I hadn't been looking forward to the flight from Minneapolis to Sacramento today, but I found the trip to be considerably more pleasant than I'd anticipated. As the flight was preparing for departure, a man came down the aisle and asked if I would mind trading seats with him so he could sit next to his friend in the row across from me.
"I'm in seat 1-B," he said.
"You mean first class?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he said.
"Uh, sure... thanks." I said.
Well, who was I to prevent him from sitting by his friend? It took me all of twenty seconds to collect my things and settle into my new seat. A comfortable leather seat for the trip, a nice omelet for breakfast, and the three hour flight literally flew by. (Sorry...couldn't resist the pun.)
As I was sitting in first class, I remembered something Wayne mentioned in one of his sermons recently about Albert Schweitzer, the philosopher, theologian, musician, and medical missionary. A reporter once met Albert Schweitzer at a train station and was surprised to find him riding in third class. The reporter asked the doctor why he rode in third class. "Because there is no fourth class," was his reply.
Cruising somewhere over South Dakota at thirty thousand feet in the comfort of first class, it occurred to me that the Christmas story is the perfect example of the humility of God. We worship a God who did not separate himself from us, but chose instead to send his Son to be born among us in the most humble of circumstances. In a season when so many are drawn to the material temptations of this world, perhaps what we need most is a new perspective:
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"
-- Philippians 2:5-8
Whether you find yourself in first class or coach, remember that Jesus willingly gave up the riches of heaven for the poverty of this world. What will you willingly give up for him today?
"Lord of heaven, sovereign of all, I praise you for your everlasting love toward us, that you would send your son to live among us and die for the sins of the world. Teach me to live like Jesus, humbly following the plans you have prepared for me. Let me heart be content to serve you far from the spotlight of this world, and show me the way of righteousness. I give my dreams and plans to you, and I trust your will for my life, for your glory and honor forever. Amen."
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