Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts

Sunday, August 31, 2025

Sunday Wisdom

 


"He who exalts himself will be humbled," says Christ, and "he who humbles himself will be exalted." To that end I sermonized on pride this morning. Avoid it, dear friends, like the plague it is, the deadliest of deadly sins. Yes indeed, and in that resolve hear this by Austin Farrer:


We never come to God without committing ourselves to him entirely, so far as in us lies, and in the present moment. It seems sometimes to be preached, however, that by a decision once for all made, we can commit ourselves irrevocably. But if this is preached, then it is not true. Today’s decisions cannot tie tomorrow’s hands. What I give to God today, such is my frailty, I may take back or withhold tomorrow. It is through this that God disciplines me, through this that he breaks my pride. The heart is sick and desperately perverse, even the redeemed heart: what it gave God yesterday it takes back today. Our wickedness is so great that we fail to do promised actions, which we had perfectly envisaged at the time of promising. But even if we had the virtue to keep our promise with God when the circumstances are foreseen and unaltered, we should still lack the power to commit ourselves on issues which cannot be perfectly felt or foreseen in advance. He who promises to be chaste, does well and may be perfectly sincere; but he has not by that promise dealt with the temptation he will face when he falls in mutual love with an actual woman, and cannot marry her. Our fences cannot be jumped beforehand, nor our battles won before the enemy appears. You promise fidelity to Christ today, and you are sincere; but it will spare you none of the agony of decision, if a day comes when political brigands hold to our heads the pistol of absolute power, and say, ‘Your religion or your life.’

No, we cannot commit ourselves in a day, because we cannot, merely by saying we will, put our whole trust in God. To trust in God is a thing which has to be learnt. We may stand up and make our profession of faith, clasp a missioner’s hand and say, ‘I have taken Christ for my Savior, I trust him for all.’ But we shall still trust ourselves to do our part in the new covenant we have entered. For we do not learn what dependence on God is, except through having our self-dependence broken in the mill of life, slowly and painfully. Many tears, much shame, continual repentance, this is the lot of those who pledge themselves to God. A paradoxical pledge; we learn to keep it by breaking it. True confessions, bravely and sincerely made to our confessor and absolved with the word of Christ, these are the means by which we learn distrust of ourselves, and trust in God alone. On every such occasion we affirm our self-commital. We bring to life every promise we previously made, back to our confirmation, back to our baptism when others’ lips promised for us, back behind that to the cross, on which Christ committed us to God by dying for us.

 

Such wisdom, and this stood out, "For we do not learn what dependence on God is, except through having our self-dependence broken in the mill of life, slowly and painfully. Many tears, much shame, continual repentance, this is the lot of those who pledge themselves to God."

We can add: The lot of those who take the lowest place at the marriage feast only to be called, "Friend, come up higher." Higher, to paradise itself.

God bless you all,

LSP

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Ash Wednesday 2022

 




Lent's begun and with it a confrontation with reality, Remember O man that thou art dust to dust thou shall return. And with that we're knocked firmly back onto the first rung of the ascent to holiness, humility and repentance. After all, the most exalted of human endeavor is dust and ashes before the perfection of God.

So we cry out, heartrended, have mercy on me a sinner and depart from me for I am a sinful man and Christ in his turn, lifts us up upon the Cross to the Father. Consummatum Est, it is finished. Dust and death, judgement, turns to mercy and redemption won by our Lord's sacrifice on Calvary. 

In union with that we find life, and ashes turn to glory.

God bless you all,

LSP

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.