Does anyone remember “humility”? Before this week’s gospel reading in Luke 14:1, 7-14, I hadn’t put that old word together with the unrest I have experienced lately but there it is. (The way these lectionary texts appear just as they’re needed is spooky, or maybe I should just acknowledge, “it’s a God thing.”) Is meanness the opposite of humility? There’s a bull market in that.

This is from Frederick Buechner:

      Humility is often confused with saying you’re not much of a bridge player when you know perfectly well you are. Conscious or otherwise, this kind of humility is a form of gamesmanship.

      If you really aren’t much of a bridge player, you’re apt to be rather proud of yourself for admitting it so humbly. This kind of humility is a form of low comedy.

     True humility doesn’t consist of thinking ill of yourself but of not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you’d be apt to think of anybody else. It is the capacity for being no more and no less pleased when you play your own hand well than when your opponents do.

       (~originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words; frederickbuechner.com)

Frankly, that sounds a little too distant from the way we play in this culture. But then, so does Jesus’ lesson in this passage about humility and hospitality. When was anyone ever rewarded for not thinking more highly of themselves than others? How can you win if you don’t imagine yourself better than your foe? Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike competition?

Once upon a time, when I used to gather with a Bible study group on Wednesdays at lunchtime, my dearest deacon friend checked in telling us about his grandson whose T-ball team had lost their game and how grandad had scolded him. Silly me, I asked: “Is winning that important?” To which he replied, “Winning is everything.” But, by your measure, I thought to myself, Jesus lost…

 Recently, it seemed I might be ready to sneak a peek at the news more than once a week. Alas, I’m not quite there yet. A little more time with cultivating my internal capacity for grace and mercy and love is needed. Especially if I am to have a word of Good News by Sunday morning.

 Streamers and Gatherers, come join us for worship on Sunday. I look forward to praise, prayer and singing together with you, and to renewing in our fellowship the courage and love to continue to attempt the Christian life. Gotta refuel. 

Love and hugs,

 Rev. Liz