having the attitude of Christ

Seeing Was Believing

Posted on by Betsy

Hearing the Christmas story read from the Gospel According to Luke is essential to the celebration, in my opinion. Matthew also records the events, but not in the lush detail that Luke used. And if your earliest memory of this passage comes from Charlie Brown, it was Luke that Linus read as he stood on the school stage. It resonates. It reveals. It will preach.

Because the passage is so familiar, I wondered what it would sound like in an unusual translation. Typically, we hear some variety of New Revised Standard, New International Version, New King James, or the original King James. As you know, I advocate for reading several translations of a passage to fill in gaps of nuance and meaning.

I realized that I had never read it in the Message, which I appreciate for its use of contemporary dialect. I eschew The Message for traditional writings (like the Psalms) so I thought I would see if there are any undiscovered nuggets in Luke 2. Peterson did not disappoint.

Luke 2 (The Message)

2 1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

As I read the word “hostel” I immediately thought of the word “hostile”. Indeed, Christ was born into a hostile world. Born of unwed parents in a society that would instantly reject them, born to save a world that would basically ignore his gift, born in a government system that oppressed and persecuted his people, Jesus was born in a hostile, if not a hostel.

An Event for Everyone

8-12 There were shepherds camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

An event for everyone! Be mindful that “everyone” includes the people who don’t look, act, think, or live like you. Everyone, worldwide.

13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the shepherds talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the shepherds were impressed.

Seeing was believing.

This is why it is imperative for modern day Christ followers to live out the Gospel in their behaviors, attitudes, and deeds. How can we hope that people will see Jesus if not in what we do and say? How can we expect the good news to spread if we don’t live it out in front of people? When we cut people off on the highway in our BMWs with the ichthus icon on the trunk, giving them the finger when they honk in protest, do we really think that Christ will be seen and believed in this life? You’re the ONLY Jesus some people will ever see. Act like it.

19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The shepherds returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

As we roll into this new year, may we be like Mary and keep Jesus’ teachings dear and deep within us. And then may we be like the shepherds and let loose, praising God for everything!

My prayer for you today is that you have a deep, meaningful, and life-changing 2023.

Believing is seeing. Go, and tell!

Merry Christmas by Michelle Robertson

Adopt the Attitude

Posted on by Betsy

Some days, attitude is everything.

When you are feeling low, taking on an attitude of hope can help you move forward.

When you’re feeling accomplished, remembering where your blessings come from can shift your attitude from pride to gratitude.

When you’re feeling joy, adopting an attitude of generosity can spread that joy outward.

When you’re feeling despair, remembering that you are NEVER alone can change your attitude toward your situation.

Paul talks a lot about attitude in the book of Philippians. In the fourth chapter, he encourages us to rejoice.

“Rejoice! Again, I say, rejoice!” (Verse 4)

That sounds like a lot of fluff until you remember that he was writing from prison. If his attitude can be one of happiness as he sits behind bars, we can take heart that our attitudes can rise above our circumstances as well.

In today’s passage, Paul lays out a tremendous challenge for us: adopt the attitude of Christ.

Philippians 2 (Common English Bible)

5 Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:

6 Though he was in the form of God,
        he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
7 But he emptied himself
        by taking the form of a slave
        and by becoming like human beings.
When he found himself in the form of a human,
8         he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
        even death on a cross.

We have talked a lot about obedience during this Lent season: obedience to the call to pray; obedience to the call to give; obedience to the call to study scripture, meditate, confess our sins, and repent; and obedience to whatever it is God is calling us to do.

Paul’s challenge is simple. If the Son of God can be obedient to the point of emptying himself and taking on the form of a slave, we can change our attitudes. Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Where is God calling you to humble yourself?

9 Therefore, God highly honored him
        and gave him a name above all names,
10     so that at the name of Jesus everyone
        in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
11         and every tongue confess
            that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Soon the day will come when we will all be humbled. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Christ as Lord. Until then, adopt the attitude of Christ as you wait. This is the way the kingdom is built.

Every Knee Shall Bow by Bonnie Bennett

Expiration Dates

Posted on by Betsy

My mother once told me a tip about buying dairy products in the grocery story. Never take the carton in the front. It is warmer and will expire sooner than the ones in the back. So reach behind and pull a colder one from the back.

Yesterday I bought a carton of Half and Half and pulled from the back. Indeed, the expiration date on the carton was later than the ones in the front. When I read the expiration date my first thought was, “Oh wow. That’s after the election.”

Funny how we think in those terms. How many of you are like me and just can’t wait for all of this to be OVER? This current season of disunity, hate speech, lies, attacks, and downright confusion cannot end quickly enough. And I am not such a Pollyanna that I think the election will miraculously cure the divisions that plague us, but at least the anxiety of waiting will be over. Both sides are promoting a platform based on fear and it can’t end soon enough. In my area, the local political ads are filled with slander and mud slinging and have reached the outrageous level. ENOUGH.

In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul addresses the subject of being united and agreeing with each other. He contends that those things are indicative of having the attitude of Christ:

Philippians 2 (Common English Bible)

 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any sympathy, 2 complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being united, and agreeing with each other. 3 Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. 4 Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others. 

This must be a taste of what heaven will be like. I am so jaded at this point that I can’t imagine we will achieve this on earth. How lovely it would be to share in the Spirit, have sympathy for our fellow human, share the same love, and be united. The humility required for God’s people to live in complete harmony is probably well beyond what we can achieve here.

What would it mean to watch out for what is better for others rather than to do things for selfish purposes? What change in your life would that require?

Paul gives the answer.

5 Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:

6 Though he was in the form of God,
        he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
7 But he emptied himself
        by taking the form of a slave
        and by becoming like human beings.
When he found himself in the form of a human,
8         he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
        even death on a cross.

To be truly Christ-like we must be willing to empty ourselves of ourselves. We need to be humbled. We need to be obedient. We need to let God be God and realize that we are not in charge of everything.

9 Therefore, God highly honored him
        and gave him a name above all names,
10     so that at the name of Jesus everyone
        in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
11         and every tongue confess
            that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The challenge for today is to practice humility. Find that one opportunity to put someone else’s need, opinion, agenda, or desire ahead of your own. Empty yourself and take on an attitude of Christ.

By the way, being Christlike in everything you think, say, and do has no expiration date.

Reflections of Heaven by Terry Wingenroth