The Flog – The Fabry Log

I’ve assumed God’s will for me is to make smart investments and good financial decisions. I've tried to buy a house in a neighborhood that is relatively free of crime and has neighbors that mow their lawns and want to keep their cars inside a garage. I’ve assumed God wants to give me a house big enough for all my children who want to still live at home, plus, the wisdom when to make the nest uncomfortable so they can fly.

But I’m beginning to wonder if this is, indeed, the path God has chosen? Falling home prices will certainly rise at some point. The falling stock market will probably do the same. Unemployment has to get better. How do I position myself? Where do I invest? Where do I put my capital resources?

My assumption was always that I would put it in a home that would grow in value. I would give at my church, give to charity, and let the professionals care for the widows and orphans. They do such a better job than I can do. I’ll help friends and family, maybe, but you can’t solve all of the problems in the world. Right?

That’s why Phil 2 is hitting me hard. If Jesus had felt that way about you and me, would he have come? Would he have humbled himself? But, you say, he was God. Yes. BUT. Why does he call us to consider others better than ourselves and look after the interests of others? Why does he set the bar so high for his followers? What is he calling you and me to today other than investing in a house that we can sell for 30% more in ten years?

Isaiah 58 found me. I like this as a corollary to Philippians 2:1-11. It's not spoken to us today, it was given for specific people at a specific place in a specific time. But listen to these words and see if something doesn't ring in your soul:

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

When Jesus stepped from heaven and became a man, he humbled himself, emptied himself, gave of himself, and clothed himself in humanity. Phil 2 says he did not "grasp" equality with God.

What does this say to you today? If we are to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, what will this kind of living do to the world around us and the people who are desperate?