A
sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 27
October 2019, Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost,
by
Dr. Kung Lap Yan.
The scripture readings that day were Psalm 65:1-13,
Luke
18:9-14.
What
makes one hard to be humble? Psychologists tell us that people with less
self-confident and less self-worth are hard to be humble, because they feel the
need to step over others in order to get affirmation and recognition. If we
take the psychological view, does it mean what Jesus said in the parable that “for
all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be
exalted” is a matter about self-confidence and self-worth? I would not deny it,
but this is not the theological understanding of being humble.
The
parable has three figure, namely, the Pharisee, the tax collector and the narrator. As a narrator, Jesus intends to challenge the stereotyping
on Pharisees and tax collectors. That is to say, Pharisees are not as
righteousness as what most people at his time think, and tax-collectors are not
as unrighteousness as what most people at his time think. On the contrary,
Jesus praises the tax-collector, not the Pharisee. This is a subversive comment
at his time, because it directly angers the Pharisees. Different from the
judgment by most people, Jesus’s criterion of judgment is not whether one has
fulfilled the religious laws and moral laws, but whether one’s awareness of
oneself live under God’s graciousness.
Why
does the Pharisee give a tenth of his all income? Is it an act of thanksgiving?
Or is it a show off of that he fulfills the law? No matter what the reason is, his
giving is not appreciated as a humble act, because he says, “I thank you that I am not like other
people.” He is not able to see that God’s graciousness would also come
upon people who do not have the same moral and religious life as his. They are
thieves, rogues, adulterers and tax collectors. The Pharisee focuses on his
worthiness, not God’s graciousness. Being humble, theologically, is about a
matter of seeing that God’s graciousness also comes upon people whom we dislike
or we consider them not worthy. They may be LGBT, protestors, police and people
from the pro-government camp. The greater one’s
sense of humility, the easier it is to appreciate others, to praise them, and
to encourage them. Being humble is to recognize that we are the
recipients of God’s graciousness, but we are not the keepers of God’s
graciousness, judging who are worthy to have
God’s graciousness and who are not. Put it straight, being humble is not
to be a hindrance for others to experience God’s graciousness.
Second,
people who acknowledge God’s graciousness would be willing to give and share,
because they consider what they have had are something that is shared by God. Without
God’s graciousness and sharing, I have got nothing. Even though the Pharisee is
judgmental, I am still inclined to say that the Pharisee’s act of giving a
tenth of all his income is an act of thanksgiving. People who are humble tend to be more generous with both their time and
their money. On the contrary, people hardly give
and share if they have no humility. Perhaps, some argue that only
people with abundance have a better capacity to give or share. So, giving or
sharing is more related to one’s abundance, not one’s humility. But I want to
tell you that the rich seldom give and share a lot, because they are easily fallen into a cycle of improving their living standard
in which the word, enough, does not exist. On the contrary, the poor is more willingly to give
and share, because they know that without giving and sharing, they can’t
survive. Being humble, theologically, is to give and share with others humbly
and happily.
The
third theological meaning of being humble is to break through or lay down one’s
ego to receive God’s graciousness in terms of forgiveness. In order to receive
God’s forgiveness, one has to admit his/her wrongdoing and repent. The parable
describes that the tax collector, “standing far off, would not even look up to
heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a
sinner!’” His body position and gesture show that he does not feel worthy to be
forgiven. Perhaps, he has committed great sins. Despite this, Jesus concludes
that “all who humble themselves will be exalted.” The parable does not say anything
more on the life of the tax-collector after confession, but experiences tell us
that people who seek for forgiveness have better
social relationships, avoid deception in their social interactions, and tend to
be forgiving, grateful, and cooperative. Nevertheless, we are in a very different
scenario. That is to say, there are people without a sense of repentance and
they do not seek for forgiveness. They are Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of
HK government, and the police. The police never never apologize. They only see
themselves as victims. Being humble, theologically, is nothing other than
repentance and seeking for forgiveness.
To be humble is not to think less of oneself,
but to think of oneself less. It means that we are the channel, not the
hindrance, of God’s graciousness, give and share with others humbly and
happily, and to break through our ego in order to repent and seek for forgiveness.
The core message of being humble is not about a matter of virtue, but is about
Sola Gratia (only grace), one of the cornerstones of the Reformation. It is
God’s graciousness bringing us to be humble. Also it is our humility opening
our eyes, arms and heart to God’s graciousness.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, October 27, 2019
