Finding Humility

I preached this morning for a friend at the Nursing Homes where he is chaplain. I thought I would share my sermon here. The need for humility is one of those human callings. We don't usually think of Paul in that light, but in today's assigned readings the comparison between him and Judas was striking. So I picked up on that and found the basic faith at the foundation of Paul's self-understanding.

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Honesty is one of the hallmarks of the Bible. Even the greatest heroes have clay feet. Just look at what's often written there... lying, adultery, brotherly hatred, murder to hide an affair. And that's the GOOD GUYS. Would anyone attempting to paint a great picture of the history of their organization do what the Christians did?

Two of the interesting people in the NT- other than Jesus are Paul and Judas. There is a reality to each of them that goes beyond the words. No one would make up these stories about their history....

Paul- A great church planter, Christian evangelist among Gentiles, the founder of the church as we understand it. Yet he

• Started as a passionate hater of the Christians
• Stood by as Christians were martyred
  
• Became an even more passionate supporter.

He's been called many things.

• Self-centered?
• But certainly self-confident.
• Over confident perhaps.
• One who could make GREAT pronouncements about himself, others, God, Jesus

Here from Philippians 3:

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: a Hebrew of Hebrews; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

Amazingly honest!!!!

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Honest humility. I have gained nothing. I can do nothing. I am lost on my own. Pointing somewhere else out of a depth of faith that I can only begin to imagine.

Then there's Judas....

Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:3-6)

On the surface he's a trusted friend and supporter. He's even in charge of the money. He is caring and compassionate, isn't he? Look as he gets upset at Mary for wasting money on expensive ointment instead of giving it to help others. See the halo he is trying to place above his head. If Jesus trusts him, why not trust him.

But we know, thanks to the words of John that this just ain't so. He's a crook. An embezzler. A betrayer. What he says isn't consistent with what he does. Look at me, see me, I am perfect.

Judas followed his own ways. Judas wanted fame and fortune and power. James and John went up to Jesus and asked to sit at the seats of honor. Judas connived and cheated and finagled to do that behind the scenes. He thought he had it all figured out and was standing in the center of the universe with Jesus.

How very human. Which is why Judas is so scary. He can remind me of so many people- and even myself when I try to think of myself more highly than I ought to. He is anyone of us when we think we have the power and glory within ourselves. Humility? Forget it.

But back to Paul again....

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

He's not grasping for anything- except his own salvation as has already been given to him through Jesus.

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

A great prize- and for that he presses onward following Jesus.

Sure Paul is as human and fallible as Judas or any of us. Only Jesus deserves the title "Perfect One." But he knows it and is willing to put it down there in black and white. He bows his head in front of those who think he's so great and says "NO- look over there. That's who I'm following. Don't follow me- follow him along with me."

May I be able to find that in myself.