◎陳偉明（Jimmy Chan, Carey Theological College 神學助理教授）

Augustine preached Sermon 206 at the beginning of Lent for his Hippo community. He leads his listeners to reflect on 2 Timothy 2:11-13 and Luke 6:37-38. The theme of humility stands out in the sermon:

The humility of Christ has taught us to be humble because He yielded to the wicked by His death; the exaltation of Christ lifts us up because by rising again He blazed the way for His devoted followers. For, “if we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13) One of these conditions we now celebrate with due observance in view of His approaching Passion; the other we shall celebrate after Easter when His Resurrection is, as it were, accomplished again. Then, after the days of this humiliation will be the time of our exaltation. Although this is not yet the time to experience this [happiness], it gives us pleasure to anticipate it in our considerations.

First reflection question:

1. Christ experienced days of humiliation in the Passion before being exalted upon his Resurrection. How may that inspire you to live your Christian life?

Then, Augustine continues to expound on the theme of humility by imploring them to live out this humility in almsgiving, who would bring them closer to God:

Let us by our prayers add the wings of piety to our almsdeeds and fasting so that they may fly more readily to God. Moreover, the Christian soul understands how far removed he should be from theft of another’s goods when he realizes that failure to share his surplus with the needy is like to theft. The Lord says: ‘Give, and it shall be given to you; forgive, and you shall be forgiven.’ (Luke 6:37,38) Let us graciously and fervently perform these two types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we, in turn, pray the Lord to give us good things and not to requite our evil deeds.

The best response to a humiliating world is to live an almsgiving life, for this is the way to demonstrate how Christ responded in humility when he was born into this world and suffered for us, to the point of death on the Cross. God forgave our sins because He let His son gave us his life for us. “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Augustine sees giving and forgiving as “two types of almsigiving”, because without realizing that we were the spiritually poor, filled with sins and are only worthy of damnation, yet it is all out of God’s mercy that gives us the grace of forgiveness.

Second reflective question:

2. Christ practiced humility, focusing on the call from Father God to give and forgive. How may we practice humility by focusing on His call to give to others and forgive those who have sinned against us?