Sand Mountain Sermonette 86
Philippians 2:5-8; Proverbs 16:19; Romans 8:3
The Postage Stamp
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (to be used to His own advantage), but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8
My father retired as a City Letter Carrier (mailman) for the United States Postal Service. He loved His job! Dad loved the people and getting outdoors to deliver the mail; he just loved everything about it-hard work and all! But there were two things he didn’t like. One had to do with casing and carrying those weekly advertisement “circulars” because he said it slowed his route down too much for that day. The other was the day after postage stamp prices increased. Here’s why. Dad’s route included two totally different destinations for the daily distribution of mail he was responsible for at that time. One delivery route was to the poorest section of town and the other was to the richest section of town which was known by the locals as “Million Dollar Avenue.” And it never failed, some of the folks who lived on “Million Dollar Avenue” would be waiting by their mailboxes to complain verbally to my dad regarding the stamp’s increase of a few cents whereas, the folks who lived on the other side of town were always pleasant and smiling and waiting to wish my dad “a good day.” Dad even told me once that many of the children who lived in this part of town didn’t even own a pair of shoes or if they did, they were of poor quality at best.
Christian, the Bible says “Pride” is a most disruptive and deadly foe to our conduct, character, and conversation. It can not only hinder our relationship with out loving Father, it can also offer a poor witness for Christ in the environments in which we live. Proverbs 16:19 reads, “It is better to be humble in spirit with the needy than to divide the spoils with the proud.”
Paul tells us of Jesus’ example of humility that is our model for humility in this world that places “SELF” above and at the expense of others. The Bible tells us Christ “emptied himself.” Jesus did not surrender any of His Divine rights when He was born in a manger in Bethlehem, but Paul tells us He voluntarily laid aside His rightful glory and authority and humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross by taking the form of the lowest class of servant in that day. Paul tells us in Romans 8:3 that Christ exchanged His glory for flesh because only a human could he die in your place and mine (taking our sins upon Himself at the cross).
How do you handle humility? When we desire to live like Christ through the enabling and the power of the Holy Spirit it will always look different than the world’s way of handling things, but the present and eternal value it holds is priceless!
Thanking my heavenly Father for my dad’s lesson on Jesus and on life!
Pastor Louie