"God is not ashamed to be with those of humble state."

“My soul exalts the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

 For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name…

He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

And has exalted those who were humble.”

Luke 1:46-49, 52

For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

And with him who has a contrite and humble spirit…”

Isaiah 57:15

Lord! thou hast told us that there be

Two dwellings that belong to Thee;

And those two — that's the wonder —

Are far asunder.

The one the highest heaven is,

The mansions of eternal bliss;

The other's the contrite

And humble sprite.

Not like the princes of the earth,

Who think it much below their birth

To come within the door

Of people poor.

No, such is Thy humility,

That though Thy dwelling be on high,

Thou dost Thyself abase

To the lowest place.

Thus Thou wilt him with honor crown

Who in himself is first cast down,

And humbled for his sins,

That Thy love wins.

O God! since Thou delight'st to rest

Within the humble, contrite breast,

First make me so to be;

Then dwell with me.

~THOMAS WASHBOURNE

God is not ashamed to be with those of humble state. He goes into the midst of it all, chooses one person to be His instrument, and does His miracle there, where one least expects it. He loves the lost, the forgotten, the insignificant, the outcasts, the weak, and the broken. Where men say, “lost,” he says “found;” where men say, “condemned,” he says “redeemed;” where men say “no,” he says “yes.” Where men look with indifference or superiority, He looks with burning love, such as nowhere else is to be found.

BONHOEFFER 

Sermon on Advent III, 1933

         It is not from the insignificance of man that God’s dwelling within him is so strange. It is as much the glory of God to bend His attention on an atom as to uphold the universe. But the marvel is that the habitation which He has chosen for Himself is an impure one. And when He came down from His magnificence to make this world His home, still the same character of condescension was shown through all the life of Christ. Our God selected the society of the outcasts of earth, those whom none else would speak to.

F.W. ROBERSTON

Sermons, 3^rd series