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HUMILITY
TAKES THE POISON OUT
November 3, 2002
Fr. George Smiga
Matthew
23:1-12
Those
that humble themselves will be exalted. What a peculiar statement
by Jesus! How can we understand it? How can we exalt ourselves
by being humbled?
Perhaps
the place to start is with the understanding of the word "humble."
The English word humble comes from the Latin word humus,
which means earth or dirt. The humble person, therefore, is
the person who knows the stuff of which he or she is made.
Remember that in the book of Genesis God creates the human
person out of the dirt of the earth. So the humble person
is the honest person, the person who can admit the common
clay, the imperfect stuff out of which all of us are made.
The humble person is the honest person, the person who can
admit failings, shortcomings, and sins. That person knows
that he or she is not perfect and there is no impulse to pretend
differently.
Now Jesus'
criticism of the Scribes and Pharisees in the gospel is an
invitation to this kind of humility. The Scribes and Pharisees
were no more hypocritical or proud than any other group of
people in any time of history. Their role in the story is
to stand in for us. Their faults and shortcomings are meant
to represent our shortcomings and faults. Their hypocrisy,
insensitivity, and love of honor are a reminder to us of how
often we are hypocritical and insensitive and addicted to
the respect of others. In light of those shortcomings in us,
Jesus invites us to humility, invites us to honesty, invites
us to recognize the flaws of our life. Jesus promises us that,
if we can own the imperfect clay out of which we are made,
we can release both goodness and power.
There
is a story among the American Indians of a twelve-year old
boy who was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. His grieving
parents carried the boy to the holy man in the village. The
parents and the holy man sat around the dead boy for hours
in silence. Finally the father got up and he placed his hands
on the feet of his son. He said, "In all my life, I have
not been as attentive to my family as I needed to be."
With those words, the poison left the boy's feet. The mother
then got up and placed her hands on the boy's heart. She said,
"In all my life, I have not loved my family as deeply
as they needed me to love them." The poison left the
boy's heart. Then the holy man got up and placed his hands
on the boy's head. He said, "In all my life, I have not
truly believed the words that I have preached to others."
The poison left the boy's head and he sat up alive again.
This story
proclaims the truth that admitting who we are has the power
to heal. Admitting our own faults and shortcomings can bring
something that is dead back to life. That is why Jesus calls
us to humility and honesty; why he says that those who humble
themselves will be exalted. Because in humbling ourselves
with the truth of our own imperfections, we release power
and life into our world.
How contrary
this truth is to the beliefs and practice of our society.
Politicians from the President on down are always spinning,
trying to make us believe that they make no mistakes and that
they have nothing to hide. Executives in business spend millions
of dollars settling lawsuits so that matters can be resolved
without admitting any liability or recognizing that any harm
has been done. The Bishops of our church, even though they
acted quickly to protect our children when the scandal broke
about sexual abuse, were rather slow in admitting their own
responsibility. There are still but a handful of bishops willing
to say, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the mess and the harm
that was done." So if leaders in government, in business,
and in our church are reluctant to admit that they have made
mistakes, does it not make it more difficult for us to admit
the humble honest truth about ourselves. What our society
seeks to do with our imperfections is hide them and deny them.
Against
all of this influence, Jesus calls us to be honest, to be
humble, to admit the truth about ourselves and our own imperfections.
He assures us that such humility will not harm us, but rather
deepen our life.
What power
there could be in marriages and in friendships if we could
more easily say, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I hurt you.
I'm sorry that I did not meet your expectations or needs."
How much easier it could be to forgive someone, to heal a
broken relationship, if we could say, "I am not perfect.
I too am a sinner. I have in my own way contributed to the
estrangement that exists between us." How much more freedom
could we have if we could admit our shortcomings and work
to correct them; but at the same time continue to believe
that people love us not because we are perfect, but because
we can be genuine and honest in admitting our faults and our
need to grow.
We do
have value. But our value comes from the fact that God has
made us and loves us. Not from the illusion that we are without
fault. This is why we can be honest, why we can humbly admit
that we are not perfect. This is why those who are humbled
can be exalted. Because admitting the truth about ourselves
releases power, the power to take the poison out, the power
to bring something that was dead back to life.
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