Cultivating Christ-like Character, part 5:

“THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HUMBLE”

John 12:12-19; 13:1-15

April 5, 2009 ~ Palm Sunday - Rev. Janet Robertson Duggins

When I find myself in a group of clergy colleagues, there are two sorts of things I really hate to hear. One is a remark along the lines of “I don’t change light bulbs; that’s not my job!” I understand where a pastor might be coming from in saying that, mind you, and I don’t have a desire to do other people’s jobs… but still I hear something there I’m uncomfortable with. That’s not the person I want to be; I don’t even want to suggest that I might be too good or too important to change a light bulb.

The other thing that makes me cringe sometimes is discovering that another pastor is working so hard at many vital ministries with people in need, that there is no time for days off or vacation. It’s even worse when he or she adds that they aren’t looking for or expecting any particular “results” … only to do their best and serve faithfully. I’m sure that to many this sounds like the ideal pastor, but I’m not sure it’s sustainable… or that it’s necessarily quite so humble as it sounds. I don’t think this is who I want to be, either.

Those two examples illustrate pretty well the difficulties inherent in pursuing the virtue of humility… or even talking about it. On the one hand, it’s easy enough to see why we might rather be the kind of people who are humble as opposed to arrogant and self-important. On the other hand, too much humility seems to lead either to embrace of mediocrity or to an attitude about the extent of one’s humble service that looks a lot like pride and self-importance.

Humility is a difficult virtue to grasp, or even to reach for. The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright is supposed to have said, that early in life he “had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility.” He said, “I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change.”

We might want to argue that the arrogance Wright had in mind was a little less honest than he thought… or maybe he just didn’t really understand what “humility” means.

Real humility can’t be hypocritical or dishonest. That’s just pride in disguise. Humility is certainly not the same thing as self-effacement. It’s not denying your gifts, or devaluing them. It’s not to be found in insincerely praising someone else, either.

Humility doesn’t mean never aspiring to an important task or a big responsibility… but it does mean doing simple and humble tasks and big responsibilities with equal faithfulness. It might mean being cautious to claim certainty and definitive knowledge, but it certainly doesn’t mean denying your convictions or accepting what is false. It probably means openness to learn and change… but it doesn’t mean giving up your freedom or identity. It means willingness to give and serve and maybe sacrifice… but not to give up dignity.

“Humility” comes from the word “humus” meaning earth… the same Latin root word from which we get the word “human.”

So… does it mean, perhaps, keeping our feet on the ground? remembering that we are human?

I realized, as I thought about this idea, that humility is not a virtue that is stressed much in our world, not even in the church. But I discovered that it’s pretty big in the Bible! There are well over 100 verses which say that to be humble is the way of God’s people, or that favorably contrast humility with pride and arrogance.

Many of these verses focus on remembering who we are with respect to God.

Consider just a sampling:

James 4:6,10 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

Micah 6:8 “God has shown you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

Proverbs 16:18,19: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.”

Jesus had some things to say:

“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) “Whoever becomes humble like this child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4) “Blessed are the meek… blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3,5)

In Philippians 2, Paul writes of Jesus: “Being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.”

Throughout the gospels, Jesus is portrayed as an example and teacher of humility; this is certainly true in John’s gospel.

The two stories we read today from John are something of a contrast… in one, Jesus is being celebrated like a rock star, and in the other he is behaving like a servant, actually washing his friends’ dirty feet.

Note that we never see Jesus being less than who he is… there is no false or put-on humility about Jesus. On the other hand, we don’t see him asserting power over others or seeking popularity, either. When the crowds of people who’ve come to Jerusalem treat him like a king, he doesn’t argue with them – the way John sees it and tells it, Jesus IS the king of Israel, as it says. But Jesus doesn’t behave like some people would expect a king to behave. He gets a donkey and rides in on a donkey – not powerful, not dignified, even. In telling about it, John quotes the prophet Zechariah, whose point was that God’s people and their rightful leader are to be simple people of peace (more like donkey herders than soldiers and kings with big, powerful horses and the trappings of wealth).

And just a little later, in chapter 13, John provides us with perhaps the most iconic Christian image of humility: Jesus washing his disciples feet.

Although the passage doesn’t actually use the word “humility” we can look at Jesus here and find that difficult concept illustrated through actions that show us the way:

First of all: Jesus invites his friends to learn to receive. It’s been said that humility is a kind of prerequisite to receiving God’s grace and blessing… if you can’t admit you need anything from God it’s sort of hard to accept anything. If we can’t open our hearts and hands to receive from other people – whether tangible gifts or less tangible things such as forgiveness or compassion, or a new insight, or the story someone has to share – we imply that we don’t need anything from others. It might make us feel more powerful to be the givers, but it also isolates us. And it keeps us in denial about our humanness… which is to say our neediness.

Then… Jesus invites his friends to learn to serve. Maybe he is remembering how they sometimes have wanted the best positions for themselves. Maybe he is trying to help them understand how mistaken the crowds of his “fans” have been about his purposes… looking for a king, a miracle worker, a celebrity, a leader for the revolution. He wants those who follow him to understand things differently -- he wants them to enter into the paradoxes of his way: Those who want to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for his sake will find them. The first will be last. The least will be the greatest. The greatest will be the servant of all. This is hard stuff to understand, harder to put into practice. How on earth will any of Jesus’ disciples learn to see the beauty in a life – in an attitude of service? So Jesus shows them himself that service is not demeaning but filled with grace.

And… Jesus invites his friends to practice reconciliation: although he states very bluntly that one of them will betray him, there is no hint that any of the disciples are excluded from the table; as far as we can tell, Jesus washes everybody’s feet: Judas, who will betray him. Peter, who will deny him. The others who will be too afraid to stand by him. He may have felt hurt, disappointment, even anger… but his actions are completely those of one who remains open to the possibility of reconciliation. He is not the one who will stand in the way. He does not hold on to the “right” or power to judge, exclude, withhold forgiveness… although he could. This kind of willingness to practice reconciliation is an expression of a humble spirit.

Maybe humility is not a virtue one can pursue directly without falling into one of its pitfalls. Instead, maybe these are the paths on which we can begin to “walk humbly” with Jesus: learning to receive, learning to serve, practicing reconciliation.

This Lent, we’ve been thinking about what it means to walk with Jesus, to learn to be like him. We’ve considered Jesus’ courage, his compassion, his integrity and commitment to the truth, his ability to forgive, and his humility….

As we enter this Holy Week, we are thinking, as we always do at this time of year, of where Jesus walked and what happened to him so long ago, walking with him in spirit, as far as we can go. As we go through this week, let’s keep in our minds also what Jesus was like… and make this a time to embrace the invitation to grow into his image.