Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Humble Service

      Many find it hard to be humble. Humility does not come easily since Adam and Eve sinned in Eden.  The devil’s temptation appealed to their pride. He insinuated that God was holding out on them.  If they would only eat the forbidden fruit they would become like God. Furthermore they would gain knowledge of good and evil.  They succumbed. Humanity has been vulnerable to pride every since. Instead of serving God and looking out for the welfare of others, people focus on themselves. The sixteenth century Reformers of the Church saw sin as people being turned inward rather than outward.  People have been navel gazing ever since Eden.

Words like meekness and humility are okay for someone else but they are not the most desirable traits one picks for himself. After all, “This is the ME generation.”  Narcissism is on the increase.  “What do I get out of this?” “What’s in it for me?” People use these questions to weigh their decisions, participation or expenses.  If the personal benefits are not clear many people decline involvement. Traits of lending a hand to a neighbor on a project are a vestige of bygone days.  Some families still do this but with the dramatic collapse of the nuclear family this is also not as common as it once was.  If someone is meek society considers them weak.  Perhaps they suffer from an inferiority complex and low self-esteem. A humble person is one that others feel they can walk all over, just like they would a doormat. It’s easy to understand why humility and meekness are less desirable traits in our modern world. 

Have they ever been popular?  The Pharisees saw themselves as pious laymen determined to fulfill every demand of the six hundred plus laws they placed around the Ten Commandments.  This left them open to the charge of hypocrisy when their actions did not match their intentions.  Pride was a very real temptation for them as was their failure to love their neighbor as themselves. Jesus is in the home of a ruler of the Pharisees.  Jesus continues to challenge their thinking with mercy, grace and compassion.  These were traits He did not see often among them. They, in turn, did not see Jesus as the Savior but instead were intent on catching Him in hypocrisy.

It was a Sabbath Day when no work could be done by faithful Jews and Pharisees.  Jesus used the Sabbath previously to teach and to heal.  They watched him carefully within this home.  A man was present who suffered from dropsy.  This is a term you do not hear much anymore. It refers to the retention of fluids by the body. You may know it by the term edema. It is associated with a couple of things including kidney problems or congestive heart failure.  Dropsy can make a person very uncomfortable. Jesus asks the scribes and the Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not.  They refused to answer.  Jesus healed the man and sent him on his way.

Jesus presents them with a practical problem.  “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (Luke 14:5).  They could not reply to Jesus without exposing themselves to the charge of hypocrisy.  Jesus demonstrates a true servant’s heart.  He put the interest of this man and his health to the forefront.  Rather than leave the man in this condition any longer than necessary, Jesus healed him.  The answer to the question Jesus raised was, “Yes, of course, if my son or an animal fell into a well, I would waste no time getting him out.” To leave them where they have fallen might be a sentence of death before the Sabbath was over.  If the scribes and Pharisees affirmed this they could not trap Jesus with this healing.

The Lord Jesus observes human activity with great interest.  He notes how they competed with each other for the seat of honor at the table.  Instead of thinking that you are the guest of honor, be content to take a lowly seat.  The host will correct the arrangements if necessary.  It is better to be brought up from a lower spot than to be humiliated and moved to sit with the rest of the crowd.“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).  This is affirmed in Philippians two:  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

Putting others first, ahead of Himself, is the way of Jesus Christ.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the very form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  There God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

Jesus practiced what He preached.  As closely watched as He was, His enemies could not agree on a single charge against Him when He was on trial before the High Priest.  Jesus put your interests ahead of His own.  He didn't become a man, suffer, be crucified, died and buried for Himself.  He did it for you.  He took your place and mine. He took our punishment and gives us love.  He bore our transgressions and gives us forgiveness.  He absorbed our selfishness in exchange for His mercy and grace.  He did this not only for you and me but for sinners everywhere of all time and places.

When Jesus spreads out His table before us in the presence of our enemies, He knows that we cannot pay the cover charge or tip, let alone the cost of the entrée.  Sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes are numbered with the poor, crippled, lame, blind and those in prison.  We cannot repay Jesus for what He has done.  At best, we “pay it forward.”  Having received mercy, we show mercy.  Receiving grace we are graceful to others.  Forgiven of our sins, we forgive those who trespass against us.  This is loving your neighbor as yourself.  This is looking out for the interests of others ahead of your own.  This is the way of the cross, the way of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He makes humble service chic and desirable, Amen.

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