Lessons about God’s Kingdom from a Newborn

As the long day wrapped up with a long evening (which is the story of almost every day with a new born) I sat on the porch rocking Eden to sleep…well I was trying to. She was fussing and writhing. No matter how I held her there was no peace. She continued to cry and holler to the point I feared bothering the neighbors.

Pause:

Allow me to open the door of my heart. If you could peak into my heart at that moment you would have seen thoughts, such as:

• There is so much more I want to be doing.
• I’m losing my night to a screaming baby.
• I could be reading with a hot cup of tea.
• I could be studying theology to be a better pastor…pause again
  • what that really means: I could be studying theology to be a smarter theologian so as to be more respected by my peers…
• I could be doing more profitable things with my time…

That was the moment. Those were the thoughts coming to mind laying bare the selfish desires of my heart.

I did not want to be up late and endure the burning eyes and shaky arms as the screaming baby in my arms wore me down physically and emotionally. I wanted sleep and rest, or at least to be using my late hours for something worth while (a peak at my heart once again).

In that moment the Holy Spirit pressed this unto my mind: If an important, influential, or powerful man gave me a task to do to assist him I would stay up and press on deep into the night. And that is not hyperbole. There are men in my life that when they say jump I ask how high. I respect them and would spend my energy to serve them.

Now let’s take that idea and broaden it out to make it accessible to anyone reading this. If a king gave you an assignment that would challenge your mind and tire your body, if you have even an ounce of dignity you will give yourself wholeheartedly to the task. Why? Because it is an honorable thing to serve a king. To serve someone with great authority is a respectable pursuit; you yourself in turn receive honor from others.

This is where every Christian needs a humility which is birthed from a heavenly mindedness.

Back to me holding Eden on the porch. If I had been living with a heavenly mindedness that births humility I would have viewed that evening in an entirely different way.

Let’s pause my story for a moment and look to the story of Jesus and teaching of Paul to help us see the heavenliness and honor of humility. First let us hear the words of Paul regarding this mindset:

Mindset of Humility

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…

Philippians 2:3-5

Humility has a look to it. It is more than a mindset. It is certainly not less than a state of mind yet where it truly exists it will be seen. A person who is growing in humility by the help of the Holy Spirit will live a life marked by humility…or to use Paul’s words life will be one of:

• counting others more significant than yourselves…
• looking not only to one’s own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Paul is speaking in broad terms here. He does not give a description of what kind of person we are to “count as more significant.” Nor does he provide qualifications for whose interests we are to put before our own. No description, no list of qualifications because this is to be the mindset we LIVE OUT toward our fellow man. This is the way of the Kingdom of God for it is the way of its King. Notice Paul ties this command directly to the conduct of our King:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Philippians 2:5-8

He who is God without quarrel, did not have to wrestle and press his way into being God…he did not have to “grasp” at it. It was his by nature. This God became man. He humbled himself by temporary and willful setting aside of particular aspects of his divinity (all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful). He emptied himself willfully and temporarily of these to live on this earth as a servant.

That is to say that our King fulfilled his work for his Father, our Creator, in the form of a man and work of a servant. This is what humility looks like: living on this earth in obedient service to the will of God for human life.

Before we carry on with our text in Philippians lets remember a few words from the King. While the Servant-King lived on this planet he taught his followers about the heavenly mindset of those who are in his kingdom which shows itself in humility. He spoke of honor to the humble. 

Honor to the Humble

Jesus explained to his disciples that the way of life in God’s Kingdom looks so very different from this present world that those who belong to this world see it as foolish.

Here is a part of one teaching moment he had with the twelve disciples:

And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Mark 9:33-37

Greatness in the Kingdom of God is displayed and measured quite differently than what we Earthlings are accustomed to. In the Kingdom, greatness is demonstrated in sacrificial love. The mornings (or late nights with a baby) begin with thoughts of how can I put others first. It is going through the day with one eye open to opportunities to serve those around us:

• picking up a set of keys dropped by an elderly person
• folding bulletins at church
• using your free Saturday in the service of another who cannot return the favor
• lending a hand to a single mom of three kids
• engaging someone who is marginalized in genuine conversation

Even service to a small child.

When Jesus said : “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me…” he was speaking counter-cultural words. We in the western world live in a culture that serves kids idolatrously. Kids are pampered beyond belief. Not so in the ancient near east in Jesus’ day. Children were toward the very bottom of the food chain culturally speaking. No Jewish man would stoop that low. Yet Jesus is calling for such service which will only result from a heart that is humble.

Just a little while later at the end of the story of the rich ruler who asked Jesus about eternal life Mark would end that story with these words from Jesus:

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Mark 10:31

That is to say that in eternity when all in this age is done those who were great, honorable, and respected by the world’s measurements (i.e. the rich ruler) will be least while those who lived in service to God by serving others in this life will be great in the eternal Kingdom of Jesus.

To King Jesus Humility is greatness, and the mark of a respectable man.

This lengthy narrative across Mark 9 & 10 comes to an end with these words from Jesus:

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:42-45

As the story closes in Mark 10 the main theme of humble service that has threaded chapters 9 & 10 together resurfaces one last time so that the words echo in our mind as we move to the next chapter. In that closing we find Jesus speaking of himself as Paul would do later in Philippians 2:5-8. Christ served by humbly doing the will of his Father, even dying on a cross.

Let us pick back up with Philippians and see what the Father does in response to the humble service of the Son.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11

Exaltation and honor awaits those who consider themselves last of all and servant of all. It is the purpose of God that his children, like his Son, should count others more significant than themselves, and look to the interests of others before one’s own.

The cross of service in God’s system is followed by a crown of honor. We need to think about our roles and tasks in life in this way. We need not worry ourselves with whether or not this job or chore is honorable in worldly standards, but ask: “Does this please God?” Does it please God when I…

• pick up a set of keys dropped by an elderly person
• fold bulletins at church
• use a free Saturday in the service of another who cannot return the favor
• lend a hand to a single mom of three kids
• engage someone who is marginalized in genuine conversation

Back to the Porch

The way I should have understood that moment with Eden is something like this. Holding that crying helpless child is working for a king, but not just a king, The King. Not to mention that this little baby is my very own daughter whom the King of the Ages has given me to care for. Therefore, when I hold her amid her shrieking, and that is my sole focus for the moment, no other task being done, I am serving the Holy King.

In God’s Kingdom what seems worthless or cumbersome can become a great pursuit. God honor and gives grace to the humble. It is in humble service that we are in fact working for a king according to his purposes. We are on the task force of the King of kings when we count others as more significant than ourselves. When we go through the day as being last of all and servant of all we are truly doing a great thing. And though we do not see it now, there will be a day of honor and exaltation for the servants of this great God and King.

Go serve your King by humbly serving those, even the least of these, who come across your path this week.