“All who exalt themselves with be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). This teaching from today’s lectionary reading turns things on its head—as Jesus’s teachings commonly do. It also reminds us that humility is a natural—though often-forgotten—character trait of those who follow Jesus.
The reason this teaching turns things on their head is because Jesus taught the grace-based ways of the kingdom, not the merit-based ways of the world.
Exalting oneself occurs when we engage in the game of comparing and competing. It allows us to feel superior to others—better than them. It is always expressed in judging and condemning—finding fault with something about the other that, in our minds, makes us better than them. Exalting oneself always involves looking down on another, considering them less than us. It is a not-so-subtle game of one upmanship.
Comparing and competing is a dimension of merit-based, deserving-oriented thinking. It is generally tied to conformity to some kind of standard of behavior (law), resulting in a higher social or religious status—at least in our own minds. It feeds the egocentric persona we present to the world. It is what we do to validate our own sense of importance and value.
Self-exaltation was what Jesus identified in the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. “They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Matthew 23:5). Ironically, we are generally blind to how we exalt ourselves over others and the attitudes our self-exaltation fosters. That seems to have been the case with the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’s day.
In contrast to self-exaltation, Jesus spoke of humbling oneself. To humble oneself is to surrender comparing and competing along with the egocentric self which that game creates. It is to live out of a spirit of humility.
Humbling oneself is only possible as we—moving beyond merit-based, deserving-oriented thinking and functioning—embrace the grace of God. We understand—with our hearts as well as with our heads—that life is not about deserving. Deep within, we rest in the reality that our worth and value are rooted in our identity as beloved children of God, those claimed by God’s grace. All that we are, all of our abilities, all that we know and understand, all that we have accomplished and achieved, all that we have—all are gifts of God’s goodness and grace. We have nothing to boast about other than the grace of God.
The spirit of humility is expressed in gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s goodness and grace. It is rooted in a deep trust in that goodness and grace. It leads to a teachable spirit that is willing to learn what the Spirit wants to teach and in a receptive spirit that is willing to receive what God has to give. The spirit of humility allows us to view and value, accept and embrace others as beloved children of God rather than treating them as competitors in life. It produces a servant spirit that gives freely of what God has entrusted.
The spirit of
humility is a defining characteristic of the followers of Jesus.
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