“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Isaiah 57:15 ESV
“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
Isaiah 66:2 ESV
“"On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,”
Zephaniah 3:11-12 ESV
God is no friend of human pride. Pride raises its fist in defiance against anyone or anything that would claim authority over me. We see this continually in society. The “occupy” demonstrations showed a lot of this attitude.
But there are other aspects of pride that aren’t quite as blatant. There’s an independence about it, a declaration that, “I’ve got this. I can handle it. I can accomplish all things by my own energy, grit, determination. Whatever I set my mind to, I can do. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. I am the center of my universe. All things exist - including God - to serve me.” The height of Maslow’s hierarchy of “needs” is “self-actualization.” The Christian version of this is the “fulfilled” self. In either case, “self” is at the pinnacle. It’s really all about me. And this is pride.
God repeatedly says in His word that He is with those who are humble - or lowly - and contrite. He doesn’t say he is with the powerful, self-confident or self-actualized. In fact, the testimony of scripture is that He is against those people. If we would truly have God “on our side,” humility is the requirement.
Humility recognizes my own insufficiency in myself, and my dependence on Someone outside myself for all things. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing,” and I think that was no exaggeration. I have no control over my heart beating, my cells continuing to reproduce, my breathing. Apart from God’s enabling, I can’t even get out of bed in the morning - or wake up, for that matter. When I tackle a task at the office, or around the house, when I take on solving the problems of human society, when I seek to communicate with others, or influence others, I am utterly dependent on God’s enabling. Humility recognizes and acknowledges this.
Contrition recognizes my attitudes and actions of independence from God, admits its failings, and seeks God’s forgiveness. It also actively looks to Him for help in not following my own independent inclinations. It runs counter to pride. But it’s essential for those who would have God with them, for them, on their side.
This time of year we think of Jesus as “Emmanuel” - God with us. The great wonder is that God would consdescend to be “with” and “among” us, and take on our human condition - even when pride dominates our thinking and behavior. It is humbling to me to consider that God would seek me, would come to me, even though I ignorantly and willfully raise my fist in defiance of His authority over me. How much more is it humbling to consider that He came, not just to guide, not just to teach, but to step between me and the just wrath of a holy God, absorbing that wrath, so that there is no more left for me. Now that was true humility!
And THAT produces the humility I lack in myself.
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