The Power of Humility

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Long ago in the 1960s, I was in a Pentecostal church where the visiting preacher referenced Philippians 4:2, “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” The preacher added, “I call ‘em You Are Odious and Soon Touchy.” The congregation howled with laughter. We could all recall catty church spats among men as well as women. It may be unfair to require someone to change their opinion or judgment on a matter, but it’s not unreasonable to ask for a willing compromise. That means that one or the other combatant has to blink, to surrender their demands, to let it go.

A disciple of Christ who is soon-touchy has everyone tiptoeing around them, not wanting to set off that BP spiking lecture or the cold shoulder pout. You-are-odious people are quick to judge, lacking the ability to see themselves in the mirror, or hear how obnoxious and toxic their attitude is. In his plea for the women to reconcile, Paul is calling for humility more than total agreement. Attitude, more than agreement on every matter or opinion, is what it means to be “in the Lord.”

When God destines one for power, there will be a humbling first. Consider the name Israel. Isr is the Hebrew root for leader or prince. El refers to the title of God, so Israel means “Prince of God” or “He Rules with God.” Jacob had to wrestle with an angel all night to win that name. The angel wasn’t competing with him. God could have sent a whirlwind to wrap Jacob up like a sausage in that tent and throw him on the nearest sand dune. Rather, he wanted to demonstrate Jacob’s persistence and inner strength.

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28 NIV)

Before he departed, the angel left a little gift for the beloved Patriarch. It wasn’t a financial bonus of a bazillion sheep or a ride on a luxurious flying carpet. It was a wound in his thigh that caused him to limp for the rest of his life, signaling that a proud arrogant, condescending Israel is not the Prince that God was looking for. He didn’t create a master race, and he doesn’t want us to think there is one.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

The character that God was trying to establish in the nascent tribe of Israel would be incomplete without the first humbling of Egypt to remind them that they were not a ruthless, dominating, global overlord like the Assyrians. Needing Egypt’s help in famine and the later bondage were part of the divine plan. They had to learn what it was to be small and helpless before they would be worthy of the divine gift of a powerful, privileged statehood and land.

If power and special privileges are abused, the end will also involve a humbling. Northern Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria in 721 BCE and ceased to exist as a state with a king. Judah’s turn was in 586 BCE when Babylon carried off all the royalty and artisans of the land. The Second Temple era began when Cyrus the Persian allowed thousands of captives to return to their land, but the longest diaspora came in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Second temple. Fortunately, God’s covenant is eternal and his plans for Israel were simmering over the centuries for something bigger and better than what they could ever imagine. The history of Israel has been like kneaded dough that rises, is punched down, rises again, and is punched down before it’s baked into the blessing that is bread.

What applies to Israel applies to all of us. Most Christians think that Genesis 1-4 is about the literal creation of the universe, but I see it as a theologically freighted metaphor to combat Mesopotamian creation stories and their myths about gods and goddesses. Adam is made from the dirt, like all the other “nephesh,” living creatures, therefor he cannot be a god because he was “formed” by God. Eve came from Adam, so she could not be competition to Mesopotamian mother goddesses who bear children and create things. If Genesis was written when ancient Sumerians and Babylonians were building ziggurats, (as I believe), then two new immortal characters were introduced into a creation narrative that bore no resemblance to ancient gods.

Humility was embedded into prophecies about the coming Messiah. Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Zechariah foretold,

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 NIV)

That word “lowly” or “humble” is what caught my attention during our church’s pre-Easter liturgy. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the crowds throwing their cloaks on the ground and shouting “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord,” he knew that he was the Son of Man of Daniel 7 and that his ride into the city on a donkey was the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. He did not gallop in on a horse, nor was he wearing fine clothes, rings on his fingers, waving a sword, and with any army at his back.

The Messiah, the King of Israel, the son of God, was born in a stable to an ordinary family. He taught his disciples that pride would not lead to exaltation. He demonstrated by washing the feet of his rashest follower, Peter. He welcomed children. He decreed love and compassion. He spurned the request of James and John, the sons of thunder, to sit at his right and left in his kingdom. He let himself be crucified so he could be raised from the dead, showing all his disciples that they too will have immortal life through him.

Jesus enjoined his disciples to not acquire titles (Matthew 23:8-10). He said that when we give to the needy, don’t let the left hand know what the right is doing, meaning don’t let yourself think that you are a very fine person who will acquire brownie points in heaven (Matt. 6:3). When attending a public meal, his followers were to find the lowest seat rather than demand to be seated near the host, for,

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:12)

The surefire sign of an unhealthy situation is a controlling spouse, pastor, cult leader, or a politician who wants to demand or legislate religious righteousness to the point of cruelty. Genuine Christianity is a way of being rather than the institution. It is based on relationship with God and with others. Jesus gave us two sacraments: baptism, reflecting a commitment between an individual and God; and communion, meant to be shared in community with other worshipers.

If there is an Antichrist before the Second Coming, he will be the opposite of humble. He will be rich, arrogant, unsympathetic, and ambitious, and will utterly lack a conscience. Being normal humans, all of the twelve apostles were ambitious. They knew they were special. All wanted that appointment to sit on thrones of judgment in the new kingdom. None of them signed up to become like a little child. Humility is such a difficult lesson for us to learn, they had to be told in various different ways over and over.

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Humility will save a nation. America has an election coming up in November (maybe). Think about voting for the candidate who most reflects Christ, not by wearing silver crosses around the neck or just quoting Scripture, but by all the unexpected, counterintuitive ways that Jesus taught us.

Check out my website www.janetksmithpersonal.com where you can read for free The Legacy: A Memoir of Personal Guidance and Korean War Sabotage.