Philippians 2:5-11
“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Singing Christmas carols is one of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season. I love the Christmas hymns. They are filled with joy, hope, peace, and beauty. They tell the marvelous story about a God who came to live as one of us, to love us, to teach us, and to show us how to live. That is exactly what this passage is about. There are some scholars who believe Paul was quoting lyrics from possibly one of the first hymns of our faith when he wrote this passage – a hymn about the incarnation of Christ, where we see Jesus humbly stepping down from His heavenly thrown to become a mere human. Through this action of humility and love, Jesus demonstrated what it means to serve and obey. He could have lorded Himself over us with entitlement and privilege. He certainly had every right to. But, instead, in an act of obedience to the Father, He came to us as a lowly servant, seeking to love those in need and to bring hope to the hopeless.
In this passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit, through Paul, provides us with instructions about how we, as Christians, need to be treating each other. In the verses prior to this section, Paul reminds us we need to be working together in a spirit of love, rather than in a spirit of selfishness. To do this, we need to adopt the mindset that Jesus had. Jesus was willing to give up His exalted position in heaven to become man, in order to fully accomplish His Father’s plan of salvation for mankind. You see, for Jesus, it was never about getting more power or fame; it was about giving of Himself to make sure others had what they needed. It was never about being served; it was about serving others who had nothing. It was not about supremacy; it was all about obedience to the will of the Father. It was not about selfish entitlement; it was about humble giving.
In this Christmas season, we need to personally consider how our life is reflecting the incarnational Christ, Who is living within us. Each morning, as we awake, it would be profitable to consider: how am I going to demonstrate the same attitude that Jesus had; how am I going to act out of selfless humility and obedience, rather than out of self-interest; and how am I going to be living a life of giving, rather than a life of getting?
Our culture has made Christmas all about the expectation of getting. Our kids make long lists of things they want – and to be honest, I do, too. We have an ingrained mindset that it is all about “me”. What can I get that makes me happy? It is easy to live entirely in this mindset, especially as a kid, but even still, as an adult. The incarnation challenges our cultural concepts of Christmas. It pushes us past the “me” mentality of getting to show us a better way, a way that passes peace to our neighbors. It demonstrates a deeper love and a more complete way of living. The incarnation demands that, just as Christ lived among the needy, the poor and the downcast, and loved them, we too must live among our neighbors and express the love of Christ to them. How do we love? We love by taking the lowly and humble position of obedience. And, how do we obey? We obey by giving of ourselves – not just part of ourselves, but our whole self – to the work of God’s redemptive love.
Let our humble obedience and warm giving be our Christmas hymn.
Other Side of Grace 