Seeking Humility? Empty Yourself!

In Ephesians 4:1 St. Paul has these words, "...walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness..." and in Luke 14 Jesus says,"When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher; then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

These two passages of scripture connect dramatically to teach us something important about our spiritual journey. They talk about the importance of emptiness and how through emptiness we can come to a full relationship with God through Christ.

When we look at the Beatitudes and those virtues normally considered important for Christians to attain, we see that humility and meekness figure significantly into a deep spiritual relationship with God. The fact is that we can only find our spiritual selves and our union with God when we are truly meek....when we honestly put ourselves second and God first. To be meek is to be gentle and kind and to empty oneself of all selfishness and ambition. Truly emptying the self is part of the message of Jesus in the Gospel.

Emptying the self is not a hard concept to understand, although some people try to make it so. It sounds very "Eastern" and it is, but it's also a core concept of the Gospels. It is allowing ourselves to give up our pride and make our hearts truly a place in which Christ can abide. When we are full of pride we are self-focused and when we are self-focused we can't see others and we can't see God. We see only ourselves. Everything we do is focused on us. How can we love God when we're so busy loving ourselves? Have you ever heard the phrase, "He's really full of himself?" It means a person is self-focused and full of pride. One is so full, there's no place for anything else. Therefore, if you want to love God you must empty yourself of all pride and self-love if there's going to be room for God.

In the Gospel above, Jesus talks about people who are so full of themselves they always have to try to have the most important place. They want everyone to see them and know how important they are. However, there's always someone more important in society...always someone with more money...always someone with more power. When we push for the head of the table that someone can come along and kick us out of our chair. So now we become angry...we're hurt...don't they know how important we are? Now our day is ruined and we just might be upset enough to ruin someone else's day, too. That's O.K., of course, because we're the most important thing on earth. How incredibly selfish! Do you know what we've just done? We've just set ourselves above God. Our pride has put us in the first place. We have no space for God.

The process of emptying the self of our pride is not easy. It takes work. Just read some of the writings of the great spiritual masters of the church and you'll see how they struggled with that themselves.You may ask, "Father, how do I empty myself of pride and allow God to fill me?" Well, I've got a suggestion. It has worked for many and it will work for you, too.

First, it's important to find a good spiritual advisor and has the ability to direct you down the correct spiritual path. This might be difficult to do. Don’t settle for "pop" theology and the latest craze in spirituality. Those are false paths that, at best, will take you nowhere, and at worst will destroy your faith. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, Satan loves to sneak in through that door. Find a spiritual advisor grounded in the true faith of the Church and of the Early Fathers. Someone who has your spiritual well being at heart and will not lead you down any path other than towards Christ. It takes prayer, the study of scripture, the study of the spiritual masters of the church, like St. John Climacus, and contemplation.

It is also helpful to go before the cross or an icon of Christ in contemplation. Perhaps use the Jesus Prayer, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Repeat it over and over...don't even think about how many times you say it. Just look at the icon or the cross and say the Jesus Prayer. Allow your pride to flow out of you until you feel the emptiness in your heart. Ask Christ to take that burden of pride from you and be willing to give it up to Him. Then allow the love of Christ to flow into you. Rejoice in its beauty and warmth. If you do this often, you will begin to see many positive changes in yourself. For one thing, your pride will begin to melt away and you'll find the joy of humility that is promised to us. Christ can't be in your heart if you're filling it with pride. Humility allows you to open yourself to Jesus. To empty your heart to Him. "For everyone who exhalts himself shall be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exhalted." Take the lowest seat. Practice humility in your life. Empty yourself and allow the love of Christ to completely fill you.