Skip to main content

Humble Pie



When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.  But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.  For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11)

          “Humble” is another of those words with a bad reputation. Some seem to believe that the humble person sees himself/herself as a worm in the dust, unworthy, incapable, insignificant, useless, hopeless. A sycophant. C.S. Lewis said that a humble person doesn’t think himself less, he thinks of himself less. Gary Chapman describes it as “a peacefulness that allows you to stand aside in order to affirm the value of someone else.” He also points out that some people say, “Look at how (fill in the impressive positive) I am.” Others say, “Look at how (fill in the impressive negative) I am.” Neither is humble.
          But what happens if you love someone or something? It seems to me that when someone or something matters to me, I spend my time, money, effort on it. If I were going to the wedding feast described above, and I took someone I loved, who happened to be friends with the bride or groom, I’d try to get that loved one as close to the bride and groom as possible, even if it meant sitting out in the back, in the ”overflow” area. OK, to be honest, I might do it especially if it meant sitting in the “overflow” area, but I’m not a party person. We make sacrifices for those we love.
      The other this story tells us about being humble is that whether we are proud or humble, when our seat gets changed, we’re likely to either be humiliated or honored. If you’re going to set yourself up for one or the other, wouldn’t you rather set yourself up to be honors? Humble pie can be sweet, if you make it  yourself.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more