Day 4: Jesus and others and you
“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever among you would be greatest must be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45 - MEV).
God of mercy, God of grace, You pour Your lavish grace into our lives and You send us out to be channels of grace in a broken and hurting world: As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10 - NKJV).
But You call us to a service beyond our own human strivings—a service taught and modeled by the Lord Jesus, who being in very nature God...made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness... (Philippians 2:6-7).
In the teachings, in the actions, in the very life of Jesus every human philosophy was upended as, with authority, He dismantled the sinful norms of a broken world (Matthew 5-7).
For us, His teachings seem to create a vulnerablitity and an exposure that we are unable or unwilling to assume, but yet Jesus, the Lord of Glory Himself was willing and able to go beyond all that He has asked of us.
He was clear that His actions were an example for us: Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet (John 13:14). But we know this is only possible by the Holy Spirit, the Divine Helper our Lord requested on our behalf (John 14:16).
Jesus communicated the reality quite bluntly, "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Yet He gave the promise that if we keep His commands we remain in His love. And He revealed this as a reason for joy, "I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:10-11).
Help us, Father! Even as we deal with the horrible consequences of the "human way", even as we cry out in misery and despair at the state of the world, we balk at the "Jesus way" and persist in self-absorption, self-interest, and self-promotion.
Teach us to embrace the joy proclaimed in angel song. Teach us the joy of loving service—the joy of remaining in Your love as we follow Your command to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself.
Jesus, and others and you, what a wonderful way to spell JOY (B. Metzger, 1951)
Down from His glory,
Ever living story,
My God and Savior came,
And Jesus was His Name;
Born in a manger,
To His own a stranger,
A Man of sorrows, tears and agony.
Refrain:
Oh, how I love Him! How I adore Him!
My breath, my sunshine, my all in all;
The great Creator became my Savior,
And all God’s fullness dwelleth in Him.
What condescension,
Bringing us redemption;
That in the dead of night,
Not one faint hope in sight,
God, gracious, tender,
Laid aside His splendor,
Stooping to woo, to win, to save my soul.
Without reluctance,
Flesh and blood His substance,
He took the form of man,
Revealed the hidden plan,
Oh, glorious myst’ry,
Sacrifice of Calv’ry,
And now I know Thou art the great “I Am.”
~ William E. Booth-Clibborn ~1921
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