“ Humiliation !” said the pastor…

“ Humiliation ,” he said, “is all about not claiming our right to ourselves…”

What a message, I thought.

Minutes later, I sat with a group of friends…

Telling a story…

A story of how I had been wronged in the past…

Of how I had not been treated with the respect I deserved.

I sat with my friends…

Claiming my rights to what I thought I deserved….

How could I possibly hear such a great message one minute…

And then do the opposite the next?

Driving home I thought about the afternoon…

Some chores to do, and then I might take a nap.

Me take a nap?  In the middle of the day?

You deserve it, I told myself.  You’re just getting over the flu.

“I’m glad you’re here,” said my wife as I walked in the door.

“Could you run a couple of errands for me, so I could take a nap?  I’m really tired.”

“Sure,” I replied.

But…. What about my nap?

I deserved a nap…

I wanted to claim my right to a nap.

A few hours later…

Tasks nearly finished…

Just enough time for a short nap.

The phone rings…

My daughter.

Her husband is out of town …

Could she and the kids come over for dinner?

Absolutely!

Grandparents will always trade a nap for playing with grandkids.

“The baby was up all night,” she says.  “Maybe I’ll take a nap when we get there…”

A nap?

Really?

Does everybody get to take naps?

Everybody except me?

Don’t I deserve to take a nap?

I thought back to the message from church…

“Humiliation… It’s all about not claiming our right to ourselves…”

Think of Jesus, who was God…

But humiliated himself by coming to earth in human form…

 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;  Philippians 2:6

Jesus who was God…

But humiliated himself with a towel…

…he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:5

Jesus who was God…

But humiliated himself on a cross…

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:8 

“ Humiliation ,” said the pastor.  “It’s biblical.”