| By Rev. Mark E. Vatcher |
| “Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34 |
Let me start by sharing a story I read that helped me humble myself. I reflect
back on it when I feel pride overcoming me. As far as I know the story is true,
some of the details may have changed over the years, but basically it’s a story
about an event that really happened.
Many years ago, a lady in an old looking dress and her husband, dressed in a
slightly worn out looking suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked
timidly without an appointment into the president’s outer office at Harvard
University. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country
hicks had no business at Harvard and probably did not even deserve to be in
Cambridge let alone Harvard. She frowned. "We want to see the president," the
man said. "He’ll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We’ll wait," the lady
replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would
finally become discouraged and go away. They did not. And the secretary grew
frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president. "Maybe if they just see
you for a few minutes, they’ll leave," she pleaded to him. And he sighed in
exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance did not have the time to
spend with them, but he detested country hicks cluttering up his outer office.
The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady
told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard.
He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was killed in an accident. And my
husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president was not touched; he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly, "We
can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did,
this place would look like a cemetery." "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly,
"We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to have a building
built for Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham
dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any
earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million
dollars worth of buildings at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The
president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. Then the lady turned to
her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to build a university? Why don’
t we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in
confusion and bewilderment as the couple thanked him and walked away. Soon
they were in California establishing a university as a memorial to a son that
Harvard no longer cared about, Leland Stanford, Jr.
The president of Harvard learned the hard way not to judge the worth of a
person by what appears on the surface. Humility is a great gift. The scriptures
time and time again relate how God loves the humble. From Zephaniah, "Seek
the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice,
seek humility;" and "I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble
and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel."
And from (Psalm 146) "The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. “From
(Corinthians) "Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you
were wise, not many influential, and surely not many well-born. God chose the
absurd to shame the wise; he singled out the weak to shame the strong. He chose
the lowborn and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing
those who were something.” Finally, from Matthew’s account of the Sermon on
the Mount: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." God does not
judge a person’s worth by external appearances. God does not judge a person by
surface or extraneous things like clothes, accent, skin color, the length of one’s
hair, or the thickness of one’s wallet. Neither does God judge a person by the
success they have achieved in this world. The scripture tells how God reaches
out with love and healing and blessings to the poor, the oppressed, the hungry,
the blind, strangers, orphans, widows, the weak, the despised, the sorrowing,
and the persecuted. Jesus illustrated this with his whole life, befriending tax
collectors, prostitutes, beggars, Romans, fishermen, Samaritans. God judges us.
He uses a different standard than that of this world. And while we do not judge
outright (only God does that) we do judge each other which I must say is not an
ultimate judgment but a physical and material judgment. It is necessary to
make good decisions in our lives. It’s up to us to hold up the standard God
expresses through the scriptures. Let’s look to the scriptures and try to detect
God’s standard. First, (Zephaniah) "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,
who have observed his law; seek justice," and "They shall do no wrong and
speak no lies." From the (Psalm) "The Lord loves the just, ... but the way of the
wicked he thwarts." And to all those low-life’s in Corinth, Paul says, "God it is
who has given you life in Christ Jesus. He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our
holiness, and our redemption." In other words, "When you were called, you
were nothing, but by accepting that call you have become holy, set apart by God
to do His good works on earth." Finally, in the Sermon on the Mount, it is not
just the poor and meek whom are blessed, but also the merciful, the pure in
heart, and the peacemakers. And it isn’t those who are persecuted for any old
reason that are blessed, but those who are persecuted for the sake of holiness,
and because of Jesus. It is not those who go along to get along, but those who
stand up for Jesus who are told, "Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven
is great." So God does have standards. And so must we. Ours is not an "anything
goes" religion. "But," you say, "Is not God infinitely merciful? Does not He
forgive us all our sins?" Yes, He is, and yes, He does. But being a Christian does
not mean being baptized and then going on living like it does not matter. Being
a Christian means giving our life to God and letting Him control it. It means
living according to His will, not our own. Now, we are never going to succeed
completely. That’s where forgiveness comes in. But we at least have to try! That’
s the standard. You at least have to try.
When we read scriptures like those I quoted today, some of us come away with
the message that God is an inclusive God who embraces all manner of rabble.
Some will think from this that God has a preference for the poor. Others will
come away with the message that God is a holy God who embraces the pure in
heart and is fire on evil-doers. Both are true. Neither by itself is complete. This
is a complex message, this Gospel of ours. If we are a success in this life, we
must worry that maybe we have compromised too much. If we are proud of our
accomplishments, perhaps we have not humbled ourselves sufficiently to God:
"Let him, who would boast, boast in the LORD." If we are among the dregs of
society and, because of it, are bitter and unhappy and resentful, perhaps we
have not succumbed to the mercy and grace and joy which God pours out upon
the likes of us, but persist in shutting Him out with our stubborn pride. If we
persist in what we know to be sinful ways, if we ignore the call to holiness, if we
seldom attend church, if we’re always too busy to pray or read the scriptures or
go to a service or visit the sick or perform works of mercy, then perhaps we have
committed too little to Christ. Perhaps, in our pride, we have refused to humble
ourselves to God. Becoming a Christian is more than undergoing a ritual. It’s
more than identifying with a denomination. It’s more than membership in a
church. It’s more than being a "good person." Being a Christian is nothing less
than humbling ourselves before God, putting God at the very center of our lives,
putting ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, asking about every
decision "What would Jesus do?" and making those decisions as if they
mattered, because they do. This is not subjecting us to a life of misery, boredom,
and deprivation. It is rather opening us up to a life of joy and peace and
happiness. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for holiness. They shall
have their fill." Jesus told us that he came that we might have life, and have it
abundantly.
Let us examine our consciences, confess our sins to God, and receive
forgiveness, God’s forgiveness of all our past sins. Let us at this time, in
humility, commit to reform our lives, put Jesus in the drivers seat, and become
among the pure in heart who will see God. Then let us leave renewed in the
Spirit, reborn to a life of service to God and God’s people. You belong to God.
Will you give yourself to Him? Do it now, completely and without reservation.
The joy of the life of grace awaits you brethren.
back on it when I feel pride overcoming me. As far as I know the story is true,
some of the details may have changed over the years, but basically it’s a story
about an event that really happened.
Many years ago, a lady in an old looking dress and her husband, dressed in a
slightly worn out looking suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked
timidly without an appointment into the president’s outer office at Harvard
University. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country
hicks had no business at Harvard and probably did not even deserve to be in
Cambridge let alone Harvard. She frowned. "We want to see the president," the
man said. "He’ll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We’ll wait," the lady
replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would
finally become discouraged and go away. They did not. And the secretary grew
frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president. "Maybe if they just see
you for a few minutes, they’ll leave," she pleaded to him. And he sighed in
exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance did not have the time to
spend with them, but he detested country hicks cluttering up his outer office.
The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady
told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard.
He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was killed in an accident. And my
husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president was not touched; he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly, "We
can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did,
this place would look like a cemetery." "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly,
"We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to have a building
built for Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham
dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any
earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million
dollars worth of buildings at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent. The
president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. Then the lady turned to
her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to build a university? Why don’
t we just start our own?" Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in
confusion and bewilderment as the couple thanked him and walked away. Soon
they were in California establishing a university as a memorial to a son that
Harvard no longer cared about, Leland Stanford, Jr.
The president of Harvard learned the hard way not to judge the worth of a
person by what appears on the surface. Humility is a great gift. The scriptures
time and time again relate how God loves the humble. From Zephaniah, "Seek
the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice,
seek humility;" and "I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble
and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel."
And from (Psalm 146) "The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. “From
(Corinthians) "Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you
were wise, not many influential, and surely not many well-born. God chose the
absurd to shame the wise; he singled out the weak to shame the strong. He chose
the lowborn and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing
those who were something.” Finally, from Matthew’s account of the Sermon on
the Mount: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." God does not
judge a person’s worth by external appearances. God does not judge a person by
surface or extraneous things like clothes, accent, skin color, the length of one’s
hair, or the thickness of one’s wallet. Neither does God judge a person by the
success they have achieved in this world. The scripture tells how God reaches
out with love and healing and blessings to the poor, the oppressed, the hungry,
the blind, strangers, orphans, widows, the weak, the despised, the sorrowing,
and the persecuted. Jesus illustrated this with his whole life, befriending tax
collectors, prostitutes, beggars, Romans, fishermen, Samaritans. God judges us.
He uses a different standard than that of this world. And while we do not judge
outright (only God does that) we do judge each other which I must say is not an
ultimate judgment but a physical and material judgment. It is necessary to
make good decisions in our lives. It’s up to us to hold up the standard God
expresses through the scriptures. Let’s look to the scriptures and try to detect
God’s standard. First, (Zephaniah) "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,
who have observed his law; seek justice," and "They shall do no wrong and
speak no lies." From the (Psalm) "The Lord loves the just, ... but the way of the
wicked he thwarts." And to all those low-life’s in Corinth, Paul says, "God it is
who has given you life in Christ Jesus. He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our
holiness, and our redemption." In other words, "When you were called, you
were nothing, but by accepting that call you have become holy, set apart by God
to do His good works on earth." Finally, in the Sermon on the Mount, it is not
just the poor and meek whom are blessed, but also the merciful, the pure in
heart, and the peacemakers. And it isn’t those who are persecuted for any old
reason that are blessed, but those who are persecuted for the sake of holiness,
and because of Jesus. It is not those who go along to get along, but those who
stand up for Jesus who are told, "Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven
is great." So God does have standards. And so must we. Ours is not an "anything
goes" religion. "But," you say, "Is not God infinitely merciful? Does not He
forgive us all our sins?" Yes, He is, and yes, He does. But being a Christian does
not mean being baptized and then going on living like it does not matter. Being
a Christian means giving our life to God and letting Him control it. It means
living according to His will, not our own. Now, we are never going to succeed
completely. That’s where forgiveness comes in. But we at least have to try! That’
s the standard. You at least have to try.
When we read scriptures like those I quoted today, some of us come away with
the message that God is an inclusive God who embraces all manner of rabble.
Some will think from this that God has a preference for the poor. Others will
come away with the message that God is a holy God who embraces the pure in
heart and is fire on evil-doers. Both are true. Neither by itself is complete. This
is a complex message, this Gospel of ours. If we are a success in this life, we
must worry that maybe we have compromised too much. If we are proud of our
accomplishments, perhaps we have not humbled ourselves sufficiently to God:
"Let him, who would boast, boast in the LORD." If we are among the dregs of
society and, because of it, are bitter and unhappy and resentful, perhaps we
have not succumbed to the mercy and grace and joy which God pours out upon
the likes of us, but persist in shutting Him out with our stubborn pride. If we
persist in what we know to be sinful ways, if we ignore the call to holiness, if we
seldom attend church, if we’re always too busy to pray or read the scriptures or
go to a service or visit the sick or perform works of mercy, then perhaps we have
committed too little to Christ. Perhaps, in our pride, we have refused to humble
ourselves to God. Becoming a Christian is more than undergoing a ritual. It’s
more than identifying with a denomination. It’s more than membership in a
church. It’s more than being a "good person." Being a Christian is nothing less
than humbling ourselves before God, putting God at the very center of our lives,
putting ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, asking about every
decision "What would Jesus do?" and making those decisions as if they
mattered, because they do. This is not subjecting us to a life of misery, boredom,
and deprivation. It is rather opening us up to a life of joy and peace and
happiness. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for holiness. They shall
have their fill." Jesus told us that he came that we might have life, and have it
abundantly.
Let us examine our consciences, confess our sins to God, and receive
forgiveness, God’s forgiveness of all our past sins. Let us at this time, in
humility, commit to reform our lives, put Jesus in the drivers seat, and become
among the pure in heart who will see God. Then let us leave renewed in the
Spirit, reborn to a life of service to God and God’s people. You belong to God.
Will you give yourself to Him? Do it now, completely and without reservation.
The joy of the life of grace awaits you brethren.
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