From the Pastor’s Study

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
    who, though he was in the form of God,
        did not regard equality with God
        as something to be exploited,
    but emptied himself,
        taking the form of a slave,
        being born in human likeness.
                        And being found in human form,
                                     he humbled himself
                                    and became obedient to the point of death--
                                    even death on a cross.
                                                            --Philippians 2:5-8 [NRSV]  

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!  Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by, born that men no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
                                    --Charles Wesley, "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" 

As we approach the feast of the incarnation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I want you to note a theme that appears in both of the quotes above, the humility of the Son of God.  Paul says, “…Christ Jesus, … though he was in the form of God, … emptied himself…”  Charles Wesley makes the same point when he says, “Mild he lays his glory by…”  For Paul, Christ’s humility becomes the basis for our humility.  Therefore, Advent and Christmas are a good time to reflect on the virtue of humility.   

For the pre-Christian world humility was not a virtue, but a necessity for those at the lower ends of the social order.  It was not proper for those in high positions to exhibit humility.  The Christian regard for humility as a virtue for all was a radical stance in the ancient world.   

Throughout the centuries the Church has continued to promote humility as a Christian stance, although it has often honored it in the breach.  Too many times the church has taken the stance of the ancient world and recommended humility to the poor and the powerless while failing to practice humility itself.  But the church has always been at its best when it has taken the exhortation of Paul in Philippians seriously.  

In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul defines humility as follows: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”  As it translates the Scripture into indigenous languages the church is to the interests of others.  One of the historical sites I visited in Malawi honored the memory of those who worked for 23 years to translate the Scripture into Chichewa, the indigenous language of much of Malawi .  Many people worked on various parts of the project but the actual translation work was done by one missionary who worked ten hours a day, five days a week and then did his pastoral work on Saturdays and Sundays.  His devotion and humility before the task made the translation possible.  

Sometimes the church has good intentions to practice humility, but fails because of human sin.  The South African Dutch Reformed missionaries in Malawi had stated intentions of creating an indigenous church with indigenous leadership in Malawi .  However, their own sense of superiority to the “uncivilized savages” (their own language) they found in Malawi led them to believe that they had to decide when the Malawians were ready to be trained as leaders.  Ironically it seemed that the Malawians were never quite ready to have large numbers of them placed into responsible positions.  When the political situation in Malawi changed with Malawian independence from Britain and the South African missionaries mostly pulled out and turned the church over to Malawian Christians, there were very few Malawians who had experience in leadership positions.  One of the effects of that failure of humility (regarding others as better than yourselves) is the continuing dearth of leaders in the Malawian church as the Christians of Malawi find themselves having to make up for the initial lack of trained personnel as well as producing more leaders for a rapidly growing church.

So this Advent and Christmas take some time to reflect on the meaning of the incarnation of the Son of God.  How does our taking seriously the humility of the Christ affect how we live our lives today?  What does it mean for how we conduct ourselves in our families, in our workplaces, in our church, and in our nation?  What difference would it make in how we relate to others if we looked first to the interests of others?  Have a joyous Christmas as we celebrate the incarnation of the one who “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death "even death on a cross."

Your pastor,

John 

[For the previous month's column go to nov Column]

Return to Pastor's Page

This web is property of The First United Presbyterian Church of Edinboro.  
P.O.Box789/4281 Route 6N Edinboro, PA 16412 (814) 734-3511    
For problems or questions regarding this web contact support@presbychedinboro.org.
Last updated: October 24, 2008.