The Challenge to be Humble
Stories
Contents
“The Challenge to be Humble” by Keith Wagner
“Forgiveness Without Limits” by Keith Wagner
The Challenge to be Humble
by Keith Wagner
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
One afternoon a carpet layer had just finished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realize he had lost his cigarettes. After looking around he noticed that in the middle of the room, under the carpet that he had just installed, was a bump. “Ah,” he thought, “my cigarettes. No sense pulling up the entire floor for one pack of smokes.” So he got out his mallet and flattened the bump. Not long after, as he was cleaning up, the lady came in. “Here,” she said, handing him his pack of cigarettes. “I found them in the hallway.” Then she said, “Now if I could just find my pet parakeet.”
It was an honest mistake and the carpet layer didn’t know he was doing any harm by getting rid of the bump in the carpet. Sometimes however we aren’t aware that our little mishaps may actually cause harm to someone else. The truth can set us free but it is not a simple thing to be honest and humble ourselves.
After hearing the law of their faith from the book of Moses, the leaders blessed the Lord and humbly prostrated themselves. The words of God brought them to their knees. In that event the Israelites renewed their covenant with God.
Humility is difficult for us since we spend so much time feeding our egos. The more “puffed up” we become the more we convince ourselves we are secure. In reality it is a defense mechanism. When we have convinced ourselves that we are self sufficient we think we can withstand anything, especially failures or mistakes.
I wonder how many of us attempt to put on a false image of ourselves. In other words, we pretend that we are worthy people. We don’t let others see our shady side. We like to believe we are caring, generous and compassionate. We want others to think that we follow all the rules and that we would never intentionally do anything wrong.
One time a group of businessmen went to a remote mountain retreat for a weekend of leadership training. Expecting graphs, statistics, and pep talks, they were more than a little wary when they were asked to trade their notebooks in for shovels. Next, their boss, Mr. Clarkson, gave them their assignment for the weekend. “I want you to dig a ditch two feet wide and ten inches deep around the perimeter of the cabin.” With those words he walked back to the cabin and disappeared inside.
At first the group was silent, stunned by the ridiculous task that lay ahead. But soon the silence turned into questioning the purpose of the exercise, arguing that nine inches was close enough to ten, and complaining about having risen to the top of the corporate ladder only to be forced to do manual labor. Finally, Bill, a newcomer to the group, turned to the others and said, “Who cares why we have to do this. Let’s just do it and get it over with.” With those words the cabin door opened and Mr. Clarkson reappeared. “Gentlemen,” he said as he grabbed Bill’s hand, “I’d like you to meet your new vice-president.”
Sometimes we are asked to do things that are beneath us. The challenge is to be humble, like Nehemiah and his people. Humility enables us to be free. Humility liberates us from our failures and mistakes. When we are humble God is blessed as are we.
* * *
Forgiveness Without Limits
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 19
In his book, 1001 Humorous Illustrations, Michael Hodgin tells the story of two brothers named Harry and James. The two had finished supper and were playing until bedtime. Somehow, Harry hit James with a stick and tears and bitter words followed. Charges and accusations were still being exchanged as their mother prepared them for bed. The mother instructed the older brother; “Now James, before you go to bed you’re going to have to forgive your brother.” James was thoughtful for a few moments, and then he replied, “Well OK. I’ll forgive him tonight, but if I don’t die before wake up, he’d better look out in the morning.”
The obvious problem is that we are normally forgiving only to a point. Unlike God, whose forgiveness is unlimited, ours has limitations. The more times we have been burned the less likely we are to forgive. Psalm 19 closes with the words, “May all that I say and think be acceptable to thee, O Lord my rock and my redeemer!” For the psalmist there was no limit to God’s forgiveness.
What the stories of the two brothers illustrates is that it is virtuously impossible to forgive, again and again. That is why we need salvation. That is why we need God. That is why we need God’s forgiveness because it is impossible for us to be forgiving toward others all the time.
Forgiveness is not easy. But, I wonder if we really know what it means to forgive? The Greek word for “forgive” in the New Testament means “to send off, to release, to hurl, to let go.”
One time I observed a friend who is a golfer, driving balls into the woods. I wondered why he would waste so many balls. He told me they were all “shag” balls. Shag balls are golf balls that have slices in them and they aren’t any good for normal play. My friend drove them as far as he could into the woods with no thought of retrieving them. He hurled them away. They were gone, out of sight, lost forever.
Perhaps this is what it means to forgive. To literally, “hurl away” or “let go” of the shag balls in our lives. The problem is too many of our shag balls have elastic strings attached to them. We give them the old “heave ho” only to have them come back at a later time.
Forgiveness is not saying the offense never happened. It did. Forgiveness is not saying that everything’s okay. It isn’t. Forgiveness is not saying we no longer feel the pain of the offense. We do. Forgiveness is saying, I experienced the pain, but I am willing to let go and no longer blame the offender.
Before I went into ministry I traveled extensively. Like many folks in Ohio I had a SOHIO gasoline card. At the time SOHIO had repair facilities and I took my car there for repairs. One time my water pump failed and SOHIO repaired it for me. A few months later it failed again and I returned to the SOHIO station to have my pump replaced. But, for some reason SOHIO refused to replace my pump and I had to pay for another one. I was furious and took my car elsewhere. I was so angry I took my SOHIO card and cut it up in pieces and I vowed never to buy SOHIO gasoline again.
It’s not easy to forgive people when they make mistakes. To compensate we like to get even, or at the very least, refuse to deal with people who are not fair. I had made the judgment that the SOHIO Company was unfair. I therefore chose not to deal with them in the future.
Years later, when I was appointed to my first church, the church lay leader took me aside following our first church meeting and said he had something to give me. “We can’t pay you a huge salary, but because you are a student and your gasoline expenses to and from seminary will be a burden, please accept this.” He then handed me a SOHIO card with the church’s name on it and told me it was mine to use as long as I was their pastor.
When we withhold forgiveness we live with the myth that we are in control. At some point it may come back to haunt us. What do you think I did with the SOHIO card? I did what any good seminarian would do; I accepted it graciously. I learned through that life experience that God is as the psalmist declared, “My rock and my redeemer.”
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 27, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“The Challenge to be Humble” by Keith Wagner
“Forgiveness Without Limits” by Keith Wagner
The Challenge to be Humble
by Keith Wagner
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
One afternoon a carpet layer had just finished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realize he had lost his cigarettes. After looking around he noticed that in the middle of the room, under the carpet that he had just installed, was a bump. “Ah,” he thought, “my cigarettes. No sense pulling up the entire floor for one pack of smokes.” So he got out his mallet and flattened the bump. Not long after, as he was cleaning up, the lady came in. “Here,” she said, handing him his pack of cigarettes. “I found them in the hallway.” Then she said, “Now if I could just find my pet parakeet.”
It was an honest mistake and the carpet layer didn’t know he was doing any harm by getting rid of the bump in the carpet. Sometimes however we aren’t aware that our little mishaps may actually cause harm to someone else. The truth can set us free but it is not a simple thing to be honest and humble ourselves.
After hearing the law of their faith from the book of Moses, the leaders blessed the Lord and humbly prostrated themselves. The words of God brought them to their knees. In that event the Israelites renewed their covenant with God.
Humility is difficult for us since we spend so much time feeding our egos. The more “puffed up” we become the more we convince ourselves we are secure. In reality it is a defense mechanism. When we have convinced ourselves that we are self sufficient we think we can withstand anything, especially failures or mistakes.
I wonder how many of us attempt to put on a false image of ourselves. In other words, we pretend that we are worthy people. We don’t let others see our shady side. We like to believe we are caring, generous and compassionate. We want others to think that we follow all the rules and that we would never intentionally do anything wrong.
One time a group of businessmen went to a remote mountain retreat for a weekend of leadership training. Expecting graphs, statistics, and pep talks, they were more than a little wary when they were asked to trade their notebooks in for shovels. Next, their boss, Mr. Clarkson, gave them their assignment for the weekend. “I want you to dig a ditch two feet wide and ten inches deep around the perimeter of the cabin.” With those words he walked back to the cabin and disappeared inside.
At first the group was silent, stunned by the ridiculous task that lay ahead. But soon the silence turned into questioning the purpose of the exercise, arguing that nine inches was close enough to ten, and complaining about having risen to the top of the corporate ladder only to be forced to do manual labor. Finally, Bill, a newcomer to the group, turned to the others and said, “Who cares why we have to do this. Let’s just do it and get it over with.” With those words the cabin door opened and Mr. Clarkson reappeared. “Gentlemen,” he said as he grabbed Bill’s hand, “I’d like you to meet your new vice-president.”
Sometimes we are asked to do things that are beneath us. The challenge is to be humble, like Nehemiah and his people. Humility enables us to be free. Humility liberates us from our failures and mistakes. When we are humble God is blessed as are we.
* * *
Forgiveness Without Limits
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 19
In his book, 1001 Humorous Illustrations, Michael Hodgin tells the story of two brothers named Harry and James. The two had finished supper and were playing until bedtime. Somehow, Harry hit James with a stick and tears and bitter words followed. Charges and accusations were still being exchanged as their mother prepared them for bed. The mother instructed the older brother; “Now James, before you go to bed you’re going to have to forgive your brother.” James was thoughtful for a few moments, and then he replied, “Well OK. I’ll forgive him tonight, but if I don’t die before wake up, he’d better look out in the morning.”
The obvious problem is that we are normally forgiving only to a point. Unlike God, whose forgiveness is unlimited, ours has limitations. The more times we have been burned the less likely we are to forgive. Psalm 19 closes with the words, “May all that I say and think be acceptable to thee, O Lord my rock and my redeemer!” For the psalmist there was no limit to God’s forgiveness.
What the stories of the two brothers illustrates is that it is virtuously impossible to forgive, again and again. That is why we need salvation. That is why we need God. That is why we need God’s forgiveness because it is impossible for us to be forgiving toward others all the time.
Forgiveness is not easy. But, I wonder if we really know what it means to forgive? The Greek word for “forgive” in the New Testament means “to send off, to release, to hurl, to let go.”
One time I observed a friend who is a golfer, driving balls into the woods. I wondered why he would waste so many balls. He told me they were all “shag” balls. Shag balls are golf balls that have slices in them and they aren’t any good for normal play. My friend drove them as far as he could into the woods with no thought of retrieving them. He hurled them away. They were gone, out of sight, lost forever.
Perhaps this is what it means to forgive. To literally, “hurl away” or “let go” of the shag balls in our lives. The problem is too many of our shag balls have elastic strings attached to them. We give them the old “heave ho” only to have them come back at a later time.
Forgiveness is not saying the offense never happened. It did. Forgiveness is not saying that everything’s okay. It isn’t. Forgiveness is not saying we no longer feel the pain of the offense. We do. Forgiveness is saying, I experienced the pain, but I am willing to let go and no longer blame the offender.
Before I went into ministry I traveled extensively. Like many folks in Ohio I had a SOHIO gasoline card. At the time SOHIO had repair facilities and I took my car there for repairs. One time my water pump failed and SOHIO repaired it for me. A few months later it failed again and I returned to the SOHIO station to have my pump replaced. But, for some reason SOHIO refused to replace my pump and I had to pay for another one. I was furious and took my car elsewhere. I was so angry I took my SOHIO card and cut it up in pieces and I vowed never to buy SOHIO gasoline again.
It’s not easy to forgive people when they make mistakes. To compensate we like to get even, or at the very least, refuse to deal with people who are not fair. I had made the judgment that the SOHIO Company was unfair. I therefore chose not to deal with them in the future.
Years later, when I was appointed to my first church, the church lay leader took me aside following our first church meeting and said he had something to give me. “We can’t pay you a huge salary, but because you are a student and your gasoline expenses to and from seminary will be a burden, please accept this.” He then handed me a SOHIO card with the church’s name on it and told me it was mine to use as long as I was their pastor.
When we withhold forgiveness we live with the myth that we are in control. At some point it may come back to haunt us. What do you think I did with the SOHIO card? I did what any good seminarian would do; I accepted it graciously. I learned through that life experience that God is as the psalmist declared, “My rock and my redeemer.”
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 27, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
