On Having Christ’s Attitude

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.

Winston Churchill once said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Philippi, he was suffering from some sort of physical disability and chained in a Roman prison. Yet, even in these bleak circumstances, Paul’s example and joyful teaching is one of keeping Christ’s attitude of humility, love, and service.
There is no season of the year in which this attitude of Christ is more universal than that of Advent and Christmas!

This is what it says in the comment section for today’s scripture on page 1495 in my Wesley Study Bible: “The mind (attitude) of Christ is both the gift of God’s spirit ...and the life of love for God and neighbor that the Spirit produces... In taking the form of a slave (servant) to serve others’ interests rather than his own, Christ ‘emptied himself of all but love’” [as John Wesley wrote]. Paul calls the people of Philippi – and us – to adopt Christ’s same attitude.

For many years at Ruble Church in Wheeling, a bridge has been built with a local primary school. Every Dec, in what has become a traditional Advent way of preparing for the celebration of Jesus’ birth, disadvantaged children from this school are adopted by the congregation, and the requests of each child are fulfilled.

This is but one way that the Ruble congregation adopts and maintains the “attitude that was in Christ Jesus” of humility, service, and love. What is done here is but a drop-in-the-bucket – a “little thing,” but oh what a “big difference” the attitude of Christ makes in the lives of these few children and their families!

In this Advent season, may our Christ-like and joyful attitudes also be such as Paul writes, that “...at the name of Jesus [may] everyone ... bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Prayer: Holy God, Father of the Humble One, help us to “empty ourselves of all but love” as we prepare for new life in Jesus in his coming to us in human form. Help us to always adopt and maintain the “attitude that was in Christ Jesus” – in the example of his life, death, and resurrection – of humility, service, and love. And help us, even through our little things, to make big differences for others in this Advent season and always. Amen.

(M.J.) Pat Ramsey, Wellsburg UMC, Wellsburg, WV, rramsey549@frontier.com, Certified Lay Minister assigned to serve at Ruble UMC, Wheeling, WV