Loving Cruciform

Dear friends, every Tuesday we gather for a slow meal of manna, a lectio divina, straight from this next Sunday’s lectionary. Join the Slow Word Movement and subscribe to get a free how-to video to deepen your time in the Word.

Ever have that feeling as you stand at the end of the high dive that you just want to watch someone else go first? He jumps, you watch the landing, and then your body remembers. You can follow.  You pull your legs in tight and the water engulfs you. No harm. No foul.

In Philippians 2, we watch the way love shapes Jesus’ body cruciform so that we too can learn to stretch out our arms to serve in true humility. Only, here’s the catch. This stretch into service doesn’t make sense unless it’s fueled by a mighty love. I’ve seen people try to shape their body into humble service and it looks ghostly, a wisp of self. It looks like victimhood.

Whereas humble Love is always voluntary.

I’m reading two books right now that go beautifully with this text.

Hidden by Sara Hagerty a beautiful book which has challenged me on every level.

Free of Me: Why Life is Better When It’s not About You by Sharon Hodde Miller which comes out next week. Woo hoo! Sharon’s chapters on when we make our calling about us and image management have been especially profound for me. Pre-buy and receive lots of goodies at Sharon’s site: Sheworships.com

Interested in a short book that will rock your world? Tim Keller’s book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness is a must read.  Check it out here. It’s always $2 on kindle.

I honestly believe that this concept of embracing others through humble love is the hardest for modern Americans to grasp. We have so much baggage along the lines of army recruiting messages like Be All that You Can Be and journals spouting, “Dream on.” But the way of love is not always victorious, it’s cruciform and it’s only Jesus who can show us how.

Blessings dear ones as you listen,
Summer Joy