Happily Humble

Picture this. Jesus is a hot shot, rookie preacher, early in his ministry. Where He goes, His growing entourage of disciples, the desperate, and some curious skeptics follow Him. On one particularly impressive day, He gets up on a mountain top to preach to a “full house”. People come from near and far to hear and see what He has to say. The masses listen intently. They are captivated by His message because it is raw and revolutionary compared to the religious teachers of His time. Matthew 7:28-29 says “the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority”. Full of divine power, Jesus delivers what will become two of His “greatest words” ever -- in the same sermon--both the Beatitudes and The Lord’s Prayer.

After slam dunking His first big message, and before He can even get away to rest or grab a bite, some random guy stops Him, looking for a small favor.  “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2).  ‘Make me clean’ meant to deliver the man from leprosy, a debilitating and socially shunned skin disease--which Jesus did right then and there. A short while later, after He has performed a long distance healing of a “suffering, paralyzed servant” (Matthew 8:6), cured fevers at the touch of His hand (8: 14-15), and with a word, drove spirits from many demon-possessed people, He healed all the sick (8:16) who came to Him. Then, just to pacify His doubting disciples and complaining travel companions, He halts a furious storm “rebuking the winds & waves until they were completely calm” (8:26).

If Jesus were walking the earth today--fully human as He was-- He may have been tempted to celebrate His momentous moments by calling everyone He knew to tell them what He had done and posted like crazy to all His social media pages (then checked repeatedly how many liked or commented). He could’ve gone to bed comfortably, riding the high of pride and self adoration.  Imagine the nonstop retelling, shameless bragging and self-promotion any of us would have fallen victim to, had we had even a fraction of the day that Jesus had early in his “career”. If only we had a fraction of the humility that Jesus had.

That is exactly what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:5.  The third Be-attitude He reveals to us on how to live blessed (happy, abundant, God-approved) lives, worthy of His kingdom by asking for and seeking humility. 

“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:5‬) ‭NLT‬‬

Other translations of the bible substitute the word humble for meek (NIV) or even gentle (Amplified Version). Remember that Jesus’s sermon on the mount (The Beatitudes) was so popular and powerful precisely because He and His message were so radically different from everything and everyone at that time. This 2000 year old message is still just as powerful and radical today. In our culture, if you are not building and promoting your brand and gaining influence, what are you doing? It’s a basic expectation-- blog, record, share, post anything and everything you have done that may impress others. Be the G.O.A.T.! 

Jesus’s advice to us was exactly the opposite, though.  He told us, blessed, fortunate, and joy-filled are those who don’t believe they are or even try to be the G.O.A.T, “the man”, “the best” or any other self-filled label. Instead, He showed us, in word and action, to be humble; to think less of ourselves. Jesus taught us that humility--an attitude of lowliness, modesty, unpretentiousness--is one of the keys to living an amazing, share-worthy life. Not only will you be happy, but as Jesus says, “the humble/the meek will inherit the whole earth”. 

When we are humble, we are not too busy promoting self to praise God for the abundant blessings He provides. When we are humble, we are not too proud to ask for forgiveness when we have messed up--with God or others. When we are humble, we don’t have to remain locked in our own prisons of being right. We can become free by letting others be right and being righteous. A posture of humility guards us against anger and indignation over little things that we don’t agree with. When we are humble, we are not too proud to beg, ask for, or offer help when and where needed.  When we don’t think too much of ourselves, we have more space to think of and serve others. We can serve God and His children over our own needs and wants.  Only when we are humble and meek, we are able to submit our own wants, desires and plans, accepting God’s authority over our lives and the purpose that He created us for within His kingdom. Instead of wasting our limited existence on this earth being the G.O.A.T.s, Jesus is humbly asking and showing us how to be just plain goats, or sheep, rather, in His flock. 
 
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for your word that instructs us and your example that guides our paths. Lord, when we try to do it on our own, we mess things up badly. But when we humble ourselves, ask for what we need, and obey your word, you send the Holy Spirit; you don’t leave us. You love us and are for us. You want us to be joyful, blessed and living authentically as our true selves in your Kingdom. We ask that today and every day you help us sweep away the tendency towards self and point us, instead, back to You. In Jesus’ sovereign name, we pray, Amen.