October 7, 2015

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:1-9

A passage from C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters:

“Screwtape, a senior devil, writes to his nephew Wormwood, a devil in training…..”By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools. And since what they are trying to believe may, in some cases, be manifest nonsense, they cannot succeed in believing it and we have the chance of keeping their minds endlessly revolving on themselves in an effort to achieve the impossible. To anticipate the Enemy’s (G*d’s) strategy, we must consider His aims. The Enemy (G*d) wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another. The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor’s talents…” (“For All The Saints”, volume II, p. 904-905)

Our society is based upon recognition – the recognition of the best, the brightest, the prettiest, and the most talented. When you watch a football game, it will not take long to see someone score a touchdown, or catch a pass, and pound their own chest in recognition of their “accomplishment”. I guess they forgot that there were ten other people involved in that play who worked just as hard to make their accomplishment possible. But every once in a while you will see someone score a touchdown, and rather than slap their own chest, they go down the bench on the sidelines and shake the hands of the players who made his accomplishment possible.

Humility, as C. S. Lewis states so eloquently, is not pretty women trying to convince themselves they are ugly, or clever men convincing themselves they are stupid, or trying to convince us that we are less than others. Humility is seeing the beauty in all people, knowing the value of all people, working for the betterment of all people, and stripping away any need or desire for recognition – knowing that the only value we need is knowing that we are beloved, children of G*d. Humility is accomplishing something great in the name of Jesus Christ and lifting his name on high.

Evil hates humility and loves pride. Evil hates love of others and loves it when the individual loves only the self. Evil loves it when we crave recognition, and hates it when we point to the heavens and say “to G*d be the glory”.

Pastor Dave