I was with Cathy at an
Ethiopian wedding reception waiting for the bride and groom to arrive so that
all of the guests could eat. The room was alive with excitement as the smell of
food filled the air.
At one point, I even got up
to look at the feast that was being set out on the banquet tables. My mouth and
my eyes were becoming moist with anticipation; which in laymen’s terms meant we
were going to eat some really, really great Ethiopian food!
A few hours earlier in St.
Paul, Minnesota, I had officiated the wedding ceremony for this couple who had
both been born in Ethiopia and had moved to the United States of America at
some point in their past.
The church had been packed
with around three hundred or so family and friends who had come from all over
the United States, Canada, and from Ethiopia for this joyful day.
The ceremony went off without
a hitch and after it was over, the guests, along with Cathy and I, had driven
to another church in Minneapolis to attend the reception while the wedding
party took photographs.
And now, we sat at tables in
the banquet hall, along with five hundred or so guests, waiting for the bride
and groom to arrive so that all of the guests could eat. They had even set out
a couple of forks and spoons for Cathy and me who were the only Caucasian
people in the room; assuming that we might prefer to eat using the utensils
instead of our hands!
We enjoyed our time waiting
as we were brought up to speed on the history of Ethiopia by the four pastors
who were sitting at our table (as much as you could get up to speed in an hour
or so).
And then the joyous couple,
along with the wedding party, arrived, which signaled that we could begin the
pilgrimage to get our food as soon as the prayers were said for the meal.
I look up and saw that a man
was walking towards me with a microphone saying something in Oromo. At the
table, one of the pastors said that it was time for me to go up and bless the
food; which is pretty common for me to do at wedding receptions.
I said something to the
effect of perhaps one of them should pray in Oromo; at which point they asked
for me to stand up because the man with the microphone was coming closer; and
so I stood up and made my way towards him with the confidence of a track star
awaiting the hand off of the baton. This was another opportunity for me to
speak to the masses and get some more exposure!
Just as I was about to take
the microphone, another person (who was between myself and the man with the
microphone) stood up and took the microphone and proceeded to pray in Oromo. He
was an Orthodox Priest and had been asked by the mother of the bride to ask the
blessing.
And now, there were only two people
standing up; and only one of whom was supposed to be standing. And the other
was me! I would like to say that I gracefully turned and sat down, but instead
I knelt down by the nearest table and starting talking to a complete stranger
asking her what was the priest speaking in Oromo was saying, hoping that she
didn’t put two and two together.
I ended eating some ‘humble
pie’; not one of the foods I had been looking forward to! I stood up and returned
to my table; somewhat embarrassed.
The pastors at my table
apologized to me realizing that they had helped put me in this predicament,
saying once again that they had indeed thought that I was supposed to ask the
blessing. But actually, it was I who had thought higher of myself than I ought
to. It was my own pride and wrong self evaluation that had allowed me to be in
that place.
Romans 12:3
(NKJV) says; “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is
among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he
ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of
faith.”
We are all looking
(at times) to get ahead and to get noticed; to arrive at who we are supposed to
be. And, at times, we can do things for the wrong reason or motivation. But
that isn’t what we are supposed to do; we are called to be humble. Perhaps it
will save us from eating humble pie.
1 Peter 5:6 (MSG) says; “So be content with who you are, and
don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; He’ll promote you at the right
time.”
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and
He will lift you up.” James 4:10
“God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble.” James 4:6
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