Exalted by God comes after suffering, a little bit

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042520.cfm
1 Peter 5:5-14
Mark 16:15-20

The virtue of humility draws up two important disciplines in the reading this Saturday from 1 Peter. The great apostle calls us to be humble. To be humble we need both sobriety and vigilance. I wouldn’t have thought the way to humility follows this path, but it makes sense after reviewing what these disciplines can do for us.

Peter preaches, in a roundabout way, that how we deal with one another gives us the clue to our pride. The disciplines of being sober and vigilant take place in our interactions with each other. When we gather together in work or play, and even in idle conversation, our personality takes the path we’ve practiced most often. 

We practice sobriety, or we are unrestrained, thoughtless, and ultimately intoxicated. Peter zeroes in well on the dangerous patterns of a person who is not sober. We don’t have to be drunk to act like a fool, though. Sobriety means sensible, thoughtful, and subdued. Take those away and you’re basically a damned fool. So to speak.

Also, we either practice vigilance, or we are careless, unprepared, and negligent. Peter has a clever grasp of the failures common to an inattentive personality. 

Studying these two requirements of humility was very painful. For me, anyway. If you’re comfortable with vigilance and sobriety in your personal practice of humility, congratulations. You did not come to your comfortable place, according to Peter, without having faith, and without acknowledging the inevitability of suffering. That’s the mark of maturity. If you're there, wow.

Those of us who struggle most with humility have not quite grasped the place of suffering. We’re not keenly aware of the reason that God allows us to suffer the misery of temptations. It's for our exaltation. If we don't know that, we take matters into our own hands. Peter explains that by exalting ourselves we forget that it is not our job. God exalts us. Probably not here, and not now, though. That's why we don't see it. 

The temptation to exaltation escalates when we chat with each other. We either talk about ourselves or blather on about other people. Gossip cooks up rather quickly when we’re talking about others. Gossip is prideful stuff. Boasting about ourselves, however, is more of an art form. Our boasts simmer, drawn-out with dashes of spices tossed in until we’ve set the table for how great we are. That's the slippery slope kind of pride. Oh, dear. 

Both schemes, obviously delicious due to how often we do it, center on building up our virtuous selves. I think we are often telling the truth, even in our “concerned” reporting about other people’s foibles and problems. It’s not so much the truth that’s the problem. It’s our desire to be recognized for our virtuous lives. 

Peter says we should not worry about being exalted. We should trust that God has that in hand.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Peter says that resistance to pride, the antithesis of humility, deals with being steadfast in faith. What he calls our “suffering” at the hands of temptations isn’t going to end. Steadfast, then, is required. We’re not going to be successful in fashioning a life of humility, one where we’re both sober and vigilant, simply by switching some gears in our personality. That's the bad news. This is where we think we need to improve ourselves. It's not actually us improving ourselves. We’re going to be hammered into taking prideful steps on a regular basis. It's God improving us.

Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.

God allows this to happen to us. He will “bestow favor on the humble” at his own time, not ours. We must remember he cares for us. In the meantime:

The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.

The good news is that the more humble we want to be the more challenges we’re going to run into. I say that’s good news because mounting temptations are a clue to our faithfulness. If we don’t feel tempted about anything we’re probably so deeply mired in sin that we have no idea we’re suffering, and causing suffering.

I really like the idea that Peter says our temptations are basically suffering a little bit when we insist on being humble. I like that because it’s a very good way to look at avoidance of sin. We actually suffer more when we sin. Sinning is the most horrible suffering of all. The humble only suffer a little bit.

Oh, to be more humble.