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If you enjoy politics, you must really enjoy this time of the year. Yard signs and banners and billboards are popping up all over the place. The bantering and bickering and rebutting have already begun. The barrage of caustic commercials has commenced, many of them full of criticism about the opposing candidates. After one political debate, a reporter asked a young woman, "What do you think of the candidates?" She didn't say a word about their positions on the issues or their skill at debate. She simply remarked, "None of them seems to have any humility."

Some of you remember the tale told about early American statesman, Benjamin Franklin. He created a list of qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he would be so pleased that he became immensely proud of himself!

A similar story is told about Queen Victoria. Although she was a person with a deep notion of duty shown through self-discipline and devotion to others, her son, Edward, offered a clever line at the time of her passing. A member of the royal household mused, "I wonder if the Queen will be happy in heaven?" Edward said, "I don't know, she will have to walk behind the angels, and she won't like that."

HUMILITY AND SELF-DENIAL ARE ELUSIVE VIRTUES. Think about our society and culture. A great deal more time and energy and money is spent telling us that we should be climbing ladders instead of carrying crosses. Many of you know that all too well-you have to live with the pressure to produce and be successful every day.

Consider this classic corporate horror story as told by Francis Geer in "The Silence of God." He writes: "I have a friend who was hired by a highly competitive marketing firm. Recently he seemed to be showing some signs of wear and tear, so I invited him out to lunch and asked him how the new job was going. He said, 'The way it works at my job is that when you get hired you get 100 points. When you make a mistake, you lose points. If it's a small mistake you lose one point, but if it is a big mistake, you lose three, or maybe five. When you get down to 80 points, they fire you and hire somebody else.' Being naive in these matters, I asked him, 'How do you gain points?' With a steely gray expression of despair, he looked me right in the eye and said, 'You can't!'"

Fortunately, many people in business are shifting their attitudes and embracing servant-leader models. Max Depree, Chair Emeritus of Herman Miller, Inc., shares this story. "I arrived at a local tennis club just after a group had vacated the locker room. They had not bothered to pick up after themselves. Without thinking too much about it, I gathered up all their towels and put them in a hamper. A friend of mine quietly watched me do this and then asked me a question that I've pondered many times over the years. 'Do you pick up towels because you're the president of a company, or are you the president because you pick up towels?'"

Roy Sission of Britain's Smith Industries has these three requirements for management. He calls them "The Three H's of Leadership. Humanity... Humility... Humor." Fortunately, more and more people are recognizing that there is more to life than climbing ladders. When someone asks, "What are they worth?" the question is often interpreted as "How much money do they have?" For people of faith, the question can be interpreted in many other ways. "How valuable are they to the community?" "How involved are they in the church?" "How committed are they to their families?" "How are they using their gifts and time and energy to help others?" Our "worth" has much more to do with spiritual matters than how much money we are making. Although there are some people of faith who seem to want it all.

Last week I mentioned the TIME magazine cover article titled "Does God Want you to be Rich?" The article used an illustration of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, and portrayed God as some kind of spiritual ATM-reaching out to Adam with a big handful of $100 bills. This week's scripture passage is one of the focal texts in the discussion in the article. The authors point out that in three of the Gospels, Jesus warns the disciples that they must deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow him. Jesus poses the perplexing question: "What does it profit us if we gain the world and lose our souls?" Although this is one of Jesus' hardest teachings, generations of Christians have understood that at some level, discipleship means being ready to sacrifice-money, independence-sometimes even life itself. But a growing number of Christians seem to want it all. George Adams, member of Joel Osteen's church in Houston says, "Why not gain the whole world plus my soul?" He represents many who proclaim "The Prosperity Gospel."

On the other hand, you have church leaders who strongly disagree. Rick Warren says, "This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy? Baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth." Ron Sider echoes these feelings when he states, "They have neglected the texts about the danger of riches. Prosperity Gospel Lite is one of the most powerful forms of neglect of the poor."

IT WILL COME AS NO SURPRISE TO YOU THAT JESUS TALKS A LOT ABOUT THIS TOPIC. And it will come as no surprise to you that his disciples don't like what he has to say either. After finally "getting it right" when Jesus asks about his identity, Peter, the spokes-disciple for the group, gets it wrong-again. Peter's astonishing declaration that Jesus is the messiah just seems to open the door for even more profound misconceptions about what "messiah" actually means. Good ol' boy Peter tries to take Jesus aside and straighten him out: "Now, Jesus, excuse me, but you've got it wrong here; nothing bad is ever going to happen to you." And Jesus lets him have it! They have caught a glimpse of his true nature. Now Jesus must begin the even more challenging task of teaching them that God's messiah will not be a powerful, political, militaristic figure. No, God's messiah will be a suffering servant. And he says, if you want still want to follow me, here is what it will take.

In verses 35-37 Jesus reveals the heart of discipleship. Once again, the description defies the common standards of reason and expectation. Those who want to save their lives will lose them; those who want to lose their lives for my sake and the sake of the gospel will save them.

SELF-DENIAL, SACRIFICE? DIFFICULT, YES, BUT POSSIBLE. I don't know if you have had this experience or not. But sometimes when I read the scripture passage that we are using for worship early in the week, it often becomes like a magnifying glass. I begin to notice stories in the news or neighborhood that connect to the text. It happened several times this past week. You may have read Byron Crawford's article in the Courier-Journal. Last Saturday the Cardinals blew the Miami Hurricanes off the field, but there was another performance that blew people away at halftime. Freshman trumpet player Patrick Henry Hughes blew his trumpet with the marching band. Why is that so special? Because Patrick was born without eyes; not only that, he is unable to straighten his arms and his legs. But Patrick grew to love music; he worked hard and became an all-state trumpeter at Atherton. Patrick's mastery of piano and voice has earned him performances at the Kennedy Center, in international arts festivals and on network television shows. But the marching band? You've gotta be kiddin'! Amazingly, Patrick's father pushes him through all of the fast-moving, intricate formations in a wheelchair. His dad gives up his time, rearranges his schedule, and does what it takes to help his son fulfill his dream. Self-denial? Sacrifice? Climbing ladders or carrying crosses?

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of responding to an invitation from one of my favorite people, Jimmie Burrice. The event was held at Memorial Auditorium and hosted by the Mayor. Those who attended heard story after story from district after district in Louisville about ordinary folks who have exemplified what it means to be a good neighbor. Each of the recipients had been interviewed and we were able to hear them tell in their own words what they were doing in the community. Much of what they mentioned was not all that unusual or extraordinary-but they were doing what all of us should be doing-welcoming new people, bringing over food, setting up parties and picnics, picking up trash, running errands for the elderly-many of you could easily be recipients of this award. Jimmie received the Good Neighbor Award for District 9 and his story was one of the more remarkable ones. He was making the rounds of his neighborhood on his electric scooter one day. He noticed that one of his neighbors was down; he had fallen on his front porch and wasn't moving. Jimmie drove his scooter out into the middle of the street, hoping to flag down the next person who drove by.
A car approached, and he waved his arms furiously and got the person to stop, check on the man, and get him the help he needed. Now, we might think-"Oh, anybody would have done the same thing." But if that's the case, I wonder why Jesus told the story about the Good Samaritan? Self-denial? Sacrifice? Climbing ladders or carrying crosses?

Of course, one of the most moving and inspiring and painful stories happened in Somalia. Sister Leonella, whose birth name was Rosa Sgorbati, had lived and worked in Kenya and Somalia for 38 years. A colleague described her as a "dedicated and organized teacher." Another said she was a "woman who had given her life to the service of the weakest, the most defenseless and the neediest, beyond any ethnic or religious distinction." Just after working with medic trainees at the hospital, she and her bodyguard were gunned down. She was rushed to the hospital-but she didn't make it. Bishop Giorgio Bertin said Sister Leonella had a sense of naivete, but she knew the dangers of her job. After being shot, her dying words were spoken in Italian: "I forgive, I forgive."

Self-denial? Sacrifice? Difficult… Yes. Possible? You bet.