Day 4: Meek
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths
- Luke 2:7
The parallel has often been drawn, the wrapping of the Messiah at both his birth and entombment. This natal foreshadowing is not lost on us who know the beginning and end of the story. Let us however, not lose sight of the place and time, and allow ourselves to dwell in the miracle of Emmanuel at His birth. She wrapped Him…to count the verbs dedicated to the earliest years of Christ would find few, and even less dedicated to Mary’s care of Him. Yet, here we see that which suffices all of what we need to know of it. The relationship of mother to child is disclosed. Mary would wrap and tend and give care to her child in the manner of all good mothers. The cycles and rhythms of motherhood, the repetitions of her daily routines in caregiving Jesus, would be those consistent with that which we observe across times and places. Therefore it is with little difficulty we imagine the relationship of mother to child. Perhaps it is for this very reason the veneration of Mary has risen to its unnatural heights. While it may be difficult to imagine the life of a disciple studying and living alongside the miracle-wielding rabbi Jesus, most can envision the daily life of motherhood, nursing and tending to the needs of a babe.
As Caesar Augustus measured the borders of his kingdom and counted his client states, Mary counted fingers and toes. Caesar Augustus struggled with his conquest of the Germanics on the frontiers, while Mary learned to swaddle and change Messiah’s soiled clothes. Caesar Augustus was served by powerful men and worshiped as a god, the imperial cult emerging during his reign. Meanwhile, the king of infinite eternity was attended by a teenage girl from Galilee. Caesar Augustus, Octavian, the first-born emperor of the newly minted Roman empire would be the most stark contrast to the first-born of Mary, in those first years anyway.
And so it is, with the authentically missional life. The flesh seeks potential and profitability for its investments. The Spirit moves toward the fringes, toward the needs. The flesh seeks to honor and glorify itself in its services. The Spirit seeks the honor and glory of the Son, to the exclusion of the carnal and narcissistic self. Do not be deceived, when the flesh is glorified, all manner of justification and self-righteous amends will froth to the surface from our darkened hearts. May our services be rendered in the unseen corners of Galilee, where our flesh may not boast, yet our spirits are joyful and freed from the divisive corruption rife in Rome.
Application Questions
-How might God be more amplified, and our own glory subdued in the services we currently render?
-Do I gravitate toward those ministries which will bring me the most notoriety, or toward the greatest need?
-If all consideration of self-promotion, politics, and attention from others were stripped away, where is the greatest need for my time and energy in my church?
