Mac Davis sang, “Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way.” How are we doing with humility? At our best, we know we have every reason to be humble. Unfortunately, we are not always at our best.
Do you think of humility when you think of Peter? Not so much. Remember his protestations that he would never deny Jesus, the very night before he did so? We may see some progress in this story. When Cornelius fell at his feet, Peter refused the adulation. “I am only a man myself.” Luke shows us other examples of people who were honored as deities. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes at the thought (Acts 14:14-15). But Herod thought the people’s comparison of him to God was just about right (Acts 12:21-23). This was right before the worms ate him.
Peter was in Caesarea because God told him to go. His cultural rules forbade him to go and associate with Gentiles, but God’s voice and vision called for obedience. Cornelius believed Peter would have a word from God. Peter was a vessel for God, but not God.
Years later, Paul would write to the believers, “All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5b-6). When we remember what God has done for us it is not hard to be humble at all. Jesus is the only one who was perfect in every way!
