It Ain't Me

June 31, 2014:  The Visitation

Luke 1:39-57

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."  And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 
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Ah!  Humility.  The mother of all virtues.  But in an increasingly narcissistic and prideful culture sometimes difficult to cultivate.  

A man received a promotion to the position of Vice President of the company he worked for. The promotion went to his head, and for weeks on end he bragged to anyone and everyone that he was now VP. His bragging came to an abrupt halt when his wife, so embarrassed by his behavior, said, “Listen Bob, it’s not that big a deal. These days everyone’s a vice president. Why they even have a vice president of peas down at the supermarket!”  Somewhat deflated, Bob rang the local supermarket to find out if this was true. “Can I speak to the Vice President of peas please?” he asked, to which the reply came: “of fresh or frozen?”  That's humbling.  

In today's  celebration of the visitation of Mary of her cousin Elizabeth,  we find a tremendous amount of humility.  First, we see Elizabeth's humility in the presence of Mary and the unborn Jesus.  Rather than focusing on herself, she gushes over Mary with humble deference and praise.

In turn, Mary, rather than boasting in her status, humbly gives all the credit to God, where it belongs.  It's as if she's saying, "It ain't me!  It's him!"  He looks with favor.  He has mercy.   He's the one that has done great things for me.  He keeps his promises.  He, he, he--not, me, me, me.

Mary's attitude is instructive for us.  When it comes to the subject of Christian humility, many people do not have a clue what it is all about. Misconceptions about its meaning can cause great difficulties, and even stand in the way of leading a fully Christian life.

Humility does not mean thinking badly of yourself, or trying to hide your accomplishments. Rather than being connected to the word humiliate, it is connected to the word humble. If you know a person who boasts and brags about his successes, or acts as if he were better than other people, you already have a view of what you should not do. Not only is such a person an annoyance to deal with, he is basing his beliefs and his behavior on self-importance.

In contrast, the person who is humble gives credit where it is due. Self-importance is not a part of his manner. The Christian who practices humility begins by acknowledging God as the source of all that is good in his life. If he gains a success, he knows he would not have accomplished it without God. If the person experiences something positive, he is aware God is the source of the wonderful blessing. His awareness of God extends to knowing he would not even exist otherwise. In other words, the humble Christian knows who is really responsible for everything good, and does not try to claim credit for it.