Humble Obedience
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I remember daydreaming of what I might be some day. A famed christian author and pastor. The type of person people search out to come and listen to. The type of pastor that has a church with thousands. All these things were alluring, not only were they alluring they were what most people I was in school were looking for too. After all that is what God wanted right? He wants me to be a big name so I can make more of His name. The bigger the crowds I have the more people will hear about Him. Make myself big so that I can make a difference in the world. Over and over again in Scripture we find that the most impactful people for the kingdom of God were not the ones publishing scrolls in the lifeway scroll stores. They were the ones that couldn’t get published because what they were teaching was so far out of the religious realm that it was considered blasphemy. The people who made the largest impact were the most unassuming of the group. This morning we are going to look at the obedience of John the Baptist. John was prophesied. He would be a voice in the wilderness. John was a big deal! What happened though with John? When he had large crowds he insulted them and ran them off. He came from a priestly family yet he chose to wear camel skins and eat locust and honey. John chose humility as an act of obedience to the divine plans of God. We often times are so worried about being the ones that are the visible change that lose the effectiveness of what God wants to accomplish in our lives. John made sure that this did not happen in his life. John could have made something of himself, he could have paraded around town and people would have paid to just hear him speak. Instead, to accomplish God’s plans he made less of himself. Obedience calls us to a life of humility. We will explore John’s humility and next week we will see the ultimate act of humility in our Lord and Savior and what He gained by being willing to lose it all in humble obedience to our Father. Humility is funny though isn’t it? Humility will cause us to get a big head! That sounds backwards doesn’t it? Well we have a way of competing in areas that there should be no competition. We will say things like, I am the most humble. I am more humble than that person or that person. The fact that you say that means you are not humble at all.
Balloon Illustration
This morning we will see how we can serve in Humble obedience. We will be in Luke chapter 1 verses 57-61 and chapter 3 verses 1-20. In these scriptures we will see how John was humble in birth, Humble in Lifestyle, and Humble in Service. Read the scripture with me.
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
Humble in birth
Humble in birth
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
John the Baptist was born to a priestly family meaning he was not necessarily rich but he was born into a family that would not have lacked necessities. John was also prophesied which means that he was kind of a big deal. With just those 2 things going for us most of us in here could build an empire. Could you imagine not only being born into a priestly family and not needing much and also hundreds of years prior having someone write that you would be born? Think about how his parents must have felt knowing that the man that his father had taught about and studied about was his son. That the messiah was his nephew. Could you imagine! I have often times thought about recording my kids and their stunts just to make a few extra bucks. My kids do some pretty wild stuff and because of that I am confident that if I record them and put their shenanigans on YouTube we would make millions. That though would come at the cost of exploiting my children. I cannot do that. Neither could Zechariah and Elizabeth. Their son is born and what is the first thing they do? They have a party! They go on a interview tour with this little guy that was prophesied to prepare the way for the Messiah. Nope they don’t do any of that, they keep it low key and to be even more out of the norm, they name him John. You say well what is the big deal there? Well if you trace family lines in the Bible you will see many, many repetitive names. It was a place of honor for a child to be named after an uncle, grandfather, or great grand father, or even their own father. It was almost expected that children would share the names of their father. John is such a big deal that is parents don’t make much of his birth, and they even name him outside of the family names! Could you imagine how he would have felt as he got older and found that he was not named after anyone in his family? John was born into a humble birth. Now don’t get me wrong, amazing things happened at his birth.First his father who had been mute for his unbelief that his wife would bear a child in her old age, after writing on the tablet that Johns name was John was able to speak again. There was great fear that came over everyone because of the miracle they had just seen. The thing though is that it was not about John. In John’s birth it was about God. It was about a God who kept his word. John’s father says so in the following scriptures.
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
John’s birth was not about John but was about God fulfilling His promises. The time in which John was born was a high time in the finances and lifestyle of the world. John though was born into a humble life understanding his place as a servant of God. Not a priestly man with a dignified family name. No a servant of God who was not even given his family name. This was a big deal. John had every right to be prideful and to think of himself as something great. Instead even his birth and naming were humble. Obedience begins in humility. Pride ruins us and when it starts out early in our lives it carries on and is very difficult to rid ourselves of. Zechariah wanted to ensure that John would start with humility.
A young woman asked for an appointment with her pastor to talk with him about a besetting sin about which she was worried. When she saw him, she said, "Pastor, I have become aware of a sin in my life which I cannot control. Every time I am at church I begin to look around at the other women, and I realize that I am the prettiest one in the whole congregation. None of the others can compare with my beauty. What can I do about this sin?"
The pastor replied, "Mary, that's not a sin, why that's just a mistake!"
Pride distorts our ability to obey God’s calling on our lives. It makes us believe that we are the most important or in Mary’s instance the prettiest in the room.
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with the humble is wisdom.
23 One’s pride will bring him low,
but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.
12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Do you start your life with humility? We cannot achieve true obedience to God until like John we start with humility. John started life humble, he was also humble in his lifestyle.
Humble in Lifestyle
Humble in Lifestyle
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
John the baptist because of his priestly family could have fit in perfectly well with Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, and Herod. Remember at this time the religious elite and the government officials were very close. As a matter of fact Caesar was a fan of Judaism and allowed free worship. He did this because he understood that if he could control the religious leaders of the time that he could control the people. The people listened to the priests and the priests were somewhat of celebrities. Notice in the scripture that it announced who the government officials were then immediately announced the priests. Because of the prophesy and because of the priestly family John had every right to walk in and assume high priestly positions. Positions that would build his wealth and empire. As a matter of fact those things could have helped him ensure that Jesus was accepted the way he should have been. John walked away from the ability to usher in his greatest life. What did it say in the scripture?
2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Notice it did not say that word came to John in his fathers home, word came to him in the temple, word came to him in his elaborate home. No word came to John in the wilderness. John chose to live humble lifestyle so that he could magnify the name of God. No one in this room would be willing to say that John the baptist is not a key figure in our faith right? Well guess what, he was not on the top 10 sold books. He was not on casting calls to big movies. He wasn’t even invited to come and speak a the temple for the quarterly luncheon. Dont tell me they didnt have them we all know that the one thing all religions and faiths have in common is eating food. John could have lived a lavish lifestyle of the rich and famous. After all Isaiah wrote about him.
3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
John could have walked in and taken the reigns in the temple, could have made best friends with the government officials. They could have all invited him to prayer breakfasts and to all the gatherings. John could have made a name for himself. John though did not choose that life though did he? No John chose a life in the wilderness. John chose to be obedient in humility and went so far as to live in the wilderness. We have these grand ideas of what our life could be if God would just pour out His blessing. What if God’s blessing is us living in the wilderness? What if God’s blessing results in your complete humility? What if God’s blessing is that you do not have to keep up with the Jones’s? God is not calling us to lavish lifestyles, but rather to humble obedience. John understood this and chose to live a humble life in the wilderness. Are you willing to live a humble life? Now I am not telling you to go sell your house and to live in the wilderness. What I am saying is that the desires and plans of God should not suffer for your conveniences and desires. John knew that living a lavish lifestyle would result in the plans of God being less important. John chose to live in the wilderness so that God’s plans were all that mattered to him.
Former heavy-weight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma who fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under by arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, 'I'm going to conquer Chicago.' "When I looked down, the suitcases were gone."
God tells us to avoid the lavish lifestyles and big names for ourselves.
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
I ended with the scripture in 1 timothy because I want you to know that it is not bad to have wealth, it is not bad to enjoy life and to live in comfort. It is a sin though when those things are what we chase after at the expense of God’s will in our life. Some do need to go live in the wilderness because they cannot keep the scripture. It says not to be haughty, not to set your hope on riches. What does it say to make primary? God. If you cannot make God primary in your life start throwing stuff out, start getting back to a place of depending on Him. That is what John chose to do. It was not like he could not have made money and lived nice. He chose instead to ensure complete dependence on God. Are you living in a lifestyle of humble obedience making God’s will primary in your life? John the baptist was born into humility, he chose a lifestyle of humility, and also served in humility.
Humble in Service
Humble in Service
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
John went out of his way to make sure that the people knew that obedience started with humility. He wanted the people to humble themselves and to not think of themselves as more important than they were. John though was not a dynamic speaker. Would you listen to me if I started the sermon out this morning with you brood of vipers! He knew what he could have said to make the people want to listen to him. He could have told them great things that made them feel good about themselves. Instead he called them vipers, called them trees with no fruit. John was a horrible speaker. John though chose obedience to the will of God over his speaking career. I guarantee you he was not called to speak at any life coaching events. John also was humble in understanding his position. Notice when the people began to say that he was Jesus he quickly let them know that he was not even worthy to untie the strap of his sandal. If you saw those feet you would understand how lowly a job that was. Cleaning someones feet was a lowly job and John said I am not even worthy enough to do that for Jesus. He made himself less to make more of Christ and the Father. We often times convince ourselves to serve and become these big popular names. We convince ourselves that as we get more popular we will do more for the kingdom. History has shown thought that those who achieve such positions often times abuse those places and positions. We do not have to look far or wide to find example after example.
Self-righteous service comes through human effort. True service comes from a relationship with The Father deep inside.
Self-righteous service is impressed with the "big deal." True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service.
Self-righteous service requires external rewards. True service rests contented in hiddenness.
Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results. True service is free of the need to calculate results.
Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve. True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.
Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.
Self-righteous service is temporary. True service is a life-style.
Self-righteous service is without sensitivity. It insists on meeting the need even when to do so would be destructive. True service can withhold the service as freely as perform it.
Self-righteous service fractures community. True service, on the other hand, builds community.
what John did was to serve others at his expense. He did not care what it cost him, he was going to be the voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord. Service that is self serving is not service at all. We are called to be servants to the desires of God, not to our wants. What did all of this result in for John? He lived in the wilderness, made less of himself, served humbly.
20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
John was put in prison and later beheaded. He had nothing to his name, people do not travel far and wide to visit his estate. John humbly served and is a cornerstone of our faith because of it. Many of the famous Christians of our time will be forgotten with the next generation. John the baptist will continue to be remembered. Why? Because he made less of himself so Christ could increase.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
We must live in humble obedience and serve with humility.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
