Thursday, August 4, 2016
You must
have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to
cling to. Instead, he gave up
his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a
human being. When he appeared in human
form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a
cross. Therefore, God
elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all
other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11(NLT)
G. Campbell Morgan was a very
well-known early 20th century evangelist and pastor of Westminster
Chapel in London. He was in poor health
from childhood. Once he went through a
particularly painful period and became very depressed. He went to see his friend, missionary Joseph
Parker. Parker told him: Never mind, son; your people will get the
benefit. In some way, Morgan’s
suffering would become his congregation’s gain.
What Joseph Parker was talking about
was vicarious
suffering. When you suffer,
and someone else is benefitted by that suffering, the gift of the benefit is
bestowed vicariously, or as a substitute.
Parents suffer vicariously at times for their children. Soldiers in battle suffer vicariously for the
folks back home. When a Christian gives
time, effort, or financial resources sacrificially, they
vicariously bless another person.
Scripture declares Jesus to be the
greatest vicarious sufferer of all time.
Paul’s written description of this declares that Jesus emptied
himself of all heavenly privilege and became like us.
Consider:
· He was divine, but lowered himself to
human status
· He was equal with God the Father
and
Spirit, but laid-aside that power
and revealed Himself as a dependent
child in
a manger
· He was never guilty of anything but
offered
himself to die as a common criminal
And all of that suffering was vicarious;
Jesus gave up what he possessed on our behalf.
He did the giving and suffering; we got the benefit.
Paul says that Christ is our model;
we are to think and act like He did…and does.
In Wesleyan doctrine and practice we
promise other members of the body of Christ our prayers, presence, gifts,
service and witness. But in our promises
there is the baseline of Pauline thought, that we must understand and
appropriate the way these are offered as vicariously – sacrificially…just
like Jesus gave!
For You Today
As we go about doing what we do, we can and
must stay alert to look for opportunities to bless others. It will be right in front of us if we keep in
mind our model, the Lord Jesus.
Those were, after all, our
nails they put in His hands and feet!
