The following story is found
in, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the
Heart, published in
1991 by Harpers of San Francisco. A story is told in the monastic
tradition of how the devil appeared to a brother in the disguise
of an angel of light, and said to him: "I am the angel Gabriel
and I have been sent to you."
However, the brother said to him: "See if you are not being
sent to someone else. I certainly do not deserve to have an angel
sent to me." Immediately the devil disappeared.
The aforementioned story is meant to describe the characteristic
of true humility. The brother was not putting himself down as
some might think. He simply was stating that he was in his own
mind not worthy of angelic visitation. Had it been a real angel
that had come I suspect that this brother would have been open
to following directions much like Mary and Joseph listened to
angels visiting each of them.
It is important, I believe, when looking at passages like the
one in Luke 18:9-14 that we do not go beyond the intent of the
passage. People sometimes mistake humility with self-deprecation
which is not of God. According to Scripture, we are created in
the image of God and in I Peter 2:9, we are told we are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God's own people.
We are not to deny our gifts and blessings; we are, however,
called upon to admit to ourselves and others their true source.
I was watching a few minutes of a professional football game
last Sunday. A very good and well-known player had just caught
a touchdown pass. He went through a bunch of rituals designed
to say, "Look
at me! I am truly wonderful." Then after all of that he knelt
with his head bowed for just a brief second as if to acknowledge
some power higher than himself. It is difficult to believe that
this individual believes anyone is higher or better than himself.
I readily acknowledge the danger of making such an assessment because
I could be acting like the Pharisee in today's story.
The world of sports is full of characters who have a few things
to learn about humility. One of many examples took place last
year with the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. They already
had two superstars in Shaquille O'Neill and Kobe Bryant.
They then added two more from other teams. The result was they
could not play together as a team and they did not win the championship
everybody thought they would. Now the coach has quit, one star
has retired, two have been traded and the remaining one has had
his reputation tarnished by an act of adultery.
The world of politics is not all that different. It would be
so nice if those who aspire to office would clearly define what
they believe the issues are and then tell us how they would address
them. Instead what often happens is character assassination with
each candidate attempting to convince us he or she is a better
person than their opponent. Of course their handlers, speech
writers and spin doctors all work to portray images that may
easily be totally unlike the real person if indeed a real person
any longer exists. Tell somebody something about them long enough
and they may begin to believe it whether it is true or not.
Jesus seems to be appealing to us to be real. Jesus wants us
to be honest with ourselves, each other and God. Keep in mind
this parable like the one last week that precedes it has to do
with prayer. Last week we heard Jesus saying we have to be persistent.
This week Jesus seems to be saying we have to have honest assessments
of ourselves and our abilities.
We are not created to be compared or contrasted with someone
else. Learning how to realize, accept and admit how one stands
before God is what matters. The Pharisee in our story is far
from being a totally bad person. In fact he has many redeeming
qualities most of us would do well to emulate. His practice of
the spiritual disciplines and his stewardship are outstanding.
The problem is that he is full of himself. God is certainly lucky
to have him is what he thinks in his own mind. He has no concept
whatsoever of what loving his neighbor entails nor would he lower
himself to be anywhere near those who were in his eyes so unclean.
Perhaps we do not come close to his extremes but from time to
time we may be in need of doing some reality checks on our own
attitudes.
Clergy and laity alike must avoid getting into the comparison/contrast
games depicted in this parable. The question is whether or not
we understand and accept that apart from God we are nothing at
all and have nothing at all. This is very difficult for many
people, myself included, to accept as reality. This attitude
that gets many people in trouble is, "I know that I am
not everything I am supposed to be but at least I am better than
__________." You can fill in the blank as there are lots of answers
with all of them being equally wrong.
To God Be the Glory is a wonderful hymn. The words
accurately portray that God has done great things. So, too, have
many humans. It is just the case that we have not been created
to be God. We have been created to be God's people; that
should be all that is needed once we understand what is ours
by virtue of being God's people. The lesson of the parable
is that we are all God's people. The bright, talented,
wealthy, powerful, beautiful and intelligent people need to understand
the importance of every individual who may be none of the above
save perhaps in the eyes of God.
Think what the Pharisee could have done had he been able to
see the tax collector through the eyes of God. Imagine how your
life might change if you attempted to see every person beginning
with yourself through God's eyes. I believe that day will come.
The dimness that now affects our seeing will disappear. The clouds
that muddy our understanding will fade away. The Bible calls it
a new creation. I call it having a new mind and a new heart. God's
promise is that God's Spirit can cause the necessary transformation.
Our job is to present ourselves to the Master Potter so that
God can shape the clay. |
