The Power of Humility

Luke 14:1, 7-14

God exalts the humble.

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Luke 14:7–14 NRSV

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Often in the church we focus on what people can do rather than who a person should be.

Christ like character is the most important element of a Christian’s life. What we do and who we are are more important than what we have to show for our lives.

We should be more concerned with our character than our reputation. Your character is who you are, while your reputation is what others think of you.

Humans are finite and thus, limited in our understanding. Our talents are different, our minds are different, and our experiences vary from one another.

One of the most important aspects of character is humility. God emphasizes it more than any other character trait.

What is humility?

Humility has to do with viewing yourself in the correct manner regarding your gifts, abilities, purpose, weaknesses and limitations. The degree of humility is based upon how a person responds to failure, power, and obedience to God.

I don’t know about you, but I learn a lot about myself and others when they are struggling.

Humility is knowing that you need God. That you can’t do any of this without His help. It’s thanking God for your talents, blessings and grace. It’s giving God credit for these things.

What about humble leadership?

The same can be said if someone is given a position of power.

Abraham Lincoln said. “Nearly all men can handle adversity, but if you really want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

A humble leader understands that there are things that he or she do not know. It calls for empathic listening. Not just to the big important powerful people, but the people on the ground and the people who are suffering.

What humility is not.

It is not putting oneself down, treating yourself badly, denial of self, self-mortification, discipline, self-pity, self-hatred, poverty, wearing worn clothing, low self-esteem, or acting legalistic with religious tradition.

The self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees were repeatedly plotting against Jesus and seeking to discredit him throughout his earthly ministry. When presented with mighty displays of his divine power over sickness, they still refused to listen to and believe him.

He uses this opportunity to teach his fellow dinner guests about true humility and compassionate hospitality.

This is another example given by Jesus of the upside down way the Kingdom of God works. The humble will be exalted and the ones who exalt themselves will be humbled. Is that how the world works? No its quite the opposite. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk take themselves to space. In God’s kingdom they will be humbled.

James 4:10 NRSV

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

We need to humble ourselves before God, not just at the tables we share. God asks for our worship and obedience, not our demands and ego. Because that is damaging to us. The humility brings life to our lives. Ego and self-centeredness hurt us and those around us.

For God to exalt us cannot be the reason for the humility, however. If we only help others for recognition, then it is selfish and causes harm.

Our humility extends to those we spend time and energy with as well. It lifts them up.

When we spend our time with only people who can repay us. Either with reciprocity of hospitality or with connection for knowing them, then we don’t help anyone but ourselves. When we share a meal or help someone who has no ability to repay the debt, it humbles us.

We strive to do this at our church, Mount Baker Presbyterian in Concrete. In Concrete, we are surrounded by extreme levels of poverty, addiction, homelessness and people struggling with their mental health. There are very few services accessible in this tiny community. Concrete is located 25 plus miles away from the nearest town with anything. If you are someone who is without reliable employment or transportation then you are stuck.

We have focused our ministry at MBPC to be a community blessing ministry. We do church every Sunday. We also host medically assisted drug treatment on Tuesdays in our social hall for people struggling to get clean and sober. We host two different AA groups during the week as well.

During the stay home orders during the height of Covid, we handed out meals and diapers to families struggling to meet their kids’ basis needs.

We work with a school counselor to help identify the children in the elementary school in need and provide things like coats and shoes for them along with gas cards for propane heat in the middle of winter. There is a 73% rate of poverty of children enrolled in the Concrete school district.

There are 12 families that identify as homeless.

We fundraise money into an outreach fund to support these programs.

We are having luncheons and dinners with people who cannot repay us.

We have opened a separate building to help host these services. It is our hope to begin showers and laundry in this building for families and individuals without access to those things.

We have an employee dedicated to outreach in the community. Jen goes out into the community and identifies people in need of help or community and meets with them. she connects them to services, she invites them to church, she checks in on them regularly.

Micah 6:8 NRSV

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?

God commands humility.

Among so much, walking with humility is among what is good and what is required of us.

How do we do that?

What does that look like?

True humility comes out of a healthy Christ-centeredness from the heart of a person that breeds self-dignity, self-respect, and assurance of your place as a child of God and your call in the Kingdom of God.

This can look so different in our lives. It can look like listening to someone in grief without centering your own experience with it.

It can look like helping someone without the means to travel find a ride to a doctor appointment.

It can look like giving grace and forgiveness for the seven hundredth time to someone who makes a lot of mistakes.

It can look like setting a boundary with your job to be more present with your children.

It can look like carving out time every day for exercise because you are kinder to others when you spend time on yourself.

It can look like letting someone with one item at the grocery store go ahead of you and your full cart of groceries.

It can look like asking someone what their needs are instead of assuming you already know.

There is power in humility.

You can diffuse arguments and conflict if you are humble. You don’t have to win every argument.

You can handle unfair treatment peacefully when you are humble. Things done to you won’t become who you are. You will not seek unhealthy revenge.

You can admit you are wrong when you are humble.

You can ask for forgiveness when you are humble.

You can show compassion when you are humble.

This power comes in the form of grace from God.

The kingdom of God coming here and now.

God’s spirit dwelling in the humble.

God fighting for us and defending us.

Jesus is the perfect example of what this looks like in a human life.

He made Himself with no reputation.

He came as a servant to those He created.

He humbled Himself to the point of death.

God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above all other names.

Let us pray.

God thank you for your endless patience and grace for us. Thank you for these scriptures to guide our daily lives and the unending opportunities to be better.

Give us all a heart of humility so that we may serve you and others to lift them up and bring healing and wholeness.