Stooping Down to Lift Up

Many of us can remember a time when we failed miserably at something.  Or perhaps a time when we were tripped up, knocked down, or bowled over by circumstances, people, or our own failings.  Some of us can remember being kicked while we were down.  But we may also remember someone who stooped down, entered our mess, just to lift us up out of it.  The Incarnation, God the Son takes on human flesh, is all that, and then some, and then a whole lot more.  So what is the impact of Jesus' coming into our world and respective spheres?  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost of Discipleship: “The Incarnation is the ultimate reason why the service of God cannot be divorced from the service of man.”  If we've found ourselves groveling in the muck and the mire only to be lifted out, how can we not wade into the lives of those round about us in dire need?  Psalm 113:4-7 is a picture of our Father: "For the Lord is high above the nations; His glory is higher than the heavens. Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high? He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump." (NLT)  May this also become a picture of us...