October 11th, 2018

This simple statement by James expresses a central truth of New Testament Christianity, and that is that the only way up is down. The uninformed believe that if you climb hard enough you can make it to wherever the top is, but the truth is that climbing is beside the point if you don’t start at the true bottom.
       We probably need to do some defining at this point. The setting is that of a lowly peasant bowing to the ground before an oriental monarch, so greatly different their rank in society. At one point the monarchs reaches down and lifts the face of the peasant allowing him to rise and stand in the presence of royalty. What a sense of exuberant joy!  This is the picture we see in the earthly ministry of Jesus who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:8) to which Paul adds, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place” (v. 9). Jesus’ self-surrender to become the sacrifice for our sins is the ultimate expression of humility.
       So humility isn’t putting on obsequious expression and declaring how unworthy we are. Very simply, it is laying aside personal preference and doing for the other what needs to be done. C S Lewis’ definition of humility is probably the best: “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” Humility is a brave and noble decision (and “humble yourself” is something we do) because in the decision one sets aside personal benefit, the desire for recognition, and assumes the role of servant. In the ancient Greek and Roman societies humility was considered a reprehensible condition. And it was into that kind of a world that the Son of God entered as a carpenter and ended up as a rebel on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem. Wait, did I say, “ended up? Well, hardly; God raised him from the grave and a great movement of human hope began that continues to expand until God’s “servant” is recognized in heaven and earth, worshipped by all creation.
       And what does that say for those who are the followers of Jesus, the Christ? The point is clear – we are to humble ourself as did Christ, and serve one another and the interests of God. We are to set aside all that keeps us from becoming the lowly servant of one another, even as Jesus did for us. The good news, of course, is that this King of kings will in his own time bend down and lift every face to see the glorious beauty and that of his eternal dwelling place. 
       So remember, the road to eternal joy begins with a decision to set aside what the world prizes for the privilege of serving one another. Humility is a personal decision, but hard as it is to decide against one
self, it is the only road to being lifted up when eternity breaks into view.