A DOSE OF HUMILITY

It is reported that the following edition of Genesis Chapter 2 was discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. And Adam said, “Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me everyday. Now I do not see you anymore. I am lonesome here and it is difficult for me to remember how much you love me. “

And God said, “No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will know I love you, even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourself.”

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and he wagged his tail. and Adam named him Dog. And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him. And Adam was comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam’s guardian angel came to the Lord and said, “Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock and he believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but no one has taught him humility.” And the Lord said, “No problem! I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not worthy of adoration.”

And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam. And Cat would not obey Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat’s eyes, he was reminded that he was not the supreme being. And Adam learned humility. And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Cat did not care one way or the other.

Over the past few weeks the lectionary readings have reminded us of just how counter-cultural the Christian message is. There was the story of the Good Samaritan which radically redefined who our neighbour is. The quarrel between Martha and Mary which emphasised the importance of spending time just being with Christ instead of constantly rushing around doing. We’ve been told to remember that the riches of this world are but transient pleasures. We’ve been exhorted to store up treasure in heaven rather than treasure on earth.

In today’s gospel reading Jesus continues to depict the Kingdom of God as very different to an earthly realm. In the first part of the reading, the key virtue is humility. I think it’s fair to say that humility is a rather unfashionable virtue. Contemporary culture lauds the value of celebrity, assertiveness, self-actualisation. Life-style gurus offer to teach us how to get the most out of life, how to be successful and self-fulfilled. It’s all very far from humility.

I suppose for us humility seems rather problematic because it can look like lack of self-esteem, or deference to authority figures or even worse to bullies. And the Church has been guilty of teaching the virtue of humility in ways that protected the status-quo and kept people firmly in the social position to which they’d been born. But that is surely not what Jesus asks.

This morning’s gospel describes humility as not putting on airs and graces, not believing yourself to be the most important person in the room, not looking to sit in the best seat, in the most important place. 25 years ago narcissism was formally characterised by psychiatrists as a personality disorder. Its characteristics are a grandiose and exaggerated sense of self-importance; preoccupation with fantasies of success; exhibitionism and insatiable attention getting manoeuvres; distain or disproportionate rage in the face of criticism; a sense of entitlement that undermines any hope for success in personal relationships; talk that is more self-promotion than communication. Now that might be a very exaggerated picture of the sort of behaviour that Jesus is warning us against, but it is the logical outcome of the sort of self-serving that is popular among those who see personal growth and getting ahead as the most important things in life.

In contrast to this our behaviour is to be modest, to take the place of least importance, not to make a fuss. Alas even the greatest among us can fail in this. In this week’s Church Times John Pridmore describes how a former Bishop of London had complained about where he’d been seated during a service with the less than humble words “Comes to something when I’m given a back-seat in my own Diocese”.

The second part of the gospel reading expands on what Christian behaviour looks like. We are called to be hospitable to all not just to friends and relatives and important acquaintances. We are to be hospitable to those who can’t repay us, to those at the margins of society. And this behaviour also shows true humility, because it acts out the belief that all are loved by God. The poor and the lame and the blind are just as much God’s children as the rich and the famous and the beautiful. In fact in God’s topsy-turvy economy there is a bias in favour of the poor and the lame and the blind. Remember it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

The beatitudes give further depth to the picture of what really counts in God’s Kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Those who have the qualities of true humility are in for a great reward, the reward of the Kingdom of heaven, the reward of the earth. And if these qualities sound rather passive, then read further: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. These are much more doing aspects of the Christian character, they could be described as risk taking. Making peace, pursuing righteousness to the extent that it upsets those in authority so much that they retaliate by persecution.

Our pattern in all of this, is of course, Jesus Christ himself. He was never afraid to challenge or rebuke but love and compassion were at the heart of everything he did. The gospel writers record how he would heal on the Sabbath, risking the displeasure of the synagogue leaders. He was never afraid hold a mirror up to the hypocrisy of the religious authorities. You remember how he gave them short shrift when they presented him with the woman caught in adultery, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”. He challenged people to think outside the narrow box of rules, regulation & custom, his example of a good neighbour was a despised Samaritan, the prodigal son was given a banquet on his return, he declared that the first will be last and the last first.

Missing from the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews are some very telling words. “Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people with his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” Jesus Christ was not afraid to be among sinners and outcasts, the sick and the lame and the blind. Neither was he afraid to mix with the wealthy and the influential the leaders of synagogues and of communities. He was prepared to teach any who would care to listen. And ultimately he was made an outcast, suffered the most humiliating form of execution that the Roman Empire had in its armoury of brutality.

So this is our pattern for life in the Kingdom. It’s not an easy route or an easy option. Humility is about not putting on airs and graces, it’s not about keeping quiet about injustice. Humility is about showing hospitality with impartiality, about regarding those on the margins of society as honoured guests, but not looking down at the wealthy or well-heeled either. Humility requires wisdom and discernment and I guess that means a life-time of practice.

I close with another story from the Desert Fathers.

Once when Abbot Arsenius was ill he was taken by the brothers to a church and put on a bed with a small pillow under his head, an unheard of comfort for monks of that time. Now, behold a monk who was coming to see him for spiritual guidance, saw him lying on a bed with a little pillow under his head and he was shocked. ‘Is this really Abbot Arsenius, this man lying down like this?’

Then one of the monastics took the visiting monk aside and said to him, ‘In the village where you lived, what was your trade?’ he asked.

‘I was a shepherd’ the visitor replied.

‘And how did you live then?’ the monk continued.

‘I had a very hard life,’ the visitor answered.

Then the monk said, ‘And how do you live in your cell now?’

And the visitor said ‘Oh, now I am very comfortable’.

Then the monk said to him, ‘Do you see Abbot Arsenius? b=Before he became a monk he was the father of the Emperor. While you were in the world as a shepherd you did not enjoy even the comforts you have now, but he no longer leads the delicate life he lived in the world. So you are comforted always while he is afflicted always.’

The visitor prostrated himself saying, ‘Father forgive me, for I have sinned. truly the way this man follows is the way of truth for it leads to humility while mine leads to comfort.’
 

Penny Sayer
St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea