Beginning with Humility
by Mike Killebrew
This past weekend while sitting in a deer stand on opening day of hunting season, waiting for a big buck to walk in front of me (which didn’t happen), I spent some time on my phone reading a Bible app. I was focused on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, being particularly drawn to the first 16 verses of chapter 4, meditating on Paul’s instructions. If you haven’t had the privilege of sitting in a deer stand, it is a wonderful place to become consumed in thought, especially when reading Scripture. Side note: I would add that this past Saturday in Indiana was a wonderful time and place to get cold and snowed on. In my stillness and prior to my extreme coldness I was struck with the idea that the first part of Ephesians 4 is a description of the unified church in action. During my inaction in the deer stand, I was taken in by Paul’s description of the church in action. Paul communicates in verse 2 that action starts with humility.
Paul, in chapter 4, is transitioning from his description of God’s grace and salvation in the first three chapters to the consequences of grace. We have all received grace for salvation but, additionally, to build up the body of Christ. The transitional statement is found in verse 1 in the phrase, “I urge you to live a life.” In other words, in response to all I’ve shared in chapters 1-3, what I’m about to say is how we are to live - unified in action.
Last week, I was participating on ZOOM in one of our monthly lead pastor cohorts for partner churches. We invited Dr. Mark Moore, a New Testament scholar and author of Core 52 to join our conversation. He shared a hermeneutical study tip in a one-off comment that I replayed as I read this passage. Dr. Moore shared that when studying a biblical list, there is emphasis put on the first and last words of the list. There is a level of high importance put on the word humble in the start of chapter 4. As Paul begins to present the case for the action of the church, he starts with a call to humility.
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Sprit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)
About a decade ago, I decided I wanted to learn how to plant a vegetable garden. I had helped my mother in her garden as a child but hadn’t really learned enough about it to successfully try on my own. I had a good spot in my yard and desperately needed to learn from someone with experience; I needed a gardening coach. I asked my friend Ron for some help. Ron had been gardening for years and he was just the guy to coach me and help me be successful. He specifically coached me that a good garden starts in the Fall. He came over and helped me prepare the soil, we plowed and fertilized months before I would plant anything. Then, in the Spring, before planting, he had me take additional steps to continue preparing the soil. It was a great lesson on gardening and on life, learning that long before planting my first plant or seed, the soil must be properly prepared.
In a similar way to prepping the soil of a garden, we must prep the soil of self. Long before we act, we must move towards the attitude of humility. Paul’s instructions to the Christians in Ephesus to action was “live a life worthy of the calling” and to be “completely humble.” When we properly prep the soil of self by moving towards humility, there will be better fruit from our action. Long before we experience unity with one another and take action that advances the church we must first move towards humility. We must specifically prep our soil by asking the question, “how am I moving towards humility?”
I’m not sure exactly where to give credit for this prayer, the Litany of Humility. Presently, it is popularly attributed to Rafael Merry del Val and/or Saint Francis. However, as the author of this Christian prayer from long ago prayed, it seems God answered their prayer and the true source’s name was not remembered by history (the two written sources we could find at e2 from the late 1800s don’t have any author’s name attached). Perhaps we, too, could pray this prayer and others like it so that it would prepare the soil of our self for more fruitful action, action that won’t even be remembered by history.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being rebuked, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being criticized, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That in the opinion of the world others may increase and I decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen, and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
Amen
Next week we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving, a national holiday designed to be centered on thanking the Lord for all that we have. As we move into a season of being intentionally thankful let’s be reminded that our thanksgiving is directed to someone, to God who created us and in humility we are responding to his goodness with all that we do. May our actions start with humility.
