Irony is a hard word to define. If my first language was Cantonese and in learning English I came across this word (This is a stretch I know - Just bear with me) I would think it had something to do with metal. Like iron. You know, iron-y. Like watery, or ketchup-y. Oh, if it was only that easy.
Irony is when something happens that is incongruous with the preceding events. Thank you Webster. That really helps. But I think we all get the sense of something that is ironic. A tyrant rises to power due to a relentless promotion of slavery and ends up being overthrown and becomes a slave himself. Or, you go to rob a bank and just before you pull out your gun, the guy behind you in line pulls a mask over his face and says, "everybody down!" Or, it could be that you go to put some apricot jam on your toast, find the jar empty - fume about it for a while, but later learn that it would have been the thing that sent you into a diabetic coma if you'd had it. I think… This is getting kind of mixed up, but once again, we all seem to be aware of this concept of irony. Heavy stuff.
But here's something that seems to be a secret to most of the world: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12) That's ironic. That's incongruous. It doesn't make sense to our natural minds. If we demote ourselves, we will be promoted. That kind of takes the wind out of the sails of ambition, doesn't it? But Jesus lived it. In the beginning of Mark's gospel, Jesus is seen casting demons out of people left and right. He then tells them to tell know one about it. He would not let the demons speak the truth about Him. Many times Christ performed a miracle and then demanded silence. Very rarely did he do the opposite (the man from the tombs being one exception). At one point in his public ministry, the crowds wanted to take him and make him king "by force", it says. He wouldn't have any of it. He slipped out. He purposely kept himself "on the down low".
Remember the court room scene before the Sanhedrin. People were accusing him of things that were out-right lies. Their own testimonies were canceling each other out. But Jesus didn't say a thing. "Like a sheep before shearers is silent..." He humbled himself. He was willing to be called "a friend of sinners" (I'm glad for that!) They called him a glutton and a drunkard. They called him a blasphemer. But what was the result of all this? Well, in a word, it was joy. "who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame..." He hated the idea that what he was doing was shameful. He was directly opposed to the thought that he should be embarrassed to be nearly naked, nailed to a roman cross, having mostly women there to support him - all of his male disciples took off earlier, except for John. There was joy ahead. Exaltation was coming. He knew it. This was the way. This was how He was given a name that is above every name. His name is now mostly used as a curse-word in our culture. It's still a name that saves, though. Little do they know.
Don't be afraid of things you can't define. Irony is a tough one, but harder still is the idea that God uses things that we think are useless. Jesus was regarded as having been conceived out of wedlock, he grew up as a tradesman (never officially taught), only had a public ministry of 3 years and was followed around by fishermen. Pretty unassuming start. But what an end. And by end I mean, what a beginning to the joy ahead. He took death, sin, hell, the devil, the world - you and me - on his shoulders. That takes humility. God the Father exalted him for it.When Jesus was presented at the temple by Mary and Joseph, it was Simeon that said, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many." Notice that falling precedes rising here. That means that in order to rise, you have to fall first. We are not simply talking about salvation now, but about our new lives in Christ. This principle is very important to see. It goes against our grain to think this way, but we need to see it already lived out by the Lord Jesus. He was made to be of no reputation – he emptied himself – he was made nothing. Now he is everything. The same goes for us. We have to lose, to win.
“And the first prize goes to…” Every first place winner owes their win to the second place contestant. If he or she had not done worse than the winner, the winner would not have won. Winners need losers. Losers are important people. Without losers, we would have no winners. Losers are the shoulders winners ride on. Everybody who wins should thank their lucky stars that somebody did so badly.
Have you ever been called a “loser”? It hurts. Everybody wants to win. So often our personal best is not enough. It doesn’t matter if we did all we could, it just seems to matter who did worse. There is something in us constantly comparing ourselves to others. That’s why the Guiness’ Book of World Records exists. You have some people that are no good at the regular contests, so they have to make up a weird one to be the best at. There is actually an award for the largest naval fluff collection.
He must increase, I must decrease. He must become greater, I must become less. This is the thought John the Baptist had when confronted with the popularity of Jesus. Not only the popularity, but the success of Jesus. He was baptizing more people than John and John’s disciples appeared to be threatened by this. But John was not threatened. In essence, he replied, “I am still too much. Jesus needs to be more.” At the heart, John is saying, “I have to shrink from view, I have to be less successful, I have to lose more.” John wanted to be a better loser.
We talk about glorifying God but I wonder how often we watch out for competing glories. Our glory gets in the way of the Lord’s. Or maybe we think our glory is necessary for making God look good. Jesus said, “Let your good works so shine before men that they glorify your Father in Heaven.” Well, that isn’t referring to the degree of illumination your works emit. Jesus is talking about the nature of the illumination itself, with that word “so”. You have to back up to one of his illustrations to get the full picture. He talks about a lamp-stand propping up the light, instead of a bowl on top of it. He links the lamp-stand with the works. The light is Christ. We are to hold him up for the world to see. We are to be holders (and beholders) of the light. Do you prop up Christ? Do I prop up Christ? Or are we busy climbing the shoulders of losers?
This can be a hard thing to see in your life, because we are so prone to seeking praise. But start today. We all actively promote ourselves. Sometimes our résumé is a little too handy. Put it away. Let Christ win. Take second place – take last place. May his interests and his endeavours be ours: His Church, his Word, his Name, his Glory… Christ’s is the only opinion that matters anyway. And he doesn’t miss a thing. Even when your right hand is unaware of what your left is doing, Jesus knows. When he says to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” may there be many secrets between you. Be anonymous in your giving and generous with your prayers. Keep yourself on the down low. That’s where Christ is, you know.
Think about it. The Lord Jesus has decided to be known to this world primarily through his church. If that isn’t humility… The Church is not often a very glorious thing. We do not represent him like we should. But he has still decided to light our lamp. There may be times when it has to be removed from us, as we see with the Church in Ephesus (Revelation 2), but Christ still shines through such opaque people. When Paul said, “for now we see through a glass darkly…” maybe that includes the obscuring nature of the Body of Christ. The Scriptures are clear, but we are not. Still, Jesus humbly defers to the Body of Christ to be his hands and feet, and his face to the world. He is still humbling himself.
May we see him once again as our great Forerunner, and live humbly. It will mean going out of our way to demote ourselves. It will mean refraining from self-promotion and a willingness to be recognized as inferior. It will also mean being seen as a fool for Christ. The world will not understand why you have prioritized your life as you have. Your habit of gathering with other like-minded fools (the Church), your avoidance of earthly wealth - and your willingness to give what little of it you have to the needy, and your insistence on bringing up Jesus Christ in every conversation will get you noticed. It will be humiliating at times. But Jesus said, “they hated me, they will hate you also.” He knows what you are going through. He’s been here already. There is no greater humiliation than the cross. Look what that accomplished. Keep yourself on the down low. That’s where Christ comes into focus.