Lent II

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be always acceptable unto Thee, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

From the Gospel: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” (Matthew 15:27)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Humility is not a virtue which is greatly esteemed in our culture.

We are encouraged to be self-assertive, to have self-esteem, to get our rights, and to be more concerned with self-expression than with duty.

Certainly, it is difficult to think of many of our leaders who we could truly describe as being humble; indeed, we would describe most of them as proud, arrogant, self-important, pompous know-it-alls.

I am both amused and disgusted by Congressional hearings.

Each of the Congress critters must make his or her little speech before they even begin to question the witness, who is presumably there to impart information on the subject which they do not have.

Even when they do get around to asking their so-called “questions,” it seems they are usually more interested in displaying their own self-perceived expertise than hearing from the witness, who presumably is an expert.

One other example of this phenomenon is the contempt many people display for professionals.

Whether it is law, education, politics, economics, medicine, ethics, or most definitely religion, those who lack any training or experience in the field are sure they know better than those who do.
The result of this kind of thinking is tragically on display in the needless deaths of unvaccinated people from tetanus, or polio, or a host of other diseases.

I am reminded of a from Proverbs: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

Not surprisingly, in the Scriptures, humility is held in far greater esteem than it is in our culture.

For example, Peter tells us, “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

Or as we find in all the Synoptic Gospels: “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)

The reason many Anglicans bow or genuflect, as they are able, at the words “And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man” in the Creed, is not, as some suppose, to honor of the Blessed Virgin, but rather in response to the Incarnation, which is beyond any argument, the greatest act of self-abasement in the history of the universe.

For many, the thought of standing bolt upright while contemplating this greatest act of humility is simply unimaginable, but of course, this is a matter of personal taste, not of church law.

Put it this way, think of being made into a sea-slug, and then raise that humiliation to the millionth power, and you are still infinitely short of the degree to which God the Son humbled himself when he became a man.

It is perhaps not surprising one of the criticisms of those who wanted to do away with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer was that it is “too penitential,” which is to say it does not fit with our current cultural norms.

Indeed, in Rite II, which is the preferred Communion service in the new religion, there is no Prayer of Humble Access, no mention of our sins being “grievous” or burdensome, no indication we are unworthy to offer Him any sacrifice, and many other things deemed humiliating.

Even the General Confession may be omitted in that rite.

It perhaps goes without saying in this new liturgy there are no Comfortable Words, no requirement for the Ten Commandments, nor, of course, no Prayer of Humble Access; “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table” does not fit the new religion of self-esteem.

I know many respond to this sort of discussion with a shrug, “So what?” they ask.

Remember from our Church History Study, “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi,” the Law of prayer is the law of belief, or to put it another way, “as we pray, so we believe” and “as we believe, so we pray.”

Our prayers both influence and reflect our understanding of the Faith.

A new religion demands a new liturgy; a new liturgy embodies a new religion.

There is something more at stake in our cleaving to the 1928 Book of Common Prayer than mere antiquarianism.

From a Biblical (and hence divine) perspective, Man’s approach to God is should be humble, reverent, and penitential.

It is simply not possible to be “too penitential” unless seen from the standpoint of our current cultural norms.

Humility is also profoundly necessary in our dealings with other people.

Nowhere is this truer than in the delivery of a correction or a complaint.

When we find it necessary to correct a brother for his behavior, approaching him in a humble spirit will go a long way to his being able to receive it well.
Obviously, the first and most important thing is to do this out of the hearing of others, as our Lord’s commands us to do, “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15.)

(I hope it goes without saying, we should never rehearse our correction or complaint with anyone else before we speak to our brother.)

The second is to allow for the possibility you have misunderstood or misperceived the situation, “I may be wrong about this, but …”

The third is to speak about the behavior and its impact on you, not to condemn the person.

These three little steps will help the brother to receive the correction without feeling attacked and therefore defensive and needing to “set the record straight.”

With normal people, this approach usually elicits an apology or an explanation, or both.

Of course, there people in this world who are so consumed with pride they cannot receive any correction, no matter how gentle, without defensiveness and retaliation.

At the very least, you will have gained valuable information, and have some insight on how to proceed going forward, if necessary.

By the same token, humility allows us to receive a correction from others well.

Not everyone knows about Our Lord’s commandment to deliver corrections in private, so if a brother starts to publicly criticize you, calmly invite him to speak with you alone.

When in private, the first thing is to hear the brother out in full, not interrupting nor justifying nor even hastening to apologize.
The second is to thank the brother for his having the courage to speak to you, and not to others about the perceived fault, avoiding any hint of sarcasm, which will ruin the whole thing.

The third is to consider calmly what he has said and try to see it from his perspective, not getting defensive or feeling the need to “set the record straight.”

If there has been a misunderstanding, offer an apology for the misunderstanding and explain what was intended.

Above all, if you really have been thoughtless, stupid, or unkind, own it and apologize, and ask for forgiveness.

It is simply amazing the results this will bring about, as we find in the Proverbs,

“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)

What many people fail to understand is that a sincere apology and forgiveness asked for and granted does not diminish either person, but rather brings them closer in the Lord.

We have seen how humility is the correct approach to God and to our fellow man.

In closing, however, there is one place where humility must be out of bounds.

That is in upholding and defending the essentials of the Faith.

I hasten to add this does not mean acting in a proud or haughty fashion.

St. Paul put it succinctly, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

Our own faith is not something of which ought to be proud, rather it is something for which to be humbly grateful.

It is the Faith, not our own faith, which we must be bold, forthright, and uncompromising in proclaiming.
As Saint Paul put it, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Galatians 6:14)

By essentials I mean those core beliefs which are necessary to salvation: The Trinity, the divinity of our Lord, the necessity and sufficiency of his atoning sacrifice, and the like; I do not mean those many doubtful doctrines about which good Christians may reasonably disagree without being disagreeable.

We must never be deferential or equivocal about the essentials of The Faith.

These things are not simply our opinions, about which we might be right or wrong, they are the sure teaching of the Scripture as interpreted by the historic Church, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, and hence are the very Word of God.

We must never minimize or apologize for the Word of God lest we bring dishonor to His Name, and sow confusion and doubt in the minds of others.

I can imagine nothing worse than having to explain to The Lord why I failed to stand up for His Truth and thereby cost another man his salvation.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

He did not say, “I am one of the ways, one of the truths, one of the lives, and who knows, perhaps you could come to the Father by someone else.”

Amen.