Walking Humbly

We don't always know as much as we think we know. And that can be a problem, especially in today's divisive climate. Maybe a step towards addressing our divisiveness -- and our fear of one another -- is humility. If you'd like to know why, read my sermon!

Meet Jake. Jake just started the first grade; and he’s a really good kid. His parents have taught him to respect other people, and to always tell the truth. He knows that taking things that belong to other people is wrong, and he keeps his hands to himself (most of the time). He doesn’t run with scissors or hit other children. Jake is pretty good at following the rules; and when he slips up, he almost always apologizes. And Jake is a good kid in another way. His parents have taught him that other people have feelings. He doesn’t call his friends names, and he is always ready to share what he has (even his very favorite kind of candy). He wants things to be fair, because he understands that if things aren’t fair, everyone gets hurt in the end. Yes, Jake is a very good kid!

But there are some things that Jake doesn’t understand yet. Mostly, he doesn’t understand that, as much as he knows, he doesn’t know everything. His mom and dad still know a whole lot more than he does! For example, on the mornings in early spring that dawn clear and warm, Jake never wants to wear a coat. “I don’t need a coat,” he insists. “It’s warm outside.” And when his mom says, “But it’s going to get cold and rain this afternoon,” Jake doesn’t believe her. He doesn’t know anything about weather reports and radar images; and he can’t yet understand that a cold front is moving in, and that by noon, it will be overcast and chilly.

Now, you may be remembering the days when you were just like Jake. You didn’t listen to your parents because you thought that you knew as much as they did (if not more). You may have been in first grade, or a senior in high school, or just starting out on your own – but I’ll bet that you used to behave just like Jake. Let’s face it, we all did! And aren’t we glad that we don’t behave that way anymore. Well, actually, if the truth be told, we still do behave that way. But it’s not our parents that we ignore now. It’s God.

Now, before you get mad and stop reading, hear me out. We just listened to what the prophet Micah said to the people of his time when they asked what God wanted of them (Micah 6:1-8). Micah told them that God wanted three things: justice, mercy, and humility. God wants the very same things from us. And most of the time, we try really hard to do the first two. We do worry about justice. We look critically at our legal system and ask whether it is really fair, or whether it is biased in favor of one social group or another. We worry about mercy, too. We talk a lot about how we care for the last and the least, and wonder whether there are better ways for us to help people who are needy. But the third item: that humility thing… That’s a real stumbling block. Most of us don’t want to admit that we don’t have all the answers to our problems; and we seem to spend an awful lot of time arguing with people whose answers are different than ours are. Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have discussions. We need to have discussions. In fact, the only way that we’ll arrive at fair and merciful solutions is through discussions. But if we start those discussions believing that we have all the answers, we’re doomed to failure before we even start.

But… wait a minute! Micah was talking about being humble with God, not with each other! Isn’t that something completely different? We know that God knows everything and we don’t! Why do we have to listen to one another when we’re pretty sure that some people don’t know what they’re talking about? Let’s take a closer look at that question and see where God fits in.

Let’s go back to Jake. Jake goes to a school that is very multi-cultural, so Jake knows lots of kids who aren’t just like he is. Some are from a different social class and don’t have as much money as his family does. Others are of a different race. Jake knows African-Americans, Hispanics, and children whose parents came from the Middle East. Still others practice a different faith. While Jake is a Christian, his friends are Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu. Those differences have led to some misunderstandings in the past. When one little boy came to school in the same clothes for a whole week, Jake laughed at him. Jake’s dad had to explain to him that his friend’s family was very poor, and his friend didn’t have many clothes to wear. In fact, his friend’s father was laid off just last week, and they weren’t sure how they were going to get by. Another friend was very excited when the teacher announced that their class was going to study India. That was no big deal to Jake. He didn’t even know where India was! But his friend’s parents are from India; and his friend is very proud of that. And Jake was really confused when he asked a third friend what he got for Christmas. “We don’t celebrate Christmas,” his friend replied. “We celebrate Hanukkah.” Jake had absolutely no idea what that was all about!

Jake is still learning that he doesn’t know everything that he thinks he knows about his friends. Because they have grown up in very different families, their experiences have been very different than Jake’s have been; and their reactions to things that happen are very different, too. And the only one who really understands all of that is God. God is the only one who knows everything about us. God knows how we were raised, the difficult things that have happened to us, and why we react the way that we do. In fact, God knows us better than we know ourselves! So, in the end, being humble with each other is really a part of being humble with God.

So, just how can we connect with people who aren’t like us? We can offer them Jesus. Now, I’m not talking about handing them a tract with three steps that you need to take in order to be saved. I’m talking about being Jesus for them. We are called to be Jesus to other people. And how do we do that? Jesus accepted everyone who came to him wanting to talk. Can we do that? Jesus listened to everyone who had something to say to him. Can we do that? Jesus didn’t turn his back on anyone, even those who were arrogant and hard-hearted. Can we do that? Jesus is the one who knocks down walls and builds bridges instead. We should try to do that, too.

“Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.” I’m beginning to think that we can only do justice and love mercy if we are willing to walk humbly with God and with each other. Never mind if other people won’t listen to us – we need to listen to them! And we mustn’t stop listening to God, either. We need to pray, and pray, and then pray some more. We need to pray for open eyes to see what is around us; to pray for open ears to listen to other people (especially the ones that aren’t just like we are); and to pray for the wisdom to know what to do with what we learn. Jake is still learning; and one day, he will discover how much his father and mother really know. In time, he will discover that God knows even more. And if Jake can learn that, I’ll bet that we can, too.

Making a Mark

How do you feel as you walk into the new year? Do you stride in confidently? Do you edge in timidly? Are you cautious as you take those first steps? This New Year's sermon draws on advice taken from 2 Timothy as it makes some suggestions. I hope that it is helpful to you.


I am a calendar kind of person. I love calendars – but not the kind in my smart phone. No, I’m still a fan of paper calendars! I love the ones that have a beautiful picture each month of the year – dogs or birds or landscapes. Every December, it’s a major decision to choose the one that will hang in my kitchen in the new year. I also like page-a-day calendars that offer a different thought each day. They may not be useful for keeping track of my appointments, but they give me new something to think about every day.

Several years ago, a friend of mine gave me a page-a-day calendar as a Christmas gift. Her church had sold them as a fundraiser; and each day had either a Bible verse or an inspirational thought. I used it for several years. I never have forgotten the poem that it used on New Year’s Day. That poem went something like this:

The new year lies before us like freshly fallen snow.

Be careful how you walk on it, for every blot will show.

I hate that poem! I cringe every time I think about it! Oh, it’s certainly a beautiful image: an unbroken expanse of white with no footprints mar its perfection. But should we really compare that beautiful snowy meadow to the new year? Is a new year really perfect, and we inevitably mess it up? That’s certainly the way that some people see it. Just listen to any newscast in the next few days: after the first robbery has been committed, or the first person has been murdered, or the first fire has destroyed a home. “Yes, indeed,” the newscaster will say, “the new year is ruined already.” But that kind of attitude certainly doesn’t encourage me to go out and greet the new year with enthusiasm! On the contrary, it makes me want to stay in bed and pull the covers up over my head! I’m sure that the author of that poem intended it to caution us to think carefully before we take action; and that’s good advice. But if our first steps into the new year are likely to ruin it, why do anything at all?

That’s not the kind of advice that we read in the second letter to Timothy! You heard some of that advice in this morning’s scripture reading (2 Timothy 1:6-10). We shouldn’t be timid, but bold as we follow Jesus Christ! And why is that? Why, we can be bold because in God’s grace, Jesus Christ has come to us, and we are empowered by his Spirit! What an amazing statement! God accepts us as we are. We didn’t earn God’s grace; God offers it because God loves us. God’s Spirit guides us. That means that we have access to God’s wisdom as we live our lives. And Jesus reveals the forgiveness that we have from God when we aren’t as wise as we might be. We can be bold in the new year! We don’t have to worry about messing it up! The footprints that we make in that new fallen snow are beautiful in God’s eyes if they are made while we are following Jesus Christ!

Now, we know that we’ll make some mistakes. We’re only human, after all. But God had promised to transform even our mistakes into something beautiful! Have you ever heard the story of the two buckets of water? Those two buckets talked together as their owner carried them to the well and back every morning and evening. In fact, they had a rivalry going as to which bucket could carry the most water. One day, one of the buckets noticed that the other one was leaking. With great glee, he exclaimed, “Ha! I will always be able to carry more water than you can! I don’t know why our owner even keeps you around!” The second bucket was very sad; and her owner noticed. “Whatever is the matter?” he asked. “I’m no good,” cried the bucket. “I leak water every time you use me.” “I know that,” replied her owner. “That’s why I always carry you on the left side of the road as we come home from the well. Have you noticed the beautiful flowers on that side? Your leak waters them every day, and everyone who passes by enjoys their beauty.” Even our mistakes can be used by God for good.

But let’s be very clear. Following Jesus isn’t easy. That’s why Timothy is warned that he will “suffer” when he spreads the gospel. Now, when Timothy lived, Christianity was illegal. He risked being thrown into prison or worse! We aren’t in that situation. But we do live in a society that is very, very critical. Even if you do your very best all the time, people will criticize you. They will look at your footprints in the snow and judge them to be ugly. Even if you do exactly what Jesus Christ told us to do, someone will say that you’re wrong. If you feed and clothe the poor, someone will say that you’re encouraging them to be lazy. If you speak up for the refugee who is trying to begin a new life in safety, someone will accuse you of not caring about our national security. And if, God forbid, you take the side of gays and lesbians, lots and lots of people will tell you that you’re breaking God’s law! Oh, yes – even if you live in the spirit of Jesus Christ, folks will accuse you of ruining that perfect new year that has just begun. But God doesn’t tell us to care about what other people think of us. God tells us to care about what Jesus Christ thinks of us! He is the one who is judging the beauty of the snow-covered landscape; and he sees all the footprints that we make in his service as absolutely beautiful. No less a spiritual giant than Mother Teresa struggled with this very problem. A plaque hung on the wall in her room in Calcutta, India to remind her of what was important. This is what that plaque said.

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Be good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People need help, but will attack you if you help them. Help them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

In this new year, you have a chance to make a mark by the footprints you leave as you follow Jesus Christ. Don’t worry that those footprints might be blots on the new year! Trust the Spirit’s guidance, have faith that God will transform our mistakes, and believe that Jesus loves all that we do in his name. After all, our footprints are leading to the kingdom of God, where all are loved and accepted, and where everyone has enough. Won’t it be a wonderful new year when that kingdom comes at last!?