Sermon for the 11 th Sunday after Trinity, August 23, 2009
“ And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. ”
Humility is the foundation of the Christian life, the underpinnings of any great work that will survive the Judgment. As it is with many virtues, we often misunderstand humility and even pose its opposite as our prescription against failure. The genuine article can't be faked, but there are many attempts to emulate humility that are obviously just the reverse. What is humility, this ineffable quality, that we might seek it and know it and have it as our own?
The word ‘ humble' has a number of meanings, and we need to know the one we mean as a virtue—not just low quality or inferiority. What we seek in being humble is modesty, unpretentiousness, respectfulness, consciousness of one's failings and limits . William Law said, “ Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves,” Thus is humility about ourselves? Not quite. Rick Warren says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less,” and Erasmus said it simply: “Humility is truth.”
We almost can't avoid defining humility in terms of what it is not, because humility is like a clear glass, a window through which one looks and sees what is there through the glass, but not seeing the glass at all. How do you describe such clarity? Unobscured, without distortion? Humility is a lack of pride, but can we say more of it? Dwight Eisenhower, WWII commander of the allied forces in Europe, said, “Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.” For this President, humility was borne out of great loss and sorrow.
If clothes make the man , we must unmake the man for a moment. Take our clothes off, in a manner of speaking, stop dressing up, cease from playing a role, get out of costume and be , just be . That's hard for some of us. And why? Perhaps we are afraid to be known, unhappy with the person we inwardly believe that we are. It's hard to be unclothed, just plain old me , if I don't really like myself. But that's a good thing to find out about myself. The school of self-esteem doesn't like such talk, but we don't intend to keep ourselves in an unhappy state. It's the first humble and honest thing if we can say, “I've taken a good look at myself and I don't like what I see.” Humility is honest. Don't be afraid. Pascal wrote: “Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.” If we are unclothed before Jesus, that's good. He sees us with perfect clarity anyway. The emperor strutting down the boulevard wearing clothes he can neither see nor feel, supposedly spun out of the finest gold by clever tailors, clothes which cannot be seen by a fool—is the best illustration of our pretense and arrogance before Almighty God “ unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” If ever we got real, it better be in the face of a God who is not impressed by our emperor's new clothes, not one bit.
So, humility first demands we shed the nonsense, stop trying to fool everybody. Next, we dig . Any building that is going to stand very long must have a foundation. The tallest buildings must first have the deepest foundations dug. The crumbling mantle of soft dirt, rotting refuse and fetid swampy mud has to be excavated or the building will sag on one side, crack down the middle and fall to ruin in time. Humility honestly submits to this digging out of our sins, our weaknesses, our past misadventures, our ugly hidden and buried deeds and gets them out. They come out into the sunshine, are seen by ourselves and others. And the digging goes deeper. How deep? How high will your life achievement be? What are you meant to do in the kingdom of God? Will your offering be meager, and will you call that humility? I won't rush the last point, but it's a mistake here to seek a low road by digging a shallow foundation. Dig. Get it out. Seek the bedrock . If nothing else, if you dig deep and you only build a bungalow, you will know it's built on nothing but the Rock Who is Christ. “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues.” Saint Augustine Virtues will be added. For now, we dig.
But the gaping hole sits ragged and formless like the deep emptiness where a large molar has been extracted, raw, bleeding and painfully void. Is that the goal of the humble, such ugly devastation like the crater left by a bomb blast? No, of course not. A foundation requires a design and formwork, reinforcing bars, and high test concrete. The design will not be yours, humble ones. God Himself always knew what He wished to build on your site, and has the plans all drawn up. The form it takes, therefore, will not be of your decision— and that's good . What you had there before was your own wisdom, this has to be more. “ Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more.” William Cowper Some formwork is temporary by nature, like a cast on a broken limb. It's an extra discipline, like fasting or special devotions, seeing a counselor, staying away from sources of temptation, giving up the general media for awhile, going on an extended retreat. You may not need it later, but in a formational time, it goes up with the new foundation to give it form. Some things, like re-bar, stay in. That's prayer, worship, reading Scriptures, periodic confession, staying current with God. The foundation begins to rise.
We don't all begin in the same place. No other life can be our pattern, unless it's the life of Jesus, who began in a barn, lived in obscurity for thirty years, owned nothing and committed Himself to no one because He knew what is in us. Yet He lived and died for our sakes. How much excavation, the size of the hole, the time needed to build a proper foundation—these all vary according to the will of God and the depths of our depravity. But we're building something to reflect the character of Jesus.
As a nation, this process runs the same. We have been an alabaster city on a hill to the world, but cities become tarnished. If we lose the entire God-given entity to selfishness, greed and pride, we may need to dig a new foundation, build a whole new city. That goes for the Church as well, though the foundation is always Christ. God has said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chron 7:14 Only through humility can we get through the times where we come face to face with our limits, our errors, our sins. If we insist on pride instead—call it patriotism, faith, honor, manifest destiny —the stench of those fetid swamps rise around us and the world will see (and comment on) our nakedness. Either patriotism or religion can be the last refuge of a scoundrel.
The man was admirable. He held his face up towards God and boldly prayed as only the righteous may do: “Thank you God. My life is working. I am happy with myself, as no doubt you are as well. See my contributions. All men envy me. I have made it. I am worthy! So much more worthy than the fellow I passed back there, the idiot.” The idiot only pounded his chest and quietly muttered, “ Oh God, be merciful toward me, for I am a sinner.” It's odd, don't you think, that Jesus commends the sinner? But what have we been talking about? God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place , with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:14-15 Jesus said, “ Whosoever shall humble himself as a little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 18:3-4
I mentioned that there is a phony kind of humility. There are several, actually. Courtly manners often hide great pride and malicious intent. While it's good to use humble language when speaking to others, greeting them with respect and showing them you feel they are preferred before yourself—like holding the door open for someone else to pass through first—you can do even this kind of gesture as a way to show how much better you are, even in your social graces and politeness. The dishonesty of fake submissiveness will show eventually. And if not, let him pay the check. Shame is also false humility—pride all dressed up as self-deprecation. It won't really dig down and extract the infected tooth, just let it fester and moan over it. And then there is the humility that won't do much with this life, and be proud of nothing.
As a clergyman, I've had the opportunity to meet all kinds of phonies—clergymen of course—including that clown in the mirror with the white collar and serious, concerned look. Being a priest is somewhat awkward, being everybody's servant while receiving such respect as the representative of Christ at His altar. It is, however, the place that actually depicts what we all are to be: truly humble servants, and royal priests, all at once. Pray for priests : it's a hard bridge to cross without falling.
St. Paul speaks thus of himself in the Epistle today. He didn't start with the other apostles, and was actually persecuting the church back then. Christ stopped him and “ by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Cor 15 . Humility doesn't brag, but it does tell the truth, and if honesty must tell what is, a great man may humbly admit the things he has done right, as well as those he did wrong.
Another way I've seen this difference is in performance art, like singing in public. Does the artist give you something, the beauty of his or her voice and the words in the song touching your heart—this is not pride, though it can be very outgoing and even bold; or does everything the singer do force your attention to be on him or her , demanding your attraction, interest, praise, even worship? It may be the same song, but it's not about the song, it's about the singer.
If we walk humbly before God always, we can have a lot to be happy about in our lives. It feels good to truly be clean and honest before Him and before others. And if we are honest, we know that we didn't do any of it. Let the lips of others praise you, if praise is due. Let all your praise be for God, who, after all, knows who you really are.
PFH+