Today, we will further explore the
meaning of humility in the light of the life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ and learn how we can share in His blessings through looking to His
glorious example and heeding His powerful, life changing words…
Humility can be defined by different
people in various ways. Some people may view humility as a positive
characteristic and others may hold a negative view point… (‘human doormat’
comes to mind). Mar Isaac of Nineveh defines humility as; “But a humble
one in truth is he that, possessing inwardly something worthy of being proud
of, does not extol himself, but is as dust in his own thoughts.”
For those of us who do not understand
the importance of humility for a Christian to possess or feel somewhat
frightened to live a humble life in our competitive world, we should ask
ourselves these three important questions;
1.
If
humility were not an important virtue to possess, why would Jesus teach us that
we must be humble in order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?
2.
Why would Jesus painstakingly show us the perfect
way to live a humble life?
3.
And why would Christ allow Himself to be the
ultimate example of humility to the world?
Christ, who is in very nature God,
humbled Himself by taking on the image of His own creation – man. (John 1:14). In
order to reverse the sin that Adam brought into the world through his pride,
the creator of all came as a humble servant, not to be served, but to serve (Mark10:45) and in turn, reverse the sin that entered the world through pride, with
His humility.
The King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords who was prophesied from of old, was anticipated by God’s people, the
Israelites to come as an exalted, powerful Messiah King. But instead, our Great
God and King chose the better way…
While Jesus was in the prime of His
ministry He enlightened His disciples about the importance of living humbly. As
Jesus delivered His well-known Sermon on the Mount recorded in the gospel of
Matthew chapters 5-7, He started by teaching the multitude of listeners
surrounding Him about The Beatitudes: The blessings of being a true disciple.
The very first beatitude that was mentioned by Jesus is about possessing
humility or being ‘poor in spirit’ (miskeena). “Blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
St. John Chrysostom elaborates on the meaning of being ‘poor
in spirit’; "What is this poverty of spirit, but humility and
contrition? This virtue of humility is placed in the first place, because it is
the parent of every other virtue, as pride is the mother of every vice. Pride
deprived our first parents [Adam and Eve] of their original innocence, and
nothing but humility can restore us to our former purity.”
Within the context of the Beatitudes,
Chrysostom mentions that Christ placed the virtue of humility first, as you
would truly need to possess humility in order to practise the other virtues
that follow, being: mournful [for our sin], meek, thirst for righteousness,
merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and enduring persecution (Matthew 5:3-10)
and in turn inherit God’s blessings.
Pride or self-exaltation is the
opposite of humility and in order to further understand the true need for us to
live a life of humility, it is beneficial for us to compare the two to
understand their contrasting differences in the eyes of God.
We learn from the ‘book of wisdom’,
Proverbs 11: 2, “When pride comes, then comes dishonour, but with the humble
is wisdom”. Christ gives an example of the proud being dishonoured and the
humble showing wisdom, when He speaks of the parable of the self-righteous
Pharisee who thinks very highly of himself and his faith, but looks down on the
tax collector as an unworthy sinner. The tax collector on the other hand beats
his chest while unworthily and mournfully beseeching God for forgiveness as he acknowledges
his sin and imperfections. The latter act was more favoured and accepted by God
(Luke 18:9-14). Jesus uses this as an example to teach us that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted. Luke 18:14
The journey from exaltation to humility is not just limited to the
secular environment, but most importantly it is also seen in the Church. St.
Paul was blessed to see a vision or revelation, and to stop him from becoming
conceited, God allowed him to suffer from a thorn in his flesh. Paul beseeched
the Lord to take this thorn from him, but God’s reply humbled Paul and allowed
him to see the reality He was supposed to face. “My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
In the Church today we can be exalted by our friends, family and
Church members for the blessed character we possess or the bountiful faithful
works we do for the Lord. Though we are Christians, we are still at risk of
becoming conceited or thinking too highly of ourselves because of our God-given
blessings (Romans 12:3). So God in His wondrous love for us, may humble us, by allowing
us to experience a ‘thorn’ or ‘thorns’ in our own lives, to keep us humble and
reliant on His grace and strength and to keep us mindful that it is the Lord
who blesses us, so we must always give glory to Him instead of seeking it for
ourselves.
St. John the Apostle further
elaborates on Christ’s teaching of humility when he clearly states that pride
is of the world, and not of Godly character; “For all that is in the world-
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is
not of the Father but of the world.” (1 John 2:16). So we understand
that those with a worldly drive to succeed and be exalted to the top while
looking down upon others or not acknowledging God for their success, will be
humbled by God as this character is not befitting of His children. So the
last will be first and the first last. (Matthew 20:16)
Christ our Lord and teacher lead by
perfect example and expects His followers to imitate Him in order to share in
His blessings (Romans 8:16-17). Throughout the stages of His life, He practised
humility in the most challenging of cases. By being in very nature God (Philippians2:5-9) He chose to be born in a manger to a young and meek mother, and an earthly
father who was a carpenter, He endured persistent unbelief and mockery from the
Pharisees and teachers, washed His disciples feet, dined with His enemy, was
unjustly imprisoned, mocked, punished and crucified unto death to offer
forgiveness to His enemies and those who denied Him.
Jesus knew His purpose for coming
into the world was to suffer and die for His own creation. He lived with the
knowledge and acceptance of His divine purpose every day as He continued a
humble life in perfect obedience to God the Father. Jesus also honours His
mother, The Blessed Virgin. He obeyed her untimely request and performed His
first miracle when she asked Him to turn the water into wine at the wedding in
Cana (John 2:1-11). From our Lord’s example we learn that honouring our
parents, even at times where we may think we are right, shows humility.
Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus
being viewed as someone who was unlike the esteemed teachers and Pharisees of
the day, who loved to be held in high esteem and honoured in public (Matthew23:4-7). Though He was humble in character, when He spoke and taught, He was
recognised as having Godly authority that attracted the attention of His
listeners (Matthew 7:28-29). When we are placed in a position of power or
authority, we too should not abuse it, or use our position to belittle or
exploit our subordinates, but always think of others more highly than ourselves
(Philippians 2:3-4); this is a true act of humility.
Though He was perfect, without sin or
blame, the only righteous one in the world, He humbled Himself in order to
serve His God-given purpose and display His immeasurable love to us unrighteous
sinners. (Isaiah 53:7-8). God confirms His Word to us (the humble receive
exaltation) through His Son, when Christ is resurrected from the dead as the
first-fruits for us to follow and now sits in authority of the World at the
right hand of the Father. (Hebrews 1:3-4)
Christ indeed did not come to be served,
but to serve… His greatest service to us was showing us the abundance of His
humility through His forgiveness and love which were exemplified in His birth,
life and ultimate death the cross to atone for our sins while we were still
sinners (Romans 5:8). As believers and followers of our great God and Saviour
Jesus Christ, it is now our duty to repay Him in gratitude for our salvation,
by showing obedience to God, His servants and the Church by unworthily offering
our life to Him as a service; in humility, love and good deeds (Romans 12:1-2) knowing
that when we are humbly serving others, we are in fact serving our Lord Jesus
Christ, glory to His name. (Matthew 25:44-45)
…Blessed are the poor in spirit (humble) for theirs is the Kingdom
of Heaven.
Continued Next week: Humility Part III – Humility of women
This week’s song:
Shamasha John Khio – Ya Parooqa
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