Humbling

Amsterdam in 1697 was the richest of all European cities, with by far the biggest port, and famous for the finest built ships anywhere. It was all within one of the major powers of the world at that time, the Dutch Colonial Empire. If you would have been walking the docks at the building yards in the late summer that year, you might have seen a carpenter emerging from his housing unit after cooking himself and his fellow workmen a traditional breakfast to start their day or later having a simple lunch with them seated on a nearby log, talking about the day’s work.

Dressed identical to his fellow laborers and carrying the same tools, he might otherwise go unnoticed, except for his unusual height, (six feet, eight inches) and strong accent when he spoke. Referred to by all simply as “Carpenter Peter,” you might never otherwise guess that he was in fact Pyotr “The Great” Alexeyevich, Tsar of the Russian Empire.

A deeply religious man, Peter the Great is now acknowledged to have almost single handedly transformed his country from a quasi-medieval agrarian society to a major world power grounded in Orthodox Christianity and modernization based upon Western academic, scientific, political, commercial and military premises. It was at the beginning of this transformation that he sought to build Russia anew by learning all he could from the ground up, as it were, which is why he chose to go incognito to Holland and enroll as a carpenter, ignoring anyone who addressed him as “Sire” or “Your Majesty” when his true identity soon began to be known.

On a far greater scale, the King of heaven willfully abandoned His throne for a time to literally be born and live as one of us, not in the visage and treatment of a king but as a humble carpenter. He did this not to simply better His people, but to save us, all the while knowing that not only would many of us reject Him but that ultimately He would die at our hands...the very ones He came to save. In His love, His kingdom is established neither by force nor coercion but by invitation.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

The King of Kings has come to you and invites you too with those very words this day. Very soon we will remember in the days of Holy Week the Last Supper, His arrest, suffering and death upon the Cross and celebrate His Resurrection, all done for our sake.

To receive Him involves a semblance of the very humility He embodied, casting off pride for repentance and receiving Him as your Savior. For this He gives us new life, both now and in eternity, enjoining us to live as He lived for us: “...whoever would be first among you must be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

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