Frank R. Fisher, Obl OSB
Humility 09/04/2009
 
Picture
    "The sixth step of humility is that a monk is content with the lowest and most menial treatment, and regards himself as a poor and worthless workman in whatever task he is given, saying to himself with the Prophet, I am insignificant and ignorant, no better than a beast before you, yet I am with you always. - Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 7.

    Hey, that's a challenging statement, isn't it? We live in an age where we are measured by success.  The more money you make, the better person you are! Of course it doesn't seem to matter too much how you make that money. We idealize the rich and the famous. We want the huge house with two Mercedes' in the drive way. Forget about humility, its for the losers.

    Too often the same attitude appears in our churches. We see rich pastors who seem to blab a lot on television about Jesus but seem to care more about money. And the rest of us, hey, we are equally guilty. Every minister wants to think their preaching is unmatched. We want our congregants to gush about our pastoral care, even if it means we eliminate our time with our families to make our congregants proud of us. The list here could go on and on, but confess it, we are just as success driven as everyone else in our society.

    Maybe we all need to do some thinking about the One who told us that the last would be first. He also told us the great ones were the ones who became servants of all.

    Lord, help us to become servants; humbles ones who know our weaknesses and admit our imperfections. Help us to embrace the path of humility and in doing so, follow directly in your way. Amen and Amen
 
 
Picture
"So, brothers and sisters, we have asked the Lord who is to dwell in His tent, and we have heard His commands to anyone who would dwell there; it remains for us to fulfill those duties.

Therefore we must prepare our hearts and our bodies to do battle under the holy obedience of His commands; and let us ask God that He be pleased to give us the help of His grace for anything which our nature finds hardly possible. And if we want to escape the pains of hell and attain life everlasting, then, while there is still time, while we are still in the body and are able to fulfill all these things by the light of this life, we must hasten to do now what will profit us for eternity" -Prologue to the Rule of St. Benedict

The Irish call some places, "thin places." Thin places are those where the presence of God is so strong you almost feel you can reach out to touch the Creator. Or perhaps, thin places are places where the Creator reaches out to touch us.  Throughout my life I have found thin places in churches, in nature, in my home, and of course in the abbey. 

Benedict wanted abbeys to be thin places, places where the Kingdom of God touched earth; places where monks and guests dwelt in the nearest thing to the presence of God to be found on earth. Like any human institution abbeys are imperfect. In their imperfection the Kingdom can seen present to a lessor or greater degree. But it always feels present. It always feels like a place where Christ dwells. This adaptation of a story told by M Scott Peck speaks about an  abbey where Christ came to fully dwell.
 
 
Picture
"Let a wise old man be placed at the door of the monastery, one who knoweth how to take and give an answer, and whose mature age doth not permit him to stray about.

The porter should have a cell near the door, that they who come may always find one present from whom they may obtain an answer. As soon as anyone knocketh or a poor person calleth, let him answer, "Thanks be to God," or invoke a blessing, and with the meekness of the fear of God let him return an answer speedily in the fervor of charity." - Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 66.

This week I presided at a funeral for a forty-seven year old man. During the service we spoke of his way with hospitality. I was told that whenever you were with him, you felt like you were the most important person in the world. The same was true for phone calls. You felt like he'd been waiting for your call all day. Every time you encountered this man, you went a way feeling good. That was the type of hospitality Benedict taught. And the man whose life and resurrection we were celebrating would have made a perfect Porter, the one who welcomed guests at the door of the abbey.

I once hear a preacher describe hospitality as "treating your guests as if they were at home, even if you wish they were at home."  Unfortunately that's the type of grudging hospitality we too often offer to the guests at our places of worship.  We too often ignore our guests, and leave them to fend for themselves. And heaven help them if they sit in the wrong pew.

We as Christians also tend to be pretty bad at welcoming those whose point of view differs from our own. Emo Phillips tells a story about our dealing with others with even slightly different points of view.  The story takes place on the Golden Gate Bridge.  In the story a man’s walking across the bridge. When he’s half way across he finds, to his horror, another man who’s about to jump off. Immediately the first man begins a conversation; in a desperate try to halt the man’s suicide.  In the midst of the conversation the second man says he believes in God.  Here  we pick up the story.

"I said,  'Are you a Christian or a Jew?'   He says,  'A Christian.'   I said, 'Me too.  Protestant or Catholic?'  He says,  'Protestant.'  I said, 'Me too. What franchise?'  He says, 'Baptist.'  I said,  'Me too. Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?'  He says, 'Northern Baptist.'  I said, 'Me too.  Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?'  He says, Northern Conservative Baptist.'  I said, 'Me too.  Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist  or Northern Conservative Reformed Baptist?'  He says,'Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist.'  I said,  'Me too.  Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region?'  He says, 'Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region.'  I said, 'Me too. Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist  Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?'  He says 'Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.'

  'Oh,'  I said, 'Die, heretic!'  And I pushed him off the bridge."

In which way would you want to be welcomed by a brother or sister in Christ, "die heretic," or "thanks be to God you are here?" I think I'll choose the later and try to offer such a welcome, with the fervor of charity, the next time I run into someone with whom I disgree.
 
 
Picture
"We are thus forbidden to do our own will, since the Scripture saith to us: "And turn away from thy evil will" (Sir 18:30). And thus, too, we ask God in prayer that His will may be done in us (cf Mt 6:10). We are, therefore, rightly taught not to do our own will, when we guard against what Scripture saith: "There are ways that to men seem right, the end whereof plungeth into the depths of hell" (Prov 16:25). And also when we are filled with dread at what is said of the negligent: "They are corrupted and become abominable in their pleasure" (Ps 13[14]:1). But as regards desires of the flesh, let us believe that God is thus ever present to us, since the Prophet saith to the Lord: "Before Thee is all my desire" (Ps 37[38]:10)." - Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 7.

These words come from Benedict's chapter on humility. How many of us in congregations, whether we serve in the pulpit or in the pew, have thought about this concept? I certainly know a lot of pastors who are very impressed with themselves. Of course I have met many congregants who are similarly impressed.

I have served in several congregations who were experiencing, or had experienced conflict. Almost all of them at some point included a pastor or parishioner, or several of each, who started many sentences with "I want . . . " The success of these congregations in surviving these experiences, and moving on to become a thriving community, is essentially measured by their ability to give up that phrase. Instead they turn to phrases like, "what does God call us to do here," or "how can I serve you." 

In my denomination one of the membership, and ordination vows includes the question, "who is your Lord and Savior." The required answer is, "Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior."  If we declare Christ is the Lord of our lives, we must also declare that we are not out to get our own way.  Instead, our way should be one considering how Jesus would have us live, and how Jesus would have us treat others. To me, the first step on that path, is the abandonment of "I want," and instead embracing humility.