Humility is the most backward concept to a most forward society. Taking the back seat, being the least, moving without notoriety are all distancing mechanisms which seem foreign to the ego of getting ahead and claiming what's mine.
Yet, it is true that the call from above is for us to move with firm humility below. This is what God did in Jesus. Man didn't send an ambassador to heaven to bring God down. God sent His Son to earth to bring us up.
The loud, the plotting, the scheming all find ways to promote self in the face of being lost within the herd. Jesus, however, lived in reverse. He was disrespected by his own family and disregarded by the religious leaders as being of any value.
The way to the top is to live from the bottom. Glory and honor are God's. Jesus did not point to Father from temple's peak. Rather, he noted the glory of God from the Cross and on through the grave.
We look for notoriety and honor in all the wrong places. We are not impressive. He is. We are not famous. He is. And when we yield to that truth it seems to be then that Heaven falls down around us to the extent we get to participate in the fascinating, the mysterious, the kingdom without explanation.
William Willimon wrote, In Gethsemane and on Calvary's hill, Jesus refined the sovereignty of God. The one we expected to be the royal victor became the tortured royal victim. The one who looked like the failed victim became the divine victory.
It will always be our call to grow downward into Jesus that we may grow upward into the Kingdom of God. Such a trek isn't for the lazy nor is it for the cowardly. It takes great muster to step against the grain of society; whether it be religious or non.
Christianity loses social respect from the rugged cross. We have grown accustomed to the theme so it seems to be a rather neutral point. But it isn't. The Living God was hung out to dry on that torturous hill. Three days later HE WAS BACK!
Some science fights it, some history balks at it, and other religions dismiss it. Individuals are free to give their take and from their conclusion, they move forward into their belief system. For me, the Resurrection of Jesus is as factual as this day's calendar is given from the date of his birth.
Only through humility will one be able to ponder the mystery of the risen Savior.
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