Teachings of Jesus in Luke: Hard to Be Humble

When (Jesus) noticed how the guests (at the dinner) chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ~ Luke 14:7-11
Pride must die in you, or nothing in heaven can live in you. ~ Andrew Murray
Oh, Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. ~ Mac Davis

We live in a civilization where being humble isn't lifted up and where it sometimes is hard to do. To get a job or get noticed in the world, we often feel the pressure to make ourselves out to be better than someone else. 

 Leaders denigrate other leaders and call themselves the best, the greatest, the most important.

 Advertisers offer ways to make ourselves stand out.

 We are told over and over that we need to get ahead.

 Parents decide it's OK to cheat on SAT's to get their children into prestigious universities.

 Over and over the world gives us ways not only to divide ourselves, but to make sure that we divide ourselves into the great and the not-so-much.

 That wasn't Jesus' way.

 You can't get much more humble than being born in a backwater town in a manger or dying on a cross as a state criminal.

 Not that we are being called to give ourselves up to state sanctioned execution to prove our humility!

 But it does force us to wonder what a life of humility looks like. How difficult is it to go against the grain of Western Civilization that calls us to exhalt ourselves?

 How is it we are being called to throw off the shackles of pride and hubris to embrace the generosity and hope offered by humility?

 Because that's what pride is. It is a prison that keeps us from being who we truly are. It keeps us from relationship that is based on love and full connection.

 It keeps us from feeling what a full life in Christ is meant to be.
Prayer: Free me from pride, Lord, that I can embrace the fullness of life in you. Amen






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