March 12, 2009

On the Journey

                            The Sufferings of Christ—the Way Beyond Pride

              Lent is a time for reflection and introspection. It is a time to ask ourselves hard questions about our commitment to follow Jesus. Do we live as if Jesus is Lord of our lives, denying ourselves to live as his disciples? When we affix the adjective, Christian, to our identity, what are we saying about ourselves?

              As I make my way through this season of Lent, I have become more aware of the sin of pride. Pride is the very opposite of humility. Pride calls attention to itself, for it continually needs to be assured and reassured of its significance. Humility, on the other hand, is not concerned with attention, for it does not seek a place of importance or significance. 

              For centuries, followers of Jesus have identified pride as one of the seven deadly sins. Pride may be deadly for it wears many faces, and it is difficult for us to see clearly the characteristics of pride.  We have all heard Paul’s warning to the members of the church at Rome: “For by the grace given me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” [Romans 12:3] Yet, it seems we have difficult understanding exactly how we avoid thinking too highly of ourselves.

I have been sharing with you the wisdom encountered by the Russian pilgrim seeking to become a disciple who prays without ceasing. He encountered a treatise entitled, The Confession of An Interior Man, Leading To Humility. The treatise begins with the observation “I am convinced, through experience, that I love neither God nor my neighbor, that I have no faith, and that I am full of pride and sensuality.” I have shared with you two parts, now the third—

  I am full of pride and self-love. All my actions confirm this. When I see something good in myself, then I wish to display it or brag about it to others, or interiorly I am full of self-love even when outwardly I feign humility. I ascribe everything to my own ability and I consider myself more perfect than others, or at least not worse. If I notice a vice in myself, then I try to excuse it or justify it; I pretend to be innocent or I claim I couldn’t help it. I am impatient with those who do not show me respect and I consider them incapable of judging my character. I am vain about my talents and cannot accept any failure in my actions. I grumble and I am glad to see the misfortune of my enemies, and my intention in doing anything good is either praise, self-interest, or earthly comfort. In a word, I continuously make an idol out of myself, to whom I give unceasing service as I seek sensual delights and try to nourish my carnal desires. [The Way of the Pilgrim]

The treatise calls for a confession that we may find hard to make; yet, we may be pierced through the heart by its accuracy.

              How do we resist the temptation to think more highly of ourselves than we ought? How may we identify the many faces of pride that come to seduce us? I have been introduced to a way—meditate upon Jesus hanging on the cross. Remember, as the scriptures teach, the one hanging naked was in the beginning with God and created the universe. Yet, there he hangs like a common criminal. The religious people mock the Christ, who with a very word, created the heavens and earth. The ones into whom he breathed the very breath of life challenge him to come down from the cross and prove that he is the Son of God. If he is truly the King of the Jews, his swollen faces keeps everyone from recognizing him. Pain is etched across his face. He grimaces as he raises himself on pierced feet to take one more breath.

              Hanging on the cross, we see the one who did not count equality with God as something to be grasped. In humility, he emptied himself to become like us—the very ones he came to save. Look, now, at what we have done to him with our pride.

              He hangs there because he came to love us. In his suffering, he reveals the Father’s love. For the sake of this love, Jesus will stoop as low as he has to go. Here is the image that challenges our pride. Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, hanging on a cross, wounded unto to death, to reveal the love of God for folks like you and me.

              In this season of Lent, let us not allow pride to separate us from such a love as this. By meditating on our Crucified Lord, let us recognize the many faces of pride and resist pride’s seduction. Let us desire only Christ Jesus, for he comes to those who desire him. This, I believe, is a lesson we must learn or pride will soon harden our hearts.

              Many people recoil from the images of Christ suffering that we must come to grips with during Lent and Holy Week. If his suffering, offends anyone, let them take heed to the words of the writer of Hebrews:

  In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of  his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became a source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. [Hebrews 5:7-10]

What might we learn by meditating upon the suffering of Jesus? We may learn, I believe, humility, and thereby, destroy the power of pride. Meditate with me on the suffering of Christ. This will enable us to see the promise of resurrection through eyes of humility.jamie