Humble and Hungry : Darius Johnson
The following homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist service 11/1/26.
Scripture Readings:
I remember the first time I went on a plane. My family and I were leaving the little Shreveport regional airport and flying to DFW Airport city. There’s something about that day that’s always stuck with me. I don’t know what it was, but through the hour-long wait for the plane, I was just so excited. Excited for what, exactly? I wasn’t sure at the time, but the second I got on that ragtag 20-30 seat plane, I knew.
There was a short wait before the plane took off with the typical airline safety introductions. The wait was nerve-racking. I wasn't afraid. I wasn't anxious. I was excited. After I had begged to claim a window seat, the pilot said it was about time for takeoff. We started to accelerate. From then on, I was powerless, meek, and humbled. I felt the rattling and the shaking of the plane. I felt the strength as those wings lifted thousands of pounds off the ground, sending us thousands of miles in the air. As I watched myself being taken away, I felt the grandness. Effortlessly soaring over thousands and thousands of people, I felt God‘s power, but also God’s care through my weakness.
Now clearly this is a bit of a dramatization, but this perfectly encompasses how I feel about this Revelations passage. God demonstrates his power in such a tangible way that all the angels of heaven, all the men and women in robes of white, and all 144,000 Israelites can do is praise. Just before this, God opened seals one through six, showing the world his power and how worthy He is to be praised. And now, God Almighty shows his people his mighty and perfect plan in bringing all nations, all tribes, and all tongues together under one banner: Jesus. Now before we move on to the blessings God has in store, just close your eyes and suffer to feel these words: “damage”, “seal”, “every”, “power”, “multitude”, “throne”, “worshiped”, “forever”.
Praise God.
No, one of the most profound mysteries that is in the Word of God is that a God that mighty would look down from heaven and see each and every one of us. He loves us. He wants us. He frees us. He offers us a place in his family. As the 1 John 3 passage says, we are beloved as a part of God’s holy church, and we should strive to become pure like God is pure. Matthew 5 says that we are blessed, not for being strong and capable, but for being humble and hungry. As hungry people, we are to use these Beatitudes as an instruction manual to go from meekness in our sin to rejoicing in God’s heavenly reward. God is saying that to get a taste of his power and might, you don’t have to be powerful or mighty, you just have to be a meek child of God. The mighty, powerful, forever God calls us his beloved, pure, blessed children.
Amen.
Darius is a sophomore at Louisiana Tech majoring in Accounting. He enjoys singing, making music, and playing instruments. Since becoming a part of our community last school year and a member of our worship band and Discipleship Team, we have been so blessed to experience Darius’s talent and passion not just for music, but for the Lord Himself. His joyful demeanor and palpable dedication to his faith have been a great encouragement to our ministry, Please pray that Darius would continue to experience even more joy in his walk with Christ!