The Script

⁷ 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, ⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. _{Philippians 2:7-8}

The Plot

Continuing the theme of servanhood…

It had been a long day on Capitol Hill for Senator John Stennis. He was looking forward to a bit of relaxion when he got home. After parking the car, he began to walk toward his front door. Then it happened. Two people came out of the darkness, robbed him, and shot him twice. News of the shooting of Senator Stennis, the chairman of the powerful Armed Forces Committee, shocked Washington and the nation. For nearly seven hours, Senator Stennis was on the operating table at Walter Reed Hospital.

Less than two hours later, another politician was driving home when he heard about the shooting. He turned his car around and drove directly to the hospital. In the hospital, he noticed that the staff was swamped and could not keep up with the incoming calls about the Senator’s condition. He spotted an unattended switchboard, sat down, and voluntarily went to work. He continued taking calls until daylight. Sometime during that next day, he stood up, stretched, put on his overcoat, and just before leaving, he introduced himself quietly to the other operator, “I’m Mark Hatfield. Happy to help out.” Then Senator Mark Hatfield unobtrusively walked out.

The press could hardly handle that story. There seemed to be no way for a conservative Republican to give a liberal Democrat a tip of the hat, let alone spend hours doing a menial task and be “happy to help out.”

Jesus was and is always God but yet, he willingly gave up his divine privileges to become and serve human beings. Do you think that had Jesus been in that same situation at the hospital that he would have done the same thing? We should live our lives as Christ, obedient to God, always looking for opportunities to serve others.

Walk Through

1. How can Jesus be human and God at the same time?
2. What did Jesus do to appear as a man?
3. Do you look for opportunities to serve others?

Ad Lib

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. _{- Helen Keller}