There’s nothing like the events of Jesus’ last week to put the Christian life into perspective. From the beginning of the week, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, to the last supper, when Jesus washed his disciples feet, to the garden, when Jesus prayed for his disciples, Jesus shows us clearly that everything he did was for our benefit. While the events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were done to secure our salvation, it was done out of simple humility.
In Philippians 2:5, Paul wrote: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” How do we exhibit the same kind of simple humility that Jesus showed? Paul had already explained it in verses 3 and 4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” This is humility: that Jesus, who Paul tells us in verse 6 is God, considered our need for forgiveness, salvation, and transformation above his own need to be glorified, praised, and worshiped and took on the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. We know that he didn’t necessarily want to face the physical torture, but he did it, for God’s sake and for our own.
To be honest, I think we’re getting it. We can praise God that he has given this body of believers the faith to pledge more than what has been budgeted for the missions we support-remember, those who haven’t yet made their pledges can continue to give! With the economy the way it is, with people losing jobs and worrying about losing jobs, it would make sense that we might fall short, but we didn’t. This is humility: that God’s people, who have been blessed with forgiveness in the here and now and with the hope of eternity, would consider the needs of others around the world to hear the Good News of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus and give, probably beyond what they know they can give.