His was a lowly birth. His mom and dad's marriage vows were tainted with vicious rumors afloat due to her suspect pregnancy. While Jesus was certainly mild-mannered enough and intentionally obedient to both Joseph and Mary, he was not one who earned great esteem among the neighbors. His family didn't really possess high ranking in the social community.
While his colleagues carried six-shooters at the hip (remember Peter, the sword, the missing ear?), he was like Andy Griffith with no gun. When the opposition decided to ridicule, he let them. When they spat in his face, he merely wiped it off. When they clocked him with a right to the jaw, he offered the left side of his face. Jesus fought; not by passivity, but by aggressive restraint.
He lowered himself lower than the angels which is a mighty stretch from whence he came. He was such a lowly man his resume includes capital punishment between two thieving thugs and then he had to borrow a grave. The latter was a good move because he was seldom home those first three days....and then he permanently moved on making the borrowed tomb merely a brief stay at the Residence Inn.
You need to be reminded of Jesus' lowliness as you feel similar emotions at times. Surely some of you feel crappy. Surely you wonder if you are doing any good as darkness seems to always win. It should not surprise you to discover your role seems meager as the odds are stacked against you. Yet, what are the odds of life springing from death? You possess...not those odds...those facts. You are to live in resurrection power.
Such odds/facts reverse your move, your plan, your approach, your day! Be aggressively restrained from putting on the gloves and entering the ring ready for a good fight on their turf. Absorb their jabs. Die right in front of them. But determine to arise ever ready to rescue the ones who just took you out.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:3-7).
This.....this my friend.....is the pattern of the lowly disciple.
2 comments:
It is so much easier to lash out when we feel someone or something has done us wrong. It is much harder to just take it and then let it go. But I find I feel so much better when after my initial response to want to take action, I just let it go. Thanks for the powerful reminder. Have a wonderful weekend!
Are preachers allowed to use the word "crappy"? My wife says I shouldn't. I tell her it's much better than the word I used to say back in the South!!
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