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For the sign of Christianity is this, that one be pleasing to God so as to seek to hide oneself from the eyes of men. And even if a person should possess the complete treasures of the King, he should hide them and say continually: "The treasure is not mine, but another has given it to me as a charge. For I am a beggar and when it pleases him, he can claim it from me. ... And the more they apply themselves to the art of growing in perfection, the more they reckon themselves as poor, as those in great need and possessing nothing.... This is the sign of Christianity, namely, this very humility.
*Pseudo-Macarius (4th Century Syrian Monk), Homilies
A great spiritual Teacher, who happened also to be his father, had reared a youth. The boy learned many wonderful, deep insights from his dad. One day the dad said, "There's one lesson I can't teach you, so you must go to the peasant teacher in the village south of here to learn that lesson."
The peasant teacher was a poor, largely unknown farmer. The boy was perplexed and displeased, thinking, "I've learned so much from my dad, so what can that poor farmer teach me that I don't already know?"
Out of respect for and obedience to the dad, the boy traveled to visit the peasant teacher. The farmer was traveling along the dirt rode. The youth, recognizing him from a description given by his father, informed him of the purpose of his seeking the teacher out. He told the farmer that his father, the famed spiritual Master, had sent him to learn a lesson his dad claimed he could not teach the boy. The farmer asked, "What are you to do when you meet a teacher?" The boy bowed slightly to the teacher. The reply came: "Not enough." The youth bowed again, extending all the way down to point his head toward the peasant's feet. Another reply came: "Not enough." The boy once more bowed, this time to the farmer's horse. "Not enough," spoke the peasant. So, the youth bowed with his forehead touching one of the horse's hoofs. The wise peasant spoke, "Well done. You may return home. You learned the lesson your dad sent you here to learn."
The English "humble" is from the Latin humilis. Humilis is akin to the Latin humus, referring to dirt, soil, earth. The implication is to be low--like the ground--, in the sense of not exalting oneself; as in, the lifting up of pride.
Jesus sees pridefulness and lack of humbleness as a covert behavior among the religious elite of his time:
38 ... “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. 39 And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. 40 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished."(Mark 12.38-40,NLT)
Even Jesus' closest disciples found it difficult to practice humbleness in the presence of Christ Himself:
3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf[in my name] is welcoming me."(Matthew 18.1-5, NLT)
Jesus' teaching on self-abasement is starkly opposed to much both outside and inside churches. His paradoxical teaching challenges our perceptions of power and authority. Jesus presents an unfamiliar definition of greatness for us in our power-hungry, authority-demanding, authority-disrespecting, and self-esteem-fascinated, individualistic society. Jesus' words, again, judge much that goes on within our churches and, likewise, among the clergy. In this case, judgment begins for us Christians at home: the Church--where arrogance, clothed in the most pitiable imitation of true piety and true knowledge, too often reigns!
A child in Jesus' society was expendable and easily ignored: powerless and dependent. Now, imagine telling persons that this is the only way to true power and authority, to the Kingdom of Heaven. Imagine Jesus speaking to a throng of people gathered in a modern city square, a church gathering, or a university:
Do you want to be powerful and great? Do you want to be assured of eternal life? Then, choose the path of powerlessness and nothingness. Realize your dependence; quit asserting your independence. Allow yourself to be ignored and treated as expendable, and all the while not uttering one word of complaint. Give up all self-infatuation and all self-righteousness. Give up having to have your way. Give up all your claims to ownership of material or spiritual things. Give up your identity. Give up. Surrender. Die. Bury yourself. Then, you shall have Life, now, in this life! Then, you shall enjoy power, true authority! Then, you shall know God, truly!
*Quote from Pseudo-Macarius, Pseudo-Macarius: The Fifty Homolies and the Great Letter, Trans. and Ed. by G. A. Maloney, "The Classics of Western Spirituality."
**OneLife writings are offered by Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He writes in the spirit of John Wesley's focus on the priority of inner experience of the Triune God; scriptural holiness; ongoing sanctification; the goal of Christian perfection (or, wholeness). Brian seeks to integrate the best of the contemplative teachings of Christianity East and West, from the patristic Church to the present. Brian lives a vowed contemplative life with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, in North Florida. OneLife writings are for anyone seeking to live and share love, joy, and peace in the world and in devotion to God as she or he best understands God.
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