Humble Yourself.
Lenten Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount
Yesterday, I shared my desire to listen to Jesus more intently this Lent. It’s already proved challenging as I checked the news updates from last night’s presidential address before opening up my bible or devotional app. “Seek ye first,” Jesus says, “the Kingdom of God.” But here I’ve begun this Ash Wednesday first seeking updates on the kingdoms of this world.
Historically, Ash Wednesday goes back to at least the beginning of the 7th Century. Its roots, however, extend deeper, way back to the Israelites of the Hebrew Scriptures (or as some call it the “Old Testament”). There were people like Job and the Ninevites, King Hezekiah and Jewish elders who clothed themselves in sackcloth and covered themselves in ashes as an outward sign of what was taking place in their hearts. Sometimes that reflected their grieving. Many times it was a sign of their repenting and turning their lives back to God.
Ash Wednesday is one of those special days in the Church’s calendar that kicks off a whole season of repentance, of looking at our lives, realizing where we have gone astray, confessing the things we have done and that which we have left undone, and recommitting our lives to The Way of Jesus and His Kingdom. The ashes remind us both of our repentance and of our mortality. From dust you came and to dust you shall return, the scriptures so frankly remind us. And that the pastor places them on our foreheads in the sign of a cross reminds us that Death and all of his friends do not have final say; that word, rather, belongs to Jesus. We are mortal. We have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
It’s a humbling thing to be reminded of our mortality. And it’s a humbling admission to confess our shortcomings and wrongdoings. But God’s grace is deeper still.
In Kendrick Lamar’s 2018 Pulitzer Prize award winning album Damn, he has a song called “HUMBLE” in which he reflects on his need to pursue humility in the face of his growing success…and temptations. He reflects on the tension between his vast achievements and accomplishments, and his desire to live an authentic life.
Be humble, he tells himself.
Sit down. Be humble.
Over and over and over again. 15 times in a song that’s not even three minutes long, the refrain: Sit down. Be humble.
Which brings us, at long last, to the foundation of this Lenten series: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapters five, six, and seven, Jesus’ longest recorded discourse is a sort of State of the Union. These chapters share with us the pillars of His Kingdom, its values, beliefs, and priorities. I invite you to continue walking with me this Lent reflecting on Jesus’ sermon.
Today, I am captivated by 5:3,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
It’s the first of nine “beatitudes” or blessings that Jesus begins with in His sermon. Blessed - or joyful or happy or blissful - are the poor in spirit…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Quite the place to begin His ministry manifesto, prioritizing the humble of heart.
In Luke’s Good News account, Jesus is recorded as saying, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Here in Matthew, however, it is the poor in spirit. Matthew and Luke each have their points they are trying to make and, for Matthew, it is clear he is intentionally sharing this word poor with all of its weight and connotations. Blessed are the poor in spirit, he writes. The needy. The destitute. The beggars. The un-entitled. The powerless. The humble and lowly.
A person can be poor, but still too proud to be poor in spirit.
A person can be rich, accomplished, successful! And that can carry over into their soul in ways that prevent them from ever being able to open their hands to receive something from another, let alone God.
Some folks can become so guarded. Some whom Life has taught to only trust themselves and no other.
Others, especially religious folk, can be so learned, so full of their own righteousness and volunteerism, who have acquired many a jewel in their heavenly crown that they could never describe their spirit as poor. Heaven forbid! Look all do for You, Jesus!
But, at least to Jesus apparently, the Kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit. The humble. The ones who confess: I’m not as put together as I have worked so hard to appear. I much prefer getting My Way than I do relinquishing it for Thy Way. I’d rather have Jesus - or my church - or my boss - or my colleagues - or my spouse - bend His will toward mine than giving an inch the other way around.
The list goes on. Pride is a terrible thing. And how emboldened are the prideful and arrogant in our world today! Lord, have mercy!
But that’s the way of the world, not The Way of Jesus. You and I are called to live differently.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” He tells us, “for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.