Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 19 December 2014 “God with us—in humble service and suffering"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 19 December 2014 “God with us—in humble service and suffering"
Daily Scripture: Philippians 2:5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Reflection Questions:
Jesus was not the kind of “king” people expected. He was not the kind of “savior” human wisdom wished for. And he was also not “God with us” in the way we might expect God to come. Today’s reading, another early Christian hymn, honored Jesus, but not by starting with his power or majesty. It praised his willingness to “empty himself” (the literal meaning of the Greek in 2:7) for us. Jesus did not demand divine prerogatives, but came to serve, and even to suffer.
• The New International Reader’s Version sums up well this hymn’s view of the depth of Jesus’ descent: “He came down to the lowest level. He obeyed God completely, even though it led to his death.” Pastor Bill Hybels wrote a book called Descending into Greatness based on this passage. Does that kind of “career path” (or “life path”) strike you as backward, or do you sense the power that it carries? How does this deepen your understanding of what it means to want to “be like Jesus”?
• Scholar H. C. Hewlett said “humility” means “the recognition of our true littleness as those dependent utterly on God.” That differs from yielding outwardly while being irate inside about someone else “winning” or depriving you of a treasured “perk.” How can that kind of humility, modeled by Jesus, open your heart to God’s love? How can it clear away inner barriers that may block us from loving one another?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, the old hymn says you could have called 10,000 angels to take you off the cross. But you didn’t—you chose to save me rather than preserve your own comfort or dignity. Help me to have your attitude in my daily life. Amen.

Insight from Darren Lippe

Darren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group & a men’s group, and serves on the Curriculum team.

It has been said that everyone needs some creed or set of principles to live by, because if you don’t know what you believe – you will believe anything. Fortunately, with the gift of Google, T-shirts, & chain emails from elderly parents, we have a huge selection of principles to help us live our lives:

•  Keep Calm & Follow Your Dreams.
•  When writing the story of your life, you get to hold the pen.
• Don’t look back; you aren’t going that way.
•  Knowledge will give you power; Character will give you respect.
•  Or there was the young boy sharing his “motto” on a drawing at school: Always Be Yourself! Unless You Can Be Batman. Then Always Be Batman.

Of course, Christianity also offers a set of guidelines/creeds to help us live our lives to the fullest. Creed comes from the Latin word, credo, which means, “I believe.” Today’s passage offers a series of statements of what we can believe about Jesus Christ. Biblical scholars debate whether this passage is an early Christian hymn or perhaps a creed of the early church, but for our purposes we’ll just consider what a paraphrase of the text might say to us today:

So, Jesus had equal status with God, Himself. But, He didn’t revel in all of the prestige He was due or take advantages of the privileges this status afforded Him. He became like a slave. Now, Jesus, once realizing His predicament, could have said, “No thanks. This isn’t what I expected. I’d like to return to being God-like.” But He didn’t. He was obedient. He was selfless. He allowed Himself to be put to death. Not just death, but death via the most excruciating means known – crucifixion.

Wow. Is this what we believe about Jesus? Do we believe that Jesus loved you & me so much that He voluntarily gave up everything He had just for us? How might/should this realization then change our lives?

Paul offers us a challenge: As we go about our relationships with one another, we should take on the same humble view that Jesus had of Himself. What might that look like? We might consider a Christmas Creed written in the 1940’s by Reverend Ormal Miller, then the Pastor at my home church (First United Methodist Church) in Topeka, Kansas. We place this card on our refrigerator each year as we put up our Christmas decorations:

I believe that Christmas is a spirit, and they that find it must seek it in spirit & in truth. I believe that it is not a season of the year, but a way to live. It comes whenever wise men & shepherds bow down at the same shrine; whenever charity displaces intolerance; whenever old enemies forgive one another; whenever kindliness takes the place of ill will. I believe in the Christmas hope as the way to life for all persons & nations. I believe that peace on earth & good will among all can become living realities in this generation.

So, as we continue to mark the progression of the Sundays of Advent, let’s prepare our hearts for Him & let’s strive to relate to others in a way that follows the example Jesus has set before us. Oh, & as a bumper-sticker proclaims, “Never Second-Guess Yourself!” (Well…maybe sometimes – Editor.)

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