Motivation Monday - "LIVE LIKE JESUS” Summer Series: Humility
HUMILITY
6th in a Summer Series - LIVE “LIKE” Jesus
“There is no other person on heaven or earth who ever lived who trumps Jesus in either authority or power. And yet He did what no one expected by turning the tables on power and choosing to wash the feet of those He loved.
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I often wonder what magic Jesus’ conversations embodied which made Him the most written about, talked about and followed man who ever walked the face of the earth?
He could have been a celebrity. In today’s culture.
He could have the largest social media following, and been on every late night talk show on television.
In His lifetime, Jesus could have been a King ruling on an earthly throne with great power instead of riding a donkey into Jerusalem.
In John 12:12-19 when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,he knows that he has the love of the majority of the people in this moment (except for the existing powers that be who were threatened by His popularity). He can use His power to take His Messianic throne and take the power that His followers wanted Him to have so they too, could be great.
Instead He responds by finding a young donkey to sit on, thereby making a mess of the picture they were creating. He paints from a different palette. His action undercuts their desire to be great and points in a different direction, evoking an image from the Prophets: “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.” Zechariah 9:15
Jesus is indeed king, but not the sort of king they have in mind.
He messed with their perceptions of how a King should look and how a King should act.
• When have your perceptions about someone in authority been validated by their behavior in the way they used power, or exerted their influence?
• When have you seen someone with influence lay it aside and not refer to their position or title?
• Which type of person would you be more comfortable with sharing the brokenness of your life with?
There is no other person on heaven or earth who ever lived who trumps Jesus in either authority or power. And yet He did what no one expected by turning the tables on power and choosing to wash the feet of those He loved.
In John 13 we read: “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do.”
The culture at the time was full of power-mongers who wanted to grab a bit more earthly authority while they could. We see it all the time. We do it all the time. We get a promotion. We earn a degree. We make sure people can see it when we sign off in an email, so we put our credentials after our name. We post on social media about our meetups with famous people. And we may think we should be treated differently…better.
Jesus comes along and places Himself right in the middle of the power-hungry, kingdom-seeking culture of His day and instead radically pushes back against those who would control from their positions of power and authority.
Even His birth has no dignity by human definition. He is born into the mess and dirt of a manger in the least favourable circumstances to the least likely young woman, with no pomp and circumstance.
Jesus decides fromHis first breath to use humility as His weapon of choice.
He knows it is the strongest forged tool to radically
redefine and reshape the culture from one of power to one of servanthood.
In Luke 22:25-26 we read: So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors. But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves.”
How vulnerable would you have to be to do away with power structures
and not define yourself
by your title or your role?
I’ve talked to and seen too many women want to make a name for themselves, to be relevant, to be seen, recognized and given platform. While confidence in one’s gifting is of upmost importance, the raw ambition to use popularity to gain power is not of Jesus’ world. I myself have wrestled with this ambition - dreaming of the things I could do and the ways I could influence with a wider platform.
Your identity will never be found in the power that you accumulate,
but rather your identity will be strengthened
as you learn to give your power away.
This is a hard thing for women who have been at the receiving end of such abuse of power historically and biblically. But giving power away like Jesus means empowering and reminding those He loved of their inherent value as His image bearers.
Jesus’ humility was not a weak humility.
Jesus’ humility was strong and displayed grit and risk-taking.
• How much courage would it take to put aside any external definers, such as accomplishments, famous people you know, where you live, how much you own, how educated you are, and where you shop, in order to make yourself equal with the woman who is new to your country and owns nothing but the one dress she is wearing?
• What would it mean for you personally for you to push back against the culture of achievement and recognition, and ‘not be like them’?
• What would you have to strip off, or give up, in order to kneel down and wash someone else’s feet?
Jesus had to have a strong and clearly defined sense of self to be confident enough not to take on the power labels those around Him wanted to define Him by. In fact He stripped those expectations off freely in order to kneel down and wash the dirt off of Peter’s feet.
Humility is the currency of the Jesus kingdom.
Friends, go be like Jesus. Pray with me the following prayer this week:
Humility is the currency of your Kingdom.
It is the holy calling you've breathed on us.
May we receive & humble ourselves in the sight of you, our Lord.
Amen.
I believe in you. God bless.
Cathie