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‘I say … to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.’
Rom_12:3
I. What is humility?—Humility is different from contrition. The man convinced of sin is contrite. There is no one of us who does not know the humility which comes of contrition. But Christian humility is not of necessity connected with repentance and contrition. It is a habit of the mind as bravery is. It is a feature of character as generosity is. Our Lord had not sinned and yet He was humble, and His humility was consistent with a dignity which awed the crowd, with a bravery which impressed His judges, and with a daring which feared no results. The Roman officer was humble. Christian humility is not the servile attitude of a Uriah Heep; it is not the cringing fear of the discovered wrongdoer; it is not the repentance of the proud; it is not the dependence of the man who has no place in the world. Humility is the lowly and true estimate of self; it is acceptance of the place appointed by God, whether it be in the front or the rear; it is simple acquiescence in God’s order to suffer or to act without thought of rights or of reputation. It is the emptiness of self which God fills. Humility is the courtliness of soul, the secret of beauty among men. It is also the secret of progress.
II. Two obstacles hinder the growth of society towards peace and happiness.
(a) One is pride. Because each nation thinks highly of itself, and will not forgo its rights over weak or subject races, the hopes of peace are lowered. Because employers are supercilious and workmen arrogant, wealth is wasted. Because class is suspicious of class, because brother will not forgive brother, there is sorrow and unrest. Pride bars human progress.
(b) But there is perhaps another obstacle which is even more fatal than pride. It is the self-complacency of good people. Christian congregations see with undisturbed minds the long line of their degraded, starved brethren waiting for food; they are content that children should be born and die in sunless courts; they read unmoved of suicides, of disgraceful trials, and of equally disgraceful extravagances. They may, indeed, as individuals, be able to do nothing, but it is their complacency which damps other actions and creates a cold atmosphere in which nothing grows. It is not, it has been truly said, the antagonism of the selfish and wicked so much as the glacier-like apathy of the good which hinders social reform. Good people think too highly of themselves to learn the truth.
III. How can men learn humility?
(a) Meditate on God. Meditate on the Power in Whose grasp all men and all nature lie. Watch the miracle of the spring; stand under the stars, look up, and be humble. Meditate on the purpose of God manifest in history, His purpose of progress as through the ages the human race is led from height to height, ever growing in knowledge, in righteousness and love. Survey the onward march of mankind and go softly. Meditate on the Presence Which enters man’s heart as ever self goes out calling on each human being to co-operate to increase peace and goodwill, holding before each one who surrenders himself great hopes and great ideals, making each one ashamed of desertion, ashamed of cowardice, ashamed of selfishness. Commune with Him Who, being good, loving, and lowly, is ascended to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Commune with the Christ you worship and be still. The man who meditates on God’s power and God’s love cannot be jealous, self-assertive, boastful, proud, or complacent. Let us think of God and learn humility.
(b) Consider the social body, the nation, the community of which you are members. Thinkers and doers, students and labourers, statesmen and tradesmen, soldiers and sailors all work together. No one individual however rich, no workman however skilled, no one class could live by itself. Each honest Englishman does his own work, and each one lives by means of others’ work. Consider further that each one doing his own work is helping to create a whole, a city, a nation, an empire which itself is to be an image of Christ, our England, every nation to be on earth, to be as one which God serveth, to be humble, to co-operate with God in the increase of love.
—
Rev. Canon Barnett.
Illustration‘Abraham Lincoln may be accepted as one who in this latter day has accomplished great things. He is among the nation-makers. He was brave, sagacious, loyal, vigorous; but readers of his life are most struck by his freedom from self-regard. He felt no malice, he asserted no rights, and took no vengeance, yet he controlled mighty passions, and in the midst of war sowed the seeds of peace.’