He Came to Serve and to Give

Philippians 2:6-7 (NIV) ⁶  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

In His book Dying to Preach Steven Smith develops an illustration to draw out the meaning of this text and help us think about what Jesus did in the Incarnation…

“While Christ took on the form of a human, he set aside his rights as God. In other words, all of Christ's time on earth he was always Godlike. When he was tried in Samaria, he was all-powerful; when he was asking questions in the temple, he was all-knowing; and when he was present in a particular place, he was omnipresent. It is simply that he made a choice not to take hold of what was always, and always will be, his—namely, his God-like properties.

Imagine that you are visiting a hospital. You cannot find a parking place close to the hospital, so you park way in the back, and now you are lost. You stop another driver in the lot to ask directions, and he kindly says that he will just park beside you and walk with you to where you need to be in the hospital. Now suppose that as you get to the front of the hospital, you find out that this man is actually the chief surgeon of the hospital, and as you near the door, he adds, "Oh, yes, and this is my parking place." He had a superior advantage because of his status. However, in deference to your needs, he did not take his rightful parking spot but walked with you the whole way. So here is the question: As he was walking with you, did he stop being a doctor? No. Did he have a parking place? Yes. He had all of these things and at any time could have laid hold of those things and used them, but for your sake he just chose not to in that particular moment.

As thin as that metaphor is, it illustrates that Christ's walking among human beings did not mean he was not God. Then why did he not reverse his tiredness or overcome all his physical limitations? It is because if he were to override his humanity, he would not have been fully in the form of a man and therefore could not fully empathize with our weakness or save us by his perfect life. The Incarnation was not just an event at Bethlehem. The Incarnation was the moment-by-moment choice of Christ to lay down his privileges, his rights as God, and to acquiesce to ungrateful sinners every second in order to effect our salvation.”

            Jesus was the ultimate servant. His life is the very definition of sacrifice. He lived and died in a totally others-centered manner. And because of it, His Father was and is glorified again and again in greater and greater glory. Jesus’ obedience means our salvation. May your Christmas be blessed with the joy that these truths bring.

Mark 10:45 (NIV)  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV) ¹⁷  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV) ¹⁵  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. ¹⁶  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for the willingness of your Son to lower himself for my sake, and for the sake of the world. Give me grace to comprehend just how far Jesus went for me, and may I always worship him appropriately because of such love. In His name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

"Must-Have" Prayer

Philippians 4:19 (NIV)  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

The website Statistic Brain has tracked the "must-have Christmas gift" for the past few decades. In 1983 everyone had to have a cabbage patch doll. In 1984 we just had to have a $30 Trivial Pursuit game. In 1989 American households scrambled to get a new Game Boy, followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990. Then in 1995 it was the Beanie Baby craze, and the 1999 Razor Scooter frenzy. In the ensuing years American consumers knocked themselves out to buy the following top yearly must-have Christmas gifts: a new iPod (2002), A Wii (2006), an iPad (2010), the Angry Birds Board Game (2011), and the Doc McStuffins doll (2013). This year’s big winner looks to be the Frozen Sing-Along Elsa Doll (2015).

Anything on this this list that you or your children ever wanted… badly? In my youth I spent many a Christmas wanting so much more than “my two front teeth”. I made my lists and wrote my letters. Recently Joanne and I found a well-written letter to Santa from Brianne when she was quite young. It was so polite. We laughed when we thought about how “bad” a year it must have been for her, because we did not remember her getting anything on the list… and it wasn’t because she had been bad.

Our “want lists” are rarely satisfied completely. If they are, they are soon replaced with new lists. But most people I know do not get everything they want. As I have gotten older my lists have gotten shorter. I’m always telling Joanne and our kids “I don’t want anything. I don’t need anything.” So does Joanne. I remember my dad saying that when I was young and thinking, “He’s crazy!” I couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting anything. I always wanted stuff. As you grow out of childhood the “stuff” changes. It gets much more expensive. Our kids learned not to bother asking if it was something very high in cost, even though they might have wanted it. In adulthood many of our wants change from things (stuff) to the less tangible: more time, more sleep, less busyness, more quiet, less stress, less worry, etc.

Some of my prayers – perhaps many – over the years have approached God with a “must-have” mentality. I’ve gone to Him with things (usually things that were wants, not needs) that I had to have. Imagine that: me, a finite, limited person presuming I could inform God what I must have. As my faith has matured, I am learning to ask God for what He – in His wisdom – deems best for me. In His infinite knowledge and love He always provides for my needs. When my wants are in tune with what He wants for me, I receive those as well. The secret is to want what He wants. Paul referred to this as contentment. John Piper describes it as being satisfied with all that God is for me in Jesus Christ. Oh, that my prayer life could be focused on more of what God wants and less of what I want. Then I would never have to worry about God saying “No!” to my prayers, because He will always say “Yes!” to His own will.

May we have an attitude of “must-have” in prayer about everything God says we must have.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) ¹¹  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Romans 8:31-32 (NIV) ³¹  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) ¹⁴  This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵  And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.

PRAYER:  Father, you have given me everything in Christ. Thank you. Let that be the focus of all my joy and desire. In His name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

            It goes by the word “nostalgia” – that sentimental longing for the past… a wistful affection directed toward a time gone by. It is usually accompanied by strong memories of people and the experiences we have shared with them. Holidays are a prime time for feelings of nostalgia. I found this out recently. I was home alone doing up some dishes while listening to some Christmas music on Pandora. The songs were mostly old standards of popular Christmas music that I grew up listening to in the sixties. For me this was a kind of “golden age” for Christmas. Christmas seemed simpler then. Maybe it’s just because I was a child and life was a whole lot simpler. So much of what I see and hear around me and in the world these days seems very tacky. Perhaps when I was a kid there were older folks who felt the same way about even earlier days. Anyway, I began to think about my childhood home and all of the blessings I had known there. The longer I listened the more I thought about those times, and the more I felt… well… nostalgic. I found myself over the kitchen sink with tears in my eyes. I was thinking about my dad and missing him… and about Joanne’s mom and dad and her/us missing them. I was thinking about family times at Christmas in days gone by. And they were fond memories. Memories can be good, but as time goes on, things change. Change is one of the natural laws of life, and accepting change gracefully – even with a warm embrace – is a valuable practice in our lives.

            Yet now and then the times come when we will cast our gaze on days gone by. When I talked with Joanne later about this experience, it was not from a “sad that I had to go through that” perspective. I felt happy to have had those moments, even though they brought some tears. There was a certain peace and joy about it. This kind of release of emotion can be beneficial. It wouldn’t be healthy for me to live in/for the past, but going to visit can be quite nice. It’s like I told Joanne in the years just after we got married: I enjoy going to visit your parents in Brooklyn… I enjoy visiting the city. But after a few days (of city life, not Joanne’s parents), I’ve got to get away. The old saying was true… “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” If you are a city person, please be gracious with me. It’s likely that you have the same feeling – in an opposite way – about the country or about small town life. We like what we’re used to, but we can’t always stay there.

            Anyway, nostalgia can only do so much for you. The past is good for us to remember and learn from, but it’s not a good place for a dwelling. Living in the past can be an escape and can keep us from a daily, abiding walk with the Lord that eagerly steps into each new day full of His mercies and pregnant with His unfolding purpose. Our God never changes… He is the God of the old as well as the new. Whenever you look “back”, I pray you will be able to trace His love and the unfolding of His plan. In your moment by moment experience of the present, I pray you will be confident of His steadfast presence leading you. And regarding the unknown future ahead, I pray you will not live in fear, but will be assured that the God of your past and present will be the same tomorrow.

Psalm 102:23-27 (NIV) ²³  In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days. ²⁴  So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. ²⁵  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ²⁶  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. ²⁷  But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

Lamentations 3:22-26 (NIV) ²²  Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴  I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." ²⁵  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; ²⁶  it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Malachi 3:6 (NIV)  "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

Hebrews 1:10-12 (NIV) ¹⁰  He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. ¹²  You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

James 1:17 (NIV)  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that you are immutable… that you are the same today as you were a thousand years ago… a million years ago… for all eternity. This truth helps me know that I can trust you, and that your word is just as true now as when it was written. Thank you that, though everything around me and in my life is constantly changing, you do not. You are truly my rock and my refuge whatever comes my way in life. I hide in your unchanging love. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Giving Is Always in Season

Acts 20:35 (NIV)  In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

            About a year ago The Boston Globe reported a story about giving by reporter Kiera Blessing. Here is the gist of it:

            The Salvation Army receives some strange items in its red kettles during the Christmas season. Lieutenant Michael Harper, commander of the Cambridge Salvation Army in Boston said, "In addition to money, I've seen watch batteries, paper clips, safety pins, all sorts of strange things, but this one takes the cake." The gift was a diamond engagement ring given by a widow in honor of her late husband. The charity says the anonymous benefactor placed the diamond ring—valued at $1,850 (according to the woman’s appraisal)—and her wedding band in one of the kettles placed outside Boston's North Station. The rings were donated along with a note honoring the benefactor's late husband: "I've dropped my wedding ring in your Red Kettle knowing that the money from its sale will buy toys for needy children," the woman wrote. "In all seasons, my husband was a giver. I especially remember his joy in giving at Christmastime, especially to those in need. To honor his memory, I donate this ring." The rings sold a few days later for an astonishing $21,000, eleven times their appraised value. The anonymous donor did give some clue to part of her motivation, writing a short proverb at the bottom of her note: "To find out what a man is worth, take away his money and his possessions."

            There are many opportunities placed before us – especially in December - to give. May the Lord give you wisdom and grace in your giving, so that you may give joyfully and experience the fullness of the blessing Jesus promises to givers. Though you might not be placing an engagement ring in a kettle, it is the act that counts. Jesus puts no boundaries on the blessing. Whatever the size of any gift, blessing comes to the giver.

Matthew 2:11 (NIV)  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Proverbs 22:9 (NIV)  A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for every opportunity to give that you place before me. Open my heart to the joy and blessing  that comes with these opportunities. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott