The Amazing Power of Humility

October 24, 2004

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Luke 18: 9-14

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! I would like to talk with you today about the amazing power of humility. A preacher was once giving a sermon on the seven deadly sins. I guess you could say that the opposite of humility is pride, eh? And this preacher was giving a sermon on the seven deadly sins – you know, jealousy, anger, envy, greed, pride, and all that. After the sermon, two ladies, sisters, came up to him and said, “Reverend, we loved your sermon on the seven deadly sins.” He said, “Thank you very much. I appreciate that.” And they went on to say, “My sister and I are here to tell you that we have never committed any of them!” And he said, “Isn’t that wonderful!” They said, “Yes it is.” And he said, “You must be very proud.” And they said, “Yes, we are!”

In our gospel story this morning, Jesus tells a story to His followers. What I’d like to do first is talk about what it may have meant to the people of that day, and then talk about what it can mean to us today.

The followers of Jesus were gathered around Him, and I think there was a question in their minds. They were at the temple. Perhaps it was one of the traditional times of prayer, which were nine in the morning, twelve noon, and three in the afternoon. It’s traditional for devout Jews to pray at that time. And perhaps they were gathered with the Lord at the temple and saw all kinds of praying going on. Perhaps they said, “Lord, what’s the right way to pray? How do we get close to God?” They saw a Pharisee in all kinds of raiment, praying loudly, and others, too. And Jesus told them this parable:

Once at prayer time there went up two men to the temple. One was a Pharisee, a keeper of the law. And the other was a tax collector, if you know what we mean, a rogue indeed. The Pharisee went right to the front and prayed, “Thank you, God, that I am not like other people. They are thieves and liars and adulterers. They do all manner of nastiness. I’m glad I don’t. I’m glad I’m not like that humble guy back there.” And the Pharisee went home.

The humble guy in the back of the temple could barely lift his eyes to heaven, but he felt worthy enough to talk to God. He said, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

And Jesus said, “I tell you, of the two men, when they went home that day, the humble man is the one who went home justified, right with God.”

Let’s talk about those two folks and the amazing power of humility. First of all, let’s talk about that Pharisee fellow. That was an interesting posture he had about life. He was a rigid sort of guy, wasn’t he?

Do something with me, won’t you? Just hold your arm out straight, make your hand into a fist, and tighten it as hard as you can. Hold it up there for a while as I talk. Is your fist as tight as you can get it? How does it feel? Not too bad? Okay, let’s wait a while.

You know, if I check back with you in about five minutes, I think you’ll find by then that it’s tough to keep your arm out like that and your hand in a fist. Okay, release it and let it go. That’s what the Pharisee was like. He was going to observe every rule and letter of the law in order to get close to God, in order to have God love him. He figured that was the way to do it. Jesus has a much better way. Jesus says, “Ask God to have mercy on you.”

What does that mean? Have mercy means accept me the way I am. Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison -- the only Greek prayer in the high church worship service. It means “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” I translate it “God has mercy, Christ has mercy, God has mercy.” God accepts us just the way we are. We don’t have to put it on. We don’t have to be something we’re not. We don’t have to convince God that we’re loveable. The reason God loves you, my friends, is because He made you. And nothing can take that love away.

Yes, we do good things like the Pharisee did, but we do them out of response to that love. We do them because we’re so loved we can’t do anything but! We don’t want to do anything else. We’re loved, just as we are, and therefore we do the good things.

But let’s go back to the Pharisee for a second. If the Pharisee says, “I’m right because I do things perfectly,” the humble person says, “I’m right with God because He loves me.” The Pharisee might say, “I do good things to show that I’m good.” And the humble person says, “I do good things because I’m loved.” The Pharisee says, “I know everything there is to know, and nobody can teach me anything.” And the humble person says, “I am a work in progress. Heaven help me.”

The Pharisee says, “My salvation is my own doing.” The humble man says, “My salvation is God’s doing.” The Pharisee says, “I’m pretty much perfect.” The humble person says, “I’m a work in progress.” The Pharisee says, “God loves me because I do the law.” The humble person says, “God loves me because He created me.”

You know, rather than condemning that Pharisee, I feel sorry for him. Don’t you feel sorry for him? Can you imagine what it’s like to live with him? It would be kind of like living with Ralph Kramden, don’t you think? Do you remember Ralph Kramden from ‘The Honeymooners’? Ralph was always right, and the humor came when he fell off that pedestal.

There is power in humility. So I’m going to suggest, my friends, that each of us take just one step toward humility this week. I need to. Do you? How do we do it? May I suggest three ways? Know that we can learn, know that we can listen, and know that we are loved.

Are we teachable? I had a professor in seminary named Bard Thompson, one of the most brilliant New Testament professors anywhere. The thing I remember most about Dr. Thompson is how quickly he said, “I don’t know the answer to that.” It was almost as though he was relieved to say those words. Are we? There’s something good about saying, “I’m teachable. I have something to learn.”

In my previous church, there was something wrong with a piece of plumbing in the parsonage. The sink was clogged, and one of the trustees came over to fix it. He wanted to do it himself. This was a Ph.D. rocket scientist. He started to fiddle with the pipes, and suddenly there was water everywhere. I’ll never forget what he said. He said, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake!” How refreshing to hear “I made a mistake” from this incredibly brilliant man! That’s part of what made him brilliant.

Humility – accept me as I am. I’m teachable. I’ve got stuff to learn.

The second thing we can do is to really listen. When I’m talking one-on-one with people in the church, I like to sometimes sit and picture them as one of my seminary or music school professors. I look at them that way and pretend that they have that office, whatever it is they’re saying. I want to listen deeply and reverently. Everyone has something to teach us, don’t they? The most educated person and the simplest person each has a lesson for us if we’re open to it.

And third, friends, know that you are loved. Humility does not mean being a doormat! Humility means knowing that you are a child of God. The word humility comes from “humus”, which means “soil” – not just dirt, but ground. You can’t grow a tree without it. Know that you are loved by the ground of all being, by God Himself. The humble man knew, and he came to church. His prayer was good.

And finally, my friends, may I suggest to you that there is great peace and relaxation in the practice of humility? Jesus said, “The person went home    justified.” The symbol of justice is scales, balance. Balance comes to our lives when we don’t feel we have to be perfect, when we can listen and learn. There can be a wonderful release, a wonderful letting go, when we give up on perfection and take on being the earthy, humble persons that we are.

May it be so for us. May we each take a step toward humility and the amazing power that it brings. May we each take a step toward the peace that it brings to our lives, because God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.