LUKE 14:1, 7-14
THIS GOSPEL SEEMS TO BE
ABOUT PRACTICING HUMILITY, ON THE SURFACE. BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
IT, JESUS SEEMS TO BE TELLING US THAT IF WE REALLY WANT TO BE
EXALTED, WELL, ACT IN A HUMBLE WAY. HE ALL BUT PROMISES THAT IF WE
ACT HUMBLY, WE WILL BE ESTEEMED. THAT SEEMS TO BE A FUNNY REASON FOR
BEING HUMBLE, AND WHEN YOU ACT IN A HUMBLE WAY IN ORDER TO BE PUT ON
A PEDESTAL, YOU AREN'T VERY HUMBLE AT ALL. BUT THAT'S THE PROBLEM
WHEN WE TAKE A SENTENCE OR TWO OUT OF THE GOSPELS. IT'S SO IMPORTANT
TO LOOK AT THE WHOLE CONTEXT.
SO WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN
BY HUMILITY? HUMILITY REALLY HAS TO DO WITH THE ACCEPTANCE OF TRUTH
NOT JUST IN THE MIND, BUT AT THE LEVEL OF THE WHOLE PERSON. AND THE
FIRST STEP IN ACCEPTING TRUTH IS TO RECOGNIZE IT. PRESIDENT RONALD
REAGAN WAS A HUMBLE MAN. AFTER HIS DEATH, 3500 LETTERS WERE FOUND
WHICH HE HAD WRITTEN DURING HIS PRESIDENCY. HE MADE IT A POINT TO
PERSONALLY ANSWER LETTERS FROM ORDINARY CITIZENS, INCLUDING CHILDREN.
HE KNEW A TRUTH – THAT DESPITE HIS ACHIEVEMENTS, HE WAS AT THE
CENTER OF HIS BEING JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN ALWAYS
COMES TO MIND AS A PERSON WHO WAS HUMBLE. ONE TIME HE WAS VISITING A
WARD FULL OF INJURED SOLDIERS, AND CAME TO A YOUNG MAN WHO WAS BLIND.
THE YOUNG MAN DIDN'T RECOGNIZE HIM, AND ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD BE SO
KIND AS TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE YOUNG MAN'S FAMILY, INFORMING THEM
OF HIS SITUATION. LINCOLN SAT DOWN, TOOK OUT A PEN AND PAPER, AND
DID EXACTLY THAT. HE KNEW A TRUTH – THAT OUR STATUS IN LIFE IS NOT
A REASON TO REFUSE TO HELP SOMEONE WHEN YOU CAN.
DOROTHY DAY WAS A HUMBLE
PERSON. SHE BECAME FAMOUS LATER IN HER LIFE BECAUSE OF HER WORK IN
THE SLUMS OF NEW YORK AND HER PROTESTS AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR. ONE
DAY A REPORTER WHO HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO WRITE A STORY ABOUT HER WAS
SHOWN TO A ROOM WHERE SHE WAS CONVERSING WITH A WOMAN WHO WAS
OBVIOUSLY A STREET PERSON, DIRTY, DISHEVELED, AND MENTALLY ILL.
AFTER A FEW MINUTES, DOROTHY LOOKED UP AND SAID, “DO YOU WANT TO
SPEAK WITH ONE OF US?” SHE KNEW A TRUTH: HER DIGNITY AND HER
VALUE TO SOCIETY WAS NO DIFFERENT THAN THE WOMAN WITH WHOM SHE WAS
TALKING.
MAYBE YOU SEE WHERE I AM
GOING WITH THIS. AFTER JESUS TELLS THE GUESTS AT THE PARTY THAT IT
WOULD BE BETTER TO FIND A SPOT AT THE WRONG END OF THE TABLE AND BE
ASKED TO MOVE CLOSER, HE TELLS THE HOST THAT HE SHOULD HAVE A DINNER
PARTY WHERE HE INVITES PEOPLE WHO CAN'T PAY HIM BACK, PEOPLE WHO ARE
POOR, CRIPPLED, LAME OR BLIND. AND I THINK JESUS' POINT IS THAT
UNTIL WE CAN DO THAT, WE AREN'T REALLY CAPABLE OF HUMILITY.
HUMILITY IS ACCEPTING THE
TRUTH IN THE CORE OF OUR BEING. AND THE TRUTH IS THAT EVERY HUMAN
BEING IS FIRST OF ALL, A SINNER. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT KIND OF SIN
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. EVEN THE MOST SAINTLY AMONG US STILL DOESN'T
TRUST GOD COMPLETELY, STILL WORRIES ABOUT TOMORROW, STILL HAS MOMENTS
OF DOUBT – THAT'S BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN. MOTHER THERESA BECAME A
SAINT NOT BECAUSE SHE HAD SOME MYSTICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, BUT
PRECISELY BECAUSE SHE SPENT HER LIFE DOING GOD'S WORK EVEN THOUGH TO
HER DISMAY SHE DID NOT EXPERIENCE THAT SENSE OF UNION, OF
CONSOLATION, THAT SHE LONGED FOR. THE SECOND TRUTH IS THAT JESUS
DIED FOR EACH ONE OF US. THE THIRD IS THAT WE ALL HAVE THE SAME
FATHER. THOSE THREE THINGS MAKE EACH HUMAN BEING MORE LIKE THE NEXT
ONE THAN DIFFERENT.
WE SPEND OUR LIVES IN A
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WITH WHOM WE ARE COMFORTABLE. THAT'S
NORMAL; IN THAT, WE DON'T DIFFER A LOT FROM OTHER SOCIAL ANIMALS. A
BAND OF ELEPHANTS WON'T ADOPT AN ORPHAN ELEPHANT BABY; THEY WILL
USUALLY CHASE IT AWAY. WHEN TWO BANDS OF BABOONS MEET EACH OTHER,
THEY FIGHT UNTIL ONE GROUP IS DRIVEN OFF. AND WHEN SOMEONE SHOWS UP
IN A COLLECTION OF PEOPLE WHO HAS A STRONG ACCENT, OR A DIFFERENT
SKIN COLOR, OR IS A MEMBER OF AN UNFAMILIAR RELIGION, HE OR SHE WILL
AT THE BEST BE WATCHED CLOSELY, AS THE FRIENDS OF THE PHARISEE WERE
WATCHING JESUS.
BUT A CHARACTERISTIC OF A
HUMBLE PERSON IS THAT SHE HAS NO PROBLEMS ACCEPTING PEOPLE WHO ARE
OTHERWISE AT THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY. LIKE DOROTHY DAY, SHE DOESN'T
SEE A DIFFERENCE BIG ENOUGH TO MAKE A FUSS ABOUT. LIKE ABRAHAM
LINCOLN, HE HAS NO SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT, OF SELF-WORTH, THAT WOULD
STAND IN THE WAY OF DOING SOMETHING FOR ANOTHER PERSON IF ASKED.
LIKE RONALD REAGAN, HE CONSIDERS NO ONE BENEATH HIS ATTENTION.
THAT'S WHY JESUS URGES
HIS HOST TO INVITE THE POOR, THE LAME, THE CRIPPLED, THE BLIND TO HIS
BANQUET. HUMILITY IS NOT BELIEVING I AM WORTH LESS THAN I MAY REALLY
BE. IT IS NOT DOING SOMETHING SO THAT PEOPLE WILL PRAISE ME FOR MY
HUMILITY. TO REALLY DEVELOP THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY, WE HAVE TO
PRACTICE IT, AND THAT COMES BY FORGETTING SELF, BY CEASING TO DRAW
DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN YOURSELF AND OTHERS. AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS,
YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY GO OUT AND DRAW PEOPLE INTO YOUR OWN CIRCLE WHOM
YOU WOULD NORMALLY HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH.
I BET ALL OF US KNOW OF A
PERSON WE'D RATHER NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH. I BET ALL OF US
KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO IS MENTALLY CHALLENGED AND BECAUSE OF THAT VERY
DIFFICULT TO TALK TO. I BET WE ALL COULD THINK OF SOMEONE WHO IS
SOCIALLY INEPT, AND HAS HABITS AND MANNERISMS THAT TURN PEOPLE AWAY.
IF YOU WANT HUMILITY, IF YOU WANT TO BE EXALTED, YOU AND I NEED TO
INVITE THEM TO OUR BANQUET, TO GENUINELY TREAT THEM AS WE WOULD TREAT
PEOPLE WITHIN OUR OWN SOCIAL CIRCLE, OUR OWN FAMILY. TO THE EXTENT
WE DO THIS, WE BECOME HUMBLE – BUT THE MORE WE DO THIS, THE LESS WE
THINK OF OURSELVES, AND BEGAN TO SEE THE BROTHERHOOD THAT EXISTS
BETWEEN ALL PEOPLE. IT'S WORTH THE TROUBLE.
