True Humility - Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Year C

True Humility

Pentecost 20C – Lectionary 30

Christ, Preston, MN

October 23, 2022

Luke 18.9-14

In 1980, singer and songwriter Mac Davis released an album, “It’s Hard to Be Humble.” The title song on that album quickly rose in popularity, both in America and abroad. The opening lines are so iconic they’re indelibly etched in our minds:

Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble

When you're perfect in every way

I can't wait to look in the mirror

'Cause I get better lookin' each day

For some reason, the song struck a chord (pardon the pun) with people around the world. And if this song is now stuck in your head for the rest of the day, you’re welcome.

The opening line to Davis’s song might be a fitting summary of our gospel reading today from Luke. At first, the parable Jesus tells seems straightforward: don’t be like the self-righteous Pharisee. Last week, we heard one example of prayer from the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. Today we hear two more kinds of prayer, the tax collector who beats his breast over being sinful and the Pharisee who congratulates God for not making him like the tax collector. And Jesus’ pronouncement at the end also looks clear: don’t exalt yourself or else you’ll get yours.

But I think Jesus has set this parable as something of a trap, but not in the sense of “gotcha.” Jesus uses two stock characters in this parable as examples that we see often in Luke: the despised tax collector who was a Jewish citizen but also a collaborator with the Roman occupying forces; and the Pharisee, a religious leader whom Jesus unfairly portrays as an uptight, rigid observer of the law. The trap comes when our reaction is to identify with the tax collector: “Thank God I’m not like the Pharisee!”

The infamous words of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir seem appropriate: “Don’t be so humble; you’re not that great.” This is where Mac Davis speaks a small amount of truth: it is indeed hard to be humble. We don’t know why the tax collector and the Pharisee come to the temple that day nor do we know what happens to them afterward. Does the tax collector ever change his ways? Does the Pharisee get a lesson in humility sometime? We don’t know, and perhaps that’s the point: they aren’t the focus of the parable, God’s mercy and grace are.

Luther Seminary Professor Emeritus of Church History James Nestingen tells a story about an experience his father had while he was in seminary. On returning to campus on a Sunday evening and running into a classmate, the classmate said to the elder Nestingen, “I had a good day today. I didn’t sin.” Nestingen’s father replied, “It was good of you to give Jesus the day off.” If we aren’t careful, we can engage in a humility contest, which defeats the purpose. Nestingen’s father had a point: whatever ability we have to follow the way of Jesus comes from God and God alone.

So, what brings you to Christ Lutheran Church today? Why are you here? I’m hoping that you are here because this is a safe place for you to be vulnerable and admit your need for God's mercy and grace. I hope it’s a place where you don’t have to pretend to be something you are not, for whatever reason you might think so. Even more so, I hope it’s a place where you will hear God’s unconditional love, mercy, and grace for you no matter what your situation in life. My siblings in Christ, you are worthy of love and belonging through Jesus’ justifying action. That’s true humility. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.