Philippians 2:1-11 (NRSV)
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Chapter 2If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, Verse 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Verse 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Verse 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Verse 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, Verse 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, Verse 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, Verse 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death- even death on a cross. Verse 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, Verse 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Verse 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Devotion
I preside in a seminary chapel where it is very difficult to use the kneelers because the hymnals and Bibles can, at times, block them from movement. As a result, I often overreact to devotional posture, even
where it is serving other purposes. For instance, in the bookstore or library when people are shelving books on bottom shelves, I comment to the workers who kneel. When the maintenance crew kneels to finish a
job, I remark about their posture. “It does my heart good,” I say, “to see someone kneeling.” I am only half kidding. In Philippians, Paul calls us to humbly revere Jesus' name by bending the knee. In our culture, such respect is almost non-existent. I suppose many do not even kneel to propose marriage anymore. But Paul calls upon Christians to show humility by glorifying God and bowing or kneeling reverently at the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. What a counter-cultural witness!
Prayer
O Lord, keep us from the kind of pride that prevents us from submitting to the Lordship of Jesus and the glory of God. Amen.