Humility is the subject of today’s Gospel and Epistle. It is not always an easy virtue to define. But it is the preeminent one according to all the spiritual writers of our tradition.
Our Lord Himself manifests the ultimate humility in the Incarnation – emptying Himself of His divine prerogatives, taking the form of a servant and being obedient unto the death of the Cross for our sake – to restore humanity to God.
The blessed Virgin Mary manifests humility in her quiet, obedient response to the Annunciation – Be it unto me according to thy Word. And speaks of it in the Magnificat, of God’s principle of dealing with the humble “He hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden – he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts – He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.”
After giving us the example in our Gospel of the penitent publican Our Lord reminds us at the end of our Gospel portion:” for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18.14) So what exactly is humility?
It isn’t what we see in Uriah Heep “I’m so ‘umble” – that is merely a form of pride. C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself – it is thinking of yourself less” – not a characteristic of Mr. Heep. For Lewis, the truly humble man “will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.” He goes on to write: “If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”
One of the old men of the desert was asked the question, to which he responded:
“Humility is a great work, and a work of God. The way of humility is to undertake bodily labor and believe yourself a sinner and make yourself subject to all.” When asked what it means to be “subject to all” he replied, “ it is not to give your attention to the sins of others but always to give your attention to your own sins and to pray without ceasing to God. Every time a thought of superiority or vanity moves you, examine your conscience to see if you have kept all the commandments, whether you love your enemies, whether you consider yourself the greatest sinner of all. Even so, do not pretend to great ideas as though you were perfectly right, for that thought destroys everything.”
St. Isaac of Syria offers these pearls:
“The perfection of humility is to bear false accusations with joy. A man who is truly humble is not troubled when he is wronged, and says nothing to justify himself against the injustice, but he accepts slander as truth; he does not attempt to persuade men that he is wronged, but begs forgiveness. If you are humble, by these things try yourself: whether or not you are troubled when you suffer injustice.”
What do we learn from these wise Abbas?
First that humility is God’s work, which we can only nurture by our actions. We must recognize ourselves as the publican did- not deigning to lift his eyes, but striking his breast with the words “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” If you do not see yourself a sinner – then you have a very faulty memory of the things you have done and left undone over your life. They may be under the cleansing blood of the confessional, but the memories are there to remind you what manner of man or woman you have been before coming to Christ.
These are the only sins with which we need concern ourselves – our own – not those of others.
Humility is further nurtured by prayer – unceasing prayer to the One on whom we are dependent for our very next breath. If we have a thought of superiority or pride, ask ourselves – have I kept the commandments of Christ – have I loved God with all my heart, soul mind and strength and my neighbor as myself- have I loved my enemies? If we fail in any one aspect, we must know we are only unprofitable servants. Every thought of pride or vanity is a perfect antidote to humility and will destroy our virtue with its insidious vice.
Do you think you are humble? Most of us can’t even bear true recriminations, much less false ones. Only when we are willing to bear even false accusations and in fact declare ourselves guilty, have we begun to enter the gates of the city of humility.
We may think humility a realm only for the greatest of Saints, but as it is the work of the Spirit within us. We are all capable of attaining it in some measure in this life. Like anything else in the spiritual realm, the gift must be sought and then unpacked and worked with if it is to have its effect in our life. The path is one that defeats our fallen humanity, our pride and our arrogance, and makes us pliant servants to do the will of God – to serve all as we serve Him.
The Incarnate Lord is our icon and teacher – the One who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. And the prayer is the simplest one: “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” The one who humbles himself will be exalted, for humility unlocks the door to the knowledge of the mysteries of God – “them that are meek shall he guide in judgment, and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way.”