Humility Takes a Hit
Last Sunday I suggested that the crucifixion confronts us with difficult questions which we tend to want to avoid. Today, I would add that each year I find that the “difficult question” the crucifixion of Jesus poses is different. It changes because the circumstances of our lives change. The kaleidoscope of meaning that the cross represents shifts depending on where we are currently standing.
This year is no different. In preparing for the Maundy Thursday service, which is centered on John 13 in which Jesus washes the disciples’ feet (including Judas), it struck me how unpopular humility has become lately. Humility means making room for others, recognizing one’s limitations, being open to feedback and new ideas, admitting mistakes and acknowledging others contributions—in short, it is the ability to genuinely be with another person. That is what is happening when Jesus sheds his authority like a thin garment and picks up the basin of water.
Humility requires that a person come to terms with their fear of losing control. They have to believe, at some level, that though the threat of loss is real (loss of safety, money, control, dignity, rights, etc.) true life rests on the reality of God, which cannot be destroyed. This revelation is what caused Julian of Norwich, in the thralls of an agonizing illness, to utter the words, “it is true that sin is the cause of all this pain; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Without faith, humility looks not just foolish, but dangerous too. As our sense of threat escalates, making room for others becomes out of the question. This is one of the absurdities of Jesus’ death. He maintained his humility, even as the threats against him increased. Why would he have done that? That isn’t a rhetorical question; I genuinely don’t have an answer to it because it doesn’t fit into the world that I see all around me. But I do know how the story unfolds. The resurrection comes! What looked like loss was not really loss at all, but an incomprehensible gain. There is Life undergirding the drama of the world. This Life is far more compassionate and beautiful than anything humans have laid over it. The surprising appearance of genuine humility in the face of threat seems to be a sign that this Life is poking up through the surface, ready to reveal itself and all its unimaginable glory.
Blessings,
Pastor Jen
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