Humility
If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:1-4
STORY
Charles Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1931. His parents were devout Catholics. His father, Leo, was an insurance underwriter who attended Mass daily. His mother, Madeline, was a nurse who discreetly helped others; each day, she gave a neighbor with Lou Gehrig’s disease a ride to a bus stop, pretending it was on her way to work. Charles and his sisters, Arlene and Ursula, grew up in a household that struggled to pay a $32 monthly mortgage. Charles attended a Catholic grammar school and high school. After serving in the Air Force for four years, he graduated from Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration in 1956.
Relocating to Europe, he got into the duty-free shopping business by selling liquor, cigarettes, and perfume to homeward-bound American servicemen in the 1950s. As postwar international tourism burgeoned, the demand for duty-free goods, including cars, exploded. Duty Free Shoppers grew into a global enterprise, with shops in airports and major cities across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The business went global. Profits were enormous. Feeney became a multibillionaire. By the early 1980s he was plowing tax-free annual dividends of $35 million into hotels, land deals, retail shops and clothing companies. He later invested in tech start-ups and multiplied his income exponentially. By age 50, he had palatial homes in New York, London, Paris, Honolulu, San Francisco and Aspen, and on the French Riviera.
The businessman lived an opulent life of black-tie dinners and grand yachts. Over the years, though, he realized that his life didn’t reflect his Catholic upbringing and his values were far from those of his blue-collar friends in New Jersey.
Feeney reversed his extravagant lifestyle, quitting wealthy social groups, flying economy class, buying his clothing off the rack, and giving up fancy restaurants. He sold his limousines and took subways or cabs. He also resolved to give his money away anonymously.
Feeney gave anonymously to universities, medical institutions, scientific endeavors, human rights groups, peace initiatives and scores of causes intended to improve lives in the United States, Vietnam, South Africa, Australia, Israel, Jordan and other lands. His name appeared on none of the 1,000 buildings on five continents that he gave $2.7 billion to fund. Grants to institutions and individuals were paid by cashier’s checks to conceal the source. Beneficiaries were told that the money came from a generous “client” who wished to remain anonymous. His philanthropic organizations were incorporated in Bermuda to avoid United States disclosure requirements, although the arrangements disallowed United States tax deductions for his donations.
In his last decades he did not own a home or a car, wore a $10 wristwatch, preferred buses to taxis and flew coach. He and his second wife lived in a two-bedroom rented apartment in San Francisco.
At time of his death, at the age of 92, on October 9, 2023, Charles Feeney had donated almost his entire $8 billion fortune to charity. With virtually all of his fortune gone, he officially shut down Atlantic Philanthropies in 2020.
In 2007 when he was asked if he was rich at this point in his life he replied, “How much is rich? Beyond all expectations. Beyond all deserving, so to speak. I just reached the conclusion with myself that money, buying boats and all the trimmings didn’t appeal to me.”
Forbes Magazine reported that no one of such wealth had ever given away a fortune so completely while still alive. Though, as Feeney said: “I cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate use of wealth than to give while one is living, to personally devote oneself to meaningful efforts to improve the human condition.”
DEVOTION
I guess I would first consider the life of Charles Feeney as an illustration of Christen stewardship, but as I ponder his life’s journey, it was a manifestation of humility. It would be a stewardship story if he engraved his name on the doorposts of those 1,000 buildings; it was a venture in humility as his gifts were offered as anonymous cashier’s checks.
Paul established a church in Philippi during his second missionary journey, spending about three months in the city. He again briefly visited the city on his third missionary venture.
The letter, from our reading this morning was the last of the four prison epistles that Paul wrote while incarcerated in Rome, in the years AD 61& 62. He was especially appreciative of the Philippian believers as they offered both spiritual and financial support during his ministry.
The letter, like all of Paul’s discourses, is comprised of numerous themes. A prominent theme in this letter is for the congregation to continue to dwell in “unity.” This will be manifested if they are of “one mind.” They can only exhibit this quality by living a life of “humility.” It is only by internalizing the attribute of humility that an individual will be able to “value others above yourselves.”
Paul exemplified the need for a Christian to be humble by indicating this was an attribute exhibited by Jesus. He highlighted this by sharing in his letter several lyrics from a hymn that they often sang in worship:
who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
We are often self-righteous, as well as self-centered, boasting of our abilities to those who surround us. Sadly, our self-declarations of greatness seldom measure up to reality. This inflated sense of self is to impress, as we can’t accept our finite abilities. This, of course, is a well-known proverb that we all have heard from others, and even pronounced it ourselves. Yet, we must confess, we seldom apply it to ourselves.
Humility does permit us to have an inward boast of self-satisfaction, that should never be outwardly expressed. We can feel good about an accomplishment and gratified by the performance of a good deed. We entertain this in our psyche as an affirmation that we are living a life obedient to the scriptures, affirming self-worth. It is acceptable to inwardly and quietly feel pleased; it is unacceptable to announce our feeling of goodness.
During the Crimean War, which spanned the years of 1854 to 56, Florence Nightingale organized a corps of nurses to tend to the medical need of the wounded soldiers. During the night, while all the soldiers were asleep, she would walk among the beds to check on each of their conditions. Desiring not to disturb anyone, she did so my carrying a single lamp. Because of this she fondly became known as “The Lady With A Lamp.”
Let us serve the Lord quietly.