Good morning again. It is a joy and indeed a privilege to be with you again this morning. This is my eighth opportunity to preach from this pulpit. Most recently we worshiped together on the first Sunday of August, when it was just a little bit warmer than what it is today, and we considered the risks of loving money more than God. Once again, I remind you I don’t take lightly the trust you place in me to lead you in worship here. I bring you greetings from North Congregational UCC in Columbus, where I am a member and a member of the choir. It starts up next Sunday, luckily, so I’m not missing the opening Sunday of choir. I think you’re also having the opening Sunday of choir next Sunday. And I also bring you greetings from HomeReach Ohio Health Hospice, where I still serve as a hospice chaplain. Let us pray together.

Holy God, send your spirit to guide our time together this morning. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing to you, Almighty God, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

So today we find ourselves nearing the end of the summer season on a lovely day, and we consider a text that features this passage from Luke – “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The title of our message today that I chose is taken from Proverbs, on which Jesus almost certainly based his lesson today. We heard one of those passages from Proverbs 25 earlier in the meditation, and here is another brief message from Proverbs: “Before destruction, one’s heart is haughty, but humility goes before honor.” Not only did Jesus preach using this text, but he also lived out this approach in his ministry. We remember the notable washing of the disciples’ feet in the final moments of his earthly life. With the exception of the crucifixion itself, this was Jesus’ final effort to teach his disciples what humility looks like in practice. Jesus calls this practice of humility humbling oneself.

Maybe it’s worthwhile at this point to distinguish between humility and humbling oneself. I suppose that they’re related concepts. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he encourages his followers many times to humble themselves. In Matthew Chapter 18, Verse 4, Jesus tells his disciples, “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Throughout his three years of ministry, Jesus consistently raises those in lower places in society, especially the poor, widows, children, immigrants – immigrants – the sick, to positions of honor, and challenges those in positions of power to humble themselves. That challenge to the rules of his society at that time was not an insignificant thing. The Romans, who were the occupiers of the place where they lived, as well as the Hebrews, liked the strata of society to be well-defined and to be reinforced. And indeed, it ended up leading to Jesus’ untimely death.

The major issue in our passage today is where people seat themselves when attending dinner in someone’s home. This parable provides a metaphor for humbling oneself in other areas of society. So, Jesus wasn’t just talking about how you behave when you go to a dinner at somebody’s house, right? It’s a parable. It applies to many other things. Dinner guests of higher standing in the community at that time would be expected to sit close to the host of a table if they were of high standing. Jesus urges the dinner guests instead to seat themselves in places of less honor and wait there in hopes of being elevated by the host to a place of more honor. I must admit, I’m not terribly fond of this parable. It’s maybe not Jesus’ most fine moment in offering parables. It seems on the surface to be urging me to be humble, to avoid the embarrassment of being put in my place. So, it’s kind of like teaching people about how to look good in front of other people in order to increase your status.

I actually like the last paragraph of our passage much better. It seems to be making an entirely different point. At the risk of repeating what Kris already told you, this is the passage I really like. When you give a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors in case they may invite you in return and you would get repaid. But when you give a benefit, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, but you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous. That admonition seems to be much more in line with Jesus’ general philosophy of elevating those of lower status in society and not seeking greater esteem from those in power to reward me.

One of the things I’ve started doing in my semi-retirement is to work for the Ohio State Medical School as a simulated patient. You know there are such things. There was a “Seinfeld” episode about it. The simulated patient is where you take on the role of a patient to provide practice for medical students. Have any of you ever done such a thing? Yes, Charlotte has. Anybody else? She can tell you about what that’s like later. I can as well. It’s very exciting. It’s an awesome experience. One of the qualities that the instructors are attempting to instill in the medical students is that of humility, which is tough with their new medical students because they think they are about to reach the higher status levels of society. And then they tell them, “You’re supposed to humble yourself.” Last Thursday I was playing the role of a patient with first-year medical students, those who are most confident that they deserve to be in the high status of society. I found myself giving feedback to students about the challenge of carrying oneself with confidence while demonstrating humility in patient interactions. The students were trying to learn what it means to show confidence and at the same time kindness, compassion and humility when assessing needs of patients struggling with sickness. The result of demonstrating humility is that the doctor will thereby create a more equal power dynamic and will learn much more from the patient. This attitude also reminds the physician that the patient understands their situation much more than the doctor does. That strategy seems to be a bit more transactional, just like the parable in our passage. If I lower myself, I will gain more complete knowledge about the patient from the transaction.

As chaplains, we are taught, it is grounded into us over and over and over again, to practice cultural humility. Cultural humility is defined as the process of self-exploration and self-critique combined with an eager willingness to learn from others. It emphasizes the recognizing of one’s limits to one’s own knowledge and understanding, the importance of being open to beliefs, customs and the values of others. Cultural humility focuses on self-reflection and an openness to understanding other cultures. It is the attitude of maintaining an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented as opposed to self-oriented. By doing that you gain an understanding of the cultural identity that is important to that individual, especially in their personal theology and their religious perspective in the case of chaplains. This approach is also somewhat transactional because it’s seeking to increase work effectiveness, although over the past 23 years of chaplaincy, I’ve begun, maybe just begun, to incorporate an attitude of cultural humility into my personality.

Do you think effectiveness in ministry is Jesus’ purpose in advocating humbling oneself? Perhaps it’s useful to consider a passage from one of Jesus’ most famous sermons, the Beatitudes, found in Matthew, chapter 5 – “Then Jesus began to speak, and Jesus taught them, saying, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice, be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Now it’s clear in the Beatitudes that Jesus is saying that his followers should do more than merely act as though they are pure in heart or meek in order to find success in ministry. Jesus is urging all of us, not just his disciples, to be pure in heart and meek and peacemakers, because that is what God expects of us. And more importantly, because it gives us joy. How does humility create more joy in our lives? Well, in reflecting on this over the past few weeks, I think that when I am pure in heart and meek and a peacemaker, I’m not comparing myself to others. When I am meek and pure in heart and a peacemaker, I am not striving to get ahead of my neighbors financially and in an effort to accumulate material things and earthly achievements. Perhaps if we Christians – now we’re getting to the real point of the sermon – perhaps if we Christians had incorporated this humble approach to our ministries and daily lives, we might not now be in the cultural conundrum in which we find ourselves.

A hallmark of modern culture is the state of being ego-driven, the opposite of humility. At the risk of getting dangerously close to politics, we might think of a few politicians who seem to reside in this state of ego-driven. Perhaps a few of these politicians might have been stopped in their efforts to demonize the state of being woke, which is so aptly described in the Beatitudes. Perhaps they would have found more resistance to their dismantling of DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – efforts. Perhaps those politicians would have been met with insurmountable resistance to their warmongering and to their persecution of immigrants and the poor and the marginalized. This striving toward ego fulfillment has led some misguided among us toward grasping for power and grasping for increased wealth rather than lifting up those who are struggling. I have immigrant friends, as you do, poor friends, transgender friends who are terrified right now. Some of my transgender friends I communicate with at least once a week reassuring them that I love them and that I support them. I hope you’re doing the same. I’m sure many of you have heard their cries, but our frustration does not mean we should give up our efforts to reinstate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and to resist the demonization of immigrants, the poor and the marginalized. God is with us in these causes. At the risk of announcing what God wants, I think it’s safe to say that God is interested in the lifting up of the marginalized. Jesus tells us that over and over and over again. It’s hard to miss. God loves those who are marginalized. God is with us in our efforts to lift them up. And God gives us the strength to persevere.

To close, I leave you with three questions. When have you felt tempted to forsake Christ’s call to humble yourself and to stand with those who are marginalized? When have you intentionally turned away from the temptation to seek ego fulfillment over humility? And number three, where has First Congregational UCC been called to renew and strengthen our efforts to stand with those who are marginalized in our society? Amen.