Homily for Trinity 17

The homily for Trinity 17 focused on humility, but not just any humility. Back on Trinity 11 we heard Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which shows us proper humility before God - the humility of repentance, that is. On Trinity 17 we hear Luke 14:1-11 about humility before one another, the humility of not seeking the places of honor, the humility that Jesus Himself shows as He heals the man suffering from dropsy on the Sabbath day. Yes, Jesus puts this man's needs ahead of His own. That's the very same thing our Lord does for us as He goes to the cross: puts our need for healing - in body and in soul - ahead of His own. Instead of taking the "highest place" of holding on to His "equality with God" (cf. Phil. 2:6), our Lord took the lowest place - the place of "The Harder Humility" - in order to heal us from our dropsy of sin and raise us up to the highest place with Him ... for eternity.

To listen to "The Harder Humility," click here and download the audio file.