Exalted

“ God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ”

The fact that we celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision on the same day that we, in the West, also celebrate New Year's Day, is an inspired coincidence. This day, for our Lord, was a day of new beginnings. For on this day, 8 days after He was born in Bethlehem, according to the Law of Moses, He was taken to the rabbi and there circumcised, bringing Him into the Covenant of all Israel and giving Him His Name. It was not at birth in those days, but at a boy's circumcision that he was officially given a name, and this day Our Lord was named Jesus , which means Savior.

150 years earlier, the practice of making New Year's resolutions began at this time when the Romans placed Janus , their mythical king, at the head of their calendar month, January . Janus is depicted with two faces, one looking forward toward the future, one back at the past. The Romans, on this day, looked for forgiveness from their enemies and exchanged gifts before the New Year began. 100 years later, Julius Caesar established the 365-day solar calendar, placing January 1 st at the beginning of each New Year.

During the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25 th , Our Lord's birthday. It was later celebrated on the Annunciation, March 25 th . Not until the 16 th century did the New Year return to January 1 st when Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar and corrected its 11-day drift with more accurate leap years.

But even since the Babylonian Empire, people have celebrated a New Year festival, whatever the day might be, and resolutions for new beginnings have been adopted by all people. Beginning anew, making a fresh start, seeking self-improvement are all goals a Christian may embrace, and the New Year is as good a place to launch a program to begin. One survey tells us that the 10 most common New Year's resolutions are, in reverse order: to Become a better person; Eat better; Be more patient with others; Exercise more; Become more organized; Find a better job; Save or earn more money; Stick to a budget; Stop smoking; and the big # one: Lose weight. Among other popular resolutions are: to Spend More Time with Family & Friends; Enjoy Life More ; Get Out of Debt ; Learn Something New; and Help Others. Only our Postal Service has placed a different #1 on its list, that of Changing the Price of First Class Postage Each Year.

On New Year's Day, we do funny things and have strange traditions. Like the closing scene in “It's a Wonderful Life,” we drink a cup of kindness, singing Auld Lang Syne . I just found out this Scottish song was written by Robert Burns in 1741 and it's refrain means “old long ago” or “the good old days.” It begins by asking, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? For old time's sake we'll take a cup of kindness…” It goes on:

“We twa hae run aboot the braes And pou'd the gowans fine; we've wander'd mony a weary foot Sin' auld lang syne. We two hae paidled i' the burn, Frae mornin' sun till dine; But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne And here's a hand, my trusty friend, And gie's a hand o' thine; We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne.” It is sung in all English speaking countries at New Year's, and is almost as universally slaughtered in its performance and misunderstood in its meaning.

We all make resolutions, whether it be a new dress size or less beer or making the honor roll or reading more of the Bible. Then we tend to fail in these pursuits and laugh at ourselves often in the universal failure to carry off our resolutions. Perhaps we have faced our goals wrongly, perhaps in our own strength, maybe placing impossibilities in our way, and it could be we're just weak. Why can't we do what we set out to do on New Year's?

There's an old Cherokee story of a grandfather who told his grandson that a battle goes on inside of people. “The battle,” he said, “is between two wolves inside of each of us. One is evil. That wolf is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee smiled and answered , “The one you feed.”

How do we feed the better nature in ourselves? To improve is to rise up from a level we deem too low, inferior. Rising above our lower nature is, in a manner of speaking, to exalt ourselves. Now, if we exalt ourselves simply by seeing ourselves too high, a strange thing happens. We fail, we fall, we stumble and plummet downward. Thinking too highly of ourselves is a sure way to find ourselves debased. Jesus said it, of course, “ Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 But you see that being exalted is the point. We only get there through humility. The only way to achieve true humility is to exalt the One who is truly higher than we are.

The Scriptures are replete with examples of exalting God. “The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” Psalm 18:46 “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3 “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.” Psalm 57:5 “For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.” Psalm 97:9 “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.” Psalm 99:9 “Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.” Psalm 118:28

The Virgin Mary sang to Elizabeth, a song of praise to God and said: “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.” Luke 1:52 St. Peter admonished us to “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6 This humbling of ourselves and exalting the One to Whom it is due is the first step in entering a New Year facing what is real and obtaining the power to change ourselves for the better. All else is an attempt to elevate ourselves by pulling up on our bootstraps.

The world is on a vain path toward self-betterment without God. This is futile. We may even seem to do it, become better people, write great books about our exploits, be interviewed on Oprah, become governor of a state, dress well, live in luxury and still get sick and die like dogs. Here King Solomon speaks with some wisdom: “The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both… For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?” Eccles. 2:14-19 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” 12:13-14

Jesus humbled Himself to become a man, and as a man was even subject to the Law that governed man. So, He was circumcised. He was given a human name. He lived with human parents and was under the Jewish Law, becoming the only man ever to fulfill that Law perfectly. Thus, even the Son of God exalted another, His own Father. And by exalting Him, Jesus raised Himself above all creation. He did this, not for Himself, but for us. We are to become joint heirs with Him, children of God by adoption and grace.

If we are ever to see real self-improvement, it will be realized by humbling ourselves before God and exalting the One who is worthy. St. Paul realized this and wrote : “We are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” Romans 8:16-17

The Epistle today carries on the passage of Philippians 2 where Jesus, not grasping His high stature, become obedient to the Father by becoming a man, even to die for mankind. By this humiliation, Christ becomes exalted. His name is above every other name under heaven, “ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians ii. 9. If we confess that He is our God, if we exalt the One to Whom it is truly due, we raise ourselves up and His strength in us can truly make us better people.

So, let our New Year's resolutions list this year begin and end with this: I will exalt my Lord, Jesus Christ, by my life and in all that I do. If I lose weight, let it be to the Glory of Jesus Christ. If I read better books, if I learn a new language, if I spend less time watching TV, if I quit smoking, if I use less profanity, or take up aerobics: I will do all that I do to the Glory of Jesus Christ and serve Him by what I do. Let it be to His glory. In living, in dying, in all that I am, I bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom all glory is due. Humble yourself, therefore, and in due time, He will raise you up.

PFH+