Passion/Palm Sunday
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus....
-- Philippians 2:5
In this early Christian hymn is captured the theological center of the message of Christ. Here Christians are confronted with the vision of faith by which we are invited to live. "Though he was in the form of God, (he) did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited...." The invitation for the church is to live the same type of servant-ministry that their Lord lived. A church that draws upon its status and power within society to achieve its own goals falls short of the mind of Christ through which it is to view its ministry. The servant-ministry of Jesus was depicted as one who voluntarily became a slave of others. His whole life was shaped in response to the needs of and service to humanity. Even his own survival was not more important than what his death might do on behalf of humanity. The church, as the body of Christ, is never to seek the advantage of their relationship with God to benefit themselves but is to seek how the power of God working through them might be of service to their neighbors. The challenge for the church to overcome their fears and their desires and allow their ministry to be entirely shaped by the mind of Christ is daunting. Yet, each time a decision is made or an act taken in the Spirit of Christ, the name of Jesus is exalted. We often lift up such stories in celebration.
-- Philippians 2:5
In this early Christian hymn is captured the theological center of the message of Christ. Here Christians are confronted with the vision of faith by which we are invited to live. "Though he was in the form of God, (he) did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited...." The invitation for the church is to live the same type of servant-ministry that their Lord lived. A church that draws upon its status and power within society to achieve its own goals falls short of the mind of Christ through which it is to view its ministry. The servant-ministry of Jesus was depicted as one who voluntarily became a slave of others. His whole life was shaped in response to the needs of and service to humanity. Even his own survival was not more important than what his death might do on behalf of humanity. The church, as the body of Christ, is never to seek the advantage of their relationship with God to benefit themselves but is to seek how the power of God working through them might be of service to their neighbors. The challenge for the church to overcome their fears and their desires and allow their ministry to be entirely shaped by the mind of Christ is daunting. Yet, each time a decision is made or an act taken in the Spirit of Christ, the name of Jesus is exalted. We often lift up such stories in celebration.
