The energetic nature of humility

There is probably no story more widely known than the birth of Jesus. We have listened to it every Christmas season from the first year of our life. Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, sent out an edict that required everyone to return to their ancestral home to register for taxation, Since Joseph was a descendant of king David this meant a trip to Bethlehem. Mary, who was pregnant at this time, went with him. The roads were crowded with so many people returning for the same purpose, that when Joseph and Mary arrived, they found that there was no room for them, except perhaps in the barn. At that very time Mary was ready to give birth so they went to the barn and when the baby came he was laid in the feed trough. There could not have been a more humble place for the Son of God to have entered the world that he had created.
       When we turn to the close of his life, we see him on a cross, bearing the penalty for our sins, derided by those who nailed him there, and humiliated before all. In the history of the world there has never been anything as humiliating as the cruel death of the one who had entered the world in a barn. Humble in his arrival, humiliated in his death – the story of our Lord and Savior.
       Literature is full of man’s best attempts to describe humility: Douglas MacArthur asked for a son who would be “proud and unbending in honest defeat, but humble and gentle in victory.” Another person described humility as “a trait so rare that when you find that you have it you’ve lost it. But most secular attempts to describe humility lack the depth displayed in the life of Jesus. Watch as he kneels to wash the feet of his disciples, listen as he advises them to always choose the lowest place. From his life we learn that humility is not being lowly, but accepting a lowly place in life. Humility is a choice, not the result of some defeat. It is not a penalty for some failure to achieve, but a decision to live one’s life for others rather than to gain their applause. Humility is not passive acceptance of anything and everything, as it is so often portrayed in fiction, but the positive choice to put others first. It is dynamic not lethargic. It is the over-riding theme in the gospel stories of the life and death of Jesus Christ.
       It is striking that Jesus, who lived a life best described as humble, will at the end of time be exalted above all else. His life is a stunning example of the simple yet profound truth that the way up is down. He came down to be with us, he will go back up to win the prize. May God help us to deny ourselves (i.e., live humbly, placing others first) so when in eternity we are with him we can enjoy the results of a life dedicated to the wellbeing of others. It is then that we will fully understand the upside-down nature of the Christian ethic.