The Gift of Humility

Some scripture texts seem to be directly pointed toward me. This is one. Jesus is addressing the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, the religious leaders of his community. He is talking to those who either by training, education, or selection by the people, stands to talk for God. They interpret the laws of God, the ways of God. He is talking to those who lead the way to God. He is talking to preachers and pastors like me.

He warns us against hypocrisy, saying one thing here in the pulpit and doing another thing with our lives. He warns against placing heavy burdens on the people who listen to us—that is, putting requirements on you that are impossible to meet, and asking you to do things that I am not willing to do myself.

But most strongly he warns us against making a show of our piety, of wearing showy robes and garments that set us apart and give special status and place above others. He warns us against seeking the high place at the table, against being addressed with lofty titles.

He warns us against the sin of pride, of exalting myself, my words and my accomplishments above others. I stand convicted of these sins. Look at the robe I am wearing, an academic robe with three stripes on the sleeve. Do you know what they mean? They indicate that I have a doctoral degree in ministry. No one else here wears such robes. You will see the “Dr.” next to my name in the directory. I know we have a number of doctors and PhDs among us but you don’t see “Dr.” next to their name. Jesus warns against even using the title “rabbi” (which is much like the word “reverend”), teacher, or father. We have only one master, one teacher, one father, our God in heaven, and none other.

But the real sin is not so much the outer trappings, the robes, the titles, and the names. It is the inner sins of the heart. It is exalting myself above others. I stand convicted here as well. There is a place within me that wants to be praised, that wants adulation and special treatment. There is a silent satisfaction when I am invited to the head table. I warm to see my name in the paper. I want to see my name listed there in the national magazine as one of the ten best preachers in the nation. I want to be praised as the most powerful pastor in the church.

It’s in me, you see. Ultimately, it’s not what you call me or what I wear; it’s what is in me. I could take off this robe and preach only in jeans and a t-shirt. I could erase all titles before my name, and it would still be there. “See his simple clothes. How humble he is! He never boasts of his degrees. What a servant!” And the swelling within begins. The pride of being humble.

Jesus was especially critical of the religious leaders because our arrogance and pride affect and mislead so many other people. We are called to lead people to God and our lives do the opposite. We send them away from God.

Yet we are all guilty of the same sins of pride and lifting ourselves above others. We do it in our jobs and schools. We do it in our homes and communities and even at church. What is it within us that seeks praise and adulation? What is it that drives us to high status and place?

How proud I am now that I am the supervisor! I am a doctor now, the president of our group, the leader of our block, the eldest in the family—the smartest, the prettiest, the most powerful, the most influential, and on and on.

Of course there is nothing wrong is seeking excellence, seeking to improve yourself, or seeking to do a good job. There is nothing wrong with a healthy self-image and esteem. As Jesus said in our lesson from last week, we are “to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.” You cannot love God or your neighbor if you hate yourself. But a healthy self-image is not an exalted self-image. It is not love for yourself above other people. Pride and self-adulation is the very thing that prevents us from loving others.

Humility. Jesus is calling us to humility before God and our fellow creatures. But humility is not easy. It is not natural. We all yearn for recognition and appreciation. Even those who happily serve quietly, behind the scenes, would like a ‘thank you.’ But as Mark Twain once recognized, the moment a person seems to have achieved real humility, it is destroyed in the pride of having accomplished it. Humility is difficult; perhaps, you could say it is humanly impossible. We can’t make it happen in ourselves. The more we try to be humble, the more we get tripped up on the trying.

Ultimately, humility is, as a theologian I read recently said, “…a gift of grace. Like patience and kindness, it comes as an endowment of the Spirit. When God gives faith, God empowers us to be what we are not and cannot be. Humility is not in the order of creation, but in the order of new creation.” (Clayton Schmitt, Pulpit Resource, vol 33, #4, p. 23) Humility is not something we gain on our own. It is God’s gift to the faithful. As the old shaker hymn says:

‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free,

‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

We will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed.

To turn, to turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

It’s all about humility and simplicity, love’s act of serving, changing and being reborn.

You remember on the night of the Last Supper, when Jesus gathered with his disciples in the upper room for a meal, to give some final lessons before he gave himself up for us. He stood up, removed his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. He took a bowl and filled it with water. He kneeled before each of them and washed their feet. Here the master, the teacher, the savior, bows to serve those who would follow him. He insists that if anyone is to have a part of him, they must allow him to wash their feet. We must allow Christ to serve us. And then he commands that we must likewise serve each other. Christ serves us. We serve each other.

As Paul said in his letter to the Philippians:

Phil. 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Phil. 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In serving us, Christ has given us the gift of humility. By faith we assume the same humility he bore. His life is in us. In him we love, in him we serve. And in him we are raised up. “11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt 23: 11-12)