Because of these
wide-spread ideals we can easily distinguish and categorize the powerful people
in this world from the ‘lower class citizens’ who are so often looked down upon.
It only takes a brief look at the powerful people of today to learn about the
meaning of 'success' in the world. If we look to the latest Forbes Magazine
to find out who today’s ten most powerful and successful people in the world
are, the pages are usually graced by the faces of Carlos Slim Helu, owner of
Telecom, Bill Gates Founder of Microsoft, (Forbes.com/billionaires), Barrack
Obama, The US President, Oprah Winfrey and the list goes on… These people have become role models to so
many who aspire to gain the riches, success and power that these people
personify.
The author of
the Bible however, teaches us otherwise. Unlike Forbes Magazine or the Business
Review Weekly, that teach us 'success' is measured by attaining a high
position of wealth, prestige and power, we witness in the Bible, and throughout
Christian history, that the most successful leaders and people who truly made a
positive difference in this world were those who were chosen to work for God Himself
(CEO’s for God if you will). They were humble, simple people who instead of
exalting themselves by the world’s standards and sought power of their own,
chose to live a simple life under God’s Lordship and authority.
Unlike the
world’s teachings and values, God clearly tells us that true success and
exaltation comes not from proud self-glorification, and ignorance toward Him,
but from God Himself. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”
(1 Peter 5:5). Sincere humility of
heart stems from our faithfulness towards God. When we have accepted God as the
ruler of our lives (Isaiah 9:7) we live our lives in service to Him, and He
will promote us, or exalt us in His perfect way, and in His perfect timing (1Peter 5:6).
Let us look to the Bible's TOP TEN - Humble Servants (in chronological order):
1. Noah – Noah found favour through it [humility] and it saved him, as it is written, God said to him, "I have seen you righteous and perfect in this generation" (Gen. 7:1) (Aphrahat) God saved his servant Noah and his family
from the great flood that destroyed the world by sheltering them in the ark that
God had advised him to build. It is through divine grace that Noah, his family
and the world had its second chance of life.
2. Abraham - Abraham came
near to it [humility] and he was an inheritor in the land of life. He fell down before God and humbled himself like dust and ash (Gen. 18:27). (Aphrahat) The Patriarch of God’s people and
inheritor of the promise started out as a simple shepherd in the city of
Ur of the Chaldeans and evolved to the become the Patriarch of Israel
due to his unmoving faith in the One and Only God.
3. Jacob –was destined to serve his older twin
brother Esau according to tradition and miss out on becoming the benefactor of
the birth right that was entitled to the eldest sibling. Esau was a skilful
hunter who was favoured by his father and Jacob was a simple man,
dwelling in tents (Genesis 25:27-28). Although Esau was the exalted and
esteemed brother in their father’s sight, God’s prophecy to their mother
(Genesis 25:23) was fulfilled and we see Jacob receive the birth right and
blessing that was traditionally entitled to Esau.
4.
Joseph – was
held in higher regard by his father Jacob than his other brothers. Instead of
boastfully throwing their father’s favour in their faces, he humbly went about
his existence in the family until he was sold into slavery by his jealous
brothers and ended up in prison. Joseph’s humility was exemplified while he was
a prisoner when he glorified God’s work in His life instead of glorifying
himself (Genesis 40:8) and again after God exalted Joseph to the
position of a powerful leader of Egypt under Pharaoh, he helps his brothers
in their time of need even after enduring the hateful betrayal they showed him
in the past. (Genesis 45:4-8)
5. Moses – Was raised in Pharaoh’s household and was
exalted and esteemed as a prince of Egypt. He chose to leave his life of wealth
and power to serve the God of his people and help them escape slavery.
In his humble state and old age, God calls Moses to save His people Israel from
slavery to the Egyptians and lead them to know God and His laws, to lead them
through the wilderness and eventually to the entrance of the Promised Land. (Numbers12:3)
Moses
conquered and humbled the whole pride of Pharaoh through his humility (Ex. 3:11). (Aphrahat)
6. David – A humble shepherd boy, who did not
possess the characteristics of a King by man’s standards, yet was chosen by God
for this position because of his humility and faithfulness to God at heart. (1Samuel 16:6-13). We see the humble shepherd David battle the giant Goliath through
his faith in God, and against all odds, he defeats the giant and is esteemed in
King Saul's eyes (1 Samuel 17:43-50) and ultimately exalted when He is later
crowned King and ruler of Israel.
The humility of
David conquered the pride of Goliath (1 Sam. 17:40-51), who threatened him with anger. (Aphrahat)
7. The Virgin Mary –
The blessed Virgin
exalts God in her song and illustrates to us her state of humility and God’s
exaltation of her:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my
sprit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For
He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For
behold henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For
He who is mighty had some great things for me, and holy is His name… (Luke
1:46-49)
He
has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He
has put down the mighty from their thrones.
And
exalted the lowly.
(Luke 1:51b-52)
The
Virgin Mary was a simple young girl, who was and forever will be honoured as
the Blessed Virgin Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. John the Baptist
– Was prophesied to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus the
Christ. “And you child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you
will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways (Luke 1:76). John lived
an ascetic life of humility in poverty and fasting. His life was not governed
by serving his body and its desires, but rather his focus was on Christ; the
coming Lord. He lived in the wilderness and was clothed in camel’s hair and a
leather belt and he ate locusts and wild honey. John famously gives a
statement to his disciples that epitomises his humility and serves as an
example for all Christians to aspire to and follow; “He [Jesus] must
increase, but I must decrease”. (John 3:30)
9. St. Paul – A Pharisee of Pharisees, and a Hebrew of Hebrews as he states about himself (Philippians 3:4-6), was a prominent leader
among Jewish religious circles and highly esteemed as a knowledgeable Pharisee
in the community. Though for Christ’s sake, he surrendered all of his glory and
the security that came from his ignorant life toward Christ, and painfully and
faithfully toiled to spread the gospel of Christ even unto his death
(Philippians 3:7-11). St. Paul became a tent maker to support his ministry and
humbly relied on the hospitality of Christian Churches whom he had worked to
convert through God’s grace. He had experienced both worldly prosperity and Godly humility (Philippians 4:12), and knew the secret of true contentment; he lived with the assurance that
he can do all things through Christ who strengthened him. (Philippians 4:13).
10. Jesus Christ – Glory be to His name, is the ultimate
example of humility and sacrifice to mankind. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor,
so that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Again St. Paul illustrates the true
humility of our Lord and God Jesus Christ in Philippians 2:5-11. Though He was
God, He chose to take on flesh and humble Himself unto death on the Cross for
our sake. During His ministry on earth, Jesus taught His followers about the
importance of humility (we will further explore Christ’s teachings and practise of humility in Part II
of this series).
All of these
people had a very significant role in fulfilling God’s plan of salvation
through opening the door to the prophesies and promises of the coming Messiah
that would ultimately culminate in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
These faithful people lived as humble,
simple servants of God, though at some point in their lives, God exalted them
to such a high standing, that even today, over two thousand years later, we
recognise these servants and admire their faithful and humble works which should encourage us to follow in their footsteps.
This
is a clear and true indication to us today, that the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ are indeed a fulfilment of the truth; that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 14:11). Truly the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God, (1Corinthians 3:19) for God considers wise those who are humble (James 3:13) and
blesses them with a share more profitable than stocks and annuity, but with an
inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Continued next week… Part II: Humility
explored in the life of Jesus Christ
This
week’s song: The time in between – Francesca Battistelli
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