Made In The Likeness Of Men

So this morning, we're going to be talking about Jesus' birth. And I want to start by talking a little bit about the ignorance that surrounds birth. And it's apparent when you go and you meet with or you see first-time parents. You see how they handle their kids, their children, or how they process with them or what to do with them. And they're really worried about the baby crying or the baby this or the baby that. they don't know what they're doing yet. They don't know a lot about babies. They don't know a lot about birth. They don't know how to take care of them. They don't know how to provide for them the things that they need. And so what do parents do when they have a newborn baby and they don't know what to do with the baby? What we'd like to think, what I would hope, and what I'd like to see happen is I'd like to see them ask for help. I'd like to see them invite people into their situation and say, here it is, I don't know what to do, help.

It seems very simple and very obvious, but oftentimes that's not what happens. Or if they do invite someone in, they don't invite in someone who's close to them, they invite in a stranger, someone who doesn't know them, who's to give them advice and to teach them about sleep schedules or feeding or diapers or teething or whatever. And I want us to think for a minute, why don't we talk to the people that we know about the things that are hard? Well, I think the reason we don't talk to the people that we know about the things that are hard is because it reveals something about us that we would rather they not know. And that thing is that we're unsure, we're scared, we're incompetent, that we're failing generally, or we feel like we're failing. We don't want them to know. We don't want anyone to see our vulnerability, to expose it. And so we're happy to have a stranger come in and talk to us and to...

instruct us and guide us because they don't know us. And so if they see our vulnerability, they can take what they've seen and they can go off away. And we don't ever have to deal with the fact that they knew that we struggled. We had a hard time. But that's not as it should be. Birth is a very good example of vulnerability. And being willing, you know, a baby, does a baby have a choice in their vulnerability when they're born? No, they don't. They don't get to choose when they come, how they come, what life's like on the outside, when they get to eat. They don't have a choice in any of it. And so what is a baby? A baby's vulnerable. Mom and dad are vulnerable. They don't know what to do with this baby. It's this weird mix. If you've had children, there's the most joy that you've ever had. And at least with men, and I suspect with women, there's some level of terror. Because you don't know what...

you're going to do now. You're going to get to leave if you're in the hospital. You're going to leave with this baby. You're going to put it in your car and they're yours. It's very scary. And what you're feeling in that moment is vulnerability. You're having your lack of knowledge, your lack of care, the fact that you're not like God, able to sovereign over all things and able to control them. You're having that exposed. It's a very humbling thing. And so as we study Jesus' birth this morning, we're going to be focusing on the theme of vulnerability and it being something that is unavoidable and it's actually not a bad thing. You know, when people have babies and they get upset because the baby's crying and they can't figure out why the baby's crying and they get mad. You know that parents get mad when they can't figure out why their baby's crying? Why? Because they love their baby and they want to be able to help their baby and they don't know what to do.

Should I pick you up? Should I set you down? Do you need to burp? What is it? They don't know what to do. This is their vulnerability. And we get frustrated when our vulnerability is exposed. And I want us to see that it's not a bad thing. And the reason it's not a bad thing is because Jesus could have come in any way that he wanted into this world. Any way. And when we look at our text, we're going to see that it actually wouldn't have made more sense to us if he had come in another way. And so we have to learn, why did he come as a baby?

Would you please stand now for the reading of God's word from Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 7. This is the word of the Lord, and it is eternally true. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. If you've studied the book of Philippians at all, you know that it's one of the most encouraging books in the New Testament. It's Paul encouraging, strengthening, rejoicing in their faith, in their love for one another and for the Lord. And so the book of Philippians is a book filled with encouragement. He's not dealing with...

with a church like Corinth where they're rebelling against him and hating him and wanting to turn away from him. He's dealing with a church of people who want to love God and who do love God. And so he takes a different tack with them. It's a very encouraging book. And so he begins with this command in our text. He tells them to have this attitude in themselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. And so he's holding up to them the Son of God and saying, you need to be like him. Look at how he behaved. Look at how he acted. Look at his attitude. That's for you. You should have that as well. So you're to emulate. You're to imitate him. And so what can we learn about ourselves from the very beginning if Paul is telling the Philippians that they need to emulate Jesus? Well, we can assume that each one of the things that he points out is not something that is true of us by nature. It's something we need to learn. He's telling them, you need to do this. You need to imitate them, which means they aren't like that already.

And to the extent that we understand Jesus' attitude, we also understand that our attitude is not like that, that we tend in the opposite direction. So consequently, the more that we understand about Jesus' attitude, the more we will understand about ourselves. Apart from Christ working in us and us striving to obey this command, we realize we are different than Jesus Christ. We don't have his attitude in us. By nature. It's not natural to us. So what is the first thing we learn about Jesus Christ? Well, we learn that he existed in the form of God. In John 1, 1 and 2, we read, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was, in the beginning, with God. And then just a few verses later, in verse 14, we read, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

So we begin, when Paul starts out saying that Jesus Christ, his attitude that we're supposed to have, we learn something about him. We learn that he's different than us. That he existed in the form of God and that he existed in that form from before the foundation of the world. That he is God and we are not. So we learn that there's something different about us. He is God and has been so from eternity past. We, on the other hand, we're created beings. We haven't been around forever. We won't be around forever. We were born and we'll die. But Jesus has always existed in the form of God. Now that seems like just a fact. Yeah, Jesus exists in the form of God. He always has been God. He always will be God. Why is Paul telling us that? Why is that significant? Is it just some little bit of information that we need to store up in our heads? No. He goes on and he says that he existed in the form of God and did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. So what do we learn about ourselves from this passage? What is our natural inclination?

It's to grasp for equality with God. So what's that mean? What's that look like? What's it look like for us to grasp for equality with God? Well, I'll read you a couple of examples. We'll start with the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, verse 4. All the people got together, and they decided that they were going to build a tower. And they said, Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach up into heaven. and let us make for ourselves a name. Otherwise, we will be scattered abroad over the face of the earth. And so what did they want to do? They wanted to pool their resources and build a tower up to heaven. Why? So that they could have a name. What name did they want? Who did they want to be on par with? They wanted to be on par with God. They wanted to be like God. In Psalm 2, we read about the nations gathering together, their forces, and they're going to

Their intention is to do war with God. With what purpose? To throw off his chains, to displace him. Verses 2 and 3 say this, The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. They want to be like God. They want to put off their creatureliness and become like a creator. And then when Daniel's gone off, into Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar puts out a decree. What does he want the people to do? He wants the people to bow down and to worship him. And why does Daniel refuse? Because the reason he refuses is because Nebuchadnezzar is not God. He's not worthy of worship. Daniel won't allow his God to be displaced. But what was Nebuchadnezzar led to believe? You can be like God. You can displace him and you can receive worship.

Daniel 3, 4, and 5 says, Then the herald loudly proclaimed, To you the command is given, O peoples, nations, and men of every language, that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, has set up. You think, oh, all this stuff happens in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, we're more sophisticated and we're more... We don't have these problems anymore. In Acts 14, when Paul's preaching and teaching and Barnabas is with him, what do the men do? Listen. This is Acts 14, 11-15. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycanian language, the gods have become like men and have come down to us. The thing that we've all wanted, the thing that we all aspire, here they are. And they began calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker.

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds to Paul and Barnabas. But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed into the crowd, crying out and saying, Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that's in them. What is Paul saying to them? He's saying, we're men. We are not God. We came here to proclaim to you the God of heaven and earth who's made all this stuff, but we are not him. And in that moment, you see Paul saying, we don't grasp for equality with God. We don't want you to view us the way you view him because we are not him. History is filled with men, even beyond the scriptures, who want to be regarded as God, who want to receive worship.

and praise and honor and glory. And they want to displace the God of heaven and earth. They want Jesus' place. So do you have to be a king or a ruler to act upon this temptation that's common to all of our hearts? No, you don't. It can be as simple as demanding that you be heard. You ever been in a group of people and there's the one person who they always have to be the center of attention? They always have to be the one who's talking. Why? Do you like talking to people like that? I don't. And I very much am tempted this way. But you get around these people and you wonder, why do they talk so much? Why does it always have to be their opinion? Why do they always have to get the last word? It's because they want you to forget about all the other stuff and pay attention to them, listen to them, learn from them, honor them. That is what looking or grasping for equality with God looks like in each one of our hearts. Someone makes an off comment that you infer has implications for you and you're offended because how could they infer something like that about you?

Aren't you more important than that? Each one of us wants to be treated like God. We grasp for equality with him. It's a hard thing when you have men, you have a family, and you're not egalitarian, and you believe that the husband's supposed to be the leader of the house, and he's supposed to rule the house, and all that kind of stuff. One of the temptations that comes along with that is he thinks that he's the one that gets to make all the decisions, and that there's no one else over him. And that's wicked. Because it's not true. He has other men over him. He's not God. And time and again we've seen men give in to this temptation, fall into it. And what are they doing except what Paul cautions the Philippians not to do? By saying, Jesus, he was everything you want to be. He existed in the form of God. He always has. He has what you want. It was nothing wrong with him being God.

and receiving worship and praise and honor and all the rest. There's nothing wrong with it. But when we take that mantle upon ourselves, when we desire it, we're stealing from God. We're taking something that's not ours by right and saying, no, it is for me. I do deserve to be treated better than this. I do deserve to be respected, listened to, honored, heard, what have you. So what's at the bottom of this desire to be equal to God? It's our pride. Think for a moment of the guy who always has to be at the center of the conversation. He sort of dominates the goings-on. Have you ever been there when someone's confronted them or heard of it, and they're just like, you're a liar. Actually, it wasn't that great, and you didn't do that well. They tell the rest of the story. Why did that man speak that way? Why did he have to be the one who was worshipped and praised and honored? Because he had to be like God. When someone came and said, essentially, you're not God. You're not worthy of being praised. Be quiet.

It's refreshing. It's helpful when someone's honest that says, you're not who you think you are. You're not as important as you think you are. You're not significant as you think you are. But it's a strike at his pride. You ever been that person? You tell a story and you leave out the parts that don't tend toward your honor and your glory. I have. I do. Very cautious about who's around and who hears and what they might think because they know the rest of the story. I'm simply trying to get each of us to see that this is a temptation that all of us face. We are like the Philippians. We are not like Jesus. Not naturally. He existed in the form of God and didn't regard that equality that he enjoyed as something to be grasped and held onto and kept. And yet it was his by right. But it's not ours. He goes on and Paul goes on and he says, but he, Jesus, emptied himself.

He emptied himself of all of his glory, of all of his honor, of all of his dignity. He set it aside or he concealed it to the end that he could take on our flesh. He could become like us. You remember when Moses and Elijah came down on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured. The disciples saw just for a minute, just for a minute, they cracked the door open and they saw the glory of Jesus Christ. It was concealed from them and from us. Jesus emptied himself. The thing that we spend our lives striving for and grasping for and going after, Jesus had, and he sets it aside. He empties himself. So if we can get our minds around the fact that around Jesus' glory and his majesty and his honor and his dominion, really the fact that he's God and he's not like us, that it's appropriate for him to be praised and worshipped and all these things that seem entirely over the top. When I read what Nebuchadnezzar required of the people,

That when you hear all this music, you're supposed to face down on the ground worship. I just think, man, that is so over the top. You don't have to do that. And it was absolutely inappropriate for Nebuchadnezzar, and it's absolutely appropriate that we would respond that way to Jesus Christ. That no matter what's going on, when you hear the music, you worship. You fall down on your face. Your dignity is all gone. You're not worried about what other people are thinking about you. If we can get our minds wrapped around the fact that Jesus is God, then it's almost inconceivable to think of him setting it aside, his glory. Why would he do that? How could he do that? Why would he do that? Paul works, when he exhorts them, he works in the opposite direction of our sensibilities. We think those are good things to have, just like the disciples up on the mountain. This is good. Can we build a tent? We'd love to have you guys stick around so we can be like you.

Paul tells them, no, you're to have Jesus' attitude in yourselves. Not only are you not God, you shouldn't strive to be God. And we can come to this place in our minds where we think, okay, well, if Jesus is God, isn't all that honor and glory and worship and all that, that's actually his, so shouldn't he receive all of that? Wouldn't it be right for him to do it? He empties himself then, and he takes on the form of a bondservant. Think for a minute. If you can conceive of Jesus being fully God, and worthy of all praise, how should he come to earth? What should he be like? What sort of environment should there be? What sort of people should he be surrounded by? How should he be dressed? And we think, well, he should demonstrate the fact that he's the maker of heaven and earth. He should come with some glory. He should come with some dignity. He should come with some honor.

as a prince, as a king. That's not how he came. He came as a carpenter's son. He took on the form of a bond servant, a slave, a meek and a lowly man. In Isaiah 53, we read that he, Jesus, prophesying about him in the future, that he grew up before him like a tender shoot. like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. So when was that true of Jesus? Was it just at his death? It was his whole life. It was his birth. The king of heaven and earth was born in a cow stall.

with no glory and no honor and no pomp and circumstance, save what God revealed to the shepherds and to the magi, to a select few. Jesus was born in the humblest of estates, nothing like what he deserved. The last thing you would expect Jesus, the king, the savior of the world, to be is vulnerable. That's what all the pomp and circumstance of kings and princes and powerful people is meant to do. It's meant to protect them from being vulnerable. They're no longer vulnerable. They're now strong. And yet, Jesus was born vulnerable, just like any one of us was. I'd actually say more vulnerable, more exposed, more humiliating than any of us. None of us were born in a house. Weren't we all born at home or in hospitals here?

You weren't, Luis? Oh. I said, weren't we all born in either hospitals or at home? Not in the barn, but the animals. So then Paul ends this section. He says that Jesus, that he was made in the likeness of men. In our call to confession this morning, we read from Hebrews, and they talked about having a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. who's been tempted in every way such as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. And so we recognize that in his birth, Jesus was vulnerable. He was humble. He was meek. He was exposed. From the beginning of his life, his life was in danger. You remember that Herod wanted to kill him, and they escaped to Egypt. Can we see that he was vulnerable? That's what attends his birth.

And he's made in our likeness. When his incarnation, it says that he was made in our likeness. We are made in his image. When he came to earth, he took on our likeness. And the overwhelming theme of Jesus' life, one of them, is his vulnerability and his humility and his exposure. Now he voluntarily submitted to it, so why don't we? If we're to have this attitude in ourselves, it follows then that we would be vulnerable. as he was. Could you imagine being his parents? Being Joseph and Mary, knowing who your son was, that he was the promised one, he was the Messiah. I mean, parents get nervous enough now with their children, just normal children, to take care of them, to provide for them, to care for their needs. But what if you were the mom or dad of Jesus? And you had to feed him and teach him. What could you teach him? Out of wire houses.

Jesus came into this world in such a way as to depend on other people. That's what his birth teaches us. That's what we're going to pay attention to this morning. He came into this world in such a way that he had to be cared for by other people. Is that unpopular to any of you? Well, why? He's God. He should just depend on his father, right? Well, yeah, absolutely. Sure. Definitely. He should. And he does, right? How? How does the baby depend on his father in heaven? Let me ask you this way. How does the father provide for his son? By giving him parents, other people to depend on. I mean, you could think, okay, so it's possible that Jesus could have never been fed and he would have lived. Because he's God and he can do anything he wants. It's possible that he could have existed.

and not needed anybody to take care of him. But he didn't. So why do we? Why do we live as though we don't need anybody? We don't want them to see our vulnerability. Think again. Why do we seek equality with God? Why is that such a common, constant, strong temptation to us? Because we understand, our conception of God is that there's no vulnerability in him. And yet in Jesus' birth, in his incarnation, there is absolute vulnerability. When he lived on this earth, he was dependent on other people. And so instead of emulating Jesus in his birth, we're instead inclined to grasp for equality with God. Why? So that our vulnerability can be protected. So that we can protect it. We can hide it. We can manage it.

Strength and power are the antitheses of vulnerability. We believe that they will protect us from having our vulnerability exposed. Isn't that why the person in the room who has to always have the last word and talk so much, wasn't that why they talk so much? To keep you from exposing their vulnerability, from asking them a question and then a follow-up question if they don't answer it just right. The best defense is a good offense. I can keep you from knowing about me and what's going on in my life by talking all the time. Or keeping silent, just never talking. It goes both ways. We're trying to conceal our vulnerability. This is not what Jesus did when he came to earth. He chose vulnerability. He chose it. He didn't despise it. He didn't hide it. You know, when he was in the garden and he was praying and the disciples kept falling asleep, was he just frustrated that they wouldn't do what he said? No. He was feeling his weakness. He knew what was coming. He knew his day was...

had arrived. And he wanted them there with him. He wanted them praying with him. Not because he couldn't have done it all on his own. He could, but he's God and we're not. And the thing for us to learn is not be independent and be self-sufficient like God. It's a fool's errand. We can't do it. We cannot do it. We have to have other people. We have to have them particularly at the point of our vulnerability, of our weakness, of our failures, of our fears. of our frustrations, of our sin. That's where we need other people to care for us. And Jesus didn't mind at all having other people care for him, having his parents care for him. And it was not in conflict with his dependence on his father. He came as a child to teach us something, that we need other people. So what about us? Well, the simple thing to say is don't despise your vulnerability.

Every one of us has things that you don't want people to see or to know. Things we guard and protect and lie about when people get near it. If we're just honest, it's that simple. People get near something we don't want them to know about, you lie to them. But we're to have Jesus' attitude within ourselves. He didn't despise his weakness. He didn't despise his vulnerability or his exposure. The things that create our vulnerability, our sins, our fears, our past, the things that we're sensitive to as being a place where we're exposed. Our temptation is to cover those things, to hide those things, to ignore those things, just to whitewash over them, put a shirt on, cover up the wound, and don't let anyone know about it. Try real hard not to limp and let people know you hurt your foot or your leg or whatever. We all try to cover our vulnerabilities up. You guys know Diane is a massage therapist, right?

And do you know if she's the last person I want to talk to when my back hurts? Because you know what she says? She says, well, she'll work on my back and actually make it feel much better. But you know, I don't like to tell Diane that it hurts. Do any of you know why I might not want to tell Diane that it hurts? Yeah. Yeah, she says, well, this is all you have to do. And then she'll say to me, she'll look me right in the eye with a big smile, and she'll go, but you aren't going to do it, are you? And I'll see you in a couple of weeks when you're still complaining.

And so I learned the lesson why I'm not going to tell Diane it hurts until it really hurts. Then I will. Diane's the same way. I don't want her touching my vulnerability. So I just grip my teeth and bear it. No, I'm fine. And that's just a silly example. But it's a good example. What's the best way for me to, if we're going to use that example, what's the best way for me to negotiate that vulnerability? What's the best way for me to handle it? By getting help. By going to Diane and saying, you're right, I didn't. I didn't do what I should have done. I did exactly what I shouldn't have done. And it hurts. Can you help? That's how you work through vulnerability. You don't cover it and hide it. It doesn't work, does it, Dan? No. You don't cover it. You don't hide your vulnerability. You don't despise it. You ask other people to care for you. They're in it and through it. That's where you'll find help. But so many of us want to rely on God alone. Well, I'm just going to pray about it. I'm just going to talk. We want to be...

We're isolated in our weakness. We want to be isolated. Don't want anyone touching or getting near the thing that hurts. And we think it's sufficient just to rely on God. And I say, does that make any sense for a child to do that? Isn't it awful when you have a little child and they can't do the thing? They can't tie their shoes or they can't whatever. And you say, let me help you. And what do they say? I'll do it myself. I'll take care of it myself. That is so silly for kids to say that. Because it's obvious that they can't do it themselves. But they won't have help. And so we teach our kids, it's okay to need help. It's okay to need someone to come alongside of you because you can't do it yourself. You can't bear this load on your own. And you don't have to. Have another cup of water. Thank you. My cold will eventually subside. So the way to deal with,

The vulnerabilities that you feel is not to hide them and not to despise them. And the way you can do that by keeping quiet about it, keeping silent about it, not letting other people know. This is what babies in orphanages do. And if you've ever dealt with adopted children from orphanages, you know it's not a good thing. You know they don't cry anymore. They just don't cry. Because they cried and they cried and they cried when they were little, but there was no one to hear their cry and no one to care for them, so they just stopped crying. So what's going on there? Well, their vulnerability's been exposed and no one's come to their aid, and so they stopped asking. And that's bad. If you know people who have adopted children, that's a big thing they have to work through is to teach that child that they can trust someone to carry them, to bear with their burdens. And we're no different than them. Why would we bear our weaknesses?

And our vulnerabilities alone. Well, because they don't understand. You know how often that gets said. Well, I can't tell them because they don't understand. You're right. I have no argument. You're right. They don't. It has nothing to do with whether you should tell them or not. Every one of us, we think our life and our circumstances and our burdens and our vulnerabilities, they're so unique. And we're right. They are. But we think that because they're so unique, no one can help. No one can help. And that's just a lie. That's just a lie. It's not true. You're right. They don't understand. So you know what you should do? You explain it to them. Here's what it's like. Here's what my vulnerability looks like. Here's what I don't want you seeing or touching or knowing about. I mean, could you imagine a baby saying that to their parents? Well, I'm not going to cry because they don't understand that I've got gas. I just bear it myself. No. Babies, through their neediness,

Teach their parents. What do they teach their parents? Patience. Tenderness. What did you say, Dan? What they need. Yeah, they do teach them what they need, but the lessons that the parents learn are patience and tenderness and gentleness and kindness. The parents don't understand. I don't know what's wrong with him. I don't know what's wrong with him. Why is he crying? Why is he upset? Why won't he sleep? Why won't he eat? They don't understand. They learn. And they learn through seeing the vulnerability that they don't understand. Because they have a will to learn. A parent has a will to figure out why their baby's crying, why they're uncomfortable. And that's as it should be. And so if you're inclined to think, well, they don't understand, so I'm not going to tell them, I say, you're right, they don't understand. That's why you should tell them, so that they can understand. So that you're not left to yourself. Because if you keep to yourself, because they don't understand, that is you grasping.

For equality with God. You want to be autonomous. You want to be complete in yourself. But you're not God. Jesus existed in the form of God. Didn't need people. Didn't need anything. There was nothing lacking in his character. But he laid it aside. He emptied himself. And he came as a baby. He chose to need people. And we ought to as well if we're to have this attitude in ourselves. That we wouldn't despise that we need other people's care and love and instruction. You learn a lot from little babies about what they need, about how they can't do it for themselves. So many people can't wait until their kids grow up. And then the kids learn it, and then the kids all want to grow up. And then they get into high school, and they just can't wait to get out on their own. And I think this is just sad. Because no one in that whole system has any place for vulnerability. The parents want the kids to grow up so they're not vulnerable.

They teach the kids to despise their vulnerability, so then they get older, and then they say, I want to grow up and be on my own. And it's broken. It's backwards. It's not how it should be. Am I saying kids should be weak and frail and incapable? No. They're going to grow up. They're going to gain strength. They're going to gain knowledge. You need to train them in such a way that they're productive members of society that fear and love God for all of their life. That's the goal of them raising up and you training them. But you shouldn't despise their vulnerability along the way. The fact that they need you. So if you think for a moment, if you're like, I don't like the baby stage, which I keep hearing, which is just crazy to me that people don't like the baby stage. I know it's hard. We've gone through it a number of times. But with each child, it's become sweeter. Their dependence on us has become sweeter. And it's defined our life. It defines a lot of our life.

But it's their vulnerability that defines our life and our priorities. Because their vulnerability requires our faithfulness to care for and to love and to shepherd and to teach and to instruct and to bear with. Don't despise vulnerability. Jesus came as a baby, needing, truly needing his parents. We don't outgrow that. You think that babies and old people are the only ones who have, you know, they're the only ones that actually have their vulnerabilities exposed because they can't care for themselves anymore? They can't keep it hidden, their needs. But our needs never go away. It's just we live most of our lives thinking it's better to hide them. It's no good. It's no good. Have this attitude in yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus. He came and made in the likeness of men, and he came as a little, vulnerable, helpless baby. Had to have his mom and dad take care of him, feed him, change him, carry him, teach him.

And that's as it should be. So we ought to follow in his train. Let's pray. Father in heaven, you know our weakness. You know who we are and you know what we are. Even if we're unwilling to have anyone else see us, you see us. As you saw Adam and Eve in the garden, laid bare and naked, you see us and you know us. And to a lesser extent, Father, we see and know ourselves, that we are weak, that we're vulnerable, that we're needy, that being autonomous and living on our own, And bearing our own burdens without any help from others is wicked. You sent your son into this world as a baby in need of his most basic needs being fulfilled by others. I pray, Father, that you would help each one of us not to be ashamed of our vulnerability and our weakness and the exposure of being a man or a woman or a child. I pray, Father, that you would...

provide for our weaknesses through the church, through our brothers and our sisters and our mothers and our fathers, through those who love you. I pray, Father, that you wouldn't allow us to grasp after equality with you, that you'd break us of this pride and that you would humble us and help us to be dependent on you for our daily bread, for everything that we need. We love you, Father, for not leaving us squirming around in our inability, but for providing us with your Holy Spirit and your church to love us and care for us. Help us to love her in return and to love each person that you've brought into our lives, different as they may be. Help us to love them, to bear one another's burdens and to so fulfill the law of Christ. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.