Luke 18:9-14
“O, Lord, It’s Hard to Be Humble…”
By: Rev. Kenneth E. Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
You wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult.
We were all formed from the same dust of the earth, by the same Creator.
Basically, our bodies are pretty much the same.
We all get sick, we all need to eat, all of us are lonely at times, everyone has insecurities and fears, and we’re all going to get old (Lord willing) and then eventually die.
I remember as a real young kid I thought that the guy who played the Six-Million Dollar Man on t-v and was married to Farrah Fawcett--Lee Majors was just the coolest person in the world—almost god-like!
Then, one day, my dad told me: “Kenny, Lee Majors has to put his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.”
This revelation was quite startling, and at first, a little difficult to accept.
It is hard to come to grips with the fact that the idols we worship are no better than we are.
And it may be harder still, for us to realize that we—ourselves--are no better than anyone else.
I remember when my sister Lisa found out that she was going to have to get glasses.
She ran into the house, up the stairs, and into her room crying and wailing!
I asked my mother why Lisa was so upset by the fact that she needed glasses.
My mother replied: “Don’t worry Kenny, Lisa has just found out that she is not perfect.”
Ever since the first two humans, Adam and Eve, gave into the serpant’s temptation in the Garden…and realized they were naked…
…we humans have been trying to sew fig leaves together in order to make coverings for ourselves.
But what was true in the Garden of Eden is true today—from birth to death—all of us stand naked before the God who created us.
Nothing is left uncovered.
So you wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult to be humble…but horror of horrors—it is very difficult!!!
Our Gospel Lesson for this morning begins with this: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable…”
So, this parable is directed to teach those of us who are confident of our own righteousness and look down on everybody else-- a lesson.
I would guess that we all fall into this category at different times during our days and our lives.
When we pass the beggar on the median of the 4 lane highway…
…do we look down on him or her?
Or have we ever looked down on him or her?
When we see some of the situations that take place in 3rd world countries…say, like the way they wash their clothes…
…or the kind of clothes they wear…
…do we look down on them?
Do we somehow think of them as at least a little less human than we?
And what about righteousness?
Are we, at times, confident in our own righteousness?
For example, do we think that because we are not murderers or adulterers, that we are somehow righteous?
How many of us have gotten extremely angry—and held hatred and contempt in our hearts toward another human being?
Those who have Jesus says “will be subject to judgement” …and … “…will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
How many of us have held lust in our hearts?
For those of us who have Jesus tells us that we have “already committed adultery” in our hearts.
Isn’t Jesus basically telling us: “Get over yourselves…you can’t do it on your own…none of you are righteous…you all need to humble yourselves, ask for forgiveness and be saved!?
So how do we go about humbling ourselves?
I don’t know about you, but I’m humbled by someone or something which is much greater than I.
We’re very good at trying to build ourselves up by comparing ourselves to other sinners, but how about comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ?
Will this not cause us to be humbled to the very dust?
Look at Jesus Christ…
… “Who,” as Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2, “being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name…”
This is what humbles us.
Jesus emptied Himself.
How many of us are able to empty ourselves?
So many of us work so hard, get so stressed out, and expend so much energy trying to make others think we are something great.
And no matter how much we may say we want to please God, we are really wanting to please other people.
Popularity with the masses has become salvation for many of us…and what a shame…because popularity with the masses…when pleasing God is put aside…will only fade, leave us unsatisfied and will lead to our eventual destruction.
God’s way often goes against the way of this dark and lost world.
And if we were to look back into history, we might find that most everyone who ever did anything meaningful for God’s Kingdom was rejected by society and in many cases left standing alone.
Look at how Jesus stood alone.
Look at how Jesus hung on that Cross—literally alone—experiencing the worst of all possible situations…
…separation from God the Father…
…for the sake of naked, and sinful me and you.
Jesus “made himself nothing,” and we are told that our attitudes should “be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
And in striving to have the same attitude of Christ Jesus, we must empty ourselves of everything that separates us from God.
This means that any and all of our prejudices and superior attitudes must fly right out the window.
Because prejudice and attitudes of superiority become our gods and control our actions.
Christ did not discriminate.
He helped the poor, and the rich, the mighty and the small, and the strong and the weak…with equal love and care.
Too often, when we help others, we are thinking about ourselves…
…like…
…what can I get out of this?
But when we strive to have the attitude of Christ…
…what we get out of a situation no longer matters—just as long as the other person knows that he or she is loved and cared for by God.
Jesus said that if anyone would be great, let him or her become a servant.
And not only did Jesus say this, but Jesus did this when He washed the disciples’ feet and, most importantly, when He left His heavenly throne to come into a world of sin, pain, darkness, and despair.
In our society, the so-called “great” people are the ones who are served, but in the kingdom of God the great do the serving!
“What is man?” Job asked.
And what Job discovered was that humankind is nothing in comparison to God.
Without God, nothing lasts.
The only things that last are those things that are done for God.
Material wealth fades away…
…worldly fame and glory vanishes…
…only God and God’s love are eternal!
Even though from the very beginning the position at God’s right hand was rightfully His, Jesus was able to give it up.
For a higher gain and a higher glory, Jesus could give up His position of being one with God.
And that higher gain and higher glory was to die on a Cross, so that we who stand naked with all of our sins uncovered—can be truly covered once and for all with the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Two men went to the temple to pray.
One man, prayed about himself.
He was blind to his own faults, but very aware of the faults of others.
The other man “stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’…
… “this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Let us pray: O blessed Jesus, we come to You, hungry, sinful, miserable, blind, and naked—unworthy even to wash the feet of Your servants. We do, here and now, with all our power, accept You as our Lord and Head. We renounce our unworthiness, and vow that You are the Lord, our righteousness. We renounce our own wisdom, and take You for our own guide. We renounce our own will, and take Your will as our law. In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray. Amen.
