Winston Churchill is remembered for a huge number of things. He is regarded as one of Britain’s great leaders and remains a hero to many people today, but one of the things that he’s not so well known for is his humility. However when he was asked, "Doesn't it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?" He replied, "It's quite flattering, but whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big."
Today we live in a celebrity culture. All around us there are pictures of huge celebrities, newspapers and television follow these people everywhere. With the celebrity title often comes wealth and popularity, but many of course have found that just as quickly as they are built up they can be knocked down.
In the gospel today (Luke 14:1,7-11), Jesus is once again eating at the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, and he was being watched. Someone once said ‘keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer still’, and that seems to have been what happened with Jesus very often. The people who were out to get him, such as the Pharisees, often invited Jesus to their homes, hoping to find something that they could use against him.
Of course he knew this and as he studied the behaviour of the hosts, he told this parable about sitting at the place of honour on a table of guests. He said you should take the lowest place, from which you may be moved up the table, rather than taking the highest place, where the only direction you could go would be down.
And he offered the words, ‘For all who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ In effect Jesus was telling his listeners about pride and humility, and about respect.
There are very few people who like someone who’s arrogant. Most of us, perhaps wrongly I know, quite enjoy it when such people are caught out in some way… The story is told of two ducks and a frog who lived happily together in a farm pond. The best of friends, the three would amuse themselves and play together in their waterhole. When the hot summer days came, however, the pond began to dry up, and soon it was evident they would have to move.
This was no problem for the ducks, who could easily fly to another pond. But the frog was stuck. So it was decided that they would put a stick in the mouth of each duck that the frog could hang onto with his mouth as they flew to another pond. The plan worked well -so well, in fact, that as they were flying along a farmer looked up in admiration and mused, "Well, isn't that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it?" The frog proudly said, "I did..." …..Of course he fell, just as so many people do when they set themselves up in exalted positions.
Jesus is reminding us here that there is no place for false pride amongst his people. As his followers, as people saved by his death and resurrection, we must live lives of humility. However, it’s interesting how often that word is taken as a sign of weakness. Those who are humble are often seen to be those who are quiet, or timid, or nervous… those who are likely to get trampled upon in the harsh reality of life.
In terms of Christianity today in this country, humility, or at least perceived humility, has often led to an unwillingness to stand up and be counted for our faith. Arguing for truth and righteousness and justice and peace are not seen as signs of humility – combative discussions are surely not connected to humility ?
But that is the misinterpretation of the word ‘humble’, because Jesus never meant for humility to be seen as a weakness. He meant it as a huge strength, and that is the quality of humility that his Church must show today.
It is not being judgemental, but it is being confident; it is not being hostile but it is about fighting and working for what is right; it is not about condemnation, but it is about seeking to offer the truth of Christ.
Humility is about being concerned for God and for one another, with no barriers of prejudice, and ultimately it is about recognising that we, as God’s people are no better than anyone else, but we know something and someone better than they do.
As Christians we are called to live lives of humility, but also lives that point people to God. People who look at Jesus will not see a weak man. They will not see a man who accepted defeat at the hands of his prosecutors. They will see a man who, unsurprisingly, had supreme confidence in his victory, even as he hung on the cross.
Jesus is a man filled with compassion for a world that needs to know him better, and with the humility to accept our own weaknesses and our dependence on him, we must go forward with confidence and with the mission of making him known as our aim. The Spanish Saint, Teresa of Avila, wrote these words about the role of the people of God in the world—and let it be our prayer, too:
no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which are to look out
Christ’s compassion to the world.
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now. AMEN
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