Years ago I was part of a puppet show done for neighborhood kids at a church. For one show, a good friend of mine, Scott Homesly, was playing the part of the "tax collector" who, when he prayed, "would not even look up to heaven, but would beat his breast and pray, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'" Scott's puppet character would slowly beat his breast with his chubby little cloth hands and bow his head with obvious shame, creating a perfect visual of what it means to be humble. I think of this visual every time that I read Luke's account of Jesus parable.
Jesus ends his parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee by saying that God justifies and exalts the one who is humble. From this parable, I think that we can understand that humility means acknowledging our sinfulness, our need of God and our complete lack of judgment of others. The tax collector prays away from the others because he considers himself unworthy to be around them. It is God's business to judge them for hypocrisy, not his. He is so aware of his own shortcomings that he has no time, place, nor inclination to consider theirs.
I do not believe that God wants the focal point of our lives to be our own sinfulness. Our focal point should be thankfulness for the goodness and greatness of God that is shown daily in his love and mercy. At some point, to focus on our own wretchedness becomes a selfish act and even denies the all-sufficiency of God. But just the same, humility is key to our relationship with God. Isn't it great to know that the key for us is not how much we love others, how well we serve, or how well we use our gifts? The key thing for us is to realize the truth from the bottom of our hearts: we are sinners; we deserve nothing. This is precisely the point at which God can justify and exalt us.
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