January 10th, 2014 Henri Nouwen's Daily Meditation ||Commentary by Nicole Collins

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Friday January 10, 2014
Growing Beyond Self-Rejection

One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is self-rejection. When we say, "If people really knew me, they wouldn't love me," we choose the road toward darkness. Often we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue, called humility. But humility is in reality the opposite of self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are precious in God's eyes and that all we are is pure gift. To grow beyond self-rejection we must have the courage to listen to the voice calling us God's beloved sons and daughters, and the determination always to live our lives according to this truth.

My Commentary:

Humility is a beautiful thing. Acquiring the big H, is not easy stuff but it something the heart needs to put on as St. Paul tells us in clothing ourselves with Christ.  We must also hear the beautiful creedal hymn St. Paul sings to us in Philippians to remind us, bring us back to the reason why we need to be humble: (Philippians 2:1-18 ) “2If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹⁴Do all things without murmuring and arguing, ¹⁵so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. ¹⁶It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. ¹⁷But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you— ¹⁸and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.”

I first truly experienced this passage earlier on in my seminary journey in the Scripture by Heart class I had.  Basically we were to embody the scripture passage and deliver it orally by acting it out, speaking it as if you were there.  It was one of the most powerful animations of scripture I experienced!  This passage cannot be heard as a verse or two.  You need to see Jesus going to the cross enacting GRACE.  You need to fall to your knees and rise like a shining light in speaking these verses: “¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  The entire passage tells, prays, redeems of GRACE and our journey to live into it!

God Bless Your Fridays!

Nicole Collins