It's shortly before 3 p.m. on what has turned into a rainy Sunday afternoon. For me, the mood seems appropriate. While I hadn't been free to speak of it last week, one of my cousins passed away Friday evening. He was 5th in our group of 11 first cousins on my father's side. I am the oldest. He grew up playing Little League and being a Boy Scout. As an adult, he served his country with honor. He was a Sargeant in the Army. His back had been broken for about 20 yrs or so, since serving in Afgahanistan when the truck he was driving was struck by a bomb. In that time, he had numerous surgeries, the last one being a little over a week ago. I won't go into the details, but there is an ongoing investiagtion at the hospital. He was also co-chair of the local chapter of a respectable Motorcyle group. The other day on Facebook, the chairman posted a wonderful tribute, citing Jeffrey's popular description of himself as, "the nicest @-hole you'll ever meet". I haven't seen any details on services yet, but prayers for our family and Jeff's friends as we mourn the loss of an amazing son, brother of 2 siblings*, nephew to my father, uncle, and 2 other aunts, cousin of my generation, father, recent grandfather, fiance to a 2nd wife, and friend to many. He had just turned 48 on May 10th. RIP, Jeff. You will be deeply missed; but your legacy lives on. I love you.

Meanwhile, Mike continues to be in pain with his ear, neck, and shoulder. This is going on 4 months now. He has 2 appointments on the 17th, so hopefully, we will get some answers. Prayers appreciated.

The latest with my parents is that, thanks to one of the many companies working to improve the lives of American Veterans, their June rent is being paid so that they can put their own money toward other bills. This person also mentioned an apartment complex here in Concord that accepts housing vouchers. Now, that being said, my father already has people looking for improved placement for him, but not for my mother. I'm not entirely sure she has anyone advocating for her housing other than Carissa. But I'm just glad there are wheels turning in a good direction. Praise God!!

My ex-boyfriend, Jeremy is still looking for a new part-time job, but also for a new church where he can worship closer to home and actually make new friends with whom he can fellowship. He recognizes his need for better quality people in his life to better support him. Pray for wisdom and guidance in his quest.

No word from Andrea lately, but I'm hoping that no news is good news. As always, I'll keep you posted.

For my Message Intro today, I'm going to borrow from Pastor Joe.

Toward the end of his sermon this morning, he mentioned briefly about how Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh's donkey friend, is not so much an example of humility as of self pity. In thinking about it just now, I feel like Pooh himself is really the best example of humility among the 100 Acre Wood friends of Christopher Robin. He never tries to accomplish anything on his own. Rather, he enlists the help of the others according to their various strengths. A brief search supports this in saying that the relationships among the friends show harmonious, unconditional love and community.

This is a wonderful, and highly entertaining, picture of the community into which Jesus invites us.

Our Scripture today is from Philippians --

Philippians 2:1-11

New International Version

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;⁷ rather, he made himself nothing    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,    being made in human likeness.⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,    he humbled himself    by becoming obedient to death—        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place    and gave him the name that is above every name,¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father.

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As he opened his message this morning, Pastor Joe presented our takeaway statement of the day -- "Jesus has freed us from grasping, and given us the freedom to humbly trust Him."

After having read this passage, Joe brought out the fact that verses 6-11 are traditionally seen as a song or poem about the humility of Jesus in taking on human form and facing the Cross for us.

He then skippped down to verse 5 and spoke of how the idea of a mindset is used no fewer than 3x in just a short space. Back in verse 2, we see Paul using it twice in a single sentence!! Clearly, he felt this was important in addressing the problems that were going on in that church at the time. Pastor Joe pointed out here that the concept of a mindset goes far deeper than the basic physiology of cognitive activity. While it obviously includes that, the point is that it's really more about a posture. A lifestyle of thinking in a certain way. It's a way of seeing reality that dictates our actions. (There was actually a slide of this; but I missed getting the whole of it.)

In relation to the whole idea of grasping, seizing, and taking things in order to exert our own personal control, Pastor Joe called our attention back to the beginning of the problem; at least as it is presented in the Bible. While people were turning there, he told a personal story of his 4 boys from this past week. He first informed us that they are ages 8 and under, and that we should feel free to pray for him and his wife. LOL He then proceeded to share the fact that the youngest will be 2 in just a few weeks. That being said, the 3 older boys were playing Bey Blades in the living room. (I didn't even know that was still a thing!!) The youngest is getting to an age where he wants to engage with them, no matter what they're doing. In watching them that evening, Joe observed that the youngest was biding his time, waiting for the right moment. Finally, when one of the others set his toy down, he swooped in to grab it!! He held it up saying, "Dat's MINE!!". A momentary victory was won!! As you may imagine, the peaceful playtime turned suddenly chaotic as the brothers argued which that particular Bey Blade belonged to. We can see from this, as well as from Adam's and Eve's story, how grasping can shatter previously harmonious relationships.

When we look at Genesis 3, we see Adam and Eve essentially saying, "We will be like God if we eat the fruit.". What they were failing to realize was that their core desires for significance, belonging, and peace were already being fulfilled in their relationship with God. Rather than finding the success they were looking for, their grasping led them to exile and death.

Verse 3 speaks of the ideas of self-ambition and vain conceit. Pastor Joe expounded on the first of these by explaining that the greater context of self-ambition lies in having a partisan, or factious spirit. In other words, a person who loves nothing better than to divide people into groups according to their personal opinions. He talked about them as having "greater alliances" to their idols than to God. Others become nothing to them but means to an end of their own choosing. This is borne out in power and vain conceit.*

At the same time, Pastor Joe shared another brief story from this past Monday. As you may recall, this was the time chosen here in the United States to honor those Military Servicemen who have passed. We call it Memorial Day. Anyway, Joe and his wife were visiting friends that afternoon who also have young kids. These people live in a neighborhood where young kids abound. After a while, some of these others joined into the celebration. There were then about 12-15 children, playing nicely while the adults engaged in conversations that were not being interrupted every 10 seconds!! (Who knew this was possible!!??) 🤪🤪 Eventually, one of the older kids noticed that the garage was open. He proceeded to explore, and quickly found a stash of umbrellas. Of course, he had to open it; even though that afternoon turned hot and sunny after heavy rain earlier in the day. Upon seeing this, the other kids wanted umbrellas too. More were found, but not enough for everyone. Chaos ensued!! After a few minutes, one of the fathers came up with a great idea. Set a timer, and when it goes off, everyone with an umbrella has to hand it to someone who hasn't had a turn. Awesome!! Genius at work here, right!!?? Well, you would think... but, as Pastor Joe said, "You don't know my oldest.". When the timer went off, he folded the umbrella in his possession, wrapped the thing closed, and placed it firmly under his arm. Not until a girl he liked asked him sweetly, did he relent.

Pastor Joe then went on to talk about how this idea of grasping can work in both our personal lives, like on Social Media we are encouraged to "build your brand", get more "likes", etc... all to impress people we've never even met and probably never will, and on the World stage where we see leaders grasping for peace at all costs, including the lives of innocent people, at times.

Conversely, when we read verse 6 in our Scripture above, we find that Jesus didn't use His power to control or divide. Rather, as we continue reading in verse 7, we see that He emptied Himself in humility in order to serve mankind. Pastor Joe mentioned in passing that this was a citation from the Old Testament relating to the Drink Offering.*

No matter how many books you may read on leadership, none compares to the example Jesus gives us of humble servanthood. Pouring onesself out for the good of others is the best method of leadership ever displayed.

Pastor Joe went on to point out that both the Gardens of Eden and Gethsemane involved temptation. As Jesus sat praying, we read in the accounts* where He pleads 2x for the Father to give Him a way out. On the third, He relents and accepts His Assignment, saying, "Not my will, but Yours be done.". This showed the Lord's Prayer in action. While Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, knowing good from evil, Jesus showed what it was REALLY like to be God.

In verses 8-9, we see that it was His humility that caused the Father to exault Jesus to the highest position of honor, that all would one day recognize and bow down to Him.

Looking once again at verses 1-5, we are reminded of our call to unity in Christ. For the Philippians, this meant being a part of God's New Kingdom Family. For us, it simply means joining the Family of God that has been around for over 2 milennia and counting. As Pastor Joe pointed out here, this is NOT a call to "uniformity". Rather, it is a call to "unity in diversity". In Christ, our nationality, ethnicity, or method of worship should mean nothing. Instead, our membership in the Family of God should be most important. Having, as Joe phrased it, a "shared imagination" for the things of God, we can walk as one.

In verse 3, we see how the humility of trusting God means acknowledging our weaknesses. It was during this part that Pastor Joe mentioned about how Eeyore's self pity was not equal to humility. Rather, humility is about leveraging God's love as opposed to our own self-interests. At the same time, he spoke of how humility is not exemplified in a group of people forced to align themselves under a few leaders. (That's called opression, not humility.)*

Finally, although he didn't mention a name, Pastor Joe shared about the amazing Spiritual Growth being displayed in the life of one of our church members/regulars over the past couple of years. In the messiness of his family, he is learning how to give things over to God without giving up agency, and leaning into love rather than feeling the need to control everything.

In closing, the last Sunday of the month is our time for Communion. During this time, Pastor Joe pointed out a couple of things. One, the fact that this would have been the 3rd cup of wine for that meal.* This represented the Cup of God's Judgement. Also, he made the analogy of people crushing Jesus just as we crush the matza crackers in our mouths. At the same time, he encouraged our silent reflection to be used in exploring ways in which we still may need to trust God in our lives. Have a small snack and prayer as you meditate on this.*

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

1. My cousin was the middle child between his brother and sister. His military service is also covered in this documentary on VA Hospitals across the country (Excuse some of the language, but as you will see, he deserved to talk like that) -- https://cvafoundation.org/the-care-theyve-earned/

2. Several years ago, I came to a realization that connects with the idea of "vain conceit". In discovering the true nature of Narcissism, I posted my own definition -- "Narcissism is really just self-loathing disguised in conceit." I feel like I really captured the essence of truth here.

3. While there are multiple verses relating to the Drink Offering, the online overview gives us greater context. First of all, it represented joy, devotion, and total surrender of the worshipper to God. Secondly, it was usually done with wine, and always with other food. Finally, it was always a Free Will Offering, never for sin or guilt.

4. Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane can be found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

5. As always, parentheticals are mine.

6. In looking up about the cups of the Last Supper, I'm realizing that Pastor Joe was sligtly off. While the first is about Sanctification, it's the second that is for Deliverance/Judgment. The third is Redemption, and the fourth is for acceptance and praise. At the same time, it's interesting to note that this meal was taking place on Thursday evening, not Friday, when the official Passover would be celebrated. Therefore, it may not actually have been a regular seder. However, in thinking about it just now, I realize that Jesus may have requested the regular seder specifically because He wouldn't be there Friday night.

7. The idea of meditating as we consider and reflect on what we've just read reminded me of a quote I read in Guideposts magazine before church this morning. Joyce Meyer says this -- "I tell people that if they know how to worry, they know how to meditate. We can meditate on God's promises to us, or we can meditate on our problems -- the choice is ours." Another article I read was about a woman who struggled with the idea that she couldn't pray properly due to ADD. She eventually realized that God didn't mind if she did other things at the same time. The point lay in her heart towards Him and her concern for others. (This definitely made me feel better!!)

Music -- Never any rights!!

I don't usually do it this way, but between songs, Worship Leader, Tyler Lahar, had us pause and read the following Scripture aloud --

Psalm 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

¹ Shout for joy to God, all the earth!²     Sing the glory of his name;    make his praise glorious.³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!    So great is your power    that your enemies cringe before you.⁴ All the earth bows down to you;    they sing praise to you,    they sing the praises of your name.”^[a]

⁵ Come and see what God has done,    his awesome deeds for mankind!⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,    they passed through the waters on foot—    come, let us rejoice in him.⁷ He rules forever by his power,    his eyes watch the nations—    let not the rebellious rise up against him.

⁸ Praise our God, all peoples,    let the sound of his praise be heard;

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After Communion, they came back and closed out with this one --