“The Life You've Always Wanted!” Philippians 2:1-11/Mark 9:30-7;10:35-45
“DOWNSIZING.....OURSELVES”
Leon, Joseph and Clyde, psychiatric patients at a Michigan hospital, each suffered from a messiah complex. Each one maintained he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Each one was convinced that he could, literally, walk on water. Time at the facility's pool was a real kick...!
Eventually Dr. Rokeach tried an experiment placing them all in one small group. For two years the three delusional messiahs were assigned adjacent beds, ate meals together, worked together and met daily for group therapy. Rokeach wanted to see if rubbing against other pseudo-messiahs might diminish their delusion – a kind of messianic 12-step recovery group.
At one point, one of the men shouted, “I'm the messiah and I'm on a mission to save the earth.”
“How do you know?” Rokeach asked. “God told me”, the patient answered. One of the other three leaped to his feet and countered, “I never told you any such thing!”
Rokeach later stated that the group sessions began to resemble the Three Stooges, each arguing over their place in the Trinity. The bitter irony is, the very delusion to which they clung so tenaciously is what cut them off from life, depriving them of who God intended them to be: Leon, Joe and Clyde!
Rokeach was amazed at how adept each became at shutting out all evidence to the contrary. Their inability, for example, to walk across the water of the pool was always explained away. “I could've done it but these people put too much chlorine in the water! It's not real water – it's fake – that's why!”
I'm here to admit, I can relate to their dilemma. It's not the kind that would get me put into an institution, but in it's own way, it's just as serious and irrational as that of Larry, Curly and Moe. I'm sorry to say, but you have a share of it as well. In fact, the sin of pride is the oldest one in the Book. The writer of Genesis notes that it's thru pride that the enemy tempted Eve: “God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God...” (Genesis 3:5) Fact is, we've all, in our own way, been trying to take God's place ever since. “I'll never let that happen to me again! I don't need anyone's help! I can do this by myself! I know what's best for me!”
Where pride was once recognized as a fatal flaw, in our day, it's often celebrated. We live in what has often been called, a culture of Narcissism. Boxing promoter, Don King gave voice to the same when he said in an interview: “I never cease to amaze myself!” He then paused, and then added: “I say that humbly, of course.” If that was the humble version, what would be the arrogant version?
Jesus, however, invites us to a life of humility. “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11; 18:14)
Problem is, we tend to get confused about what true humility looks like. Along the way, I came to understand it to mean that I needed to be in a state of perpetual self-put-down, convincing myself that I was stupid, unworthy or unloved. That is not, however, what Jesus was driving at. Jesus would never have you believe that you're worthless. He died for you. Your worth surpasses your wildest expectations. Humility has to do with seeing yourself from God's perspective. Humility is the freedom to stop trying or pretending to be what we are not, and accepting our appropriate smallness. It's the process of downsizing ourselves from playing God. As Luther put it: it's letting God be God.
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Sounds good on paper, but not so easy to apply. One of the hardest things in the world is to stop being the prodigal son without turning into the elder brother. It's like the woman who went on a diet and found herself scorning those around her for eating the very same foods she'd consumed just days earlier, and ultimately would return to eating when her diet was over.
The danger is that as soon as we make any progress maturing in our faith we become intensely aware of it, and of those who have not. No wonder Christians have gained such a reputation these days as being incredibly judgmental and condescending. So how can true humility be achieved?
Richard Foster, author of Spiritual Disciplines, writes: “More than any other single way the grace of humility is worked into our lives is through the discipline of service. Nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honor and recognition.” (Richard Foster)
In the comic film, Bruce Almighty, all-powerful and full of himself Bruce is taught this critical lesson by God, whom he first encounters mopping the floor. Now, as he's learning what it means to be God, and what it means not to be God, the lesson is revisited when God shows up & hands him a mop.
Paul spoke profoundly both of the essence of being Christian as well as the identity of God: “Give up trying to impress one another. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Take an interest in others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who, precisely because he was in the very nature of God, humbled himself, taking the form of a servant.”
(Philippians 2:3-7)
Jesus, in a mission statement, said that he “came not to be served, but to serve others.” (Mark 10:45) Throughout his life and ministry Jesus was constantly working to meet other people's needs.
In an ancient Greek myth, Zeus and Hermes came down to earth for a brief time disguised as poor slaves. When they found out what they wanted to know, they threw off their rags and revealed themselves in all their Olympian splendor. DC comics gave that a modern twist when it introduced Clark Kent as Superman. He, too, took on the outward form of a servant, but that was just a disguise. Underneath was the man of steel. Concealed was an impenetrable hero.
When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is. He was revealing who God is. We need to get this: God is the most humble being in all the universe. Jesus did not come as a servant in spite of the fact he is God; he came precisely because of the fact that he is God. Jesus came to serve, and in by doing so, God was glorified! It's why Paul speaks so often of the cross!
Sometimes I think we prefer Superman, though, as our rolemodel. He came to help people who were weak and needy but he himself was never afraid. He never got tired. He never got into therapy even though he wore blue tights and a cape beneath his street clothes. His vulnerability was just an act.
Some times we try harder to mimic Superman than follow Jesus, evident in how popular Super-man T-shirts are these days. We still want to play god. We try to look smarter or more successful than we really are, evident in how social media is used - trying to gain as many likes & followers as possible
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Jesus knew that his followers would wrestle with the messiah complex, this Superman delusion, so he put them in a small group together. For three years they ate meals together, met for group discus-sions and worked together. Sure enough, one day “they argued about who was the greatest.” (Mark 9:34), and later, who'd get to sit in places of honor and power. It was to be expected. Hang out with a group of people long enough and the messiah complex will rear it's ugly head.
So Jesus took a little child and had his Leons, Joes and Clydes gather around. He told them their job was to welcome, receive and serve this little child. They needed to do this, not just for the child's sake, but for their own. It's through servanthood, after all, that they would come to see the truth about themselves, that the world didn't revolve around them. That is no less true today than it was then.
My Dad modeled that for me during my mom's fading years.Deep in her dementia my Dad took it upon himself to dress her, feed her and wipe her bottom when she went to the bathroom. Knowing that she was unlikely to thank him, he served her, not out of obligation, but out of love and gratitude.
Not long after he found sobriety, Bill Wilson realized he was about to get drunk. In despera-tion he sought out another alcoholic, Dr. Bob, to whom he shared his story and struggle. The two later founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill understood that the main reason for telling his story was not to save Dr. Bob, but rather, that if he didn't give away what he had, he would sink into the abyss again.
Bill knew that it wasn't because he was strong and Bob was weak that he was able to later help Bob. Bill could help because he, too, was weak, and in helping, he received strength. This truth went deep. As AA became known, Bill began giving interviews and lectures. He got so busy that he began to neglect his family, telling himself that he was irreplaceable. Eventually, a friend told him: “You are on a road to death. You are thinking of yourself as exceptional, and this is typical alcholic thinking.”
Like Bill, we have to realize that we are not Superman and recognize our tendencies to play God. It's in recognition of our limitations that true strength comes. We minister best out of our weakness. The reason we can help others is not because we are stronger, or wiser, or more godly; it's because if we don't help them we will end up a hopeless relic, consumed with ourselves. A basic premise of AA is that the only way to life is to remain a fellowship of drunks helping each other. Interestingly, it's also the premise of Alpha small groups, that we best help out of our own foibles.
That is precisely the kind of servanthood Jesus calls us to – a fellowship of sinners helping each other. As Luther put it, “I am nothing more than a simple beggar helping another beggar find a drink of water.” When we look at ourselves in that way, we embody the reality of Christ-like humility.
(Martin Luther)
There was no grandiosity in Jesus at all. That is one reason that people had such a hard time recognizing him and others flocked to him. The ancient heresy of Docetism arose because people could not absorb the notion that God himself might risk such vulnerability and suffering. They believed that Jesus had only the appearance of a human, but Jesus was no Superman. He did not defy his enemies with hands on his hips and bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest. The whip of the Roman soldiers drew real blood, the thorns pierced soft flesh, the nails caused mind-numbing pain, the cross led to his actual death. And through it all, he bore their pain, and their waywardness, and loved on them to the end. He humbled himself and taught his friends to follow his lead. “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)