Get to the Back of the Line

Philippians 2:6-11

From humble servant to exalted King… Today’s passage brings to mind Matthew 20:16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”  Jesus very well could have used his stature as God’s son to demand obedience from others, but he didn’t.  He didn’t ask for special treatment.  He was just a man among men.

Jesus, who was everything, made himself nothing.  He didn’t take advantage of his power and authority to get out of doing things.  Instead, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross” (v. 8).

Because Jesus made himself last, God made him first.  “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (v. 9).

Jesus gives us a wonderful example.  Our adulation will not come here on earth, but with our Father in heaven.  This isn’t the time or place for a big ego.  We’re called to be humble servants who love the Lord.  If we go through this life acknowledging Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we will have done what we are called to do.  A glorious new life will be waiting, and we can trade in our humanness for a royal robe in God’s kingdom. Our riches will come in the form of salvation and eternal happiness.

Now would I still like Publisher’s Clearing House to show up at my door with an oversized check?  Certainly! But as a follower of Christ, I know where my true treasure lies.  I just need Scripture and people like Paul to keep reminding me of that.

Twice-humbled

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.  Luke 5:10b-11

It is a curious grace to reach the empty end of ourselves.  Like frustrated fishermen, we have cast enormous nets for our own glory only to be disappointed with our catch.  Whether we’ve hauled in knowledge or wealth, fame or stature, advancement or achievement, none have measured up to our expectations.  Dissatisfied, we drop our nets again and again in search for more and more, until we realize and confess the futility and mockery of “it’s all about me.”  And in these precious times of truth so convicting, we relinquish our pride so unfulfilling. 

Yet what God empties he also fills.  We are thus twice-humbled: deservedly brought low in the pride of our sinful nature, and graciously raised up as partakers in Christ’s divine nature.  Is it any wonder when called to follow Jesus, Peter and his friends left it all behind to follow him?  And doesn’t his love compel us to do the same?

Then how amazing the things God does through people humbled in their flesh and living boldly in the humility of Christ!  For, who but the heart awakened by grace rises to seek and to serve those once distanced in indifference or contempt?  Who releases grudges held against others but those who sigh in relief over their own sins forgiven?  Who lives as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God but those he has liberated from fear?  Who stands in prayer against the powers of darkness but the one who has overcome them in Christ?  And only in the love and power of Christ’s sacrifice do we sacrifice our life, in turn, for him.  

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time,” wrote Peter (1 Peter 5:6).  He’d seen it modeled somewhere before ... 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11 

Humble by Nature

Humility: the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people

Philippians 2:4-5 (NIV)  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Jesus took the nature of a servant; His attitude was always one of loving by serving.  Remember the meal shared with his disciples, His final meal on earth, where He washed the feet of these men.   After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:5 (NIV) This was an act of supreme humility which was a natural outpouring of Jesus' love.

What does humility look like in my life?  Can it be seen easily?  Christ was willing to give up his rights as God and King by humbling himself.  The cross was meekness at its finest.  Jesus loved us so much he endured the humiliation of desertion, derision, and death.

Living a humble existence puts you before me. How do I do this?  This type of living can be as simple as letting the man in the grocery line with one or two items step in front of me.  Or, it can be a bit more challenging endeavor when we allow someone to have the final say in an argument while listening intently to their point.

Humility is the opposite of supercilious, (don't you love that word?). Humility and love go hand in hand; it is an outpouring of love that says, "You are more important than I."


Philippians 2