Humility

Humility. It’s the only word I can use to describe today; this holiday; our lives.

I watched The Passion of the Christ today. Take away any Mel Gibson hate and the overtly Catholic tones (Why is Mary in every scene?) of the movie away and you’re left with a sobering (if not cleaned up) version of the horror Jesus faced.

Reading the Gospels – meditating on the words and events of Jesus’ last week – I am beyond humbled. Humbled that someone could possibly love me that much.

But me aside – reading these passages and watching this movie – I am reminded of Jesus’ humility. The little lion inside me rages at the injustice of His crucifixion. They let a murderer go free instead of Him. Yet Jesus remained humble and obedient. He’s pouring out His soul in the garden and yet still says, “not my will but yours.”

Humility. Never once did He choose Himself over His mission and us. Never once did He fight back or talk back to these people who were beating Him, spitting on Him and treating Him with injustice. Instead, He healed the ear of the High Priest after His disciples cut it off. Even in the midst of His betrayal – Jesus humbly loved the men who wanted Him dead.

In the most painful moment of His life – hanging on the cross – He begs God to forgive those who persecuted Him.

I don’t know about you but none of Jesus’ responses would ever be how I would respond. I know, I’m not Jesus so it’s understandable. BUT – we are called to live like Him. We’re gonna fail – obviously – but more humbling to me is that His responses aren’t even on my radar.

When being tempted – He responds to Satan with truth. When being told lies – He speaks truth. It’s not rocket science. You know what I do when I hear lies? I typically believe them or I distract. Can’t hear ya Satan if I’m not listening. You know what’s so much more effective than either of those? Just straight squashing lies with truth. And yet that is almost never my automatic response.

When being accused of falsehoods or facing injustice – you know what I do? I get angry and mad and I fight back. I argue and attack. Because standing up for injustice is important and you better not accuse me of something I’ve never done. Like you best believe if someone called me out on my white privilege – my response would not be humility. No, I’d be indignant and probably attack and have excuses. You know what’s the proper response? Humility. Listening. Because even if you’re that small sect of White evangelical Christians who believe racism isn’t real (don’t even get me started) the example Jesus demonstrated was one of humility. So whether we are right or wrong (because He was 100% right) we are asked to stand there in humility. We are asked to not retaliate. We are asked to calmly speak in truth and love. And let me tell you friends – that is almost never my response. Like ever. And yet that’s what we see.

When people are trying to physically harm me – I’m for sure not forgiving them or healing them. For crying out loud – that’s just the complete opposite of my humanity. BUT that’s not what Jesus did. He literally healed the man who asked for Him to be crucified. When people harm us – we are called to forgive them. We are called to humble our need for vengeance and give it to God. We are called to forgive. That my friends, takes a lot of humility. Because hurt is real. Pain isn’t easy. When you forgive someone you’re saying – here’s this thorn in my side and I’m taking it out and it might bleed a lot. It might bleed more than I can bear. But guys, it’s never going to bleed so much you die. No, no. When you forgive people and you let that thorn out – it will bleed and hurt but I promise you will heal. When we never forgive we never allow ourselves to heal. We will always carry those wounds. They will debilitate us. Jesus is asking us to forgive. He’s asking us to take a page from His book. He’s saying – humble yourselves. Forgive others. Don’t retaliate; respond in love.

So that’s my response today. Humility. I’m overwhelmed by my pride and privilege. I’m overwhelmed by my innate sin nature that humility isn’t even an attempted response. And I’m humbled by His example of humility. I’m overwhelmed and in awe of His goodness and love that even in the darkest of times – He chose God’s plan and love for others.

This Easter season and beyond can we be Christians who are marked by the blood of Christ and live it out? Can we be humble humans who love? Can we even love those who we deem “wrong” or incorrect? Can we fight against the digital age of opinions and arguments and humble ourselves to listen? Can we radically forgive those who have wronged us – even if the wronging was horrific? Can we stop spreading lies about others? And can we stop trying to do it all on our own? Because even Jesus asked God for strength and was ministered to by an angel. So let’s be humble servants who come to love just like our King.