Embracing Humility: The Gift of Not Knowing

The invitation today is to live easily in the reality of not knowing and the gift of not knowing as opposed to the illusion of certainty. Dallas Willard writes in the renovation of the heart that modern Humanity lives in a rage of moral self-righteousness and that the farther we get away from the person and message of Jesus, the more a spirit of superiority of moral distancing and condemnation marks the way that we think in the way that we act. [00:01:12]

It turns out that teams who are willing to be humble, who are willing to say well we'll give up these higher level draft choices to get more choices later on because we really don't know who's going to be great and who's not there's just too much uncertainty, the teams who are willing to Humble themselves end up doing quite a lot greater and the teams that live out of a sense of hubris, arrogance I know don't do well. [00:02:57]

C.S Lewis wrote that pride is actually the anti-god posture of life. He says that other sins unchastity anger greed drunkenness are mere flea bites in comparison to that drive that I have to say I must be God I must be in control because Pride puts me at odds with other people. I must be smarter better stronger than you than the people around me in order to feel satisfied so it's the opposite of love and it's the opposite of God. [00:04:15]

There is a book by John Dickinson he's a historian in Australia called humilitas and he takes some time in the book to point out that in the ancient world humility was not an admired virtue. Aristotle talked about the great sold man and because they lived in Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the ancient world in a shame honor culture where the job was to accrue honor to yourself status Prestige rank and to avoid shame lowliness humility perceived weakness. [00:05:06]

The modern Western fondness for humility almost certainly derives from The Peculiar impact on Europe of the judeo-christian worldview, the teaching that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble that is woven through both Old Testament and New Testament. But he notes this is not a religious conclusion. Macquarie is a public university with no division of theology or even religious studies it is a purely religious finding, I mean it is a it is a purely historical finding. [00:06:30]

And he goes on to say that this is not simply traceable primarily to the stream of judeo-christian thought not even primarily just to Jesus's teaching it's traceable primarily to one event and that is his death, his death on a cross. And we might reflect for a moment onto amazing evaluations of crucifixion. One is from the Roman writer Seneca who lived and wrote these words in virtually the identical time frame is the Apostle Paul. [00:07:17]

Jesus, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God to be grounds for grasping to entitle him to assert his privilege for his own Comfort or status or honor but rather poured himself out, became an appearance like a human being, took on the form of a servant, humbled himself by death even death on a cross, and therefore God has exalted him and given him the name that is above every name. [00:08:36]

I don't know what's going to happen, I don't know what's best I need to be as wise as possible I need to get good counsel from friends I need to think carefully but there is a gift in not knowing because if I can hold on to Poise and trust in God and faith and joy and love as I walk through the day and trust that God knows what he is doing I will grow way more than if I had the illusion of certainty. [00:09:28]

I was at a grocery store recently and getting food and there was somebody working behind the meat counter and I realized all of a sudden I did not even look at that person as a person. I was just preoccupied with what I had to do and he could have been a machine and so to pause and think oh this is somebody's son, this is somebody's brother, somebody's husband maybe with a life and dreams and I could just talk to him for a couple of minutes and joke and enjoy. [00:10:01]

I was with a group of friends and somebody mentioned the name of somebody who is kind of known in church circles that we're all a part of and so part of me just wants to scream I know that person I'm important look at me, and Another Part Of Me can check my spirit and say no for crying out loud don't do that, just shut up and don't let everybody know how important you are and you get a little Freer and You Come A Little More Alive. [00:10:35]

Today perhaps the words I don't know which would make many NFL teams perform at a much higher level might be good ones for you and me to hang on to. Today is about the day of humility and following the way of the man on the cross, not the illusion of certainty, the gift of Magnum, let's practice it guard your heart. [00:11:01]