Philippians 2:1-5

I had this fantastic sermon on humility, but I couldn't find a congregation big enough-so I suppose you will have to do! If there are two things you can learn from politicians these days they are probably this: 1. Never admit you are wrong-go to all kinds of lengths to deny that you are wrong, invent all kinds of language that will help you do this. 2. The way to maintain power is to smash your enemy. Defeat them first, then ask questions.

But of course what is startling about the Christian message and about Jesus is held much we are called to go the opposite way-to be humble, to consider others better than ourselves, to be those who put others first. Paul, who asked the Christians at Philippi to consider Jesus, was himself, despite being a strong character, an example of humility. In 59 AD he wrote: I am the least of the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9. In 63 AD he wrote: I am the very least of all the saints. Ephesians 3:8. And the following year he wrote: I am the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15. As he got older it seems he became humbler!

But why be humble? What is the point of it? I suspect many of us have low enough self esteem anyway. Particularly as a church we might feel small fry. What can turn people off Christianity is the spurious idea that you need a negative self image in order to be a “good” Christian. It is not surprising people think that when in our history we have the example of so-called saints such as Simeon Stylites who made a virtue of self denial. He built a column six feet high in the Syrian desert in the fifth century AD and lived on it for several years. However he became rather ashamed of the small column and after a determined search he found a 60 foot pillar situated thirty miles from Antioch in a sun-scorched wilderness. This pillar was perfect; it was three feet across with a railing to prevent him from falling off in his sleep. On this perch Simeon lived uninterrupted for thirty years, exposed to rain and sun and hail. A ladder enabled his disciples to take him food and remove his waste. He bound himself to the column by a rope; the rope became embedded in his flesh, which putrified around it, and stank, and teemed with worms. Simeon picked up the worms that fell from his sores, and replaced them there, saying to them, "Eat what God has given you." Simeon lived on this pillar for thirty seven years in every extreme of weather, praying and posturing or standing with arms outstretched in the form of a cross for as long as eight hours at a time.

If humility is about this kind of self denial, this kind of self abuse, then it is indeed something which should turn people off Christianity. We should beware of the kind of humility which effectively creates a self-hating, world denying type of religion. You don't have to hate yourself to be humble, you don't have to punish or hurt yourself to be humble. You don't have to deny your value to be humble. Jesus was a man of humility, but he was also someone who was perfectly at ease with himself.

William Temple was far nearer the mark when he wrote: "Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. I means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all." But why is it freedom not to have to think of yourself? Because humility is a doorway, an opening, an opportunity. Humility is about the freedom to make room for God. To give him space. Humility for us, as it was for Jesus, is about one thing only - making room for God's will. Humble people don't focus on their own unworthiness. Humble people look only at the glory of God. Because when I spend my time looking at the goodness, the holiness, the worthiness of God, then my own goodness or holiness or worthiness doesn't seem all that relevant any more.

But the beauty of this is that the humble people find that their true selves are not obliterated but revealed. An Indian holy man had completed a sell out tour around the world. People asked him, Doesn't it do harm, your getting so much honor?" The Sadhu's answer was: "No. The donkey went into Jerusalem, and they put garments on the ground before him. He was not proud. He knew it was not done to honor him, but for Jesus, who was sitting on his back. When people honor me, I know it is not me, but the Lord, who does the job."

The end of humility is that people should not praise us, but praise God for our lives. If we can learn humility we will be able to accept the fact that God exalts the humble. We will be able to discover that we are kings, that we are loved, that we are honoured not because of who we are but because of who he is. One day the humble ones will bow the knee before Jesus. And then he will lift them up saying “You are not strangers, you are my friends. Come and receive all I have for you.”

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