Sermon 1 Thessalonians 1 Missional Church

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon 1 Thessalonians 1 Missional Church

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

October 22, 2017

When Paul and Silas left Philippi they went to Thessalonica.  There they found an active synagogue of worshipers.  So Paul went there as a visiting rabbi and taught them, from scripture, that the Messiah they had been waiting for had to suffer and die.   And then he proclaimed to them that the Messiah had already come and had suffered death on a cross.  This Messiah, Paul said, was Jesus.

Paul and Silas then established a new church in the home of a man named Jason.  This church had some people from the synagogue but many more gentiles from the community.   Many of these were the leading women of the city.   So we see in Thessalonica the same thing that we saw in Philippi, that women were leading the church.

As this church grew, the people in the synagogue became jealous.  They resorted to violence and formed a mob.   Jason and some of the other believers in his house were seized and brought before the magistrate.    Upon paying bail, probably a bribe, they were freed.

Paul and Silas then left Thessalonica, but they were concerned for the church they left behind.   They stayed in touch with them, and today we will turn to a letter Paul, Silas and Timothy sent to this beloved church.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, Silas, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

The church in Thessalonica was suffering from violence.   In this environment, you might suppose that they would turn inward avoiding contact the surrounding hostile culture.   But this did not happen.   Instead, the church looked outward and became a model of faith for others.   They became a missional church leading others to Jesus Christ.    We can find clues about how they did this from the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians.   Let's look closely.  

The first lesson we learn from Paul is that effective mission starts with prayer.  We need to pray for the people in our community.  And we need to be thankful for everyone that comes through our doors.  I have heard of a church that goes into the community and knocks on doors offering prayer for whatever concerns the family inside.  They use no sales pitch to get people to come to worship.  Rather they just want to pray for the community and they keep doing it.  If we prayed for all the people in Middletown, if we prayed for our neighbors, we would quickly become the most powerful church this community has ever seen.  So I urge you to pray every day.  Pray for your family and friends and neighbors that they will all be blessed by God with faith. So prayer is where we start.  Let’s now move to the second lesson.

In this second lesson, the Apostle teaches us to always remember the virtues of the people who come to our church.  Too often people in the church are concerned about how someone looks or what kind of job someone has.   We naturally want to be with people who act and dress like us and have incomes like us.  Sometimes this leads to a condescending attitude when someone unlike us comes to church.  When this happens we criticize people for how they appear or the kind of job they have or where they live or how much money they make.  But Paul always focused his attention on the strengths of his community.  No matter what obstacles Paul faced or the dissension he found in the church Paul always focused on their great faith, works, and hope in Jesus Christ.  

Also, when we talk about this church to others don’t talk about our problems or the obstacles we face.  Rather always talk about the faith of our members, the love we have for one another, and our hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That way people will be drawn to our church and the church’s ministries can grow.  This leads us to the third lesson that Paul gives us.

The third lesson we learn from Paul is to proclaim the good news that we have received: that we have been chosen by God.  Too many churches reverse this when they do mission.  They demand that people choose God.  Some Christians even threaten others that failure to choose God will lead to eternal damnation.  But Paul tells us that God has already chosen us.  And therefore all we need to ask others to do is to respond to their election with gratitude.  We can proclaim this good news to our friends and neighbors without fear and threats.  All we have to do is to invite people to enjoy the blessings of God and respond in gratitude.  And this takes us to our fourth lesson.

The reading and proclamation of God’s Holy Word is essential in any missional effort. That is why it is so important to read scripture every day, attend Christian education classes, and listen as the Gospel is read and proclaimed every Sunday.  But just reading and studying scripture is not enough.  For us to engage in mission we must not only be firmly grounded in scripture, but we must also be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to talk with people about our faith and precedes us into the community where it is already preparing the hearts of people who live in our neighborhood.   All we need to do is to share with our friends and neighbors the good news we have heard and the blessings we have received.  The Holy Spirit will do the rest to convict people of their sin and give them the desire to respond to the grace and forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ.   Let’s now turn to our fifth lesson.

Even though we experience obstacles, problems, lack of money, and dissension we must always be a people of great joy.  Others will be attracted to this church only when they see that we are a joyous people.  Our joy comes from the good news of the Bible where we read of our salvation in Jesus Christ.  And this joy is ours because of our faith which is a gift of the Holy Spirit.  So whenever we talk to others about this church always tell them about the great joy you experience when you come here.  Your experience of joy is the magnetic force that will attract people in our community to our fellowship.  Now, we just have two more lessons to learn from Paul.   Here is number six.

When we follow these lessons that Paul has given us we become a model of faith for others to follow.  The Presbyterian Church has had declining membership for fifty years because we have forgotten these basic principles.  We need to follow the simple strategy that Paul developed two thousand years ago.  If we, in this church, follow these seven simple steps of evangelism then we will not only grow, but we will be the model for other churches to follow.  And this leads to our final lesson from Paul.

Our seventh and final lesson is that we have to take all of this outside of the walls of the church.  We have to offer others God’s gracious love and forgiveness, and our hope of eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  So with the power of the Holy Spirit and truth of Gospel go out into your world, your family, your clubs, your neighbors, your associations, your friends and tell them of the joy you have found in New Covenant Presbyterian Church.  Invite people to our worship and Bible study.  Tell them about special events at the church.  

Each of you is empowered to be ambassadors of this church to the community.  Though you, the Holy Spirit will work bringing others in our community to salvation in Jesus Christ.  You are the chosen ones of God selected to bring the good news to all people in Middletown.

So what are the seven steps of evangelism that caused the Thessalonian church to grow and become a significant church in its city and region?

Pray for the people in the community

Accept everyone and focus on the strengths of the church

Proclaim to our neighbors the good news that they have been chosen by God.

Focus on the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit

Be a people filled with joy

Be a model for other churches to follow

Bring the good news we have heard to our family, friends, and neighbors

Let us pray.  Holy Spirit, empower us as we go out into the world as your apostles.  Fill us with joy and the assurance that you are already at work in our community.  Allow us to assist you in this work to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the people in this community.  And we pray this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon Philippians 3:4b-14 Gain and Loss

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon Philippians 3:4b-14 Gain and Loss

October 8, 2017

Before we get started today, I would like to share with you a story of God grace in the midst of evil violence.   Last Sunday, a very evil person shot automatic weapons out a broken window of a hotel in Las Vegas.   In his sight were thousands of people attending a music concert.   He killed 58  people and wounded hundreds more before killing himself.

We know that evil exists in this world, and this episode proves it.  The question that many people are asking is, “Why did God not prevent this?”  I have no answer for that question.  You will have to ask God yourselves in prayer.   What I do know is that God uses evil for good.   And that is precisely what God did in Las Vegas last week.

Taylor Benge and his sister were attending the concert that night.  When shots rang out they ran for cover.  Taylor’s sister jumped on her brother to protect him from bullets.  She calmed Taylor by telling him that she loved him.   Both Taylor and his sister survived and the next day Taylor was interviewed by CNN.  Here is what he said, “I was agnostic going into that concert, and I’m a firm believer in God now, because there’s no way that all of that happened, and that I made it, and I was blessed enough to still be here alive talking to you today.”  God used the evil of that night to bring Taylor to faith.  Let’s pray.

As the sound of gunfire again echoes over another American city,
we seek the grounding power of your love and compassion.
As death rained down from above in the dark of night,
We pray this day for the Sun of Righteousness to arise with healing in its wings,
and rain mercy, grace, and peace upon our broken people.

So many have been lost: brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends
gathered in the unity of music, scattered by evil and hatred.
We pray for solace for all who loved them.
We pray for those who have been spared and those whose lives are changed forever
that they may find healing, sustenance, and strength in the hard days to come.

We give thanks for first responders:
who ran toward gunfire, rather than away
who dropped everything to save the wounded and comfort survivors
We pray for doctors and nurses and mental health providers
who repair what has been broken
who to try to  bring healing and hope
in the face of the unchecked principalities and powers of violence.
We ask for sustaining courage for those who are suffering and traumatized.

We cry, how long, O Lord?
But the same words echo back, again and again
as if the question comes to us from You— how long, how long, how long…
In the wake of an event that should be impossible to contemplate
but which has become all too common in our experience,
open our eyes, break our hearts,
and turn our hands to the movements of your Spirit,
that our anger and sorrow may unite in service to build a reign of peace,
where the lion and the lamb may dwell together,
and terror no longer holds sway over our common life.
In the name of Christ, our healer and our Light, we pray, Amen.
(https://pda.pcusa.org/pda/resource/prayer-las-vegas/)

Last week we looked at the great Christian hymn Paul used to remind the Philippians that Jesus had humbled himself to be with us.   And if we are to follow this Jesus as disciples, we must humble ourselves as well.   Humility is a Christian virtue.

This hymn also talks about Jesus exaltation.   Jesus has returned to heaven with all the powers he had before as God and with a new title.   

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

So, the exalted Jesus was given a new title, Lord.  And our responsibility is to bow to him because this will glorify God.    But what does it mean, to bow to Jesus?   It means a little more than just bending at the waist.    Let’s turn to Philippians 3 and see what it means to bow down to our Lord.

Philippians 3:4b “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Paul’s resume is pretty impressive.   He must have been an excellent student.    As a young man, he was sent to Jerusalem to study at the foot of the prophet Gamalia.  He memorized the Torah, instructions for living, contained in the first five books of our Old Testament.   He learned how to apply these rules in every conceivable situation.   He was Pharisee destined to sit on the ruling council in Jerusalem.  And he was passionate about the faith, persecuting all heresy, including the early Christian church.  But then he encountered Jesus and his life changed.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.

Paul gave up everything he had been trained to do.  He gave up his career.   He gave up his family.  He gave up his privilege and position.  He gave up his life as he knew it.   And he did all of this for one purpose, to bow down to Christ as Lord.

I know a little bit about this.   As my call to pastoral ministry became stronger I knew that my life would change significantly.    I had a good relationship with my family, but none of them had strong faith, and none of them went to church regularly.   I knew these when I became a pastor this would put a strain on all these relationships, and it has.    I also was active in organizations all over Washington DC.    I knew that they organizations were doing goods things and were a source of friends for me.  And I had an ongoing business with customers and suppliers.  But I knew that when I became pastor I would be leaving all this behind.   I would be starting a new life.   So in 2004 I began saying goodbyes to friends and family and went to California to begin a new life in service to my Lord, Jesus Christ.   I left my old life behind and made a fresh start.

If you asked Paul or if you asked me why either of us did what we did, here is how we would respond.

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

That was our motivation.   Paul and I left what we had to strive for something much better.    We wanted a participation in Christ.   We wanted to do what Christ wants us to do.   And if that means that we suffer for do it, so be it.   We will endure suffering because the reward is so great.   And what is that reward?   It is nothing less new life today and eternal life in the future, resurrection.

But sometimes it seems like I made the wrong choice.   If I had remained in DC I would still be doing what I was doing.  I would still have many friends.   I would probably be making a lot more money and living at a higher level than I now do?   Looking back on the transition I made 13 years ago, I sometimes wonder if I would still make the same decision.   Paul endured far more hardships than I ever will and he responded in this way.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

So we press on, confident that following the Lord Jesus as a disciple is worth the cost.  That’s my story.  What about you?   Do you accept Jesus as Lord?  This is something we say with our lips to join the church.   But do we actually do it?  And specifically, what would it mean to follow Jesus as Lord?  At a minimum, it would mean sacrificing whatever else there is to do on Sunday mornings to be here in church worshiping our Lord.  It would mean sacrificing some of our spendings in order to contribute a percentage of our income to the ministry of the church.  If would mean sacrificing some of our time to attend Bible studies, or teach Bible stories to kids, or mentor a youth, or serve a hot meal to someone who is hungry.   Sacrificing our time and our money would be necessary to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.    This is a high cost.   Is it worth it?   For a transformed life with Christ today and eternal life with Christ for the future I think it is worth it.  What is a little time and money compared to the vast benefits of eternal life with Jesus Christ?   Here is how Paul put it.

15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

That’s the offer.  Do you want to enjoy all the benefits of a transformed life today and eternal life tomorrow?   If so then it is time to bow down to our Lord Jesus Christ.  I urge you, friends, to accept the offer.   Give up some of your time and money.   Come to church regularly for worship and Bible study.   Give to church a percentage of your income.  And begin your eternal life today in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   Let’s pray.   Father in heaven we thank you for exalting Jesus Christ to the position of Lord.   We bow down to him today pledging our obedience.   We are aware of the high cost of this decision.   It will cost us in both time and money.   But the gain of the promise of eternal life is so great we enthusiastically accept your offer.  We will sacrifice some our time and some of our money to worship and learn more about you and to support the ministry of your church.   We pray all of this the name of Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Sermon Philippians 2:1-13 Humility and Pride

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon Philippians 2:1-13 Humility and Pride

October 1, 2017

There is an old story told among Jews about  a rabbi who always signed his letters with the words, “From one who is truly humble.” One day someone asked how a humble person could ever say such a thing about himself. A friend of the rabbi’s replied that the rabbi had, in fact, become so humble that he no longer even realized it was a virtue–it had simply become his life. Describing himself as humble seemed to him as innocent as saying he had brown eyes.

What if we were that humble?  What if humbleness simply became who we are?  According to Paul, it could if we become one mind with Jesus.  We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

There is an old story and I have no idea if it happened or not.  But one version of it that I heard recently was from the old “Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson.   The famous singer Frank Sinatra was a guest and in the middle of his interview, the comedian Don Rickles made an unexpected visit to the set.   After much banter, Sinatra told an allegedly true story. Years before, Rickles had seen Sinatra at a New York City restaurant.   So he went up to him and said, “Frank, listen, I’m on a date with a lady over there and I’d like to impress her.  So in a while, could you stop by the table and say ‘Hello, Don, how are you doing?’”   Sinatra said he agreed and after finishing his after-dinner espresso walked over to the table.   “Hi, Don, good to see you.”  At this Rickles looked up and said, “Can’t you see we’re trying to have dinner here, Frank, stop interrupting would ya!”

I certainly like Don Rickles sense of humor.   He is always making fun of pride.   It’s great to impress people that we know someone famous, but better still is to put ourselves above them.  That’s why it is helpful being tall.   Tall people can look down on others.   That is what pride is all about.

The great irony and beauty of the Christian faith is the gospel truth that the one Being in the universe who really is more exalted, more lofty, and more powerful than anyone is the same Being who, far from using his lofty position as a platform for pride, once upon a time stooped lower than low so as humbly to save us from our sinful pride.

Americans have long been inspired by Horatio Alger, rags-to-riches stories of the common man making it big. America, we say with great pride, is the place where you really can rise up from the poverty of a log cabin to become an Abraham Lincoln, where one guy with a computer idea can turn into Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

But the earliest Christians knew that the greatest story ever told is not a rags-to-riches tale but the universe’s premiere riches-to-rags story.   The evidence that this is among the oldest and dearest themes of Christianity can be seen in Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  5 In your relationships with one another,

Paul begins in verse 1 with what could be construed as a kind of tongue-in-cheek shaming of the Philippians. Note these understatements: “If Jesus means anything to you, if his love for you strikes you as being important, if it should happen to be the case that you find the Holy Spirit living in your hearts, if you can find so much as an ounce of compassion somewhere inside you, why then why don’t y’all try to be unified in humility!”

But no sooner does Paul address this topic and he is reminded of what most scholars believe is one of the earliest songs that was ever sung in the Christian church.   Instead of simply saying “Be like Jesus,” as he does in verse 5, Paul decides in verse 6 to start singing in the hope that his readers will join in on a song they probably already knew quite well.

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
       even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

In the end, Paul hopes that this mutual chorus will movingly drive home for the Philippians the central spectacle of the Christian faith the way only music can. It is a subtle way for Paul to trap the Philippians in their own words. “You sing this all the time,” Paul says, “so isn’t it high time to start living such humility in your communal life together!?”

More than an effective rhetorical technique, however, the hymn Paul quotes in Philippians 2 has also proven to be a rich source for reflection on Jesus’ incarnation, even spawning its own branch of Christology known as “Kenosis.”  Some Bible translations have in verse 7 “He made himself nothing.” But the original Greek there actually says, “He emptied himself.” Since the Greek verb for “to empty” is the word kenoo, a lot of theologians now refer to Jesus’ being born a human as his “kenosis.”

As Philippians 2 helps us to see, Jesus had to give up a lot in order to join us on this fallen planet. At minimum, he had to give up the glories and splendors of heaven in favor of a world of indigestion, stubbed toes, dirty fingernails, and backaches. But he may also have needed to give up certain other perks and powers of divinity for a little while in order to be truly human.  He had to restrain his power, restrict his location to just one place at a time (instead of being omnipresent), give in to his body by eating when he got hungry and laying down for a nap when he got tired.

“He made himself nothing,” the apostle Paul sings. He not only was no longer living in exalted heights, he even ended up dying the worst, most public of all deaths: crucifixion. And he did it all out of a humble love of astonishing proportions. “If you want to get the hang of the incarnation,” C.S. Lewis once wrote, “just imagine how you’d feel if you woke up one morning to discover you had turned into a garden slug.”

And it is in the face of all this that Paul says to the Philippians, “OK, got the picture? Good, now go and be like that!” Few challenges could be greater. Of course, the reason the challenge is so great is precisely because the Devil knows that pride is the dead opposite of God. So item #1 on his list of things to do every day is to tempt us with pride.

Pride is forever driving us to amass as much power for ourselves as we can and then flaunting it so that we can see in other people’s eyes flickers of respect, awe, maybe even fear. But not so for you, Paul sings out. Because we follow the universe’s most powerful being ever and yet this God does not use his superior power to inspire dread or fear. No, God inspires our love by willingly setting aside his power.  Humility may well be the core Christian virtue around which most all other virtues cluster.

Because at base true humility is simple honesty. William Law used to talk about “the reasonableness of humility.” What he meant is that humility is simply a sane, sober, honest recognition that we’re all pretty much the same. We all have things we do well and things we do not do so well; we all have gifts in some areas but not in others. Humility is simply the rational recognition of these common-sense facts. Pride, on the other hand, is irrational–it’s insane to think you’re the center of the universe, crazy to believe that you could get along just fine without other people. It’s sick to think that everyone should pay attention to you in a way that you yourself never pay attention to others.

Humility makes you celebrate the fact that we all need each other. And when that is your basic attitude toward other people, you will be naturally inclined to lend them a hand in service if they need help or just to lend them your love during ordinary times when they’re doing their work. Because you see, humility connects us to others even as pride isolates us.

Pride isolates whereas humility connects. Pride is interested in the self at the expense of others whereas humility is interested in others at the expense of self. Pride seeks glory for itself but rarely gets it as the truly proud collapse in on themselves, finally resulting in a little wad of ego. Humility is always extending itself toward God and others in a life of service that finally results not in a dense wad of ego but in a gloriously extended self, open toward others like a flower in full bloom and so, as with Jesus, is glorious for all to see.

Indeed, perhaps the biggest shock of the hymn in Philippians 2 is the idea that after his emptied-out life and death of service, the Son of God somehow managed to arrive at a higher point of exaltation than what he had enjoyed before he became human! But if you were God, to begin with, how could you ever get higher or more exalted than that?! Philippians 2 says that it is possible because now not only is Jesus God but he is the acclaimed Lord of lords. Humility is finally so powerful that it can enhance the life of even God himself!! Humility, Paul is saying, can and has changed both God and the world.

Most of the divisions and disputes in the church both in ancient times and now come from the sin of pride.   We think that only we are right.   We think that the other is always wrong.   We look down upon our adversaries and consider ourselves superior.  This is the sin of pride.   But if we really believe in Jesus and accept him as our lord we then must follow him into humbleness.   We must give up our privileges and powers.  We must empty ourselves to be more like Christ.   And when we no longer consider ourselves to be superior we give genuine love each other as equals.   Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus just as you emptied yourself of all the divine powers and privileges you were entitled to  so to do we give up our privileges to be able to love and serve others in humility.   Help us to stop thinking always about ourselves.   Help us to love and serve God and love and serve each other.  Amen.