Humble Pie - 11 July 2006
Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called "Doctor' and "Reverend.' "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of "Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them--Christ. "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. Matthew23: 5-12 The Message
Jesus doesn’t mince His words here and the modern words of The Message hammer it home. The Pharisees really thought they were something and they expected everyone else to think that too. It must have really galled them that the most popular itinerant preacher of the time had no time for them and their superior knowledge.
I don’t like being humble at all; there is something in me that wants to be better than other people and to be noticed for it. I want to be praised for my generosity and compassion and my spirituality. I want to be the one who brings people into church, the one who prays the most, sings the loudest, does the most, and is a personal friend of the vicar! But I’m not like a Pharisee you understand.
‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’ Matthew6:6
Matthew 6 tells us how to be real before God and before others. Every time I read it I am painfully aware of my own desire to please and impress others. Some other words of Jesus’ speak to us when we are striving to be the best.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 |
