It Sounds So Easy

It Sounds So Easy

James 3:13-4:1-3, 7-8a

***Put Picture of Six Million Dollar Man on Screen***

I remember, as a real young kid, thinking that the guy who played the Six Million Dollar Man on t-v—Lee Majors and was married to Farrah Fawcett Majors was just the coolest person in the world—almost god-like!

Then, one day, my dad said to me: “Kenny, Lee Majors has to put his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.”

Obviously, this had an impact on me, because I have not forgotten it.

It can be hard to come to grips with the reality that the idols we sometimes worship are no better than we are.

And it may be harder still, for us to realize that we—ourselves—are no better than others.

I remember when my sister Lisa found out she was going to have to wear glasses.

She ran into the house, up the stairs and into her room crying and wailing.

I asked my mother why Lisa was so upset.

My mother responded, “Lisa has just found out that she is not perfect.”

Ever since the first two humans gave into the serpent’s temptation in the garden and then came to the realization that they were naked we humans have been trying to sew fig leaves together in order to cover our nakedness…

…our humanness…

…our faults, our fears, our sins—you name it!

But what was true in the Garden of Eden is true today—from birth to death—all of us stand naked before the God Who created us.

Nothing is left uncovered.

So, from the outside looking in, you wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult to be humble…

…but horror of horrors—it is very difficult.

The word from this morning’s reading that sticks out at me is Humility!

As we look around our culture and our world, humility is NOT something we easily find.

But when we do find it, there is nothing more beautiful.

***Put James 3:13 on Screen***

“Who is wise and understanding among you?” James asks. “Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

“Humility that comes from wisdom.”

The wisest are also the most humble.

You’d think it was the other way around.

You’d think the wisest would be the most arrogant…

…but then, when you really think about it…

…that couldn’t be true.

And that is because arrogance is absurd!

For any of us naked humans to think we are any better than anyone else is the most naïve and unwise thing imaginable—it’s funny, really, when you think about it—yet it happens all the time!

For example, have you ever passed someone begging on the side of a road and looked down on him or her?

Ever pass judgment?

Or have you ever tried to get a “leg up” on your neighbor, co-workers—whoever?

Have you ever done something just a little shifty to try and make yourself seem better than someone else?

Have you ever hurt someone in order to get ahead?

Have you ever bullied someone?

Have you ever gone along with the crowd to fit-in?

So many of us work so hard, get so stressed out, and expend so much energy trying to make other naked humans—who are just like ourselves--think we are something great!

And no matter how much we may say—even to ourselves—that we want to please God, we are really trying to impress other people.

When we read the stories of Jesus’ interactions with people, we witness true humility over and over again.

He values people who are habitually ignored or looked down upon by others: the homeless, the socially excluded, the sick, the lepers, the sinners, the prostitutes—you name it!

And as people who are trying to be like Christ—the word “Christians” literally means—“little Christs”—humility that comes from wisdom is the key to everything.

The Bible teaches us that the linchpin of wisdom is the Cross.

The Cross is the central moment at which the wisdom of God is displayed against the wisdom of the world.

We are also taught that this heavenly wisdom is foolishness to those who are perishing and a stumbling block to those who want their own way.

Even Jesus’ disciples had a hard time grasping what heavenly wisdom is.

One day, as they were following Jesus down a road they were having an argument among themselves as to which of them was the greatest.

Jesus used this as a teaching moment.

***Put Mark 9:35 NIV Translation on Screen***

He sat down and said to them, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

How are you, how am I doing at measuring our success, our greatness, not by what we take in but by what we give away?