Privilege is There to Give it Up

Do you know that one of the primary purposes of privilege in Christianity is that it is meant to be given away? More specifically, God-given privilege is meant to be invested in the people and moments of this world. Remember that last week we saw our first and primary privilege was the image of God. We were given a large part of who God is. Even in that act, we see that God shared His privilege, He gave it to us, He gave us dominion, so naturally He stepped back, so we could step in. Today, we hear how far that goes. Jesus who is God, who was equal to God, did not see that privilege as something to be used for Himself, but rather Jesus gave up that privilege and emptied Himself so that He could do more in us. As images of God, that is the primary example of how we are supposed to live with our privilege. Privilege is not something we use to our own gain, but rather, in humility it is something that we give up so that we might lift others up.

Here I should take a few moments to define privilege. Privilege in our modern culture’s definition is an advantage that is given to one person or group over another. To some degree, this is helpful in that we need to recognize what we have been given and what other people have not, yet I think it ultimately doesn’t go far enough. I think a more helpful starting place is to say that a privilege is something we have been given by God, which includes our birth, situation, status, etc. which we never deserved, ultimately that we can’t deserve. I think we feel this, even if we don’t always define it this way. I don’t deserve the privilege my gender or colour provide me, but I also never deserved this life, my family, this church, health, my relationship with God, any of it.

I want to reframe privilege as an undeserved gift because it sits us primarily in a place of humility and thankfulness, which then can help us to understand how to use our privilege. I think it also helps us to not make the conversation about us or them. If I stand here and judge you based on your privilege of wealth or experience or skills, I might never be able to come to you. And you might not be able to hear me if you judge me on my privileges. God always wants restoration, reconciliation, and as we heard last week, “Fruitful partnerships”.

The one and only situation where this new definition of privilege as an undeserved advantage doesn’t apply is with Jesus Christ and God in general. He is the only one who truly deserves everything he has and more, because he is the only one who has truly used it rightly, who has given it up consistently to care for others, who has always used His privilege out of love. So, He is the one we should always look to. Jesus is humble and thankful not because he knows he doesn’t deserve anything he has been given, but Jesus is humble and giving because he knows it is good, right, and the way of love. So should we.

That knowledge and experience of what love truly is, is where Paul starts in his letter to the Philippians. So the questions go to you too. Have you ever been encouraged by Christ? Up lifted, pushed forward, energized, given hope. Have you ever been consoled by His love? Comforted, relieved, restored, made at peace. Have you been given any gift in or through the Holy Spirit? Lasting peace, joy, strength, friendship, presence, knowledge, miracles. Do you feel any sympathy or compassion for one another or for God? Have you experienced God’s sympathy and compassion or that of your brothers and sisters in Christ? If you have experienced any of these even if in minor ways, then you have experienced the gracious love and privilege of knowing Jesus.

The thing I never understood was that Paul says if you have experienced even an ounce of these gifts of Jesus’ love, you can make Paul’s joy complete. In mathematical terms going from an ounce to absolute and full feels like a long way, but the truth is that when you have access to an ounce of God, you have access to the fullness of God, you only have to turn to him and embrace him. The amazing thing about the greatest privilege, which is knowing God, is that it is accessible to all, and we know that ultimately through God’s birth, death, and resurrection, which was all for our restoration and reconciliation.

Yet, Paul is trying to show us that knowing God’s love, even in minor ways, should inspire us to live in and out the same love God shows us, which is to give up our privilege, to act humbly, and to consider others as more important than ourselves. That’s what Jesus did. That is the only way we can find the unity and peace that we all crave. We need to be willing to give up what we have so that others might be lifted up with us.

The important thing to realize is that there is a priority to how we give up privilege or invest it. This is not about favoritism, instead, this priority is about building God’s Kingdom a place where everyone can live in the privilege of God. So, our first priority is to give up our privilege to God. And remember our privilege is every part of ourselves and all that we have because it is an undeserving grace. This primary place of giving is because we know we need to be using what we have for God’s goodness because we don’t always know what is good and right, as much as we might convince ourselves otherwise, we don’t always know what we or others need, and we ultimately find privilege through a growing relationship with God - which is that mutual self-sacrificial love. The story of the Wisemen coming to Jesus is a perfect example of this, but we will get to that shortly. Our psalm also reminds us that worship is a way that we give what we have to lift up God.

Paul points to the second place we give up our privilege and that is in the church. We do this because we are ultimately trying to create little pockets of God’s Kingdom that we might invite people into. It is here, most likely, that we can live in that mutual self-sacrificial love, that we can see God’s image, and that we can know the privilege of living with God. It is a lot harder to start it outside of the church if we can’t do it here. Paul tells us that if we can live out such humility, where we give our privilege to one another, considering one another more important than ourselves, then we can find that unity and peace that we all long for. Even in this wonderful and welcoming church this is something we need to work at and grow into. This might feel exclusive and to some degree it is, because it requires a desire to want to know God in Jesus Christ and in His community, but He is the source of our privilege, so He is the way we receive it and people need to see that. It isn’t exclusive however because the invitation is open to all and all are welcome even if they have just the beginning of a desire to grow with Jesus Christ.

Our third priority in giving our privilege is to our neighbors. This is because primarily privilege and love are given through relationships. Fourth and this is still a great priority as we are able, is to share our privilege with the world. We live in a globalized world of connection. In the West, we enjoy the privilege of much of what the rest of the world gives us in time, energy, resources, and more. We too can and should give back. We will dig more into all of this in later weeks.

I just wanted to close by seeing what this looks like through the Wisemen. Here are these men of great status, wealth, and wisdom. In their wisdom, they see a sign, a star, that tells them a great king has been born. They don’t just stay home and celebrate, dwelling in their own privilege. No, they give it up. They leave their comfortable homes, their position in their community, and more so that they can take a long, dangerous, uncomfortable, and grueling journey all so that they might meet and give presents to this newborn king. Most kings or people of status would send envoys so that they might enjoy their own privilege, but no, these Wisemen knew it was important that they go personally. The interesting thing we should realize is that these Wisemen gave up the privilege they had back home so that they might give up more privilege to baby Jesus in the form of presents, and at least in this story we know this to be a wise decision.

As you would expect, they go to the nicest palace in the area, thinking a great king would be born there, but no that is an earthly king, Herod - not the great king they were looking for - notice they don’t seem to give their gifts to Him and Herod doesn’t give up His privilege to go with them. The interesting thing we don’t usually realize is that the Wisemen going to Jerusalem and telling everyone about it, is an invitation. Others, who live close by can now join them or go on their own. The Little Drummer Boy is a great story of what this could have looked like, but it sounds like from their fear in the story that people are too caught up in their own authority structures to be excited or to want to go see someone greater in their midst.

How do you think the kings would have felt when the star stopped over just a normal, possibly even poor house? You might think they would be disappointed. This great king has none of the trappings that we would expect a great king to have. He belonged to a poor family, in a poor house. Yet, these were truly wise men. They knew that this little boy was far greater than what he appeared. They knew that by coming into his presence and giving him these gifts, they were joining in something, investing in someone that would be far greater than anything they gave up. They knew they had arrived at the greatest privilege.

The interesting thing is that outside of this moment and possibly the knowledge of God going with them, they would not likely have seen the benefit of Jesus’ life and kingship. In their life, they would not have seen the return of their investment, yet they would after and so would their countries, their children, and more. They were truly wise because they knew what they were giving up their privilege for.

So, I want to end it there, with the idea and the fact that when we give up our privilege for God and His Kingdom, we are investing it in something so great and grand, that we should want to do everything in our power to give it to Jesus. If we are wise, we can see the benefits of it in the moment, we can see His Kingdom come, we can see His will be done, but on top of that there is even more that we are investing in. We might not always see the results, but when we share Jesus Christ, when we share what he has given us, when we give up our privilege to lift others up in a relationship with God, we are investing in the life-change and world-changing love of Jesus Christ.

Notes:

What we have been given does in us

Humility - putting yourself under others to lift them up (humility ultimately first before God, then the people in the church, then outside)

Jesus Gave it up - God the Father gave more

Anger and arguing an opportunity to give - to be a light - to live in the life of Christ rather than the vanity of the world

The place of worship for God?

God tears down those that don’t humble themselves

Two versions of Kings in the Gospel

Children’s story - Tell the story of the wise people who were very wealthy (maybe even kings) traveling a great distance.

Why do you think these wise people traveled so far to lay down presents at the feet of a baby?

What do you think they would have thought when they saw a humble home, probably not a stable?

Why did they give presents anyway?

What do we have that we cherish? How might we use what we have to lift up people, even if it means giving it away?