no longer offended me. I could look at the people and see them with
the love of Jesus.
“We had brought them a big birthday cake and some candles
(though it was no one’s birthday, we rightly assumed that few if any
of them had ever celebrated with a cake). We sang ‘Happy Birthday’
with them, blew out the candles, and cut the cake. They were so
happy. We all laughed together and had the most wonderful time.
“On the way back I realized that what we did was, in a small way,
like what Jesus did when he came to earth. He saw the mess we were
in, and he came. We were the garbage—the smelly human junk
clothed in filthy rags. But he was willing to leave heaven and enter
our pathetic trash heap of life and love us. He was willing to spend
his life scavenging for human souls.”
The church was quiet. Amanda sat down. I was thinking of my
Savior’s love, not only for the Costa Rican scavengers but for me.
Amanda’s report reminded me again of the powerful verses Paul
communicated to the Philippians:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also
to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:4–8)212 CLAIRECLONINGER