Good Morning Friends,
I do not know about you but since the first of the year I have been receiving mail and emails and online ads prompting me to join a gym and try out new exercise strategies to strengthen my health and flexibility. The internet apparently has a bias on what is best for me and frankly the bias does not stop there but extends into the areas of race and politics as well. I therefore have not bought into the New Year resolution on this topic but try to stay active, nevertheless. However, as I contemplate today’s devotional topic and face the reality that I have sinned and will likely sin again (which is not good for my health nor yours), I have become wary of Artificial Intelligence in favor of the wisdom of being filled with the Spirit. And though there is hope in both, at least there is more abundant love in being filled in the Spirit. For in those moments more than any other I experience a separation from my sin and a unity with God, Family and Community. And so today, with that thought in mind, I turn the focus to our collective health as Christians and to a harmony that I hope can last related to the power and attitude of humility Christ emulated at the highest order. And so, I ask you a very practical question this morning about our Spiritual Formation… How Do We Build The Body Powered By Christ Like Humility?
Scripture: Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 (NRSV)
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
1 Corinthians 12:12-30 (NRSV)
Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed. Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 (NRSV)
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:3-6 (NRSV)
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 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. 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. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11 (NRSV)
Message: A woman goes into the Post office before Christmas to get stamps and asks for a hundred for her Christmas cards. The person behind the counter asks what denomination? And the woman has a rather irritated response. “My God has it come to this? All right I will have twenty Catholic, twenty Presbyterian, and fifteen each of the Baptist, Lutheran, Assembly of God and Methodist.” Perhaps you are smiling but the divided Body of Christ broken again and again is no joke. And it may seem fanciful, for few people send out Christmas Cards anymore. And yet the point here is that maybe the best expression of the Body of Christ is not in an institutional worship service or old tradition at all but an invisible Church that serves as salt and light for people throughout each week. My family and I will be worshiping actively in “Church” today but frankly I find more and more of the expression of the Holy Spirit in community with a mix of denominations around the table with people who may not even believe. And maybe that is the way it was meant to be. For Jesus lived out the scriptures more so in the streets than in the Temple where he announced his ministry. Undoubtedly most Christians hope for revival and sense the importance of scripture in this process is undeniable. But there is more to growth than reading a few Bible passages or even sharing the Good News in a church service. We need to be in unity to grow as a Body and to trust God more and frankly I think that this is difficult to do within a denominational structure alone and in a church service once a week. We must learn the importance of every member of the Body and in fact everybody whether they believe it or not. You see, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Way he teaches us, you are somebody special in the Body of Christ regardless of denomination to help those who do not believe. It does not matter if you are young or old. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are somebody special in the Body of Christ and of value. It does not matter if you are a male or female; it does not matter if you are black or white, Asian or Hispanic; it does not matter if you are tall or short; it does not matter if you are rich or poor; it does not matter if you are educated or not; it does not matter if you are married, single or divorced; it does not matter if you live in Las Vegas, or New York or Naples or Immokalee; it doesn’t matter if you been saved for one day or for 40 years. If you are a believer in Christ, you are somebody special in the Body of Christ. Therefore, building each other up then is important and this takes humility and self-denial. Oswald Chambers in his book My Utmost for His Highest explains self-denial as “Surrender for Devotion”: “The surrender here is of myself to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being.” And that means we are to love even those who do not believe God loves them too whether they know it or not.
And So, the key to embracing the life of a Christ-follower with Holy Spirit power is in embracing the way of Jesus. Christ humbled himself by coming to Earth and voluntarily making himself a humble, pure sacrifice to pay for our sins. Self-denial was a key part of Jesus’ example, and it’s how we are able to live free, building up the Body and valuing other people. It starts with God and learning about God from others and in reading scripture. Today’s scripture from Neimiah and from Luke give us two examples of the power in opening up scripture and reading from God’s Word to get clarity, movement, alignment and focus on how to experience God in scripture for our collective Spiritual Development. Without that unity we are like severed body parts each touting the importance of our eyes or ears without realizing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When we combine today’s text from Neimiah and Luke with the text from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and to those living in Ephesus and Philippi, it is clear that we should not be envious of one another but rejoice in our individual gifts especially when they are joined together for a Kingdom purpose. Here we discover that there are some things that help our spiritual development, and some things hinder it. There are those things we should not do like backbite and hate and tear each other down or be unforgiving or bitter. All these things hinder our Spiritual Development individually and collectively. So instead, we need to love one another with a healthy humility. We need to be at peace with one another. We need to build each other up in the Lord by following the principles that Jesus in his humanity directs us to model. We need to be in harmony with one another as he was with the Father. And that means we need to help one another. And we need to accept one another and to serve one another. Friends, hard though it is, if we hope for revival, we need to submit to one another. We need to stop passing judgment and honor one another. And yes, with a kind heart we need to instruct, teach, and love one another allowing the Holy Spirit to do most of the admonishing. We need to speak to one another sincerely interested in the lives of others. We need to agree with each other on all those things that are essential to be in the Lord and transformed. Friends, to build the Body of Christ we need to be patient with one another and encourage one another. We need to bear with one another and build each person up as a bridge to a future with Christ as the Cornerstone. We need to be kind and compassionate and we need to be hospitable and forgiving. In the simplest of words, we are to be in unity and that means we need to be in love and that takes humility. So, beginning with the end in mind we admit we are all biased but still blessed for God so loved the world that God sent his Son for us all. So, believe that Jesus can set us free to love. Believe that being filled to overflowing in the Spirit of God is for a purpose that is more important than our own individual comfort. Get out of the boat, don’t be tied to the dock and never set sail. Find a way to build the body as the body builds us. God in making us and forming us if we choose to take the time to experience and share the love we have been given.
Pray God empower each of us to be the kind of person God would have us to be. Pray we desire to obey God. Pray that we are thankful that our sins have been forgiven. Pray we open the door of our life to know more about God personally and how the Holy Spirit and our gifts can be united for building up the body of believers. Pray we are called for a divine purpose. Pray we realize that having muscles in the Body of Believers is not just for flexing but to lift each other up. Pray that we have a great desire to hear and obey the word of the Lord. Pray we build up all parts of the Body and not just some of them. Pray we are filled up with the Holy Spirit, overflowing in unity by boldly building each other up in love of and for the Body of Christ. Pray we imitate Christ’s Humility. Pray that in our own submission to denying ourselves we become free to value other people and their dreams and plans…free to give up our own rights for the good of others. Pray we embrace humility for it is at the heart a giving the ultimate control of our lives to God, and to recognize the best, most joyous and most purposeful way for us to live our lives is as willing clay in God’s hands ready to be formed and shaped for serving God and humanity.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 