“In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself…” Philippians 2:5-8a.
In this Christmas season, I hope that we can each take some time to reflect on the utter goodness of God in sending Jesus. As I understand it, all religions of our world make their efforts to reach God; to try to figure out how to bridge the gap from our time and space existence to whatever dimension God chooses to live. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary, a poor, young Jewish couple, is God’s clearest expression of God’s reaching into our world in an effort to re-establish and deepen relationships with His creation and His image-bearers (which would be us and all humans!).
It is so interesting to me that Jesus did not come as a conquering and/or wealthy king but as a suffering servant/leader/“king”. He washed His disciples’ feet to lead the way by His own example of servant leadership. Jesus’ way to lead was to serve. It has been so different from every other example of leadership given in our world. The more I desire to lead, the more I must empty myself. The question becomes, “Am I willing to humble myself, as He humbled Himself?”
As a human, like us, Jesus showed us the way to true and total fulfillment by serving others, not attempting to grasp His position (even though it was rightfully His, by the way!), humbling Himself, and laying His life down for the good of all humanity. And we are to have this same attitude within each one of us….
We celebrate His birth at this time of year, acknowledging God’s invasion of our world in order to give us opportunity to re-connect with Him and to serve in the world around us.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for sending us Your Son, Jesus. Thank you that He came as a humble servant and that He called us to follow His example. Give us strength, courage, and wisdom to follow. Amen.
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