Lectionary 126:

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Ps 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Possible preaching themes:

• The dynamics of an honor/shame culture (1st reading and Gospel)

• The challenge and gift of humility (1st reading and Gospel)

• The power of meals (Gospel)

Scientific resources:

• Honor/shame cultures

• • “Approaching Honor and Shame with Humility,” missiological perspectives https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3935102  
  • “Honor as Cultural Mindset,” original research https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01921/full 
  • “Culture of Honor,” introduction from cultural psychology http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/cultural-psychology/culture-of-honor/
  • “Cultural Models of Shame and Guilt,” rich overview http://www.gruberpeplab.com/teaching/psych3131_summer2015/documents/3.2_WongTsai_2007_CultureShameGuilt.pdf 

• Humility

• • “Measuring Humility and its Positive Effects,” accessible social psychology, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/measuring-humility-and-its-positive-effects 
  •  “The Psychology of Intellectual Humility,” non-technical overview https://www.templeton.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Intellectual-Humility-Leary-FullLength-Final.pdf
  • “New psychology study identifies ‘hypo-egoic nonentitlement’ as a central feature of humility,” key is non-entitlement, https://www.psypost.org/2019/10/new-psychology-study-identifies-hypo-egoic-nonentitlement-as-a-central-feature-of-humility-54657 
  • “Be Humble, and Proudly, Psychologist say,” popular report https://www.todayonline.com/world/be-humble-and-proudly-psychologists-say 

• Meals and dining
  • “Do Family Meals Really make a Difference?” nuanced summary https://www.livehealthyiowakids.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Family-Mealtimes-2.pdf 
  • “The Family Dinner Project,” homepage of Harvard project  http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/the-family-dinner-project 
  • “Breaking Bread: The Function of Social Eating,” rich summary https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-017-0061-4 
  • “How food – yes, food – can be a tool for social change,” overview article and TED talk https://ideas.ted.com/how-food-yes-food-can-be-a-tool-for-social-change/

Homily outline on humility

• Humble and American?

• • Difficult to characterize the almost 335 million U.S. citizens
    • a country with one of the most complex cultural identifies in the world 
  • Recent survey indicate that we view ourselves as 
    • Friendly 
    • Thoughtful
    • Careful
  • When it comes to shared core values almost 80% of us confirm the importance of
    • Equality
    • Liberty
    • Progress
  • No survey indicates that a dominant national characteristic is “humility”
    • We think we are the richest country in the world, but ranked 13
    • Or have best health care services in the world, ranked 18th 
    • We did not win the medal count at the 2022 Beijing Olympics [came in 5th after Canada] 
    • Unfortunately, we do have the highest per capita prison population in the world 

• Humility is not about humiliation
  • Though the words come from same Latin root meaning “lowly” (humilis), they are not the same 
  • Humiliation involves being exposed about a private matter leading to derision and/or distress
    • Recall Olympic athletes reporting being robbed at gun point in Rio during the 2016 summer Olympics
    • Eventually media flooded with the true story: they engaged in indecent and vandalizing behavior 
    • In the aftermath, the most famous of these characters lost major endorsements valued between 5 to 10 million dollars in future income
    • No well-balanced person wants to be humiliated
  • Humility is different
    • “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less” 
  • Researchers find humility has two main characteristics
    • Intrapersonally it involves an accurate view of the self
    • Interpersonally it involves a stance that is “other” rather than “self” focused

• Humility is good for us and good for business
  • While not a national instinct, a humble stance has much to recommend it
  • The main benefit concerns social bonds
    • A humble stance appears to strengthen social bonds
    • Especially in relationships that may experience conflict
    • Or where difference threatens the security of a relationship
  • Family relationships play this out on a daily basis
    • Always “being right” is seldom an effective strategy for keeping our families well
  • Given the political polarization in our society
    • Intellectual humility is especially important
    • This is an awareness of how incomplete and fallible our views on political and social issues are
  • Business research has borne out the economic value of humility
    • Humility is important for becoming an effective leader
    • It also improves an organization’s evolution and bottom line

• Jesus, humiliation, and humility

• • Jesus clearly had the gift of humility
  • He was certainly more “other” than “self-focused”
  • That humility led to humiliation in his public execution as an enemy of the state and the Temple 
    • It was not a humiliation he sought – he was not a self-hater
    • But a humiliation he was willing to endure for the sake of others
    • A sacrifice that sprang from his divinely graced humility
  • As a gifted leader he was interested in cultivating “organizational humility” among his followers
    • Multiple times in the gospels he invites his disciples to model his own servanthood (e.g., Mark 9:35, Matt 5:3,  Matt 11:29, Matt 18:1 & 4, Luke 9:48, John 13:12-16) 
  • Such humility at the center of the Godhead reveals a shocking and liberating vision of the divine reign that Jesus inaugurated
    • That does not demean or humiliate the other in order to promote self-worth
    • But raises up others so that the liberation of God may be full realized
    • And all may rise together as honored children of God  

• An illustration 
  • Booker T. Washington was among the most respected African American leaders of his era
    • An adviser to two American Presidents
    • The Founder of the renowned Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
  • A wealthy white woman wanted someone to chop wood for her
    • She approached a Black man strolling by and asked if he would like to early some money 
    • He smiled, rolled up his sleeves and did the work
    • Later a servant informed the matriarch of his identity
    • When she came to his office at the Tuskegee Institute to apologize, he respond, “it’s perfectly all right, madam.”  “Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor.  Besides, it is always a delight to do something for a friend.”
  • Jesus refused to call us servants, but instead “friends” (John 15:15)
  • Humility is a graced venue for expanding that circle of friends.