By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
Heoi ka haere mai a Hamana. Na ka mea te kingi ke a ia, Ko te aha kia meatia ki ta te kingi tangata e pai ai kia whakahonoretia? Na ko te meatanga ake a Hamana i roto i tona ngakau, Ko wai atu i ahau ta te kingi e pai ai kia whakahonoretia?
Ua ulufale mai Hamanu, ona fai atu lea o le tupu ia te ia Se a se mea e faia i le tagata ua loto i ai le tupu ona ia faaneeneeina o ia? Ona faapea ifo lea o Hamanu i lona loto, Po o ai se isi e finagalo le tupu ona faaneeneeina o ia, na o a‘u lava?
When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honour than me?”
Esther 6:6
Haman is a man consumed by pride and its ugly sister prejudice. Look with me at his answer to the king’s question. What do you notice? He asks no questions.
He doesn’t ask the king who is he thinking of. He instantly assumes the king is thinking of him. In Haman’s answer, there is no situational awareness of what is happening.
There’s no situational awareness because there is no self-awareness. Haman’s pride and prejudices have blinded him to his own faults. He is completely self-centred.
That’s what pride does. It has us always competing and comparing and considering ourselves better. It makes us give ourselves the benefit of the doubt while being hard on others. Pride leads us to interpret every circumstance through our self-centredness.
As I read this story, and see my own pride, my mind is drawn to the cross.
You and I deserve to be crucified by our pride and prejudice.
But at the cross, Christ was crucified, for our pride and prejudice.
When we set our hearts on him, when we see his love for us, when we see his grace towards us despite our sin, slowly the roots of pride in our hearts will be replaced with grace.
And when our hearts are set on him, when we see his love for others, when we see his grace towards them, slowly the shoots of pride in our hearts will be replaced with kindness.
Through Christ, all our pride, self-centredness and lack of awareness can be turned into love and mercy. All that we must do is humbly go to the cross and ask.
