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\u201cTherefore, God exalted him [Jesus] to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name\u2026\u201d (Philippians 2:9).

There are clearly undertones of our redemption in this hymn. However, as we have been suggesting, that is the counter melody. The major or dominate melody is the interaction between God and Christ Jesus. So, we continue to tread carefully, listening into the divine drama that is being played in this music.

Today\u2019s text is the turning point. We have seen Jesus letting go of his divine rights and status, humbling himself into human form and submitting to the cruelest form of human execution, the cross. Now we read, \u201cTherefore\u201d. That is, because he willingly, freely, of his own accord did this, God acts, moves, intervenes. God lifts him up.

If we know God, we should have expected this. God has revealed himself as such a God. We saw it in the story of Abraham and Sarah waiting for a son. They tried rather unsuccessfully to get a son by way of Hagar. Reflecting on their journey towards trusting God, Paul offers this, \u201cAgainst all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations\u201d (Romans 4:18). Only when all human hope was exhausted did God intervene.

A story with a similar melody is told of Israel in Egypt. When the Hebrews are reduced to pyramid building machines, God intervenes. We see it also in the life of Hannah (1 Samuel 1) and later with Zachariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1). David\u2019s rise to kingship tells this saga with more colour. Anointed the future king of Israel, he is given several opportunities to grasp the kingship while an outlaw, but he refuses. He reminds his men that it is God\u2019s responsibility to dethrone and to enthrone (1 Samuel 26:9-10). Later, in a psalm that likely came from this context, David sings, \u201cYou [God] save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty\u201d (Psalm 18:27).

This story, lived out so often in the Old Testament, is the central story of the New. Here, Paul tells it as the story between God and Jesus. And we find ourselves caught up in this profound, mysterious divine story. It is we who are the beneficiaries of this wondrous drama. Because Jesus humbled himself God exalted him, and we find ourselves redeemed.

Yet, if we jump too quickly to our redemption, we miss the point that Paul is making here. This is not primarily a story about our redemption. It is first a story about God, about his nature. Yes, it is about how God acted to redeem us, but we are meant to recognize he acted according to his own nature. And the application is: now that we are redeemed in Christ, we should live like he did. \u201cHave the same mindset as Christ Jesus\u201d (5) is Paul\u2019s point. Jesus humbled himself and trusted in God to lift him up. This is what we see so often in the biblical stories. This is how we are now invited to live.

We must listen to the melody. Jesus acts by humbling himself, God acts by exalting him. Jesus does not force God\u2019s hand, nor is the exaltation and granting of the name a payment for deeds performed. Instead, God initiated the exaltation of Jesus and \u201cfreely gave\u201d to him the most superior of names.

This is where the application becomes so difficult. If we act humbly so that God will lift us up, that is not humility, that is not the mind of Christ. We tend to get impatient; we are only willing to be humble for a time; we expect God to help us. We believe that one act of humility deserves a reward. But this does not resonate with this story.

Even as Christians, we want our names to be exalted. But we are called to live for the sake of Christ. Only as we humble ourselves for his name\u2019s sake, only as we desire the exaltation of his name are we living into the calling of this hymn. We are called to live in humility towards others, especially fellow Christians, without expectation of reward. This is the way of the gospel.