Humility Takes Its Place
Humility isn't easy. It's like the person who was awarded the "Most Humble" pin and lost it for putting it on. Proverbs 25:6-7 shows how Humility Takes Its Place. September 9, 2007
Humility isn’t easy. It’s like the person who was awarded the “Most Humble” pin and lost it for putting it on. So it’s important for us to get some straight talk from God’s Word today about humility – what it is, what it isn’t, what it does, and what it doesn’t do.
Humility is an attribute that results in action. For example, a humble person gives credit where credit is due. You can develop humility and practice it. Humility is yours to take and use. Honor, on the other hand, is an attribute that isn’t taken as much as it’s given. For example, a person is honored at an awards banquet. Honor is yours to receive when others decide you are worthy of it. Humility and honor. Today the Bible cautions us not to mix them up, and demonstrates that when each of them is in its right place in our lives we can better relate to people, serve them, and follow in obedience to Jesus.
Some people are known for their lack of humility and former world heavyweight champion Mohammed Ali is one of them. According to one story Ali was getting settled after boarding a flight preparing for takeoff. The flight attendant reminded him to fasten his seatbelt but Ali seized the moment to protest proudly, “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” Without missing a beat the flight attendant replied, “Sir, Superman don’t need no airplane, either.” Humiliated, Ali fastened his seat belt.
What happened to Mohammed Ali happens to us when we mix up humility and honor by pursuing honor, not humility, as the prized possession – because it means that people are impressed; they think we’re important; they need us; they recognize our effort and achievement; they listen to us; they tell others how great we are. So we take a place of honor. And that’s not always at the head table, either. That can be …
- Impressing a group of coworkers or classmates by dominating the discussion,
- Darting into the best parking spot before others,
- Insisting that others play the game or decorate the dorm room my way because my ideas are always better,
- A temper tantrum or a cold shoulder that manipulates your spouse or roommate for your own selfish purposes, or
- Making sure the boss recognizes your contribution to the project as the most important.
And then … sometimes when we’re trying to show we’re so smart we say something wrong and we’re put in our place. Or we hit the gas and can’t stop, smashing into another car. Or nobody wants to play the game anymore because we’ve made it too complicated. And like Mohammed Ali we’re humbled the hard way, taking a place of humility that we never intended. Listen to the Bible call this to our attention in today’s Proverb: “Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among those who are great; it is better for him to say to you, ‘Come up here,’ than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.”
That’s the problem with taking a place of honor. It’s not something we can gain for ourselves. It’s only given by others. When we try to grab honor we let go of humility, we neglect honoring others, and neglect obeying Jesus. Others look at us and are really less impressed than we think they are. They’re angry at us, or embarrassed about us, or even feel sorry for us because they recognize what we don’t, that we are blinded by pride. We lie to others, ourselves, and even God pretending to be so honorable when we’re only hypocritical. Five other wise sayings in the Bible book of Proverbs warn us about this.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes” (3:7). “The Lord detests all the proud of heart” (16:5). “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18). “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor” (25:27). “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips” (27:2). Like the arrow shot from a bow with finesse and arcing high through the sky stops to admire itself, its feathers aerodynamically cutting through the wind, its tip pointed straight at its target – and suddenly the arrow drops, bounces on the ground, and comes to rest well short of its target. A dud. We fall short of being a good person when we honor ourselves instead of others and humble others instead of ourselves. And it happens for only one reason: we forget that we have already received the greatest honor of all when Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross.
When today’s Proverb warns, “Do not exalt yourself,” it uses a word that means “to adorn” or “to make something look good.” The surprising good news is that God has already adorned us. We don’t need to make ourselves look good. It’s already done. The Bible uses that same word when it promises, “The Lord your God …has endowed you with splendor” (Isaiah 55:5). God makes you look good! God exalts you! God puts you in a place of honor! You can feel good about your achievements but God has achieved the greatest accomplishment by forgiving your sins through the death of Jesus. You can impress others with your position of strength but God has raised you with Jesus from the dead and given you a powerful new life. You might feel discouraged when you don’t look that good but God promises that you are good in his love. You don’t need to seek a place of honor because it’s already yours!
Today’s Proverb advises, “It is better for [the king] to say to you, ‘Come up here.’” That has already happened to you. Jesus, the King of Kings, has said to you, “Come up here,” and given you a place of honor in the kingdom of God. And when Jesus gives honor, it’s not for self-seeking purposes. When Jesus gives honor it’s for the purpose of being in a better place to serve. Knowing that your position of honor given to you by Jesus cannot be taken away, you can humble yourself and not be afraid that you’ll lose your position.
The line up of encouragement in today’s lesson from Hebrews gives some specifics. “Do not forget to entertain strangers.” With humility be kind to all people, not just people you know or people who are kind to you in return – like Jesus was kind to strangers who were sick and he healed them. “Remember those in prison is if you were their fellow prisoners.” With humility don’t shut out anyone who has wronged you or society, but honor them with care and concern – like Jesus cared for tax collectors, prostitutes, and the thief on the cross. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure.” Honor God and your girlfriend by saving sex and sleeping together for marriage. “Keep your lives free from the love of money.” Honor God’s gifts of income and possessions by being generous and willing to share.
Humility means giving others, not ourselves, the place of honor, even when we don’t think they deserve it. And that’s not easy. On old Cherokee chief was explaining this to his grandson and told him a story. He told his grandson, “There is a battle going on inside of you. And the battle is between two wolves. One is evil, full of pride and selfishness. The other is good, full of humility and kindness.”
“Which one wins the battle?” the boy asked.”
The old Cherokee simply stated, “Whichever one you feed.”
Jesus put it this way, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Feed your humility. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on September 9, 2007
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