Humility Sermon
During Sunday School last week the topic of pride came up in our discussion. Peter told us that pride and low self esteem could be seen as two ditches on either side of a road and urged us to aim for the middle of the road.
We also talked about the opposite of pride – humility.
In my reading this week, I came upon Ecclesiastes 7:16 in it, Solomon warns about being too righteous or too wise. Not that you could ever be too righteous or too wise, but you can see yourself as more righteous or having more wisdom than someone else. In that case you would be deep in the pride ditch.
Pastor pointed out last week that there was a difference between low self esteem and humility. When someone said that they were too unworthy to receive from God they were not being humble, they were acting in false humility and actually saying that they had made the decision that God could not act on their behalf.
This got me to thinking about humility. What is it? Why does God call us to be humble? And how should we employ humility?
Webster says that humility is the “state of being humble”. Big help there. What does it mean to be humble?
Tell me if you agree with Webster?
To be humble is to be
1. not proud or haughty - OK, I agree with that, after all Proverbs 3:7 says,
“Be not wise in your own eyes”
2. not arrogant or assertive – I understand the not arrogant part, Phil 2:3 says,
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit,
but not assertive? Sometime we HAVE to stand up for what we believe in, If we do, are we acting in pride? Certainly not.
3. offering a spirit of submission – ok Phil 2:5–8 says,
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
4. insignificant – no, if I were insignificant, than there would be no reason for God to know the number of hairs on my head (Matt 10:30).
5. unpretentious - definitely Micah 6:8 says,
And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly before your God.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary says humility is “a value that directs persons to stay within their inherited social status, by not presuming on others and avoiding even the appearance of lording over another.” – can you agree with that?
What if we put it this way?
A humble person would not threaten or challenge another’s rights. Nor would they take another person’s place or authority. You might even say that a humble person would prefer another person over himself – let the other person have his way or choice first.
A humble person would never better himself at the expense of another. He is not concerned with acquiring more than others, or striving for honors or recognition.
Those character traits in our western way of thinking are sometimes considered weakness. This may be due to the King James translators’ substitution of “lowliness” for humility.
When we think of lowliness, we picture a slave, or a servant - someone groveling around. But that’s not what the Bible means when it is talking about humility.
The Hebrew word for humility – anavah – is also translated meekness.
While the Greek word for humility /tap·i·nof·ros·oo·nay/ is translated as having a deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness. What does this mean?
Jesus considered John the Baptist to be the greatest of all prophets [Matt 11:11]. Yet John shows us, that true humility comes from seeing yourself in relation to God.
Turn to Mark 1:7-8, John said,
“After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
And in John 3:30, John said,
“I [John] must decrease so that He [Jesus] can increase”,
No wonder Jesus praised the humble!
Turn to Matt. 5. This morning we’re going to look at a very familiar passage.
We’re looking at the Beatitudes,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Ø Blessed literally means happiness, fortunate, and blissful. Jesus is referring to a spiritual happiness, where one is content and at peace, an inner satisfaction and sufficiency that did not depend on outward circumstances.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit
Ø Being “poor in spirit” means being humble - to have a correct estimate of oneself (Rom. 12:3). It does not mean to be “poor spirited” and have no backbone.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit
Ø “Poor in spirit” is the opposite of self-praise and self-sufficiency. It is not a false humility that says, “I am not worth anything, I can’t do anything!” It says I am nothing without God BUT with Him all things are possible.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Ø Notice what the reward for humility is – the Kingdom of God. We define the Kingdom of God as his authority and way of doing things. By walking in humility we gain insight into the Kingdom of God. We learn how he does thing and wants things done. We learn what God’s will is. When we walk in humility, we have right now, the Kingdom of God. [Matt 12:28]
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Ø We’re not talking about bereavement. We’re talking about mourning over sin and our sinful state without Christ.
Ø We live in a society that ranks sin by degree – where some sins are worse than others. Some people even defend their sins. E.g. We see looters on television who justify their actions blaming poverty. We see things like this and become outraged. We talk about it and criticize their sinful behavior.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
Ø Humility on the other hand would mourn over this sin, would pray for those who sin this way, would ask God to forgive them, to open their eyes that they might come to repentance.
for they shall be comforted.
Ø “comfort” refers to the comfort of forgiveness and salvation.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Ø Meekness is not weakness, both Moses and Jesus were described as meek men (Num. 12:3; Matt. 11:29).
5 Blessed are the meek,
The word translated “meek” was used by the Greeks to describe a horse that had been broken. It was still a powerful beast, yet it could be controlled by the rider. The humility Jesus refers to here is giving up self will for Spirit controlled self control.
for they shall inherit the earth.
Ø Inheriting the earth is having what you need. When we give up our way of doing things and do things God’s way, we prosper.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Ø This is the opposite of the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. We cannot make ourselves righteous. When we humble ourselves before God we can be fulfilled and satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,
Ø The opposite is also true. If you do not show mercy to others, if you hold a grudge against them, or punish them for their mistakes, you will receive the same. Remember humility does not judge or seek revenge.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Ø Humility is a heart issue. Jeremiah 17:9 says,
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Ø In Psalm 51:10 David prayed,
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
for they shall see God.
Ø See God refers literally seeing God in glory in heaven, and spiritually entering his presence here on earth.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Ø This expands on what we said about mercy. We all know negative, argumentative people. We avoid them because we expect confrontation. When we prefer others to ourselves, we teach others to do the same by example.
for they shall be called sons of God.
Ø Peacemakers, those who do things God’s way with humble spirits, reflect God’s peace. They are ambassadors of reconciliation and sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Ø Where did we see this reward before? Vs. 3
This suggests that there is a connection between being poor in spirit and being persecuted.
Ø What did we say poor in spirit meant?
Being humble, recognizing we are nothing without God.
When we submit fully to God -when we humble ourselves - the world, and the systems of this world are going to react. They don’t want to do things God’s way. Now a humble person won’t judge or condemn them, but their actions over time will.
They will remember that you never retaliated, that you always had a kind word to say, and ultimately that they treated you spitefully.
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12 oRejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Ø This verse is an expansion of Vs. 10. This time instead of “for righteousness sake” Jesus says, “for my sake”. Which takes us right back to relationship with God.
Ø When we humble ourselves before God, and abandon our righteousness for the righteousness of Christ we walk in true humility.
A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town, which he planned to visit on his vacation.
He wrote, "I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?"
An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who said, "I've been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I've never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I've never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I've never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel, and if your dog will vouch for you, you're welcome to stay here, too!"
| A true story of courage and humility Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town. Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted. However they bested him easily and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. They mashed his face with their boots, and kicked and beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead. When the police happened to find him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon. On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all is teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull. Although his life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired. When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man Who Had No Face. And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide. This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who had saw him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life. The young man went to Mass and communion every day, and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes. The priest, through his personal contacts was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man, as the doctor was the priest's best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and love.The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him. The young man became everything he promised God he would be. He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him. This he acknowledges publicly. The young man. Mel Gibson. |
----
o Luke 6:23; Acts 5:41; 1 Pet. 4:13, 14