Embracing Humility: Jesus' Call to Serve Others

This think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privilege of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human. Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privilege. Instead, he lived a selfless and obedient life and then died a selfless and obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. [00:00:18]

Because of that obedience, God lifted him up high and honored him beyond anyone or anything ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long dead and buried—will bow in worship before Jesus Christ and call out in praise that he is the master of all to the glorious honor of God the Father. [00:01:03]

Today is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is traditionally a day when we wave palms and we shout hosanna when we celebrate Jesus and what we think of as a triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It's the beginning of Holy Week, which is the holiest time for the Christian church. It's when we celebrate. You see, but let's not be fooled by what was going on. This isn't a parade for a king of conquest. Jesus enters not on a warhorse but on a donkey. [00:01:30]

There's no military parade, a celebration of might. What there is, is a simple man coming not to dominate but to lay down his life. Paul tells us in the scripture, let us have the same mind in us that was in Jesus, who emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, humbling himself to the point of death—and death on a cross. It's not the kind of power we think of or that we're used to celebrating, but it's the kind of power that changes the world, that changes us. [00:02:15]

You see, that place isn't just heaven, not just a heaven that comes someday. It's a kingdom, a kingdom that starts here and now. And yes, I said "kingdom" and not "kingdom" because a kingdom means that we are all related to each other. We're kin to all humanity, and we are building a kingdom where we all love and we all care for each other. It's a place where the marginalized are lifted up, where the oppressed are set free, where it is all about love and not fear. [00:03:39]

And that, my friends, is Jesus not going to the cross, not just going to the cross, but going ahead of us, leading us into freedom, preparing a place for us, leading us forward. So today, we may not be waving palms as we worship on the barge with the anchor church in downtown Wilmington. We may not be doing the traditional worship that we think of for Palm Sunday, but we are providing breakfast for the unhoused in Wilmington. [00:04:25]

People who worship together each Sunday, and we are going and preparing a place for those who don't have the luxury of a house, who may not have enough to eat. We will celebrate this day shoulder to shoulder as we prepare a place for others. We go to prepare a place for you. You see, we are following the one who emptied himself for love. We walk with Jesus not toward power but toward peace, not toward safety but toward salvation—a salvation that is for all of us. [00:05:09]

And today, we will take our hands and we will take our feet, and we will go and try to be a little bit more like Jesus by preparing the way for others. [00:05:56]