Oh, thou proud Christian, (for though it be paradox there must be some, I think; I would not be so uncharitable as to say that there are not some such persons) if thou art a Christian, I bid thee look at thy Master talking to the children, bending from the majesty of his divinity to speak to mankind on earth, tabernacling with the peasants of Galilee, and then—ay, depth of condescension unparalleled—washing his disciples’ feet, and wiping them with the towel after supper. This is your Master, whom ye profess to worship; this is your Lord, whom ye adore. And ye, some of you who count yourselves Christians, cannot speak to a person who is not dressed in the same kind of clothing as yourselves, who has not exactly as much money per year as you have. In England it is true that a sovereign will not speak to a shilling, and a shilling will not notice a sixpence, and a sixpence will sneer at a penny. But it should not be so with Christians. We ought to forget caste, degree, and rank, when we come into Christ’s church. Recollect, Christian, who your Master was—a man of the poor. He lived with them; he ate with them. And will ye walk with lofty heads and stiff necks, looking with insufferable contempt upon your meaner fellow-worms? What are ye? The meanest of all; because your trickeries and adornments make you proud. Pitiful, despicable souls ye are! How small ye look in God’s sight! Christ was humble; he stooped to do anything which might serve others. He had no pride; he was a humble man, a friend of publicans and sinners, living and walking with them. So, Christian, be thou like thy Master—one who can stoop; yea, be thou one who thinks it no stooping, but rather esteems others better than himself, counts it his honor to sit with the poorest of Christ’s people, and says, “If my name may be but written in the obscurest part of the book of life, it is enough for me, so unworthy am I of his notice!” Be like Christ in his humility.
Charles Spurgeon
The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 1 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1855), 160. Vol. 1, Sermon No. 20; Titled: Christ’s People – Imitators of Him; Delivered on Sabbath. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon.