Fine Line Between Pride and Humility

Don’t Leave Your Space Blank

[Scripture Reading]

1) For today’s message, let us turn to James 4:10. Let us all rise and recite the scripture together on the count of 3: 1, 2, 3.

James 4:10 (NIV)

2)10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Amen.

[Sermon]

Good morning PW. Welcome to the first Sunday worship service of November 2024. Let’s take this time to greet one another. Let’s turn to our neighbors and say, 3)“You are created in the Image of God.” Amen. That is right everyone, we’re all created in the image of God. There are characters of God within us. No matter who we are, we’re all created to show these characters of God and to share the Good News that he has given us through Jesus Christ to everyone in this world!

Starting today, we are going to learn on new theme of 4)“Take a Bow.” Throughout the 4 weeks, we are going to learn who we are in this world and what kind of attitude we need to live by. I truly hope that through this month we all get to learn and practice another character of God.

Today, I want to start off the sermon by introducing a Hebrew word called, 5)“anavah” עֲנָוָה. It is translated to “Humility.” According to the biblical Senses it means 6)the disposition of valuing or assessing oneself appropriately; especially in light of one’s sinfulness or creatureliness. So what this means, “because we are sinners and because we are created by God, we need God in our lives. “Anavah” means to accept this truth. For someone to have humility is to acknowledge where you are in this world and that is as God’s creation. So according to this definition, anavah is a character that all creations of God need. Knowing and accepting God as our Creator! Seeking his help and living through that help is the attitude all creations need. And as a God’s creation we all need this character in our lives.

I want to ask everyone this question, 7)“Are you humble?” or “Are you prideful? If you ask me this question I would have a paradoxical answer. I would say, 8)“I am very humble and very prideful at the same time.” You guys would think that this is impossible, but if you listen to what I have to say, I think we all could fit ourselves into this paradox that I am going to explain to you all.

Two weeks back, I was in South Korea for my wife’s ordination. During my 10 days there, one thing I did the most, it wasn’t going to nice places and eating nice food but it was driving. As my wife and I were leaving for the JFK airport, we received a text from our mother in law. It said that my wife’s uncle whom my wife was very close to had just past away. I could see that my wife was in grief and she urged that she needed to goto the funeral. To be a loving husband I offered to drive her down to the funeral. So after a tiring and long 15hour flight, as soon as we landed, 9)I drove to our house in Seoul, had a shower and got changed. Then we drove down all the way to a place called Jindo, which is one of the islands in the most southern part of Korea. It took me 5 hours to get there. So after a long tiring flight the first thing I got to do was go on a long road trip. We went to the funeral hall, we showed our condolences to my wife’s uncle and said hello to the relatives. After about an hour there, we made our way back up to Seoul. I thought the drive was doable. I loved driving and I trusted my driving skills and also my stamina. Even though it was a long day and a long drive, I thought I was able to drive 5 hours back to Seoul easy. But as soon as I got back on the highway, I was literally sleeping as I was driving. I was slapping my face like crazy, and I got to a point where I couldn’t even feel my self slapping. So when the first service area came up, I parked our car and started to sleep. I think I slept about an hour. I woke up to a noise outside of the car. But what I saw was just a dense fog. I couldn’t see like 10 yards out. But I couldn’t just stay there, so I started the second leg of the trip. I had to concentrate more because of the fog that led me to fall sleepy quickly. So I stopped every rest area for about half of the trip, sleeping and waking up again and again. Because of that, instead of taking only 5 hours it took me 7 hours to get home.

I was confident, I trusted myself. Why? I knew how to drive. I experienced driving for a long period of time. I drove 12 hours straight to get to Atlanta. But even though it was something that I could do easy, but I really couldn’t do it that day. I was so tired. I was so exhausted. I had jetlag. I was in the most terrible situation to do all of that. I could have just slept at Jindo and drive up the next day, but because my wife had an interview the next day in Seoul I couldn’t even do that. I was prideful of my driving and stamina. But I was not able to live up to the pride that I showed. I was arrogant in a sense, but the results just showed that I needed to be humble in that moment. There were reasons for me to be humble. I had a long flight and I had already driven down 5 hours. But my pride came back to haunt me rest of the trip back.

We can see ourselves full of pride when we do something that we think could do on your own. But when we fail to do what we think that we could do we are humbled. And as the creations of God, as those who live knowing that God and the holy Spirit is here to help us, we then call for their help. Because of that we could say that we are Humble and Prideful at the same time. Driving is one thing, for me, I feel this way when I preach. I don’t know if it shows to you guys, but I am humbled every time I speak the word of the Lord here. Because, I think I prepared well to preach. I put in some funny points in sermon, but if you all don’t understand and not laugh or react, I am humbled. Like so, we all have that moment. It may be with tests, it may be with relationships. It may do with your goals in life where we see ourselves humbled by the limits we have as humans. We are humbled when we come face to face with the truth that we are just creations of God.

But, is this the right way to live as followers of Christ Jesus. Is it the right way to live as God’s image and God’s creation? No. Especially according to the Hebrew word “anavah” that is exactly the way we should not live by. James shows this double minded paradoxical existance in 10)James 4:8. It says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Being prideful, and being humble is a sin, and James is calling out to all of us, Come neat to God why? It is listed in today’s scripture. Let’s recite it together.

In today’s scripture, James tells us the right way to approach life. Let’s read it one more time. On the count of 3. 1, 2, 3.

11)야고보서 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Humble yourselves. Don’t think that you could do anything, just be humble and ask God for help. Then what is he going to do? “He is going to lift you up.” We think that we could do somethings in life alone. You might say, I can breathe, I can sleep and walk by myself. But if God chooses to stop you from doing all this, you can’t do it. You might get an allergic reaction to something and could stop you from breathing. All of a sudden you could get insomnia. You might lose strength in your legs. But being humble. Having humility, it means that you are in a state of total dependence on God. That’s what this humble is according to this scripture. So, when God wants us to be humble, he wants us to accept this truth and live according to this truth in this world we live in. That is the character that God wants us to live by in this space in this world. We shouldn’t fill the space with our own abilities and strengths but with the humility of relying only on God.

If you see the title of today’s sermon it is, 12)“The fine line between pride and humility” Then what would be the fine line that separates these two things? It is ourselves. In order for humility to be existant in our lives we need to let go of ourselves and let the humility kick in to take care of our lives. This world is going to tell you to be the best, and it will make you to be paradoxical in the eyes of God. Don’t get me wrong. We need to do our best. Not to become the best of all things but the do our best to be humble. Do our best to acknowledge God, that is what we need to do. That is who we are to be. Even showed it throught his life.

He was God in a human body. He performed miracles. There were hundreds and thousands of people following him. But even though he had all the ability to be crowned the king, what does he do? He chose to be humble and he took the cross for that’s what God had told him to do. He acknowledged God as God and he relied on him to take care of his life. And through that humility Jesus gave salvation to us. This is what we need to do too. No matter what be humble. Have Humility.

I know, it is SAT seasons and also BT, BCA prep season right now. Some of you guys might be confident in taking the test. Some might be stressed for the results that do not meet your goal. But God is telling us to be humble no matter what. Rely on God and Rely on him only. That is what we need to do.

But in order to that, we need to get rid of the fine line and let the humility take over our lives.

At this time we want to pray. Father God, I want to be humble and I want to rely on you and you only. So I would like to let go of my desires, my needs and my ego. Through this I want to be humble, so give me the strength to let Go. Lord I want to live like Jesus and take that humble path so give us the heart to do so. Let us pray.

Dear God we thank you for your love and grace and for telling us to be humble. Lord through your son you show what it means to be humble. Let me hold on to this truth. Let me let go of our pride and let us only cling on to your humility. We thank you and In Jesus name we pray amen.

[Benediction]

Father God, as we go out into this world to be your light, let us remember to be humble no matter what.

For all who are here today, For all students teachers and for all the missionaries spreading the light all over the earth. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us always and forevermore. Amen.

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