Running Towards Empty

By

 “Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus: Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit. But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings.”

- Philippians 2:5-7a CEB -



The worry of overcharging a device seems like such a first world problem at times. For someone who has grown up with always changing technology, I remember it taking me a while to realize that leaving something plugged in could actually degrade the battery faster. It seems so counter intuitive that something at full power could actually be getting too much power.

However, the opposite can be equally scary. Having little or no power left, especially on something so seemingly critical like our cell phone, can feel like death to the outside world. But having your phone run out of power, as socially crippling as it feels, does nothing to harm one’s battery or the phone itself. The act of emptying and using a phone is exactly what a phone is designed to do. It is not designed to just hold charge or accumulate charge beyond what it needs.

This week we call Holy Week because we remember and journey with Jesus from the joy and celebration of Palm Sunday to the intimacy and reverences of the Last Supper and finally to the unknown pain and isolation of the Cross. If we don’t pay attention beyond the two joyous Sundays of Palm Sunday and Easter, we miss the part of Jesus’ story that makes our whole faith worthwhile and meaningful. Just paying attention to the happy parts can be lead to a kind of overcharging. We need the story of the cross to remind us to empty ourselves and let ourselves be used. Just as Jesus emptied Himself on the cross to prepare for the transformation of resurrection to come, we too need to let ourselves be used and emptied in order to be refilled and transformed by God. God’s power is best utilized by one willing and empty rather than by one that thinks of themselves as already full and functioning. By letting parts of ourselves and our egos die with Christ, we can then be made new and transformed by God’s grace. How are you running towards empty?

To Read More: Mark 14:1-15:47, Philippians 2:1-11

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Light as a Feather

By
Image
 " And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them,  “If anyone would come after me, let him  deny himself and  take up his cross and follow me.  For  whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake  and the gospel's will save it.     For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?     For  what can a man give in return for his soul? " Mark 8:34-37   (ESV) There is a lot packed in these four verses from Mark. What stands out to me most through all this talk about losing or gaining our lives and our souls, is in verse 34 where we are told to “take up your cross”. This is an instruction I have heard many times through the church, but what does it mean to take up your cross? To me, taking up our cross is choosing to be a Christian everyday. The conscious effort to treat people a certain way, to rely on God, and to think about ...
Read more

When We Can’t Say Nothing at All

By
Image
  “ I said, ‘Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!’”  “Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, ‘Whom should I send, and who will go for us?’ I said, ‘I’m here; send me.’” - Isaiah 6:5 & 8 CEB - We don’t often use the phrase ‘unclean lips,’ but it doesn’t take much to think about what it could mean. In our society, we classify certain things as ‘dirty words’ or ‘dirty language.’ But I do not think cussing or talking about lewd subjects is the only ways our lips can be unclean. How often do we think about the implications of what we say? Sure we realize that we might not always say the best things. Instead of saying a loving or kind word we simple just say something OK. Sometimes we do not say anything at all and hope that is better than what we wanted to say. After all, there is the motherly proverb of “if you can’t say something nice, don...
Read more

Strength in Weakness

By Anonymous
Image
He said to me, "My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness." So I'll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ's power can rest on me. Therefore, I'm all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I'm weak, then I'm strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NRSV - In high school my youth pastor used the image of a clay jar with a candle inside to explain how we can find strength in weakness. If a clay jar is perfectly intact and closed with a lid, the light of the candle inside is hidden. From the outside no one is able to tell that the candle exists. However, when the clay jar is cracked and broken, the light of the candle shines through, revealing its existence. This is how we can find strength in weakness, thereby glorifying God. If humans were perfect, there would be no need to point to a savior. From the outside no one w...
Read more