Matthew 18: 1-4; “1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 23:11-13 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Jesus’ suggestion that the essence of greatness is humility is not an idea that is easily sold in this day and age. Humility and meekness are not what you would call sexy character traits. Can you imagine Madison avenue selecting a humble person to be the spokesperson for a new car? Who would be attracted to that? Our culture worships success, power, ambition, fame and wealth. Just wouldn’t make sense to see Mother Teresa hawking deodorant, would it? William Bennet edited an enormous tome a few years ago called The Book of Virtues. In it he listed a vast array of virtues such as self-discipline, responsibility, work, perseverance, loyalty, courage, faith, honesty, compassion and friendship. Humility did not make the list. Do we look for humility in our leaders? Do we list humility as a character trait on our resumes? If you claimed to be humble, would you be bragging?
I think humility has a bad wrap because the image in our minds is that of a wimp. Some of you might even remember a comic strip character draw by Harold Webster in the 1920’s. Casper Milquetoast was a mousy, painfully shy little feller, the poster boy of insecure introvert. Or you might think of Barnie Fife the bungling deputy Don Knots played on TV. Not the sorts of fellers the guys or girls looked up to. Meek doormat sort of folks who everybody tried to push around.
I think the Church has contributed to this image of humility as well. “Blessed are the meek” creates the same kind of image. And many of the preachers we grew up listening too emphasized our worthlessness. Of course we are humble. What does a worthless sinner like me have to be proud about? The “Prayer of Humble Access” in the communion liturgy of the Methodist church said: “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table…” That’ll make you feel humble, won’t it. That’s not a image of humility which will gather a crowd these days.
There’s another brand of humility that is equally unattractive. Eddie Haskell is the classic TV example of the brown noser who feigns humility. Fake humility was very useful to young Mr. Haskell as he manipulated the Beaver’s parents into believing he was a well mannered responsible fellow who could be trusted. The kids could see right through his kissing up behavior but adults most often fell for it. Not an image of humility to which we would aspire.
One writer wrote: “Humility is often merely feigned submissiveness assumed in order to subject others, an artifice of pride that stoops to conquer, and although pride has a thousand ways of transforming itself it is never so well disguised and able to take people in as when masquerading as humility.”
Of course, the opposite of this fake humility is equally repulsive. There’s a country western song that’s the them song for this kid of guy. “Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way.” You might hear this gal say, ““People who think they know everything really bother those of us who do!” Ted Turner seemed to fit this bill when he said, “If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect.” “A legend in his own mind!” And Laurence Peter explained this person’s approach to humility when he wrote, “Humility is the embarrassment you feel when you tell people how wonderful you are.”
These poor folks are frauds. They don’t really feel important They feel deeply inadequate, so they have to put on the mask of arrogance, and become actors impersonating capable people. They try to substitute power, fame, status, or wealth for genuine feelings of self-worth. Most of them don’t fool anyone but themselves. And so often they sabotage themselves with behaviors that bring them down. How often we read of famous athletes; business tycoons, actors and actresses even presidents and ministers self destructing. Pat Robertson comes to mind for some reason. Like the ancient myth of Icarus, they fly to close to the sun and crash and burn.
That’s probably what Jesus was talking about in our text for today. “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” The Contemporary English Version puts it this way: “2If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.” And The Message says : “If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.”
That’s another reason humility leaves a bad taste in our mouths. It is so often associated with humiliation. That’s what James M. Barrie means when he writes “Life is a long lesson in humility.” And Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
A church located in a town with a seminary needed a substitute preacher when their pastor was on vacation. The President of the seminary chose their best student. Straight A’s, the teachers all loved him. Ego as big as creation. Brashly unaware of his own limitations. The young man wrote a great sermon and memorized it. On Sunday morning he confidently climbed into the pulpit and immediately forgot his sermon. He managed to muddle through it but left the pulpit in dejection. A sweet little lady has some advice for him as she shook his hand that morning. “If you had gone into that pulpit with the attitude that you had when you came out of that pulpit, you would have come out of that pulpit with the attitude you had when you climbed into it.”
I know it will shock you to discover that your pastor has had an experience or two that helped me with humility. The first one happened with I was in the first grade. It didn’t take me long to size up my peers and discovered that some of them might benefit from a little discipline. I asked my Dad if I could take one of his big paint paddles to my teacher so that she could spank the unruly kids. The day after I presented the paddle to my teacher she was sick and we had a substitute teacher. Guess who was the first kid in the class to get a whipping with my paddle.
That lesson in humility had apparently warn off by my junior year in college. I had jut been elected president of the student body and I was sitting in president’s chair in my president’s office when I heard someone coming down the hall. I grabbed the telephone and pretended to be talking the president of the college. As the person walked in the door behind I said, “ I am glad you called President Shilling. Please feel free to call on me any time I might be of service.” I turn to see a man in a telephone company uniform standing before me. When I said, “Can I help you?” He said, “I here to connect your phone.”
Saint Bernard of Clairveaux explained my challenge: ” It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment.”
James Dobson says he keeps a picture on his desk of an elegantly dressed woman attending a major social event. She is sipping her cup of punch in the most genteel manner, pinky fully extended, totallly unaware that her slip has fallen to her ankles. “Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation.”
None of those images of humility are what Jesus had in mind. Let’s look again at what he said to his disciples. “Whoever humbles himself and becomes like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Can you imagine the shock in the minds of his disciples when they heard these words? These were the same guys who wanted to run the kids off when they thought they would bother Jesus. How did they expect him to answer their question: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Perhaps Abraham, the spiritual father of the nation of Israel. Or Moses who led them out of bondage and to the promise land. Numbers 12:3 says “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Maybe they expected Jesus to name one of the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Elijah. But no. Jesus says you gotta be like a child if want to be great.
What did he mean? What was he getting at? I think the Edgar Goodspeed hit the nail on the head with his translation of this verse: “Anyone, therefore, who is as unassuming as this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Unassuming, unpretentious. I think those are the qualities of a child that Jesus is lifting up for us to see and emulate. What you see is what you get with a young child. Not trying to impress anyone, not trying to put on airs; not pretending to be something that she is not!
The humility of Jesus Christ is rooted in his experience of God’s love. His heart and soul were filled with that love so that all his emotional and spiritual needs were completely met. His cup overflowed! Jesus knew who he was: a beloved child of the God he called “Abba” “Papa!” No need to put on airs, no need to pretend.
His confidence, his power, his courage came from one place: his faith in a loving God. The love of God so filled his heart that his life became an expression of that love. He recognized every human being as a brother or a sister, just as important in the eyes of God as he was. He loved and cared for everyone because each person was his brother or sister.
What appeared to the world to be Jesus’ self sacrifice was in reality the highest form of self expression for he indeed was love. When he was most himself he was most loving and caring and giving. He was able to place the needs of others before his own because all his needs were fully met in the strong and gentle arms of God. His life was not a sacrifice. It was a joy!
So what might the humility of a disciple of Jesus Christ look like? It would begin with the same faith and confidence in the God whom Jesus called “Abba,” “Papa.” We would believe in our minds and feel in our hearts that we are each a beloved child of this same God. We would allow that love to define who we are. We wouldn’t have to pretend to be something we are not. We wouldn’t have to prove our worth to ourselves or anyone else! Colossians 3:12 “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, we clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ recognize the gifts God has given us and our hearts are filled with gratitude. A newspaper reporter was interviewing an old rancher and asked him to what he would attribute his success. With a twinkle in his eye the old man replied, "It’s been about 50 percent weather, 50 percent good luck, and the rest is brains." Humble disciples of Jesus Christ are quick to thank others for all the help they receive.
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to ask for and accept help. Realizing that we don’t have to be perfect or have all the answers, we are quick let others know we need them and appreciate all they do with us.
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to admit mistakes. I don’t know about you but I tend to get in the most trouble when I’m the surest about something. When I am the most confident that I am right, that’s when I blow it. Cathy, my wife, and her mom, Pat, and I attended a Roman Catholic funeral for a friend’s mother in Richardson a while back. It was an enormous beautiful sanctuary with lots of stone. The sound just reverberated off the walls. I was so pleased to read in the bulletin that the congregation would be singing one of my favorite hymns, “Here I am Lord!” When we came to the refrain, I sang out with great gusto, “Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?” not realizing that the organist was playing a little transition and I was the only one singing. Cathy and Pat crawled under the pews. Mark Twain wrote: “Always acknowledge a mistake. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to get by with more.”
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ understand with the Apostle Paul that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3: 2) Christians aren’t perfect; we are forgiven! Because we have gratefully accepted Gods’ gracious forgiveness, we are willing to offer that same forgiveness to others. That’s why we can pray “forgive us our sins just like we forgive those who have sinned against us.”
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to laugh at themselves. When you take yourself so seriously that you can never make a mistake, you will probably have a hard time laughing at yourself. A while back I was almost late for a funeral. When I arrived just minutes before the service was to begin, the sanctuary was full. The funeral director rushed me to my spot, just as the music stopped. I stood and began the service not realizing that the family had not yet been seated. I looked up and the funeral director was waving his arms in the back of the room. Everybody in the room knew I had started before the family was seated.
Of course, that wasn’t as bad as another preacher I heard about. In that small rural community, the minister’s car always led the funeral procession to the cemetery. As he drove along the familiar route, his mind began to wonder. He looked up and there was Wal-Mart and he remembered that he needed to buy something. He didn’t come to until he had driven into the parking lot with the entire funeral procession following behind.
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ can accept gratitude and appreciation for a job well done. Paul wrote in Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” He didn’t say “don’t think of yourself highly”…he said “more highly than you ought.” Humble disciples of Jesus Christ can accept the appreciation of others. It’s hard for some of us to accept appreciation. A pastor was asked to speak for a certain charitable organization. After the meeting the program chairman handed the pastor a check. "Oh, I couldn’t take this," the pastor said with some embarrassment. "I appreciate the honor of being asked to speak. You have better uses for this money. You apply it to one of those uses." The program chairman asked, "Well, do you mind if we put it into our new special fund?" The pastor replied, "Of course not. What is the special fund for?" The chairman answered, "It’s so we can get a better speaker next year.”
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to learn from anyone. When Bill Parcels was coaching at Texas Tech in 70’s, a middle aged man always showed up to watch the preseason drills. Sometimes he asked Parcells a question. He would say to Parcells, “you’re a pretty good coach!” Parcels’ team had won 12 out of 20 the last season. Only later did Parcels learned that his observer was Gordon Wood, head coach at Brownwood High School, who was on his way to winning 400+ football games. Woods was a legend. Parcel was a nobody. Wood would drive five hours to Lubbock in the hope of picking up something useful. No matter how good you are, you can always learn more. And if you are humble and you can learn from anybody.
Humble disciples of Jesus Christ begin with faith in the love of God, with hearts and souls filled with that love. We feel no need to act important because we are important. No need to pretend we are somebody, because we are somebody: beloved children of God. Humble disciples of Jesus Christ strike an important balance. Confident without being puffed up; humble without being a doormat. Hearts full of God’s love give us the confidence that God affirms our successes and forgives our mistakes.
God gives us the ability to be the love we are. To measure up to the standard that the author of the book of James describes: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
