"Life Together Part 1: Humility" - Sermon for Ash Wednesday

Life Together Part 1: Humility
Ash Wednesday – Narrative Lectionary 1
February 18, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 18.1-9

A number of years ago Susan told me a story about an experience she had as a young army wife. Her husband was a newly minted 1st Lieutenant and he’d just changed assignments to a new base. Back then, it was all male officers and female spouses and so it was not unusual for the base commander’s wife to invite all of the newly arrived wives to a reception at her home on the base. When they gathered, the commander’s wife directed all of the wives to line up in order of their rank. Susan, being new, stood befuddled while the wives tried to sort themselves out, but assumed that she’d be at the end of the line. After a few minutes of this, the commander’s wife barked them to attention with the phrase, “Ladies, you have no rank; it is your husbands who have the rank.” Though the experience may have bordered on humiliation, it was a lesson in humility that Susan never forgot.

Tonight’s reading is the first half of Jesus’ fourth discourse in Matthew’s gospel. There are five blocks of teaching where Jesus helps his followers understand the ways of the kingdom. If you were to read all of chapter 18 (the rest of which we’ll read Sunday), you’d see that this teaching focuses on how we are to live together in community. Here is another reminder that even though our relationship with Jesus is personal, it’s not private. What we do or don’t do and what we say or don’t say have profound effects on other people.

Yet, what really gets our attention is that Jesus calls us to relate to each other in a different way than our society tells us we should relate to each other: like children. In Jesus’ time, children had no social standing or status. At best they were considered potential persons. At worst, they were considered property. So, to become like a child is to assume the same kind of status.

There are many ideas about what Jesus means when he says we are to become like children. Along with turning status on its head – you’re not somebody until you’re nobody – there is also the idea that to be like a child is to be teachable. Children are little sponges and love to soak up information. Being like a child also means knowing that we are utterly dependent upon God for everything we need.

One of my biggest concerns about what passes for civil discourse in our society (which is anything but) is a lack of humility in conversation. Now, I appreciate when people are passionate about their beliefs, but passion needs to be tempered with a healthy dose of, “I could be wrong.” We need to be open to what other people are saying to us, even when it is offensive, because we need to be in relationship with others. We can’t do that if we shut down ourselves and our conversations. This is a great example about what we talked about Sunday and God’s command to the disciples that we listen to his Beloved Son. Listening to Jesus means giving up ourselves, cutting out distractions and opening ourselves up in humility to engage the other.

Tonight we begin the 40 days of Lent, a season of reflection on our lives and what matters most to us. To start us off and given our text, perhaps we could update Jesus’ words for today: “Unless you change and become like a homeless person, the truly important things of this world will get farther away from you.” And, “if your iPhone or Lexus or Calvin Klein’s cause you to stumble or get in the way of the life I call you to live with one another, you would do well to put them aside, for your sake and the sake of others.”

Quite often, to assist us in this reflective thinking, we give up something for Lent or we add a spiritual discipline. I always wrestle with this and I even hesitate talking about it because I don’t want to give the impression that I’m a spiritual superhero, because I’m not. However, I wouldn’t suggest something to you that I’m not willing to do myself. So, his year I want to be more mindful of where I am rather than where I’m going. It’s more than just slowing down; it’s being present in the moment rather than always thinking of all the things I have to do. Now, it’s always good to have an accountability partner, not to bash you over the head but to ask, “How’s it going?” So, for the next 40 days, I invite you to ask me, “Where are you, pastor?” No doubt, my answers will vary, but if I’m not “in the moment” I’ll thank you for the gentle reminder. Either way, whether you engage in a Lenten discipline or not, know that the one who gave up everything to reconcile us to God invites you to new life. Amen.