Sermon (30-Oct): "Humility Matters to God" Luke 19:1-10

Scripture:

Luke 19:1-10 (SLIDE)

1 “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.

4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Big Idea:

The objective of this message is to consider the person of Zacchaeus and how humility led to his changed life

Me (Orientation: Dilemma or problem that I am currently seeing or facing):

(SLIDE) Has there ever been a moment in your life where you felt embarrassed and/or perhaps greatly humbled?

- Some of you may remember I mentioned a few weeks ago where I found myself, roughly 1999 or so,

- Sitting in the one of the church pews, crying and bawling my eyes out

- Realizing that my way of doing things had only resulted in confusion and hurt in my family and relationships

- It was then that I felt the conviction of God letting me know that all that I think I could accomplish on my own…

- That it was not worth anything of lasting value

- I knew that my life had to change and knew that Jesus had to be at the center of it

- What you may not know is that I grew up in the church…sleeping but unaware of Jesus

- Unaware of His power and the influence of the Holy Spirit

- Or, maybe it was the time when as a young airman (an E-3), thinking that as a 22/23 y/o that I could outsmart/outwit just about anyone

- All until I got caught up in my schemes and lies;

- Ending up with disciplinary action—a letter of reprimand—from my section chief

- Looking back, I don’t know how much my co-workers were aware but God began to humble me

- That was not what I wanted in the moment

- However, I am glad that God saw to what I needed; like a song from years ago says, “He saw the best in me”

- What I didn’t know then…I’ve learned and continue to learn

(SLIDE) One thing we fail to take into GREAT consideration…Humility matters to God

- Perhaps because we are so ingrained in our day-to-day lives

- I know that I was…

- Outside what was required of me at work and trying to understand fatherhood/manhood

- Humility wasn’t first and foremost on my mind

- Trying to make it and, even, understand life was foremost on my mind

- Many times, we can think that our activity matters to God…

- Meaning how busy we are and how much we can cram into completing in a 24-hour timespan

- Or, whatever boisterous giving attempt we make to get God’s attention

- It’s not like what we accomplish or give, in and of itself, is bad

- Yet, when we see what’s at the heart of it…it says a lot

- And, all of us need to know this,

-“Regardless of where you believe you are now; humility matters to God.”

- There’s always room for us to get better in this area

- It’s not that it’s the only thing that God is interested in but He is interested nonetheless

Transition: Maybe you’ve found yourself at a place like I have…wondering about humility and it’s place in our life

We – Identification (Common ground b/t you and audience over same or similar dilemma) (SLIDE)

- When you and I look at Zacchaeus, we may think that there is not much that we have in common with him

- Few of us are rich like him and, hopefully, even fewer of us have defrauded/cheated people out of their money

- In our own eyes and even in the eyes of others, we may feel pretty good about ourselves and standing in life

- And, even with God

- It’s easy when we compare ourselves to others

- We can find someone who we measure up against

- And say that we are doing better than them or “humbler” than they are

- Then, think that we don’t need to adjust our lives based on that thought

- But, listen to what Pastor and Author Tim Keller writes (SLIDE),

“When a Christian sees prostitutes, alcoholics, prisoners, drug addicts, unwed mothers, the homeless, refugees, he knows that he is looking in a mirror. Perhaps the Christian spent all of his life as a respectable middle-class person. No matter. He thinks, Spiritually I was just like these people, though physically and socially I never was where they are now. They are outcasts. (Spiritually speaking) I was an outcast.

- Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy (P & R Publishing, 2007), p. 60

- At best, we are all outcasts in one way or another

- That’s not said to demean or belittle you or me

- But it is the truth of the matter

- Here’s what I found interesting about humility:

- Humility as defined back in Jesus’ day is

“a deep sense of one’s (moral) lowliness”

- Now, how many of us have that mindset?

- How many of us are prepared to or in the practice of lowering our opinion of ourselves?

- Not thinking low of yourselves but thinking soberly and in modesty

- This is a type of thought process that echoes,

“There but for the grace of God go I”

- In other words, if the Lord had not been on my side, where would I be?

- Every breath I breathe and every morning that I awake; God made it happen

- Whatever means we use to wake up, it is still God who allows us to arise

- The Apostle Paul says it this way (Acts 17:28),

28 ‘For in him [Christ] we live and move and have our being.’

- It’s not about us thinking less of ourselves but more of thinking of ourselves less

- That can be so difficult to do sometimes

- Why is that?

- Is it because it’s not second nature—our first thought?

- Is it because where we work and live in this world says otherwise?

- Yet, we are reminded to live in the world and not be of it

- The world will attempt to mold and “form fit” us to its likeness

- Still, it’s our responsibility to stand…

- And what am I saying stand against?

- To stand against the pressure and even our natural inclination to conform and fit in

- Most of us have felt that pressure or eventually fallen into that downward, free flowing stream

- In fact, I believe that we have to be intentional about rebuffing it

- You’ll notice that Zacchaeus, after so many years, of being the villain…

- That he changes course

- The only One that He’s interested in being accepted by…is Jesus

- What if you and I make that our aim?

- To be accepted by Jesus

- By that aim and decision alone, it may lead to rejection by some

Transition: And that’s okay because our goal is to stand out to God

GOD – Illumination (What God has said about the topic)

- God’s personal call to each of us may not be as profound or as notable as that of Zacchaeus

- God can single you out in the midst of a crowd

- Or He can deal with you in private

- One thing for sure…He will make your change public

- And such is the case with Zacchaeus

- He was curious, had a desire to find out about Jesus and Jesus noticed

- We don’t know if He had any public interactions with Zacchaeus beforehand

- Still, Jesus honors, and here, recognizes his humility

- And, God’s thoughts on humility are throughout the Old Testament to the New

- King Solomon shared this in Proverbs (22:4),

“Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.

- Then, James, Jesus’ brother writes (Jam 4:10),

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

- That applies to Zacchaeus, you, me and all of us

- Humility is an entryway into God’s heart

- It’s a virtue that helps to shape our character

- Jesus saw in Zacchaeus and in us; something that He can work with

- Despite what you may think about yourself, Jesus thinks higher

- Your potential and destiny in Him is greater than without Him

- Zacchaeus didn’t see it; He just wanted to get to Jesus

- What we should know is that you and I are not excluded from the same opportunity

- In Jesus’ day, some had to jump on boats (Jn 6:24) and fight through crowds just to get to Jesus or even touch the hem

- And, in our day, we fight through personal discomfort and issues, and challenge our pride to get to Jesus

- Each generation has their obstacle to overcome

- But what we find out…is that God isn’t necessarily the cause for it (meaning the obstacle)

- Rather, He’s the Light in the midst of it

- Life is about challenges, ups and downs, highs and lows

- We can choose to look at life from the perspective as “if it’s not one thing it’s another”

- Or, we can see God in the midst—as our anchor and guide

- Storms happen in our lives not necessarily because we’re bad

- Storms happen because they’re inherent or baked into life

- They’re embedded in life—whether rich or poor—regardless of race or class

- They all hold this in common—there is One we can look to when the storms are raging

- We cannot control the storm outside as much as we can seek to calm the storm within

- So, when I look at Zacchaeus…he becomes a blueprint of someone who is ready to leave it all behind

- That mentality—humility—catches Jesus’ attention

Transition: How can you and I follow Zacchaeus’ lead and example?

You (Challenge the Audience to Act)

- NBA Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo said this regarding humility,

“When you focus on the past, that’s your ego… when I focus on the future, it’s my pride… I try to focus in the moment, in the present. And that’s humility.”

- The challenge that each of us will have is to stay in the present, stay humble, and practice humility

- Nowadays, we don’t give much credence to humility

- There’s not a lot of value that’s referenced regarding it either

- How can we lean into humility? How can we maintain the posture of humility?

- The first step I believe is for us to Acknowledge Where We are(SLIDE)

- Each of us is on a continuum of learning—at a different stage/level in our journey

- Some are further along while others may need to simply begin

- We all are still looking to move forward

- One person is not prized above another

- The second we think that we have it altogether and that there is no growth needed on our part

- That’s where we err—it’s never over when it comes to humility

- We never arrive to the point that we’re good for the rest of our lives

- I believe it’s natural on the inside of us to drift away from humility

- And I get it…we have so much going on day in and day out

- We forget the importance and value of people

- Still, when humility comes into the picture that changes, Zaccaheus realizes where he is

- Zacchaeus runs ahead, climbs a sycamore tree and acknowledges where he is

- The people might have muttered their personal thoughts on Zacchaeus but he acknowledges it

Luke 19:8 “Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

- He steps out of what’s comfortable for him and acknowledges where he is, but it doesn’t end there

- His next step—our next step—is Be Willing to Change

- There’s no promise that it’ll be easy or that you won’t be frustrated

- But, the end game is that both you and God will be satisfied with the result of the process

- I was told this a number of times as I matured in the church,

“Humble yourselves so God doesn’t have to”

- Peter says it a little differently (1 Pet 5:6),

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

- I’ve noticed that when I try to lift myself up; that’s where I encounter stress, issues, exhaustion, etc.

- Yet, when I allow God to do the lifting; it’s a completely different story

- My success is not based on my achievements

- It’s based on my humility, faithfulness, submission/obedience to His reign and rule over my life

- Those are things within our control in so many domains

- Another step – Stay in the Change

We – Inspiration (if everyone embraced this specific truth):

- What do I mean by that? The process is never done

- Sometimes as someone who likes to check things off, I like to look at things as done

- But, I’m learning that Christian character aspects of our lives are never a done deal

- What makes up Christian character?

According to Scripture, Christian character includes the pursuit of truth, godliness, righteousness, love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, patience, perseverance, meekness, humility, self-control, compassion, thankfulness, forgiveness, contentment, and unity. - Ligonier Ministries, 2022

- As I close, everything I have said is difficult…no doubt

- What makes it even more difficult is trying to do it on your own…without God

- Think about how much better our world would be if we as the church endeavored to make Christian character our focus

- We could influence not just the church but the world

-I like to end with this quote by Saint Augustine,

“If you ask me what is the first precept of the Christian religion I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility.”

- Thankfully, God allows each of us the opportunity to ask for His help, through prayer

- So, let’s start there…would you pray with me?

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!