As we continue to focus on humility and servanthood during April, I keep thinking about Jesus; there’s really no better example than Him. As this Easter season continues, and as we finally begin to experience the warmth of spring, I can feel the new life and new hope that comes with this season.
When Jesus walked among us, He spoke and lived out a message of new life and new hope that changed the world forever. His strong yet humble message of ‘truth to power’ was dangerous enough that it got Him killed, but powerful enough that His death wasn’t the end of the story. He rose from the dead. He defeated the ultimate enemy, death. He showed the powers that be that there was nothing they could do to stop His message of love, of humility, of servanthood, from permeating the culture and changing the way people lived out their lives from then on. And He didn’t do it with an army, with weapons, with strength and might and war. He did it with humility. He did it as a servant. He did it with love.
During this spring season, as the sun warms the earth, as the days get longer, as the flowers begin to bloom, the buds on trees start to sprout, the frost in the ground finally leaves us; we are reminded of the new life that was demonstrated for us by Jesus Himself. We are reminded that even though things can look bleak in winter, spring brings with it a renewed sense of certainty that one day everything will be made right.
As we go about our work in the shelters, we will strive to follow Jesus’ example of servanthood and humility as we walk alongside folks who have been left behind and discarded by society. We will try to refuse to use any of the tactics the rest of the world may use that contradict the example Jesus left us. We will do our best to live in the hope of spring, the hope of Easter, which reminds us that real and true life for everything and everyone is coming; even when things seem bleak.
Let’s keep living in Easter hope as we strive to be The Hand of God in the Heart of the City.
Peace,
Dion Oxford, Director of Mission Integration
Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ,
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Amen
Prayer from here