Coming in Humility

bringing good news of great joy

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,"  Hebrews 1:1-2a

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel"  Matthew 1:23

"And this will be a sign for you:  you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  Luke 2:12

If you were God and you wanted to speak to wayward and faithless people through your son, how would you go about it?  Our human wisdom would send someone clothed in signs of Authority and Glory to command their attention and respect.  But God sent his Son as a newborn child, as weak and vulnerable as human beings can be.  The son's paternity was surrounded by scandal -- and his first place to sleep was a feeding trough in a barn.  Where we would make a big deal, God provided His Son with an incredibly humble beginning.

We know that all through his life, Jesus experienced the humiliation of rejection and the disrespect of religious leaders who tried to discredit and entrap him.  It culminated with the humiliation of the Cross.  Where we try for recognition and significance, Jesus allowed himself to be misunderstood and denigrated.

"all things were made through him..."  Glorious!

God has been speaking to me about this lately by uncovering pride.  He has done this by allowing me to see how angry I can become when I feel dominated.  No one wants to feel inferior or stepped on, of course, but I know (at least in my head) that no one can make me feel that way unless I let them.

When I was wrestling with these feelings in a recent situation, I was reminded that comparison and competition for approval or recognition are signs of striving for a sense of significance once again.  We are created to be significant, not to gain adulation, but to bring something really important and unique to our portion of the world.  But this God given purpose can get so distorted by sin.  The truth is, each one of us is significant because of who God made us to be and because the Spirit of Jesus Christ lives in and through us.  No one can take that away.

it wasn't like our romanticized nativity scenes...

But God had something more to show me!  He reminded me that Jesus laid down all outward evidence of his true significance - his divinity, his glory, his rightful power, in order to be a servant of God's redeeming purpose.  He led me to remember Philippians 2 where I eagerly read:  "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves....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 made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." ( verses 3; 5-7 italics mine)

"Where is he who is born king of the Jews?"

What a lovely time to be thinking about the humility of Jesus as we approach our celebration of His birth.  We now know that it was a magnificent day when Mary laid him in the manger and the heavenly hosts sang to the shepherds in the fields; when the Spirit called wise and learned kings to find him.  Isn't it astounding that these men traveled for many weeks certain that it was their privilege to bring gifts and to worship this child?  We appreciate all this now, but it was mostly hidden then.  There must have been times when Mary and Joseph needed all their faith to remember that the plans and purposes of God Himself were interwoven with their hardships.

It helps me a lot to think that this humble mind of Jesus is ours as well in Him.  Our significance is not measured in earthly terms, but in heavenly ones.  I pray that Christmas will transform my heart this year by the humility of Jesus in the face of his true majesty.  It seems that God is fond of using a still small voice when He shares tremendous secrets.  Only those who listen intently will hear Him.

signs of the Advent at church

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power."  Hebrews 1:3a

"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17

Thank you, Jesus.