know about Jesus? To kill him.

Of all the things you can say about the incarnation narratives, in the adjectives you could use, Merry, as in Merry Christmas, is not one of them. It is sad that this happened and we were Clueless. We didn't care. We were not interested. And that's just the beginning.

Christ did not think it was robbery, it wasn't. He was okay to let this go and to serve us And to become a man And I like and I must go this far I Can see the incarnation happening and God leading us and teaching us I Can imagine that I read a lot of science fiction. So I can imagine that. But what happens in our text? Look at verse 8.

And being found in human form, he umbs himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross I Can't what? This is an alien love we we can't get this. And yet, this is God. The purpose of God in eternity was to do this, because it's an expression of our amazing God. God would freely do this.

And Christ Christ his son did it. Now remember how our text began. Jesus was this way. Now it's your turn. Did you get that?

Two. Our imitation. We follow a hated, beaten, crucified Master, who taught us in John 15, no servant is greater than his master. We'll talk about the trees in a moment, but I want to get to the forest first. Lock and load.

Listen. There is nothing you could do on earth. No life more base, filthy, abused, neglected, Or difficult that even gets on the same scale as incarnation None The incarnation the creator Comes to creation and then dies for us I Remember one person saying well the incarnation is like us becoming an ant and Becoming an ant so we can tell them there's a flood coming. Let's go get high tired around And that's not bad. There's some good things there But answer still the creation It's still not even close There is no job that is beneath you.

There is no act of service so low that you are too high for it. There is no place you can live that is not good enough for you. Do you believe that? So let's talk about some trees first. Our service.

Jesus became a servant. In verse four of this chapter, Paul said this, let each of you look not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Do you see the connection? It's incarnation. Jesus did not concern himself with his interests, but with the fathers and with ours How do you deck that way do you think about that?

Let me give you a suggestion. Listen to people. Do you see the connection? Taylor does not. Love that.

So, Christ left his world to come to ours You know one of the things I love about the incarnation He spent 30 years here and didn't say a word. Now these preach iguanas, he just lived like a normal guy for 30 years, then started his ministry. When I talk to people, I say in my spirit, I want to leave my world and go to theirs. I want to know what their concerns are. I try to look at them, turn off your phone, ask questions, and pay attention, and go to their world.

That is incarnation. That is incarnational ministry. James did some great teaching on wisdom. What did he tell us to be quick at? Be quick to listen be slow to In other words Don't be all about your world Let it go Pay attention to someone else As a young man a young Christian I was talking to somebody about how you pick churches, And he said to me, make sure they have a good missions program.

Why? What is missions? Is people leaving their worlds To go to a completely different one To be as close to those other people as possible in the way they live and act and eat and breathe and live So that they can bring Christ in them that is incarnation That is who our Lord is Service is simply forgetting about your world, Coming to someone else's let's talk about status, okay In verse 3 of this chapter Paul said let nothing be done with selfish ambition or conceit But in loneliness of mine let each esteem others better than himself." Boy, we've got to get off this train of status. It just kills us. It just kills us.

And its pride is so insidious. I remember one time I was pastoring a church in a college town. And every summer there were tons of weddings, like a factory of weddings. And one summer I had about three in a row with really good friends. And Rebecca and I all sat at the head table.

We got kind of used to being at the head table. So the next wedding, I got done with the wedding and went to the wedding reception, sauntered over to the head table, looked for my name. I wasn't there. Started looking around, kept getting further and further away. So I got to the back and found my name with the common folk.

And I had to chuckle because it's a parable. It's exactly a parable. Jesus said, don't go to a wedding and sit in the front. Because otherwise they're going to send you to the back. Boom!

I don't want to sit in the front anymore. I kind of like the back. Briefly, imitate him in your death We're all going to die Die the death God has for you and diet for his glory As I was working through this text one idea just kept floating through my mind Freedom There's no force in this text do you see that Jesus doesn't make God the Father didn't force him to do this. He wanted to. This was who he is.

And oh, can you taste the freedom of not caring about what people think and only loving God and how simple and beautiful such a life becomes. It is ours. For the joy set before him, Christ endured the cross. For the joy set before you Join Christ in his incarnation. Let's pray Lord Jesus, thank you for who you are.

Thank you for this unbelievable example. Thank you for saving us. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.