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

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more