Joy and Peace - 3rd Sunday of Advent, 2023

Joy. Joy is the dominant emotional tone of the Christmas season—at least, on the surface. It is also the traditional theme of this 3^rd Sunday of Advent.

The liturgical readings of Advent tie joy to the birth of the Messiah who would usher in the messianic kingdom of universal peace. In keeping with those prophesies, at the birth of Jesus, the angel of the Lord proclaimed to the shepherds “good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

Indeed, joy is the emotional tone of the Advent and Christmas seasons. “Why can’t the joy and goodwill of the Christmas season last all year?” is a question that is commonly asked during this time of year.

For the followers of Jesus, joy is not just a seasonal experience. It is—or, it can be—the emotional tone of our lives. According to the apostle Paul, joy and peace—two of the nine traits listed as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)—make up the inner disposition of the followers of Jesus. We live out of a spirit of joy, rooted in a deep sense of peace. Joy and peace position us to choose to love as Jesus loved—under the guidance and power of the Spirit, of course. They are the spring out of which love flows.

As with every aspect of our spiritual lives, we live with the tension that exists between our human condition and how we are called to live as the followers of Jesus.

The innate emotional tone of our human condition is made up of anxiety and fear along with frustration (anger) and angst. These emotional reactions—they are more than just emotions—are logjams to joy and peace. Anxiety and fear rob us of peace. Frustration and angst squelch joy.

Anxiety and fear are emotional reactions rooted in past experiences. These experiences date back to our formative years and the relationships that shaped us. Anxiety is a form of fear. It is archaic or old fear. Anxiety is the fear of what might be that is based on what has happened to us in the past. We experience it as a nebulous feeling of inner dis-ease that lives just beneath the surface of our awareness. It stirs a frantic need to do something. It leads us to attempt to control what happens as well as what other people think and do—both of which are beyond our ability to control. (Ironically, attempting to control what we cannot control only produces greater anxiety and fear.) When anxiety and fear invade the present moment, they rob us of peace.

Frustration and angst are expressions of anger. They are commonly triggered when things do not go the way we want. They are emotional reactions to situations in which we feel out of control and, consequently, powerless. Frustration and angst stifle our capacity for joy.

Just as joy is inseparably tied to peace, so anxiety and fear are inseparably tied to frustration and angst. The frustration we experience when things do not go the way we want and the angst we feel at being powerless to change it trigger the unconscious fear of once again being hurt—anxiety.

The Spirit-generated emotional tone of the follower of Jesus—joy and peace—stands in contrast to the innate emotional tone of our human condition.

Living out of a spirit of joy and peace requires that we move beyond the emotional tone rooted in our innate human condition—an inner disposition shaped by anxiety and fear, by frustration and angst. Moving from anxiety and fear into peace, from frustration and angst into joy is possible through the guidance and power of the Spirit. We do not manufacture joy and peace through self-effort and resolve. The Spirit produces them in us.

The Spirit produces joy and peace in us as we exercise what the apostle Paul called self-control—the ninth trait listed in the fruit of the Spirit. I speak of self-control as self-management. Again, like joy and peace, self-control or self-management is what the Spirit produces in us. We cannot manufacture self-control through resolve, self-reliance, or self-effort. What we can do is place ourselves in a position for the Spirit to produce peace and joy within us.

We place ourselves in a position for the Spirit to work through prayer. Prayer is how we open ourselves to the Spirit and to the Spirit’s work.

Self-control or self-management is rooted in self-awareness—the awareness of the inner dis-ease of anxiety and fear, of frustration and angst that are at play in the present moment. Such awareness is a call to place ourselves in a position for the Spirit to work. It is a call to pray. Even this call to prayer is the work of the Spirit—a part of the Spirit’s work to produce peace and joy within us.

As we pray, we confess to God what we are experiencing—both the situation and the anxiety and fear, the frustration and angst it has triggered. I find it helpful to follow my breathing as I pray. Inhaling, I pray “Fill me with your peace;” exhaling, I pray “Cleanse me of my anxiety and fear.” I continue to follow this pattern of prayer until I experience peace within. Whenever the anxiety returns—and it generally does, I again place myself in a position for the Spirit to produce peace within. I return to this pattern of praying. When peace comes, joy can flow.

Peace is often accompanied by clarity about the underlying issues that are producing the anxiety and fear, the frustration and angst. These underlying issues are always old issues from my formative years. Until issues are recognized and addressed, they remain unresolved. As long as they are unresolved, they continue to invade the present moment in the form of anxiety and fear, frustration and angst.

Joy—the emotional tone of the Advent and Christmas seasons—does not have to be limited to a seasonal focus. For the follower of Jesus, joy and peace can be the emotional tone out of which we live—through the guidance and power of the Spirit. A spirit of joy and peace is a spiritual muscle we can develop as the Spirit trains us to live with self-awareness and self-control.

May the joy of this Christmas season and of this third Sunday of Advent remind us of the joy and peace that the Spirit produces in our lives as the followers of Jesus. May Spirit-generated joy and peace be the inner disposition out of which we live in every season of the year.

The Path to Peace on Earth - the 2nd Sunday of Advent, 2023

The prophet Isaiah envisioned a world filled with peace—endless peace (Isaiah 9:7)—a world free from the ravages of war (Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:2-7; 11:1-9; 65:17-25). His vision sets the traditional theme for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent.

In a world that has never been free from the ravages of war, the vision of peace seems unrealistic. It is easy to dismiss the vision as hopeless wishing for the impossible. Yet, surrendering the vision leads to resignation to the way things are—and sometimes to despair. It allows us as the followers of Jesus to ignore the factors that produce war, leaving them unaddressed.

The prophet not only spoke of peace, he also identified those things that would produce peace. He outlined the path to peace. His proclamations spoke of (1) a Spirit-anointed and Spirit-guided king—the Messiah—who would (2) follow the ways of God—righteousness, justice, equity, faithfulness. A third factor he identified is often overlooked: under the leadership of the messianic king, (3) the people of God (the nation of Judah)—following and embodying the ways of God—would “stand as a signal to the peoples” (Isaiah 11:10). The other nations of the world would turn to Israel to learn from them the ways of God (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10). The knowledge of the LORD and of the ways of God would spread—from the messiah to the people of God to the nations of the world—until “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). As a result, “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:9).

We as the followers of Jesus identify Jesus as the messianic king of whom Isaiah spoke. Each Christmas, we celebrate his birth. Our celebration raises yet again the promise of peace tied to his messianic reign. We are reminded that he is the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6). We join together in singing the song the heavenly host sang at his birth, “Peace on earth” (Luke 2:14).

Sadly, it seems to me, our celebration falls short. It fails to recognize the path to peace that Isaiah identified and which Jesus followed. In addition, we fail to recognize our role in that path.

Jesus was the messianic king of whom Isaiah spoke—the foundation of his vision, the essential key to the path to peace. In addition, he lived and taught the ways of God Isaiah identified—the ways of righteousness, justice, equity, and faithfulness.

Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. He was the in-the-flesh embodiment of who God is. In him, we catch a glimpse of the heart of God. He proclaimed the kingdom of God—a world shaped by the character of God and the ways of God. He lived and taught the ways of God that lead to peace—the ways of grace and forgiveness that views and values, accepts and embraces every person as a beloved child of God. He proclaimed and embodied the servant spirit that lies at the heart of God—what the Johannine community called love. Jesus interpreted and expanded Isaiah’s path that leads to peace.

The third dimension of Isaiah’s path to peace is what, it seems to me, is lacking—the people of God (i.e., those of us who are the followers of Jesus) following and embodying the ways of God, offering to the world an alternative to war.

As a Spirit-shaped and Spirit-guided spiritual community, the church is to be a working model of what God’s ways look like and how they work.

Living out of a Spirit-engrained servant spirit, we challenge the world’s way of using power—over, down against, for personal benefit, at the other’s expense. Following this way of using power is the path that leads to war. Guided by the Spirit to view and value, accept and embrace every person as a beloved child of God, we challenge the us-them mentality the world taught us to use to establish our identity and reinforce our sense of superiority over others. (“I’m not like them; I’m better than them.”) As a result, our spiritual communities transcend the cultural and social distinctions around which we commonly segregate ourselves (Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 3:11). Following the ways of grace and forgiveness, we embody a workable alternative to the world’s spirit of harbored hurt, anger, resentment, and retaliation. Living out of the peace of Christ (John 14:27), we move beyond the innately human inclination of projecting our unaddressed and unresolved inner pain and turmoil onto others. We move beyond judging and condemning, rejecting and excluding. We offer a place of unconditional acceptance and forgiveness in which individuals can address their unresolved issues and pain. We build a community that fosters healing and growth, leading to emotional-relational-spiritual maturity. In additional to addressing personal issues, we address the societal hurts of our local community—the pain of the situation along with the factors that create the situation.

As a spiritual community living the ways of God that Jesus taught, we fill our role in the path that leads to peace. We provide a foretaste of peace on earth.

The path to peace on earth is shaped by the servant ways of God. God does not come down to impose God’s ways on us. (Some theologies about the second coming of Christ follow this power-over way of thinking.) Rather, God comes to us, living among us as Immanuel, God with us. As Immanuel, Jesus teaches us the grace-based, servant ways of God, inviting us to embrace them for ourselves. As we open our lives to God and God’s grace, the Spirit—God with us today—transforms our hearts and minds, healing the pain of unrecognized, unaddressed, and unresolved issues from our past. The Spirit empowers us to live the ways of God so that we love as Jesus loved. We love those Jesus loved. We become God’s partners in creating a God-shaped world patterned after the ways of God. We contribute to God’s work of bring peace on earth.

This second Sunday of Advent reminds us of God’s promise of peace—peace on earth. It invites us to once again embrace the vision of peace on earth. It calls us to fill our role in the path that leads to peace on earth by living in Spirit-guided, Spirit-empowered spiritual community, learning and living the ways of God Jesus taught.

Waiting in Hope - 1st Sunday of Advent, 2023

Today is the first Sunday of Advent— the first season of the liturgical calendar. Advent is the four Sunday season of the Christian year that leads us to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ.

Advent is the season of waiting—living in the midst of what is as we wait for what will be but is not yet.

Most of us do not like waiting. Waiting means someone or something else is in control, dictating what is. In addition, we are incapable—dare I say powerless—to change what is. Waiting feels like we are stuck in what is—think: “I’m stuck in traffic.”

The Advent season teaches us that waiting is an inescapable part of life and of the spiritual journey, in particular. In addition, the season reminds us of hope. Hope is the forward look of faith. It is faith looking beyond what is to catch of glimpse of what will be.

The traditional theme of the first Sunday of Advent is hope. Hope is grounded in the faithfulness of God. It is the fruit of the steadfast, faithful love of God that never gives up on or abandons us. It is the logical conclusion of a love that never stops loving, of a love that will not stop working until it has transformed what is into what will be.

The season of Advent is based upon the experience of the ancient Hebrew people who, in the face of foreign domination and in the midst of exile, longed for a king, anointed with the Spirit, who would free them from their enemies and restore their nation. In the midst of what was, they looked through the eyes of faith to what they believed would be because of God steadfast, faithful love. The Advent season draws on the Hebrew scriptures, pointing us again to their vision of what will be but is not yet as expressed by their prophets.

For the prophet Isaiah, hope was a vision of a world at peace—what scholars have referred to as the peaceable kingdom. At least five different times, the prophet clearly stated his vision—Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 9:2-6; Isaiah 10:33-11:9; Isaiah 61:1-11; Isaiah 65:17-25. His description in Isaiah 10:33-11:9 was of a world .  .  .

·       Shaped by the knowledge of and love of God. “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the seas” (Isaiah 11:9).

·       Permeated with peace—peace that extends even into the animal kingdom. “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:6, 9).

·       Built upon the ways of God: righteousness, equity, truth, faithfulness, justice (Isaiah 11:4-5).

·       Under the leadership of a Spirit-empowered king who knows, delights in, and is guided by the ways of God (Isaiah 11:1-5).

·       Shaped by the work of the Spirit. “The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him” (Isaiah 11:2). “The spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me” (Isaiah 61:1).

His vision was of a God-shaped world—a world shaped by the character of God, that followed the ways of God.

Jesus referred to this God-shaped world as the kingdom of God. It was the central theme of his ministry. His thinking—and consequently how he lived—was shaped by the character of God and the ways of God. He taught his disciples the ways of the kingdom (Mark 8:34; 9:33-37; 10:41-45) and urged them to give themselves to living the ways of the kingdom. “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

In his letter to the churches of Rome, the apostle Paul spoke of hope in more personal terms. “We boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God” (Romans 8:2). The phrase “the glory of God” refers to the character of God. Paul understood the end result of God’s transforming work in our lives—what he called salvation—was the engraining of God’s character in the depths of our being. He understood that, before the Spirit is through working in our lives, we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ. We will live the ways of God. Being like Christ, possessing the character of God in the depths of our being, sharing the glory of God is our hope.

Paul’s understanding of our hope plays into Isaiah’s vision. A God-shaped life contributes to the creation of a God-shaped world. As we are conformed to the likeness of Christ, we live the ways of God—what the prophet identified as righteousness, equity, truth, faithfulness, and justice. We live out of a servant spirit, using power to serve. We relate to others out of grace and forgiveness. We view and value, accept and embrace every person as a beloved child of God. We live the ways that lead to peace (Luke 19:41-42). We live as peacemakers in the world (Matthew 5:9). As we live the ways of God, we help create the God-shaped world the prophet Isaiah saw through the eyes of faith.

The season of Advent reminds us of our hope in Christ. Our hope transforms our waiting—how we live in what is. Our hope lifts our eyes beyond what is to see, through the eyes of faith, what will be. Our hope points us back to the God who, out of his steadfast faithful love, is working to bring into reality what will be. As the Advent season leads us to the Christmas season, it reminds us how far God’s love will go to bring our hope into reality.

And so, another Advent journey begins. 

Living in the Interim - Christ the King Sunday, 2023

The interim. The in-between time. The time between what is and what will be. That’s what Christ the King Sunday speaks to.

In the latter verses of 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul spoke of living in the interim. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, emphasis added). In this verse, the apostle drew a contrast between what is (now) and what will be (then)—seeing, knowing. He spoke of living in the interim—the time before what will be displaces what is and becomes a reality. He then identified three resources we draw on for living in the interim—faith, hope, love. “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Faith speaks of our trust in God and God’s faithfulness. It is the basis of how we relate to God. It is how we access the grace God offers. “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8, emphasis added). Faith means we believe (trust) God is who Jesus revealed God to be. We trust the steadfast, faithful love of God that claims us as beloved children, knowing such love never waivers (steadfast) or ever gives up on us or abandons us (faithful). We trust the gift of God’s grace expressed in God’s forgiveness. We believe in and trust the ways of God that Jesus taught—grace and forgiveness rather than merit-based, deserving-oriented thinking and living; a servant spirit in which power is used to serve; viewing and valuing, accepting and embracing every person as a beloved child of God. Faith means we build our lives on these truths, allowing them to guide how we think and live. (Note: faith is more than believing. Faith is believing something is true and acting on that belief.) In the interim, we live by faith.

Love—loving as Jesus loved—is what our faith produces. Loving as Jesus loved is what happens in us as we live in relationship with God as beloved children, as we live as followers of Jesus, learning the ways of God he taught. The Spirit works in us, transforming our hearts and minds, leading us to love as Jesus loved. The Spirit works through us so that we love those whom Jesus loved. In the interim, we love as Jesus loved; we love those Jesus loved.

But what about hope? What is hope? How does it shape how we live in the interim?

Hope is about the future. It is the forward look of faith. Hope is faith looking beyond what is to what God has promised will be. Hope gives us a glimpse of what will be because of the faithful love of God.

Hope is about the present. Hope is what empowers us to be faithful in the midst of what is. The vision of what will be guides us in living the ways of God today. As we live the ways of God in the midst of what is, we contribute to bringing what will be into reality.

Hope is rooted in God, in God’s faithfulness, in God’s steadfast, faithful love. It is a quiet assurance, a settled confidence that God will do what God has promised. Before God is through, what is will give way to what will be. What God has promised will become a reality.

Hope empowers us to live in what is— in the interim—as we wait for what will be. Hope encourages and sustains us as we deal with the unrelenting challenge of what is. Hope guides us as we live the ways of God in the interim.

Hope—like faith and love—is a vital resource for us as the followers of Christ as we live in what is—in the interim—waiting for what will be.

Hope is the theme of Christ the King Sunday—or, if you prefer, the Reign of Christ Sunday. This last Sunday of the liturgical year invites us to look beyond what is to what will be. It reminds us of the vision of a God-shaped world—what will be. In doing so, it calls us to give ourselves anew to being God’s partner in bringing into reality what will be when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

 

Praise and Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving Day, 2023

Praise the LORD! 

Throughout the psalms, the psalmist sings his (her) praise to God while calling us to join the chorus of praise.

Praising God is an act of worship. It is a response of the heart to who God is. Authentic praise is who we are at the core of our being responding to who God is at the core of God’s being.

Praise is laced with emotion. It involves gratitude and thanksgiving, but goes beyond them to a sense of wonder and awe. It often is tied to being overwhelmed with a sense of God’s love. It, in turn, expresses our own love for God. Consequently, praise is commonly expressed in music, song, and dancing.

In the psalms, praise is commonly linked with thanksgiving. The two go together, but they are different.

Thanksgiving focuses upon what we have received because of God’s goodness. It is a response to what God has done. At its core, thanksgiving tends to be self-focused. It is about me—my wants, my needs, my wellbeing, my enjoyment, my comfort. Consider the things we name when we talk about being thankful: family, health, the good things we enjoy (i.e., wealth and affluence), the country in which we live. All are things that benefit us.

By contrast, praise focuses upon God. It recognizes and responds to who God is at the core of God’s being. Praise sees beyond the gifts God has given to the love from which those gifts came. It recognizes the gifts point beyond themselves to something greater—to who God is. By focusing on who God is, praise lifts us beyond the self-seeking, self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me nature that often hijacks thanksgiving.

We can cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving by being intentional about naming and giving thanks for God’s gifts. We become thankful by giving thanks. Similarly, giving thanks helps us to cultivate a spirit of praise. Giving thanks trains us to see beyond the gift to the hand giving the gift. It leads us to recognize and respond to the love that gives so generously and freely. Giving thanks teaches us to recognize and value the Giver more than the gift. It paves the way to praise.

We open the door to praise when our focus shifts from the things for which we are commonly thankful—family, health, the good things we enjoy (i.e., wealth and affluence), the country in which we live—to how our lives are different because of the grace of God. What in my life can only be understood as the result of God’s grace at work, transforming my heart and mind? The answer to that question is a reminder that we are God’s beloved children, claimed by God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Our answer points to the steadfast, faithful love of God that never gives up on us or abandons us. It reminds us of the self-giving, servant nature of God out of which such love flows. Naming God’s transforming work in our lives cultivates within us a spirit of praise—a response of our heart to who God is and to what God has done in our lives.

Let me be clear: God does not need our praise. Praising God benefits us, not God. As we praise God, our hearts begin to be captivated by a love for God—for God’s servant nature, for God’s ways of self-giving, servant love. Praise trains us to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Matthew 22:34-40).

During this Thanksgiving season, may our thanksgiving lead us to praise!

That Stage of Life

I’m doing it again this week. It seems I am doing it a lot, lately. I am joining others in remembering and honoring the life of a colleague and friend—someone who touched my life with gentleness and grace, someone who had a hand in shaping the trajectory of my ministry as a pastor. In the same timeframe, I will visit a friend who is dealing with cancer and, in it, is facing the inescapable reality of the end of her life.

These experiences are just a part of my stage of life.

I am in the stage of life in which I must repeatedly deal with the reality of death—the death of colleagues and friends as well as my own death. Most of my life is behind me. I am now in the stage of life in which I have to come to terms with what I have done with my life.

This “coming to terms with” is one of the disturbing aspects of celebrating the life and ministry of a colleague and friend. As I listen to how my friend’s life touched and impacted others, I walk away wondering about the impact of my own life and ministry. I face such questions as “What difference in the world have I made with my life? What significance has my ministry as a pastor had in the churches I served? How has my ministry touched the lives of others and contributed to their spiritual journeys?”

In addition, at this stage of life, the reality of my own death can no longer be denied. (Death is something we all acknowledge—at least, with our heads. Yet, when it comes to the reality of our own death, most of us push that reality out of our awareness. When we speak of our death, we generally say “if I die” rather than “when I die.”)

As I deal with the questions inherent to this stage of life, it strikes me that I am asking the wrong questions. I am asking merit-based questions that measure success in terms of accomplishments. The questions I am asking are rooted in the ego—my egocentric self. This egocentric self is the persona I built based upon what the world said I needed to be and do if I wanted to be valued and accepted. The questions I am asking are about being valued by the world, based upon the world’s standards of success. As a follower of Jesus, I am called to die to this egocentric self. I am called to reject the world’s ways of functioning and how the world measures success. “If any want to become my followers, let then deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8: 34.

The better questions are significantly different. What difference has God’s grace made in my life? How is my life different today because of the transforming work of God’s Spirit? How has God worked through me—using the gifts, graces, and passions God gave me—to be a blessing to others?

These questions are not about the ego. They are not about success as the world defines it. These questions are about God and God’s grace. They invite me to view my life through a different set of lenses.

Humility - the Often-Forgotten Character Trait of the Followers of Jesus

“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.