|
|
 |
As Close As... Humility A sermon
preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Capitol Hill United Methodist
Church March 11, 2007, Thirds Sunday of Lent. Text: Isaiah 55:1-9, Luke 13:1-9 --------------- Winston
Churchill was once asked, "Doesn't it thrill you to know that every
time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?" "It's
quite flattering," replied Sir Winston. "But whenever I feel
that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech
I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big." Humility… What it is: a sense of self that is secure enough that you don't have to go around trying to prove yourself all the time…don't need to make self feel better by overpowering others…a healthy acknowledgement that you're not the center of the universe. Christian perspective…trusting God enough that you don't have to try to make yourself larger than you are… What does a humble man look like? Here's a story that may help about Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady. The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely. "It's perfectly all right, Madam," he replied. "Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it's always a delight to do something for a friend." She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute. Booker T. Washington in this story didn't need to prove himself or his worth to the woman…he didn't need to get angry or be offended in order to stay connected to who he was. He was able to simply serve… Depending upon our place in life, our gender, our education, our disposition and all sorts of other things, the issue of humility will be a little different. That is to say, if humility has to do with a healthy and secure sense of self then some of us need to look in the mirror and begin to identify the prideful, selfish, dishonest appraisals of ourselves that we may be projecting…that is, we may need a reality check that brings us down a notch. Others of us will need to look into the mirror and recognize that we are much stronger than we've given ourselves credit for…that we have gifts and value and that we deserve to be treated with respect. That is, we may need a reality check that lifts us up a bit. (b/c if we suffer from low self-esteem, it is probable that we spend a great deal of time trying to prove ourselves…) Regardless
of our experience of the interplay between pride, low self-esteem, and
true humility, the fact is that we will all be humbled in life. ("Humble"
vt. "to reduce the pride of") I know just enough to know that we should pray for humility and never thank God that we have it! But I do know what it feels like to be humbled…and the thing that all those experiences have in common is that they are moments in which I am clearly not in total control of everything around me, when I'm aware of my dependence upon God and others… One of the places that we all are humbled is in the face of suffering and death…here we know that we are not in control. We don't understand. In the traditional words of a funeral prayer, "we shrink before the mystery of death"…because we can't stand the seeming randomness of it, sometimes we will try to tidy things up with mathematical, cause and effect kinds of thinking: this person suffered and/or died because they had done something to deserve it…even those of us who in times of relative calm would reject such thinking find that when we're the ones in the midst of tragedy we begin to wonder what we did wrong…we wonder what we've done to cause this awful thing, what have we done to God that God would allow it? This is the issue that we're hearing about in the first part of the Gospel passage…Jesus rejects the tempting notion that there is always a simple, causal connection between suffering and sin. And when you think about it even a little, you'll recognize that the story of Jesus' life bears this out. Jesus, the sinless one, suffered the cross. Jesus who had all the power and authority of almighty God on his side humbly walked through suffering and death. This is the way God is…vulnerable, risk-taking for the sake of love, self-giving, humble, emptying…(strong and powerful!!) It is this risk-taking, self-giving, loving God that Jesus points to in the parable of the fig tree. God is gracious! We are absolutely dependent on God's grace! Part of true humility is the strong and sure knowledge that it is by God's grace (free, unmerited love and presence and forgiveness) that we are given this life. (Tree just "empty!"…not doing what it's made for-and God has patience) Like the tree, We didn't earn our life or God's love. We can't buy God's love or sustain our lives forever. This life is a gift-from God. God wants us to bear fruit…to live the lives we were made for… Each new day that we're given, each new chance to start again, each time we wake up again…these are signs of God's love and faithfulness. We don't need to waste time trying to make rational sense of suffering-and we certainly don't need to try to assess blame and fault when terrible things happen. We would spend our time much better by focusing on the life that we've been given and giving thanks. This is not to say that we can't question and challenge the difficult things in life. It is merely to suggest that instead of living in fear and defensiveness (defensiveness is a real killer of humility!)-the reality of suffering and death might be utilized somewhat differently: as reminders that life is fragile and precious…that life is a gift of God's grace…that death will come to all (the great equalizer)…and that we have been given the opportunity in Jesus to not be afraid of death. When we begin to really integrate these understandings into our lives, we are free to really live…able to be much more secure…less afraid…and as a result we create the ground in which real humility can grow. Help us
live as those prepared to die, so that living or dying our life may be
in You… A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition (#607 in UMH) I am
no longer my own, but yours.
|
 |
Sermons from other years:
|
||||||||||||
|
Capitol Hill United Methodist
Church is a Reconciling Congregation. |
||||||||||||||||
 |
