For me, the journey towards the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus involves humility. Why? Because he acts on our behalf. Jesus does something for us that we can’t do for ourselves. I can’t absolve myself of sin without the death and resurrection of Jesus. I need what he so graciously did for me. That causes me to be a little more introspective and little more humble.
Ego and self-importance is a great way to short circuit your relationship with Jesus. Remember: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
If we go back to the time of Daniel the prophet, long before the time of Jesus, we see what happens when arrogance is out of control. We pick up the story with the son of King Nebuchadnezzar’s son who is now king. His kingdom is in decline and he is oblivious.
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. Daniel 5:1-2
Yes, he is partying hard and he calls for the sacred vessels from the temple of Jerusalem to drink from as if to say he is “large and in charge” without a care in the world. He is very much thumbing his nose at God.
As you read earlier, there is no better way to get God’s attention than to be prideful and arrogant. Well, King Belshazzar has God’s full attention.
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. Daniel 5:5-6
A sign! But it’s not a good message. Belshazzar’s arrogance and careless living is coming to an end. More than that, had he not been so wrapped up in himself he would have seen the signs without the hand of God spelling it out for him.
The queen tells her husband to call the prophet Daniel (from Israel originally) to interpret this message from God. They think they will find relief once they know what the message means. Spoiler alert: they won’t.
Daniel is summoned and is promised gifts and a promotion if he can interpret the sign. Daniel says, “Keep it.” Daniel then interprets the “handwriting on the wall.”
“This is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 5:26-28
This is the end for King Belshazzar. This is the end of his arrogant and prideful ways.
As the Proverbs say: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
It is still true today. Pride and arrogance doesn’t serve you or the people around you. We are called to something better in Jesus. Humility!
There is great comfort in pointing to and leaning on the One who is greater than all of us!
Humility helps us find our place in the created order and it reminds us that we will never be perfect or even God.
Lent is a perfect time to humble yourself and look to Jesus for all things. Surrender your ego and embrace kindness.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4
God bless,
Pr. Ben