THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 31 08 25
FIRST READING: Jeremiah 2:4-13
NEW TESTAMENT READING: Hebrews 13.1-8,15,16
GOSPEL Luke 14.1,7-14
‘For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
People have a tendency to value themselves highly and they have a desire to be seen to be important. That was what was happening in the dinner banquet which he was attending. There were others guests who arrived and they chose important places. Jesus had a unique style of teaching, he responded to human behaviour instantly and guided people with new values of life. It is then Jesus began to teach about humility.
Humility is a very important Christian character. The Bible makes it clear that God loves people who are humble.
In the Old Testament, God chose people who were humble to be leaders. Moses such a great leader was a humble person, ‘Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth.’ (Numbers 12:3). That is quite fascinating to see such a great leader who led the people out of a land of slavery to the promised land being so humble. Leadership is often seen as authority and the leader should be assertive and dominate to be able to exert obedience from the people whom they are leading.
WHAT IS GOD EXPECTING OF HIS PEOPLE
In the Old Testament, there are numerous instances where it is made clear that one of the virtues that God expects in people is humility. The book of Chronicles states that, ‘if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.’ (2 Chronicles 7:14). Prophet Micah proclaims about what God is requiring of people, ‘He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ (Micah 6:8).
GOD IS PRESENT IN THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO ARE HUMBLE
Prophet Isaiah while writing to the Hebrew people who were undergoing a very difficult time during their exile in Babylon and were feeling abandonment and great distress, he shared with people who were feeling very low a news from God, ‘For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’ (Isaiah 57:15)
THE PROBLEM OF BEING PROUD AND HAUGHTY
While the biblical writers make it clear that God loves people who are humble, the different books of the bible convey a message that God is not very about people who are proud and haughty. The Psalmist writes, ‘For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down’. (Psalm 18:27). Prophet Isaiah also conveys a similar message, ‘The haughtiness of people shall be humbled, and the pride of everyone shall be brought low; and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.’ (Isaiah 2:17). In the New Testament, James in his epistle writes to his churches, ‘But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’’ (James 4:6). These teachings seem to tell us being proud and haughty is against a Christian character.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO
Being humble before God and people is the essence of Christlike character. Peter while writing to churches says, ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.’ (1 Peter 5:6). Humility is living in surrender to God’s will depending on God’s faithfulness and graciousness.
THE MODEL OF HUMILITY
For Paul the great scholar of the church, the model of humility is Christ himself. He writes, ‘Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name…’ To be humble before God is to live in obedient surrender to God’s will and to see others as better than oneself and to be seek the wellbeing of others and not being self-centered and selfish.
As we look up to God in prayer, we remember the words of Jesus, ‘For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’