“THE SEVEN DEADLIES: SUPERBIA”
Text:
Selections from Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah
February 2008
Today, and over the course of the next four Sundays in Lent, we’re going to explore together a topic
which we in mainline liberal Protestantism tend to gloss over, if not ignore completely. Nevertheless, it
is a topic which demands our attention - albeit a grudging attention - especially during a liturgical season
which calls Christians to authentic practices of spiritual discipline, confession, and penitence. That topic
is sin. As I was planning my Lenten preaching calendar and wondering how I would deal with such an
unpopular and painful topic, I happened to view for the umpteenth time a favorite film of mine which
perhaps you’ve seen. It was a hit in 1980 that featured John Travolta’s dancing acumen displayed
on the floor of an enormous Houston, Texas nightclub called “Gilley’s.” The name of that movie which
spawned a hoe-down dance craze:“Urban Cowboy.” The story-line centers on a young couple, Bud and Sissy
Davis, played by Travolta and Debra Winger. At one point in the film after Bud and Sissy have separated over
Bud’s all-consuming pride and jealousy, Bud’s Uncle Bob has some sage advice for his nephew. Reflecting
on his
own marriage, Bob tells Bud: “ I pretty near lost Corene
and the kids a couple of times just ‘cause of
pride....
You think that ole pride’s gonna choke you goin’ down, but there ain’t a
night goes by that I don’t
thank
the boss up there for giving me a big enough throat..... Pride, it’s one of
those seven deadlies, you know
what
I mean.” There was my inspiration
for this sermon series which I’ve entitled “The Seven Deadlies.”
When I began to research the seven deadly sins, mostly in Roman Catholic literature, I learned that
these seven deadlies are actually attitudes that underlie sins. These were first identified by St. John Cassian
early in the 5th century, then refined by Pope St. Gregory who held the papal see from 540 to 604. The original
intent was that knowledge of these seven deadly attitudes would provide keys for Christians to understand their
faults and the actions that result, and a framework for self-knowledge. So although Catholic in origin, we
Protestants might benefit from a brief study of them.
Just by way of introduction, the seven
deadlies are superbia:
pride, invidia: envy, ira:
anger, avarita:
2
avarice or greed, accidia: sloth, gula: gluttony, and luxuria: lust. Why are they called “deadly?” Well, the
early church made a division between sins which were venial, and could be forgiven without the need for the
sacrament of confession, and sins which were capital and could have a fatal effect on an individual’s spiritual
health. You’ll find that the seven deadly sins never occur as a formal list in the Bible. Some have suggested that
the 5th through 7th chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, or Proverbs 6:16-19 cover them all. But rather than these sins
being identified in a single place in scripture, they are found all through it, from Genesis to The Revelation. Before
we
proceed this morning to talk about superbia:
pride, you might be interested in an online poll which asked: “Of
the
seven deadly sins, which ONE is my biggest failing.” Lust was the leader with 35%;
then anger-18%, pride-
12%, sloth-10%, envy-10%, gluttony-9%, and greed-6%. If that poll is reflective of our worshiping congregation
this morning, only about one in ten of us would identify pride as our biggest shortcoming. Yet the underlying
attitude is far more pervasive that the poll would indicate.
Pride understood as the
first of the seven deadlies might be
defined as excessive belief in one’s own
abilities
that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God. Pride is often set against the
virtue of humility, which is seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves to others. Pride has often
been
called the sin (or the underlying attitude) from which all others arise. Thomas Aquinas called pride the
“reservoir of all sins.” The Old Testament has much to say about pride. The Proverbs are chock full. Proverbs
11:2 states: “When pride
comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble.” Proverbs 16:18 is
stronger yet: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” In the 29th chapter, we find a
saying which seems to tie in to Jesus’ beatitudes from His
sermon on the mount: “A person’s pride will bring
humiliation, but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.” (29:23) This somewhat foreshadows Jesus’ words
when He says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will
inherit the earth.” (Mt. 5:5)
The prophet Isaiah as he is pronouncing coming judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem in the days of King
Uzziah
writes: “The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low, and the pride of
everyone shall be
humbled; and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.” (2:11) In the 16th chapter, the prophet brings this
colorful
word about the Moabites: “We have
heard about the pride of (the nation of) Moab — how proud
he
is! — of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
his boasts are false. Therefore let Moab
wail,
let everyone wail for Moab. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.” (16:6-7) As
the
prophet Jeremiah is lamenting the fate of disobedient Israel, he writes:
“But if you will not listen, my soul
will
weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with
tears, because the Lord’s
flock
has been taken captive.” (13:17)
Exaggerated pride, arrogance, vanity, haughtiness — these have been the stuff of tragedy, not only in Old
Testament
times, but throughout history.
St. Thomas More in the 16th century had this to say: “These
are all
forms
of self-delusion, and paper-thin masks over rotting features. Pride and vanity refuse the truth about who
we are and substitute illusions for reality.” So we might identify as the first feature of this overweening pride
spiritual blindness. While any true glimpse of God reveals our frailty and imperfection, just as a well-lit
bathroom mirror shows the flaws in our complexion, blindness to God makes it virtually impossible to see
ourselves as we truly are. We cannot strive to become better people - and from the standpoint of our
Christianity, to become better disciples – if that mirror is so steamed with the heat of pride and vanity that we
only see a hazy and distorted image of ourselves. We can busy ourselves with career, family, and even church
work, thinking we are being driven by a strong work ethic, moral values, or the fire of the Holy Spirit. In reality,
we may be running away from God, and running away from ourselves. While a genuine attitude of humility
allows us to see ourselves and God more clearly, an attitude of puffed-up pride makes it virtually impossible,
leading us into all sorts of disgrace, humiliation, and destruction.
A second feature of pride - actually a symptom - is that each challenge to our pride drives us harder to
validate the illusion of our own self-perfection and self-sufficiency. The more entrenched our pride becomes,
the less able we are to escape its grip and own up to whatever shortcomings we may have. It has been said that a
definition of a zealot is “one who has lost sight of his goal, and so redoubles his efforts.” We might say the zealot
works twice as hard to keep up appearances. So it is with pride. The more swelled with pride we become, the more
we lose sight of our own reality, and work like crazy to shore up the illusion. This was one of the great tragedies
of the nation of Israel; its inability to own up to its sin, while building up around itself a veneer of self-righteousness.
Jesus once exposed this attitude when he accused the Jewish religious leaders of His time as being like whitewashed
tombs: clean and sparkling on the outside, but on the inside, filled with death and destruction.
When we hear sermons about pride, we may be tempted to think of all the people we know who really need
to hear it. But pride is about all of us, in spite of any online poll, and we would love to retain our illusions by
pointing to others saying, “But he or she is very proud. I really don’t think I’m that great, but they think they are.”
In fact, one of the best pride indicators is to what degree are we bothered by the pride of others. And if we feel
attacked, is our response: “Well, other people are worse?” Another strong indicator of pride is what sort of
competitor we are. There is nothing wrong with playing to win (I try to do it at least once a week on the racquetball
court), provided the joy is in the playing. If our happiness and well-being depend on defeating others, or knowing
that our child is the star of the team, we are building a world of illusion, and probably are in the grip of unhealthy
and exaggerated pride.
I would like to bring this message to a conclusion by offering briefly three ways to overcome an unhealthy
and exaggerated sense of pride in our lives, but they must all be taken together. First, be grateful to anyone and
everyone for anything and everything. Treat even the things people are expected to do as great gifts. Be thankful
to our divine Source of blessing for every blessing, however large or however small. Live into that attitude of
overflowing appreciation, understanding yourself not as the source, but as the recipient.
Second, confess your pridefulness and ask God’s forgiveness. Go before the Lord in prayer daily and admit
that although you’re God’s beloved child, you’re not all that and more. Ask God to be patient with you as you
are patient with others who tighten your jaw with what you see as their excessive pride. Over time, the less you’re
bothered and threatened by their pride, the more control you have over your own. And of course, as you find
yourself sometimes having to swallow your pride, feeling like its going to choke you going down, like Uncle Bob,
don’t
let a day go by that you don’t thank the “Boss up there” for giving you
a “big enough throat.”
Finally, ask God to replace any attitude of pride and vanity with a spirit of humility and gratitude. Read in
Philippians 2 where Paul teaches
us, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, regard
others
as better than yourselves. Let each of
you not look to your own interests, but to the interest of
others. Let the same mind be in you that was in
Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God,
did
not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of
a servant, being born in human likeness.”
I must wrap this up on a lighter note. After a preacher had delivered a searching sermon on pride, a
woman of the congregation approached him following the service. She told him she was upset by the sermon
and needed to confess to a great sin. The minister took her aside and asked her what her sin was. She answered,
“The sin of
pride. I sat an hour this
morning in front of the mirror admiring my stunning and exceeding beauty.”
“Oh,” responded the
minister. “That was not a sin of
pride — that was a sin of imagination.”