Number Eleven comes from the WELCOME series. At the end of each week, I shared a “recipe” for hospitality. It offered some practical suggestions on how to embrace the kind of hospitality that characterized Jesus’s ministry. This particular recipe come from the third week.
Hospitality Recipe #3: A Dash of Humility
STEP ONE: BREATHE
Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.
STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD
“I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together.”
— Psalm 34: 1-3
I grew up in a town in northeastern New Jersey that had five different pizzerias (plus a Dominos, which didn't count). A local family-owned and operated each pizza parlor. They made the classic thin-crusted delicacy that still makes me miss my homeland. They tossed the dough by hand, lobbing it into the air in a fluid, sweeping motion. The pizza, embellished with toppings and a mound of mozzarella, went into a large oven. As soon as it cooked, the pizza man cut it and put the pizza into a cardboard box.
Each of the pizzerias in town had their name on the box in either red or green ink. Accompanying the brand identity was a printed coupon. Buy 8 or 10 and get one free. I can remember the stacks of cardboard pizza coupons on top of the refrigerator. We always seemed to have at least two different piles from different pizza places.
The other thing I recall about the pizza boxes used in the town of Secaucus was a tag line: you tried the rest, now try the best! Different pizzerias used the same advertising jingle on their boxes. Each had to brag about being the best. It made me chuckle. How could they all be the best?
Bravado was, and remains, part of New Jersey culture. We reflected the attitude on our pizza boxes. Growing up in the small town of Secaucus, everybody you knew was "the best." Pride was not in short supply. It led to many heated conversations about sports, gardening, and pasta sauce (or as my Italian friends called it - gravy.) When people in North Jersey talk, usually with passion, they use their hands. Therefore, when boasting, arms are generally in motion. It is an experience to behold. We were the best at being “the best!”
At the end of the third week of the WELCOME devotion, we will add a dash of humility to our recipe for Christian hospitality. I suggest a dash because we don't want to slip into the trap of bragging about being humble. A dash is all it takes to add essential flavor.
Humility is vital because unless we step away from the boasting of self, it is tough to focus on others. How can we see the need in the face of others if we don't step away from the mirror? How can we hear what challenges others face if we don't stop talking? Looking and listening are humble acts that allow us to serve.
When Jesus's disciples argued about which one of them was the greatest, about who was best, it became a beautiful teaching moment. Jesus offered an alternative to the treadmill of perpetual greatness that was a part of the culture of the time. Roman society was highly stratified. Inherent in that system was a need to maintain one's social status. Having the best seats at the banquet tables was a visible way of showing that you were to be honored and respected. If you weren’t first, then you could easily fall into the last place.
Jesus's path to greatness did not consist of bragging or vying for the top places. Instead, it revolved around service. Throughout his ministry, Jesus recognized the presence of others, listened to their challenges and hurts, and reached out to help. He invited those who wished to follow his way to do the same.
Debating about having the best pizza, or best hotdish, or best theology is an unnecessary distraction. Such things misplace the focus of ministry and life. Instead of hovering over the self, Jesus encourages an outward radiance.
Being humble in each day and interaction that we have with others helps to move us in the direction of Christ. Serving others as Jesus did, is not necessarily easier. It will involve more than one sacrifice on our part. It is, however, a path of deep and lasting satisfaction, joy, and meaning.
Maybe the pizza boxes of my homeland aren't far off. You've tried the rest, now try the best!
STEP THREE: A TABLE PRAYER
I offer the following prayer for you to use today as you pray at the table.
LOVING GOD, IN THE LIFE OF JESUS, YOU CAME TO SERVE. YOU HUMBLED YOURSELF TO LIVE AMONG US. WE BREAK THIS BREAD WITH THANKS FOR ALL THAT YOU GIVE US. MAKE US MINDFUL OF THE NEEDS OF OTHERS SO THAT WE MIGHT REACH OUT TO THEM IN HUMBLE SERVICE. THROUGH JESUS, AMEN.
Permission granted to share with friends and family. Copyrighted 2019. Walt Lichtenberger