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| 'Door of Humility' -- entrance to the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem |
Joshua 3:7-17Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37or
Micah 3:5-12Psalm 43
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13Matthew 23:1-12
Humility is the most distinctive of Christian virtues. Love, compassion, hospitality, and a sense of justice, are all virtues in other creeds, both religious and non-religious. But humility stands out as something on which Christians place particular value, an emphasis that served to set their faith far apart from the Roman world in which it first emerged.
It has never been an easy virtue to accept, and may indeed be harder now than then. The modern world lends so much importance to a sense of self-esteem, that its absence is even identified as a mark of mental illness. Against this cultural background, humility comes to be regarded as a kind of self-abasement, and praising it is interpreted as a covert way of undermining the rights of the poor or oppressed.
There are indeed dangers here. Instructing others to be humble is a familiar form of domination. But in this week’s Gospel, Jesus could hardly be more explicit in his endorsement of humility against the Pharisees’ great failing -- spiritual pride. Their confidence in their own righteousness was so secure, they assumed they could pursue their own interests with impunity. It is precisely the same fault that Micah eloquently condemns in the accompanying Old Testament lesson.
There is, nonetheless, an element of paradox in what Jesus says – ‘All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted’. Does this not imply a kind of ‘mock’ humility – appearing humble, but with the ultimate desire of being exalted? Here it is essential to remember that it was on a Cross that Jesus himself was ‘exalted’. The exaltation that true humility seeks is for spiritual heights, not social or material status -- even in the next life. The prayer of the Psalmist expresses it perfectly – “Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling”.
The 'Door of Humility' is so called because it physically obliges everyone to bow down before entering the presence of God in the ancient basilica beyond.
I would argue that self-esteem and humility go hand in hand. True self esteem is not bumptiousness or arrogance; it is a recognition that one is valued and valuable and that one has talents and purpose. Since our talents come from the Creator, our purpose from our calling by Christ to serve him and our value to God is demonstrated with such clarity by God's willingness to send his Son to reconcile humanity with God, even when that led to the Cross, it seems a denial of God's will and love to imagine that we are worthless. Low self-esteem, in its more extreme forms, may be a sign of mental illness. It is certainly a sign of spiritual illness.
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