Diane Johnson, Lay Speaker
SERMON: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
I am starting today with a quote from Jane Austen’s book,
“Pride and Prejudice:”
“Pride,” observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the solidity of her
reflections, “is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever
read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human
nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us
who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some
quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different
things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may
be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of
ourselves, (feeling good about ourselves), vanity to what we would
have others think of us (that we are special, have status.” Jane
Austen, "Pride and Prejudice", 5.20
And before I get to the Scriptures, I want to share a personal story
about pride: Yesterday morning, I decided to share on FaceBook my
pride over my voluptuous gardens in their tiny raised bed plots. And
voluptuous they are! Potatoes, squashes, tomatoes and kale, beets
and carrots, and green beans, each in their own 2, 4, or 8 by 4 foot
beds! But I was a little trepidatious about the bragging, as I was also
writing this sermon on pride and prejudice, and remembering the old
saying, “Pride goeth before a fall.” It would actually not have been a
surprise at all to wake up this morning, and learn that my resident
doe had decided it was time to visit and again remove all of the new
little beet leaves, the leaves and flowers on the bean stems that had
finally gotten a chance to grow, and give the tomatoes and peppers
another pruning! So much for voluptuous!
In order to modulate my pride so that it does not become the sin of
vanity, it behooves me to acknowledge every person and being and
circumstance contributing to the success of my little plots. I actually
did have a lot of help! I hired a charming younger couple from
Quilcene to weed, dig and fertilize the plots; I bought seed and starts
grown by others; there is plentiful water and sunshine, supplied by
God’s creation of an incredible universe and a particularly incredibly
complex environment on our earth; and my precious dog, who takes it
upon herself to guard the property and keep the deer away most of
the time! I’m sure I could go down the rabbit hole in naming
organisms and existing characteristics of the soil, rock minerals, etc.
that account for gardening success! Without all that help, I
wouldn’t have had a garden at all this year. I am grateful to and
praise God for all He has created, all of the resources He provides
daily through nature that we need to live in this amazing place and
participate in such amazing things!
In planning the sermon, I also came up with a brief list of examples of
pride, and the prejudices it may lead to, that we may experience or
observe from time to time—you may have come up with many others
in your earlier conversations. It includes:
a) The everyday pride of thinking we don’t need the help of others,
or are embarrassed to ask for the help of others…including God
b) Thinking we know more than or are better than others in some
skill or regard
c) An attitude of privilege—deserving of special respect or
advantage because of who we are, our status–
d) Striving for more…more money, promotions to higher salary,
more authority or responsibility, sexual adventures, etc. Why?
e) The chutzpah of our nation’s, and many of the world’s, leaders,
who seek to be dictators…
So, let’s look at what Jesus and Paul have to say about pride,
prejudice, and status-seeking:
In Luke 14:1, 7-14, Jesus notices how guests at a meal offered by one
of the Pharisee leaders sought out the best seats at the table. He
suggested that rather than taking a seat of honor at the table, it
would be better to take a seat in the least important seat at the
table, rather than be embarrassed (lose honor) when the host, who
invited someone more important than you, comes and gives the seat
you chose to that other person. He reminds them that if they choose
a more humble seat, their host then has an opportunity to honor them
by calling them up to a better seat! He says, “All who lift themselves
up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be
lifted up.” I believe Jesus here is also referring to the Judgment
Day references, statements he made, during events like the feeding
of the 4000, such as “the meek shall inherit the earth” or “the first
shall be last and the last shall be first” to enter heaven. Pride goeth
before a fall.
He then also gently chastises the host, that rather than inviting those
of the same status as his own or better to his meals, and being
rewarded by invitations to meals they then give in return, he should
invite those who would otherwise never have such an honor as a meal
with a Pharisee, and are unable to return the honor to him. He says,
“You will be blessed because they cannot repay you. Instead you will
be repaid when the just are resurrected.” God will receive you into
heaven as one of the humble, not reject you as a status seeker.
Again, “pride goeth before a fall.”
Paul, in Hebrews 13:1-8 and 15-16, reiterates in detail ways in which
we are to show compassion, empathy for others, especially to those
who are strangers, different than ourselves, suffering, of lower status;
we are to be endowed with the gifts of humility and hospitality. He
specifically calls out the morality of honoring one’s spouse with
fidelity, staying free from the love of money, and being content with
what we have. He clearly calls us to continually depend on God, who
never changes. I think Paul means trusting and leaning on God’s
promise to “never leave us or abandon us.” I do know how hard this is
to do when the going is tough, and constantly have to encourage both
myself and my clients to hang on firmly to whatever faith we have to
stay “strong” and trust God to bring us through the situation(s) we
must endure. It really does help!
In this Scripture, rather than exhibiting the kind of pride in ourselves
that suggests we have become vain, priveleged, or feeling we are
better than others, like the Pharisees in Luke, we are demonstrating
here that we are too proud to ask for the help that already surrounds
us out of fear of embarrassment, exposure (that we are weak,
failures, etc)…(fear of loss of what status we have), but also that
we think we can (or must, or do) “stay strong” on our own
(overconfidence in our own abilities, or false pride, that we
don’t need God, or lack of faith that God will be there at all or
respond to our asking, etc.…).
Paul says we do not have to be afraid we won’t have enough, that we
must keep struggling alone for more for any hope of security; he
encourages us to recognize that we already have enough, that we do
have God, and can quietly rest our fears on the knowledge that He
knows what we need and will be there to provide “if we trust Him and
seek His help!”
What we are to do is continually recognize and offer our gratitude for
everything He is already providing, moment to moment, and that we
can rest in the flow of life as we participate in His Bigger Picture,
doing good and sharing what we have with others as junior partners
in the workings of the universe!
Pride (in the form of vanity and prejudice) goeth before a fall…. But
we will be lifted up through a life of demonstrating hospitality and
humble compassion for all people and simple trust in God’s
benevolence and grace through faith.
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