The BEattitudes: Be Humble Sunday, 1/22/17 1 There s a Chinese proverb that says, Be like the bamboo: the higher you grow, the deeper you bow.

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1 The BEattitudes: Be Humble Sunday, 1/22/17 1 There s a Chinese proverb that says, Be like the bamboo: the higher you grow, the deeper you bow. In other words, the more power, prestige, fame, or other kinds of worldly recognition you have, the greater your need to cultivate humility of heart and life. Winston Churchill illustrated that principle when he was 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." There s great wisdom in the bamboo proverb, the kind of wisdom we find throughout the Old and New Testaments, and embodied in the life of Jesus. As we continue our journey through the beatitudes in Matthew 5, today we consider the third of eight attitudes that Jesus associated with lives filled with the blessing of holy happiness. Be humble, or as it has oftentimes been translated, be meek. In a world where selling yourself as a commodity has become ever more prescribed for success, this beatitude is another one of those counterintuitive gems from Jesus. Did you know that Jesus was actually paraphrasing Psalm 37:11, which we heard earlier this morning? We re going to spend some time learning from that Psalm what it means to be humble in a Biblical way, but first let s look at what the Apostle Paul had to say about the humility of Jesus, and what that humility might look like in our own lives. I m reading from Philippians 2, verses 3 through 13, in the New Living Translation. {Read Philippians 2:3-13, NLT} 2 The following story of humility comes from the pages of Our Daily Bread: [In 1881,] [s]hortly after [Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator] 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 1

2 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. What is it about true humility that makes it such an attractive quality in people? One author, in an ironically titled article, How Humility Will Make You the Greatest Person Ever, described it this way: When I meet someone who radiates humility, my shoulders relax, my heart beats a little more quietly, and something inside me lets go. Why? Because I know that I m being fully seen, heard, and accepted for who I am, warts and all a precious and rare gift that allows our protective walls to come down. Truly humble people are able to offer this kind of gift to us because they see and accept their own strengths and limitations without defensiveness or judgment a core dimension of humility, and one that cultivates a powerful compassion for humanity. This kind of self-acceptance emerges from grounding one s worth in our intrinsic value as human beings rather than things such as six-figure salaries or the body of a movie star or climbing the corporate ladder or the number of friends on Facebook. Instead, humble people place high value on more meaningful things that benefit others They also see life as a school, recognizing that while none of us is perfect, we can, without negatively impacting our self-esteem, work on our limitations by being open to new ideas, advice, and criticism. People with that kind of humility are refreshing to be around. Do you want to be happy? Do you want to not only be blessed, but be a blessing to everyone you Meet? Then be humble! 3 Humility isn t something Jesus invented for his Sermon on the Mount. It was actually always part of God s plan for how we should live the blessed life. Psalm 37 is full of instructive words and phrases that help give definition to what humility really is. Verse 3: Trust in the Lord; Verse 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord; Verse 7: Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act; Don t worry or fret; Verse 8: stop your anger. 2

3 Can you see in Psalm 37 how our first three beatitudes go hand in hand, each one building on the other? Trust in the Lord, verse 3, is our first beatitude, be dependent. Commit everything you do to the Lord, verse 5, is the end result of our second beatitude, be repentant. Verse 7, be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act, takes us to the next level. Secure in our dependence on God, having repented of our sin and committed ourselves to God s holy ways, we begin to bear the spiritual fruit of humility. Time and time again in the Old Testament, those described as humble, Moses most notably among them, were able to wait patiently for God to act rather than to worry, fret, or take matters into their own hands, especially when those matters involved visiting retribution on an enemy. A reluctance to resort to power and violence is an essential quality of this kind of humility, the same Godly character that led Jesus to refrain from raising up an armed rebellion against the Roman occupiers of Israel or from striking at the soldiers who came to arrest him. 4 Let s pause for a moment and reflect on the opposites of what Psalm 37 describes, what we might call the arrogant or the proud. The arrogant trust in themselves rather than God. The arrogant serve themselves first. The arrogant don t wait for God, but take matters into their own hands, using their anger and their worry to power their attacks on anyone who stands in their way. Isn t that an ugly picture of humanity? And yet, can t each of us recognize times that we ve encountered people with those anti-be-attitudes? Can t each of us recognize times in our own hearts and lives that we ve been that person? The good news is that we don t have to live lives of arrogance, returning wrong with wrong, harm with harm, our anger and worry propelling forward into greater and greater destruction of ourselves and others. There is another way, and God sent his own son to us so that we could see that way. 5 The Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Philippi, knew a thing or two about humility. Paul s life might be described as the opposite of upwardly mobile. Not long after our first introduction to Paul in the Book of Acts, Paul is transformed by the power of Jesus from the powerful and feared chief prosecutor of Christians for the Jewish religious hierarchy into a Jesus-believing fugitive on the run. Instead of accumulating power and prestige, Paul traded his freedom and position of worldly authority for imprisonment, 3

4 beatings, shipwrecks, and eventually, martyrdom. So it s with no small amount of spiritual authority that Paul wrote to the Philippians, instructing them to be humble, thinking of others as better than themselves. Abraham Lincoln demonstrated this attitude when wanting to please a politician, he issued a command to transfer certain military regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out, saying that the President was a fool. Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, "If Stanton said I'm a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I'll see for myself." As the two men talked, the President quickly realized that his decision was a serious mistake, and without hesitation he withdrew it. An attitude of humility is quick to recognize our own shortcomings and acknowledge the strengths and gifts of others. 6 The Apostle Paul goes on to say that we should look not only to our own interests but also to the interests of others. Let s imagine for a moment what that might look like. People who look to the interests of others ask questions. I don t mean questions like, how are you? I mean questions that probe into our lives. People who look to the interests of others spend at least as much time listening as they do talking. And sometimes, people who look to the interests of others go beyond conversation and put their caring into action, like giving someone a ride to church or visiting them when they can t leave home. These people are an experience of grace made into flesh, a refreshment of your soul to be around. I know, because I married one, and I see so many saints in our church who pour out their lives in this way. I hope that everyone here can think of at least one person in their life who embodies this character. And more than that, I pray that each one of us might grow in this attitude, an attitude that is so much in keeping with the attitude of Jesus 7 And that, of course, is where the Apostle Paul takes us to drive home his point- the self-giving, humble attitude of Jesus. Jesus himself tells us, Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. Those words coming from anybody other Jesus might strike someone as just the opposite of humble. But the witness of our Holy Scriptures is that Jesus really is humble and gentle. It was Jesus who, being fully God, came into creation as a man. It was Jesus who humbled himself to be baptized by John. It was Jesus who made clear that he had time to spend with 4

5 children when everyone around him assumed he was too important for that. It was Jesus who ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, concerned more for their salvation than the scorn and gossip that it attracted. It was Jesus who healed the lepers, when nobody else would risk coming into their presence. And of course it was Jesus who accepted the humiliation of dying a very public and painful death, not because of anything he said or did, but because of our own sin. How will humility make you the greatest person ever? Jesus showed us how, by coming not to judge the world, which he had every right to do, but to save it. Do you want to know what it looks like to look to the interests of others? The entire life of Jesus was devoted to serving his Father and his Father s children. Even in dying, Jesus fulfilled the promise of sending the Comforter, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, the very source of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, including humility. 8 Do you want to be happy? Are you tired of competing for the attention and praise of the world around you? Are you about done with the anxiety and anger that comes from constantly trying to prevail over your problems and your enemies? Then be humble. Trust in the Lord and commit everything you do to Him. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. Don t worry or fret and stop your anger. Think of others as better than yourselves. And look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others, asking thoughtful questions, listening deeply, and then translating your concern into action. That s what it means to be humble. Please pray with me. God of the beatitudes, break through in new ways, in our lives, in this church, and in your world. Teach us to patiently wait on you. Grow in us a meekness of heart that looks to the interests of others because of your humble example in life and in death. We trust you and we love. Amen. Buffalo United Methodist Church serving people for Jesus Christ so that we all may know joy! th Street NW Buffalo, MN Bill Reinhart, Pastor pastorbill@buffaloumc.com 5