The Incarnation– God’s Way of Filling in the Blanks
I had a guest teacher in my class last night– Derran Reese from Abilene. He is part of the Thai Mission team that our congregation is supporting right now. They look to go to the field by Fall 2009.
His text was Philippians 2:5-11 (the Christ Hymn) and we looked at how Christ emptied himself (kenosis) and became human (incarnation). We then explored the question if this is how God has revealed himself in the world, how can we minister and serve in a similar way? I hope you’ll be thinking about that and if you have any ideas or illustrations of kenotic/incarnational living, post one as a comment. Here’s one that came to mind for me.
I was talking with Virginia about our English Second Language Program yesterday. We’ve recently changed books and the students are really pleased with them because the text seems to hit right where they are. Tuesday’s lesson focused on filling out job applications. Since I’ve dealt with standardized forms since I was in elementary school, I don’t think about them much. But someone that’s learning English really has now idea what the blank “place of birth” means. For us it’s a shorthand that we know real well, but “place of birth” can leave someone less familiar with English scratching their head.
It occurs to me that Virginia is doing some kenotic/incarnational ministry. She is serving people right where they are– helping them fill in blanks they could not even read on their own. There is someone in your life that you can serve today. Walk next to them, enter into their struggle, and see how God can use you to fill in a blank to his glory.
