12/26/2021
Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of Jesus Christ, and now today we should no longer anticipate the future coming of the Messiah, but behave as believers, in the full knowledge that He has now arrived. In doing this we must realize that He humbled Himself, not by His birth as king, but by being born a servant. He served not only God the Almighty Father, but all of mankind… even the absolute least of us. So today we compare ourselves to the living Christ, but are we satisfied with what we see in our spiritual mirror, or do we still see arrogance, ambition, selfishness, and the other attributes that Jesus was born to shun?
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Philippians 2:3 ESV
Years ago I participated in a daily operational meeting at work. We would go over every problem our organization had faced in the past day, and review the status of the issues that were still being worked from prior days. Although the meeting was open to everyone, it was mainly attended by a core group of people who took on these problems, and resolved them. One day I came into our meeting room and it was packed with people. I had to look for a place to sit. Then the door opened and in walked the new Vice President over our operational group. Suddenly it made sense to me… these people were only here to be seen by Him. The meeting began, and took much longer than usual because each member of this entourage had to say something as they hoped to make an impression on this man. The next day the attendance returned to normal, and all those who had pretended to be contributors to the resolution of our problems were gone. The room contained only the small number of people who truly wanted to take on, and solve, those messy operational problems… none of those glory seekers from the day before had taken a single one.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.”
James 1:22-23 ESV
As men and women of faith we need to be careful not to approach our spirituality in this manner. We are meant to work our way through life not just acting like we care for the poor, or that we are interested in the souls of the lost, but by going about the seemingly unglamorous job of doing something about these things, and solving these earthly problems. Jesus didn’t just point out the issues in others, He gave them solutions; He rolled up His sleeves and went up on the mount to teach, fed the hungry with fishes and loaves, went into the tombs to raise the dead, put His hands into the spit and dirt to make the mud that healed the blind, and had empathy for the lost as He offered them living water. Then He died destitute, naked, bleeding, tortured, and humiliated, before all men because it was His Father’s will, and would solve the problems of mankind… the forgiveness of sin by taking their sins upon himself, and the hopeless problem they experienced in death by dying so that they might live. He wasn’t the largest financial contributor who only showed up at board meetings, the one who pointed out the faults of others but never helped overcome them, the crusader that said we need to feed the hungry, but never served a single meal… no, he was the servant who was not too good, or too high and mighty, that he wouldn’t cradle the poor in His arms despite their filth, enter the tomb where the smell of death was overpowering to raise Lazarus, or sit hungry in the hot sun to deliver the beatitudes. He was a servant in every sense of the word… even unto death, and this made Him the Son in which God announced that He was greatly pleased… who are we? What is the image of ourselves we see reflected in the mirror? Do we think that God can’t see who we really are in our hearts? Are our hands dirty, covered in mud, and yet holy beyond our ability to comprehend?
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:4-8 ESV
So in this life we are simply servants, but just like Jesus, our kingdoms are in heaven, and we all know that good leaders, and kings, rule with empathy, and humility.
“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.””
John 18:36-37 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for showing us the servant in Jesus that you would have each of us become. Thank you Lord for opening our eyes to a love for others that strips away the selfish love we have for ourselves, and humbles us before not only you, but before those whose interests we serve. Help us Father as we struggle to throw off the arrogance we exude, and to claim the humble nature of servants. Give us the heart needed to caress the suffering, and bathe the dying. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who sees beyond our shortcomings, and has offered your own Son to serve us, and perfect us… without consideration for His comfort and glory. Praised be your name for every opportunity we have to obey your will, and love those around us as we serve them within it. Merciful are you Lord who gives us plenty, not to satisfy us, but so that we can be your heart, and hands, as we provide for the least of your children. Your grace is sufficient for us, and is not manifest in glory, but in sacrifice. Wash the filth from us Father with the blood of your Son Jesus, and seat us purified, smelling of incense, and fine perfume, at your table to worship you forevermore.
““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””
Matthew 25:41-46 ESV
Rich Forbes