One day
the man carrying water out of the well shaft slipped and broke his leg. There was only one man in the tribe who was
strong enough to carry a man out of the well.
That man was the tribe’s chief.
The chief
customarily wore a massive headdress and ceremonial robe. However, in order to rescue the man in the
well he had to remove both. He descended
down the well, put the injured man on his shoulders, and removed him to
safety.
In the
same way we were at the bottom of pit.
We were dead in our rebellion and sin.
Jesus saw us from heaven, removed his glory, took on a human nature and
descended to a cross to rescue us.
How does
his example affect how we live?
Stand firm when people hate you because of Jesus (1:27-30)
Our
reading begins with the Paul calling us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy
of the gospel. What does this mean? It involves standing firm in one spirit, contending as one person for the faith of
the gospel, without being afraid in any way of those who oppose you (28-29). As people who have been rescued by our humble
chief, we are to stand together out of loyalty to him.
The
message of our chief is not an easy one for people to hear. We live amongst a people who base their image
on being ‘a good person.’ Even when our
children do wrong, we are not to say they are bad, but that they are good kids
who have done a bad king. Then Jesus
comes along and calls us evil. He says
that he is our only hope. He is
politically incorrect that he claims that he alone is the way to the Father. No one else has come done the well to rescue
us!
I
sometimes wonder if my friends are happy enough to tolerate my faith simply
because I haven’t been clear enough about what I believe.
Stick together as you imitate Christ (2:1-5)
One of
the keys to standing together is to imitate our humble chief. If he was willing to take off his heavenly
robes and descend down to the pit of the cross for us, should we not be willing
to humble ourselves to serve each other?
How can we say that we are his disciples and refuse to follow his
example? Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves.
Each of you should not only look to his own interests, but also the
interests of others. Your attitude
should be the same of Jesus Christ (3-4).
In a
foreign country, missionaries put on a meal for some international
visitors. They entertained with a lavish
meal. There was food left over. So, they said to a local man, ‘why don’t you
take some of this to your wife and family?’
He declined. They insisted, and
he declined again. ‘Why not?’, they
protested. ‘I don’t carry,’ he
replied. That man was too proud to be
seeing carrying anything, so his family missed out on a feast.
We might
look down at such obvious pride, but aren’t we proud too? We are just very subtle with our pride! Or maybe we are just too lazy! We know someone needs help, but we pretend
that we have not noticed. We know if we
offer a hand, they might say yes. We
lack generosity with our time. We lack
charity with our words. We know that
someone is feeling burdened, but we are too busy to listen. God forgive us. We are so unlike our chief!
The way up is to bow down (2:6-11)
Do you
see how verses six to eleven are laid out differently? That is to indicate that what we have here is
a poem or a song. It seems that Paul is
either quoting or composing a song about Jesus.
This song is about the attitude of Christ, and it centres on Jesus’
humility.
Your
attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in nature God, did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant
(more literally ‘a slave’), being made in human likeness (6-7).
When the
chief took off his robes and descended down the well, he did not stop being the
chief. Similarly, when Jesus left heaven
and took on the body on a man, he did not stop being God the Son.
What
Jesus did for us was infinitely more impressive than that African chief. Having enjoyed the Father and Spirit for all
eternity, he was born in Bethlehem to a poor family. Our king never owned a home, yet alone a
palace. He didn’t take on an impressive
body but had nothing in his appearance that we should admire him. He was misunderstood by his family, betrayed
by his friends, despised by the elites, and he experienced the most shameful of
deaths—that of a Roman cross, naked with people mocking and spitting at him.
The one
who causes the mighty cedars to grow is born and placed in a manger made
wood. The one who hung stars in space
learned how to hang doors on their frames.
He who stand out side of time was made in time. He who made mankind was made within a
womb. He was given existence by a mother
he had brought into existence. He was
carried in hands he had formed (adapted from Augustine). No Roman citizen could be crucified, and it
was a subject that was not to be spoken of in polite company. The Jews considered a curse of God. But Jesus did not consider it beneath his
dignity.
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 confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (9-11).
This is a
very important verse in proving that Jesus is God. The Jehovah Witnesses
believe that Jesus is the archangel Michael.
But the New Testament constantly uses titles and descriptions of God and
applies them to Christ. Before me every knee will bow (Isaiah
45:23).
I don’t
think that chief was any less wonderful when he took off his robes and
descended down that well. He was still
their chief and his people marvelled at his kindness. He descended into that dirty well as the only
one who could rescue the endangered man.
When he emerged from the well and put on his robes, I think that the
people will have loved him more than they had before. He would have been somehow more glorious than
if had not helped.
Our
chief, Jesus is somehow more glorious now than before he came to earth. The resurrected Christ has now been restored
to the right hand of God the Father. He
actually remains in his resurrection body.
We will worship the lamb who was slain.
We will gaze upon the scars that were for us.
The way
up is to bow down. The humblest task is
to do those things that no-one notices. Don’t
get overly upset if no-one says thanks.
Don’t get mad if you feel taken for granted. It’s not like we spend all our time thanking
Jesus for all he does for us. The most
important person to please is the person who never takes his eyes off us, our
heavenly Father. The most important place
to please him is with the attitude of our heart. The apostle Paul told the slaves at Ephesus:
‘Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of
heart, just as you would obey Christ.
Obey them not only to win favour when their eyes are on you, but like
slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving
the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for
whatever good he does whether he is a slave or free’ (Ephesians 6:5-8). In other words, Christ will share his
heavenly glory with those who humble themselves for others. The way up is to bow down!
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