Humble and Kind
James 3:13-4:10[1]
Most of you know that I’m a music fan. I grew
up in the 1960’s listening to “Top 40” music on my transistor radio. As a
teenager in the 1970’s, I “graduated” to a “stereo,” complete with huge
speakers and arguments with my parents about whether the music was too loud. But
besides classic rock, Chuck Mangione had come along and made listening to Jazz
“cool” again for my generation, so I delved into that. My musical tastes have
grown and expanded over the years, and throughout my journey, the people in my
life influenced me. When I went off to college, my roommate was into what was
then known as “soul” music. Later in my twenties, I also began exploring
classical music, something my grandfather had encouraged. When my kids became
teenagers, they were listening to a whole new style of music. I actually liked
some of it, so I tried to keep up with the best of what was “new” in music. As
you know my son Michael is a performing musician working with the Navy Band, and he’s usually cluing me into new Jazz artists. And these
days, I’m taking some of my cues from my grandchildren! Perhaps I’m not alone
in that.
If you were listening closely, you may have
missed one genre of music. I didn’t listen to Country music early on, but I
gradually added it to my musical repertoire over the years. One of my favorite
songs is actually a Country song: “Humble and Kind,” by Tim McGraw. I first
heard it in 2018 at Maxine Verhoeff’s funeral (true story), and I loved it, and
I’ve listened to it regularly ever since. I love the simple truths it conveys,
principles that I was taught from earliest childhood. Like “Hold the door, say
please, say thank you, Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie.” It reflects a
way of life that’s simply “good.” “Don’t hold a grudge or a chip” because “Bitterness
keeps you from flying” is wisdom we all need to hear. “When you get where you’re
goin’, Don’t forget turn back around, Help the next one in line” reminds us
that we actually do have a responsibility for how we treat other people.
The refrain of that song, “Always stay humble
and kind,” could be a tag line for our scripture reading from James for today. That
might seem strange at first. What James advocates is “being humble and wise in
everything you do” (Jas 3:13, CEV). There were some in his community of
faith who were speaking and acting in ways that were wreaking havoc. We should
probably hear everything James says about “wisdom” in this passage with the
echo of everything he has said about the power of words to do great damage, as
we heard last week.[2] But at the end of the day, I would say that James saw a person’s speech as one
of the most obvious displays of their character. And the gist of the “wisdom”
James advocates is being “humble and kind.”
It may be challenging for us to make that
connection. We associate “wisdom” with the book of Proverbs in the Bible. If
you’ve ever read Proverbs, you know that it’s easy to get lost in all the
details. But I would say that the “wisdom” that both Proverbs and James promote
is about taking faith and making it real in your everyday living. That may not
be your first impression after reading the book of Proverbs, because the way
it’s organized can be confusing. That’s why I think most of us tend to ignore
Proverbs. But if you read it with a note pad by your side and just jot down
themes as you come to them, you’ll soon notice a pattern—wisdom is about trusting
and honoring God. And there’s a great deal in there about staying humble and
kind in the way you treat others.
We really shouldn’t be surprised that James
sounds a lot like the book of Proverbs when he insists that we take our faith
and make it real in everyday life. In this respect, James also sounds a lot
like his brother, his Lord, and his Savior. In fact, I would say that the
portion of Scripture the book of James most resembles besides Proverbs is the
“Sermon on the Mount.” That’s because Jesus also valued the wisdom taught by
the book of Proverbs. As James says in our lesson for today, it’s a kind of
wisdom that “leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful,
genuine, and sincere” (Jas 3:17, CEV). I don’t think it’s an accident that
wisdom and humility and kindness are all connected to one another. Practicing
kindness takes humility. That doesn’t mean we make ourselves into doormats for
other people to walk all over. Rather I think it points to a basic orientation
toward life that enables us to treat other people with respect.
Unfortunately, that kind of respect and
humility seems to be sorely lacking these days. In these days of dividing lines,
bitterness and rage, and public shootings, at the very least we see ourselves
as better than those “on the other side.” At the worst, we see “them” as
enemies. James warns us about that in our lesson as well: he says, “Whenever
people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel
things” (Jas 3:16, CEV). I like Gene Peterson’s translation: “Whenever
you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things
fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats” (Jas. 3:16, The Message)! The opposite of living by
the wisdom of “always stay humble and kind” is an arrogance leads to things
falling apart and has everyone at each other’s throats!
That kind of prideful arrogance is never good
for anyone. Later in our lesson for today, James quotes from Proverbs: “God
opposes everyone who is proud, but he blesses all who are humble with
undeserved grace” (Jas 4:6 CEV). The language of the original verse in
Proverbs is even stronger: “The Lord mocks the mockers but is
gracious to the humble” (Prov 3:34, NLT). That brings us back to the
importance of humility as a foundation for life. Practicing kindness means we
have to give something of ourselves to others. We can’t do that if we’re stuck
in pride or arrogance. Arrogance is a essentially mindset that withholds basic
respect from people we think are “beneath” us. Only through humility can we see
others as people whom God loves as much as he loves us. And only when we can
see them in that way can we give them the gift of kindness.
“Always stay humble and kind.” I don’t know
whether Tim McGraw tries to live that way in real life.[3] But I love the sentiment of the song. I think the life of simple goodness it
portrays lines up with our Scripture lesson from James for today. We can only
be kind if we’re humble enough to treat people with respect and courtesy. To do
that, we have to recognize that we fall short just as much as anyone else. We
have to let go of the need to “win,” whether that means being right or getting
our own way or seeing ourselves as better than others. Only when we practice
this kind of humility can we respect other people enough to give them the
kindness that has defined godly wisdom from the very beginning.
[1] ©
2024 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/22/2024 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Cf.
Robert W. Wall, Community of the Wise, 186: “James’s description of
false wisdom continues in accordance with the moral calculus that bad ideas are
embodied in antisocial actions: garbage in, garbage out. If the words of an
unwise teacher, who lacks understanding of the word of God, are fueled and
formed by ‘jealousy and rivalry,’ then ‘chaos and every vile practice’ will
surely result among those who follow his [sic] lead.” By contrast (ibid., 190),
“Words that are ‘full of mercy’ are consistent with the merciful God; they are
words of a tamed tongue which have the power to edify and guide a congregation
to wholeness.”
[3] The author of the lyrics, Lori McKenna, who won a Grammy Award in 2017 for Best
Country Song for “Humble and Kind,” recounts that she wrote it for her children
as a way of reminding them of all the things she and her husband wanted them to
remember. See the interview with her by Dave Paulson in The Nashville Tennessean,
“Story Behind the Song: Tim McGraw’s ‘Humble and Kind’”, Jan 25, 2024, accessed
at https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/story-behind-the-song/2021/01/25/story-behind-song-tim-mcgraws-humble-and-kind/4228236001/
.
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