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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Brown's Daily Word 4/2/15

Praise the Lord for this Maundy Thursday.  This is is also known as Holy Thursday.  Today our grandson  Gabe, that lives in Washington, DC is celebrating his second birthday.  His parents took him to the Washington Zoo.  It has been  the warmest day of the year to date here in the Northeast of the USA.  I walked on one of the local walking trails for over two miles.  It has been brilliant. Sunita told me that the temperature is reaching above 70 degrees today in Washington, DC.  The Nation's capitol is getting ready for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival that welcomes millions of visitors each year.  Alice and I have been there a couple of times.  The cherry blossoms are stunning and breathtaking.  We will gather for a special service of worship and reflection this evening as Dr. James Geer PH D will present Simon Peter at  7:00 PM.  Those who live in the area please join us.
    It was on Holy Thursday and Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.  As He washed the disciples’ feet, Jesus said that the greatest person in the Kingdom of God is the humble servant.  Jesus took the towel of a servant  and washed the disciples’ feet.  The big disciple, Peter, said, “No, no, no.  It is not right for you, our master, to wash my feet.”  Jesus said to Peter, “If I cannot wash your feet, you cannot be my disciple.”  Peter said, “Wash all of me.  My feet, my legs, my heart.  Wash all of me that I may be your humble disciple and do what you are doing.”  Jesus was doing the job of a servant, on his knees, washing and wiping his disciples’ feet. 

    God wants us to have that same quality as well.  That is, He wants us to have this same inner attitude that He possesses.  “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit.  But in humility, count others better than yourselves.  Look not to your own interests but look to the interest of others.  Have this attitude among yourselves that we find in Christ Jesus.  … For Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but Christ walked the path of humility and obedience therefore God has highly exalted him.”  Because of our human nature, humility is not a highly sought attribute today.   You and I most likely struggle with trying to elevate ourselves above the next person.  We take our brains, our intelligence, our gifts that God has given to us and we often use these gifts to see ourselves as being better than other people around us.  There is a human tendency to elevate ourselves above others, and we use God’s given gifts to do this.

    Who is a person that you know who is really humble?  Who is that person who comes to your mind, who does not elevate himself or herself above others?  Abraham Lincoln is often selected as being the among the greatest leaders of our presidential past.  When people make a list of the greatest American presidents who ever lived, Abraham Lincoln is most often on the top of the list.  Yet, there was an unusual quality of humility about him.  Jesus said, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled; whoever is humble, will be exalted.”  It is one of those strange paradoxes about life that a person gradually learns is true. 

In Christ,

 Brown

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