Introit: Psalm 119:1–2, 5–6, 124, 137
1 Samuel 2:1–10
Ephesians 4:1–6
St. Luke 14:1–11
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Humility is not a popular virtue, is it? Maybe even less than usual these days. Everyone seems to be pretty confident in their opinions, proud of their life choices, and unwilling to listen and discuss anything as a community. Many are also unwilling to be patient and allow people to make their own decisions. But instead of pointing out the lack of humility out there, we probably have to take a good look in the mirror ourselves. And this Sunday helps us do that and teaches us what real humility is. God’s Word today teaches us how to live humbly before Him, and it may help us in our lives with our neighbors too.
The Psalm verses in the Introit this morning came from Psalm 119, the great psalm about meditating on God’s Word. But the verses we sang today, not only tell us about the Word, but give us the proper mindset we should have when coming to the Word. Righteous are You, O LORD, and right are Your just decrees. This is a humble attitude, where I must empty myself, and confess to God, “You are always right, I’m not. Your ways are best, not mine.” Don’t go to God’s Word expecting you already know all the answers, or expecting His answers to always agree with yours. Go to God’s Word prepared to repent in humility and accept correction.
But then we pray, Deal with Your servant according to Your steadfast love, and teach me Your statutes. So, God’s Word does not only empty us out of our opinions, but it also fills us with truth, goodness, and beauty. In His Word, God gives us His mercy and love. He teaches us, and His teaching is life. Then, the psalm declares, I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments. From God’s Word we learn humility, but not humiliation, because we are not ashamed of God’s Word. We have what is right, and we can be confident in that. We don’t need confidence in ourselves, but in God.
This last point is the basis of Hannah’s song in the Old Testament reading. Hannah’s prayer to God for a child was answered, and in grateful response she sang: My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. At first glance, that might not sound very humble. But Hannah is not exalting in herself or thinking she was better than others. She exults in the Lord. She can look down on her enemies because God answered her prayer. She is humble in herself, but in confident in God.
So, in her song she also instructs others to realize this for themselves: Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. How do you know what is true or good or beautiful? God tells you. He reveals knowledge. And if your opinions are not informed by God’s Word, or by clear God-given reason and God-created nature, then your opinions are arrogance. You will be weighed and found wanting.
Hannah goes on to describe God’s work in this world: The LORD kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and He exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. The Lord is at work in this world, not only in His Church, but in history. Trust that He is working, even when it doesn’t look like it, even when it looks like He has turned a blind eye. He will bring this world to His own good and proper end. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; He will give strength to His King and exalt the horn of His Anointed. The Lord’s anointed King mentioned by Hannah at the end of her song is none other than Jesus the Christ. So ultimately, everything the Lord does is for the glory of His name, the good of His kingdom, and the salvation of His children. Don’t set yourself up in arrogance, but trust with humility that the Lord is doing what’s best.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul also had something to say about humility—humility in the church. I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Psalm 119 told us to have a humble attitude toward God’s Word. Hannah told us to have a humble attitude toward God’s work in this world. St. Paul is telling us here to have a humble attitude toward God’s saints, our brothers and sisters in the church. It doesn’t matter if you especially like each other, you are together in the one body of Christ. So, you have to approach one another with humility, gentleness, patience, and love.
What’s more, while we should have this humble attitude toward individuals, we should also have this attitude toward God’s Church as a whole. The Church belongs to God, not to us. We cannot make the Church in our own image, the way we like it. God brings us into the Church, which is something bigger than ourselves, something bigger than our congregation. The Church is the body of Christ, with a history of 2000 years across the globe. So, in humility we receive the wisdom of that history and learn from our fathers and mothers in the faith. But even more importantly, we cannot create unity and peace in the Church. St. Paul says that we should be eager to maintain it. This means that in humility we receive unity and peace from the Holy Spirit, from His Word. By holding to His Word, His teaching, we keep His unity and peace among us.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus gives us what might be the theme verse for this Sunday of humility: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And this verse is illustrated by how Jesus exposes the pride of the Pharisees in two ways. First, we see that they are proud of how they keep the Sabbath laws. But they are hypocrites because they criticize Jesus for doing good on the Sabbath. God’s Law to not work on the Sabbath did not mean that you don’t help people! So, Jesus healed the man, and so passed judgment on the Pharisees’ pride. Second, Jesus exposed how they sought honor for themselves in the eyes of men. They all tried to get the best spots at the table. And Jesus mocked them with His “advice”—if you want to be honored you should go sit in the low spot and then maybe you’ll get a parade up to the high spot. Jesus is not actually interested in teaching people how to get honor.
And yet, Jesus wanted them to learn true, spiritual humility: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And so the first thing we should recognize as followers of Jesus is that He is the type and model of true humility. Jesus humbled Himself for our sakes by taking on our sin and obediently suffering in our place. He was humble and gentle toward all people. He trusted His Father to work all things for good and to exalt Him at the proper time. He is the humble student of God’s Word. And being faithful to God’s Word, recognizing His judgments to be right, Jesus went with humility to the cross.
So also, the followers of Jesus must humbly go the way of the cross. We are crucified with Christ. We bear our crosses and follow Him. This means sacrificial service for others, likely without any acknowledgement. But your reward will be in heaven. The way of the cross means suffering now and glory hereafter. It also means that your cross will not be self-chosen. We really get this backwards. We think that we should just get to do what we like rather than what needs to be done. This goes for work in the church, as well as in a marriage and a family. God humbles and He exalts. God drowns the prideful Old Adam in us who wants to have his own way, and God raises up the New Man in us to live before God and others with humility. God has prepared for us what good works we should be doing. In humility, we live out our Baptism and do what God has given us to do.
The Collect of the Day also teaches humility: Lord, we implore You, grant Your people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow You, the only God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Following the only God means going His way, not ours. The church has believed for a long time that the devil’s sin was pride. He was, of course, originally created good by God, perhaps the most powerful of all the holy angels, but then he rebelled against God because he pridefully thought he could be equal to God. There are hints of this in Isaiah, but we also get the idea from how the devil tempted Adam and Eve. He told them that they could be like God. In a way, pride is the origin of all sin—thinking you know better than God.
So, in humility, we pray for God to grant His people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow Him, the only God. And we can begin to see what that looks like with a review of all we’ve heard today about humility. First, empty yourself of your own opinions. Don’t expect to be right every time. Be open to correction. And then be filled with what God says is true, good, and beautiful. Eagerly learn from Him in His Word. And this kind of mindset can apply to many areas of life, not just in the church. Think about how much better our society or our congregation or our families could be, if we were willing to admit when we’re wrong and learn something new.
Then also humility means trusting that God is working and His ways are best. He will exalt Christ and preserve and enlarge His kingdom in the way that He determines to be right. Let God be God. So also then, receive and maintain what He gives to you. Treasure His Word, His Church, His sacraments, His unity and peace. These are not your things to do with as you please, but you are to keep them and share them. And finally, do not fear to humbly follow the only God on the way of the cross. It most certainly means spiritually dying to self, and probably suffering and dying in physical ways too. But the way of the cross ends in resurrection, where those who are humble like Christ, will also be exalted like Christ.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
