Lent 5—March 29, 1998
The word this week: "HUMILITY" Philippians 3
HUMILITY: THE "ROOT VIRTUE" I want to know Christ . . .I have not yet attained "Humility" is the word this week— Confession—believing— repentance— openness— and now—humility!
This may be the hardest sermon to preach there can be! The reason is— we all think we have a measure of humility— and yet humility is so elusive!
In honesty— we all have ego, and plenty of it! (Even "inferiority complex is often simply pride turned inside out— occupation with "self.")
What is this elusive thing called "humility"? I am haunted by a line in an old classic by R Newton Flew, it is on page 411, two/thirds of the way down the page on the right hand side where he says "Indeed it is possible that our worst sins are those of which we are unconscious." We've all known egotists, quarrelsome, selfish people who were altogether unconscious of how they were. Remember the Mclandress syndrome?
So I begin with a classic old story I heard years ago, about a little boy was very ill and had an operation and desperately needed a transfusion of whole blood. His big sister, herself just a child, matched his rare blood type. The doctors knew she could spare half a pint, and they asked if she would give her blood to her baby brother. She was naturally quite apprehensive, but still quite readily agreed, for she loved her baby brother very much.
Giving blood is really pretty painless, and the little girl watched every step of the procedure. When it was all over, so the old story goes, she asked, "Now when do I die?" She had thought all along that giving her blood would be the end of her life. She loved her own life— but she had gone outside herself with her love.
It may be that old story is not a perfect illustration of the word "humility." But it comes very close.
TOWARD A DEFINITION
For humility is a very near relative of agape love, love that can center itself outside the self. Humility is akin to love. It is a climate in which agape love can grow.
Humility is the willingness and the ability to live beyond self-serving. A modern writer, Steven R. Covey, has said, "Humility is the mother of all virtue, courage is the father, the child is integrity, and the grandchild is wisdom." Humility is a willingness to learn. It is openness toward God. Humility is saying 'I am not God, and I will not try to act as though I were.'
Humility is a delicate thing— and believe me, it is not often the central subject of sermon. Just the same, it is almost impossible to over-estimate the importance of humility. Humility is what I would call a "root virtue." That is, humility is the root out of which other virtues can grow.
I. HUMILITY AS "A ROOT VIRTUE"
You can think of humility as "a root virtue."
There are root sins — sins of the spirit out of which all other sins spring. The violent and disgusting and horrifying sins that make the headlines seem to make sins of the spirit hardly worth mentioning. But the fact remains that in back of every sin that is ever committed are the sins of PRIDE and UNBELIEF. (It is hard to over-estimate the lessons of Genesis 3 and the Garden of Eden!)
PRIDE is the exact opposite of humility. Pride is not just 'healthy self-esteem.' Pride says "I will put my SELF first, ahead of society, ahead of family, ahead of covenants—ahead of God Himself!"
UNBELIEF is the opposite of faith. Unbelief says "I refuse to acknowledge God's Word! It does not apply to me! God can't tell ME what to do!"
But there are also root virtues: virtues out of which all other virtues can grow — they are HUMILITY and FAITH!
HUMILITY is an attitude of OPENNESS — being able to be taught
FAITH is a desire to believe God. It is the willingness to trust God as He makes His Word plain. Root virtues, like root sins, may not be very spectacular. But HUMILITY and FAITH are absolutely vital.
II. HUMILITY IS A MOVING TARGET
The epistle lesson says two big things: (1) Paul wants to know Jesus, and be like him, and (2) Paul does NOT consider himself to have reached the goal.
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
However Paul does give us some clear directions in seeking to find these root virtues:
I want TO KNOW CHRIST!
This is "teleo"— and means to know a person— not just know about a person— it means getting more and more intimately acquainted. It comes with the same concept as the OT word "to know" that is used for husband and wife— INTIMATELY!
I want to know THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION!
This is "dunamis"- -the living Christ— a guarantee of the importance of LIFE both now, and in the ages to come. The resurrection of Christ, William Barclay says, is the guarantee that life is worth living and the physical body is sacred; it is the guarantee that death is not the end of life and that there is a world beyond; it is the guarantee that nothing in life or death can separate us from (Jesus).
I (even) want to know THE FELLOWSHIP OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS!
William Barclay says, We share the way Christ walked— we share the cross he bore— we share the death he died— and finally we share the life he lives evermore!
We can come to know Jesus Christ just as surely as we know our friends here on earth. We can come to share our days and nights with Him. We can go beyond theories and book knowledge. By his Spirit, we can say "I know Jesus!" But at the same time we can say, "I am COMING to know Jesus!" We have a long, wonderful way to go!
III. HUMILITY IS A KEY TO KNOWING AND LOVING JESUS
I believe that HUMILITY enables us sometimes to see what is really important. We live so much to the spectacular— we miss God's grace in life's 'ordinary days.'
It was just an ordinary day— or so it seemed— at the Bethany home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus— they could not know how near the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. But Mary did NOT miss an opportunity to turn an ordinary day into one the world will never forget!
Do you remember Thornton Wilder's play Our Town that you (probably) studied in the tenth or eleventh grade:
Emily Webb Gibbs gets a wish to come back to visit Grover's Corner, New Hampshire, on her twelfth birthday just to observe "an ordinary day:" Here are some words from that old play:
EMILY (beginning softly but urgently): Oh, Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me. Mama, fourteen years have gone by. I'm dead. You're a grandmother, Mama. I married George Gibbs, Mama. Wally's dead, too. Mama, his appendix burst on a camping trip to North Conway. We felt just terrible about it — don't you remember? But, just for a moment now we're all together. Mama, just for a moment we're happy. Let's look at one another. . . . . .
And later
EMILY: (In aloud voice to the STAGE MANAGER.) I can't. I can't go on. Oh! Oh. It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another.
(She breaks down sobbing. At a gesture from the STAGE MANAGER, MRS. WEBB disappears.)
I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. Take me back — up the hill — to my grave. But first: Wait! One more look. Good-by, Good- by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners . . . Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking.. . and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths. . . and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
(She looks toward the STAGE MANAGER and asks abruptly, through her tears.)
Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? every, every minute?
STAGE MANAGER: No. (Pause.) The saints and poets, maybe — they do some.
EMILY: I'm ready to go back
Somehow the REAL WORK of the church comes very near when HUMILITY enables us to see the GOOD and even the HOLY in what seem to be ordinary days of our lives.
Am I too mystic here? Am I dreaming?
Judas couldn't understand how a lavish display of love to Jesus could be reconciled with Mary lavished fragrant perfume on Jesus. Judas missed any possible good that could come from such extravagant behavior. The significance was not that this was near the end of the ministry, or that the crucifixion was near— Mary could not have known that. This simply meant that Mary loved OUTSIDE her own little self- - she had been touched by the divine...
Prayer
Closing Hymn
Footnote:
Did you ever hear of the McLandress Coefficient? When I was studying pastoral care many years ago I read about the "McLandress Coefficient;"
Herschel McLandress was a professor of psychiatric measurement at Harvard Medical School, and he developed a way to measure a person's degree of self- absorption. In spoken and written material he measured the use of "I," "me," and "my" and the "Coefficient" was the longest span of time a person can remain diverted from himself.
Eleanor Roosevelt was supposed to have a McLandress coefficient of two hours; John F. Kennedy's was twenty-nine minutes, and Elizabeth Taylor's was three minutes. The reason I don't dare fill in God's blank check and ask for "power" or "glory" for myself could just be that I need to talk about me, when maybe Jesus wants to talk about something else. How is your McLandress Coefficient?
Could we take the McLandress Coefficient another step, and see how long we can go after getting up in the morning without thinking about God and grace and the love that surrounds us?
Could we even take it further and see how far we might be able to go into the day and week without ever once thinking about the needs of those we meet?
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Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene. Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit.
You can access more of Dr. Metcalfe’s sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives web site. Now with MP3 audio sermons and audio bonus material. http://russellmetcalfesermons.nazarene.nl/Sermons/Sermons.htm
