IT’S NOT ABOUT ME
James 4.6-8
S: Humility
C: Pride
Th: Our Time, Our Turn, Our All
Pr: HUMILITY IS OUR WEAPON AGAINST THE ENEMY.
CV: We will passionately pursue full devotion to Jesus Christ.
I. PRIDE
II. INDEPENDENCE
III. ACHIEVEMENT
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Seek God above all else.
• Enjoy the love of God.
• Trust like a child.
Version: ESV
RMBC 19 April 09 AM
PRACT
Through mid-June, Lord willing, we will be thinking through our prayer action plan, talking about how we can PRACT – pray and act.
I know that “pract” sounds kind of stupid, but I can’t seem to get it out of my mind.
But it does fit.
When it comes to the Prayer Action Plan, we must pray it and we must act on it.
Let’s read it out loud together.
RENOUNCEMENT: We renounce pride, superiority, and self-dependence.
ANNOUNCEMENT: We announce our complete dependence on Christ alone.
AFFIRMATION: We affirm that Christ must increase and we must decrease.
COMMITMENT: We will humbly seek God and his will through the Word and prayer.
I want to talk today a bit about pride and humility.
We all know that pride is dangerous…
ILL Pride (S)
…and I think Tony Campolo has got a good warning for us…
“If you ever start to feel proud, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family and friends will be eating potato salad and telling jokes, and you’ll be history.”
That’s funny in a sobering type of way.
But here is a biblical principle from James 4.
Hear this, because it is powerful.
God opposes the proud.
Listen to that statement.
God opposes the proud.
It is sobering.
So note this, whenever we act proud, God is against us.
Whenever pride is our primary motivation, God stands against us.
Whenever we communicate that we are superior, God is not on our side.
This is true for us as individuals.
This is true for us corporately as a church.
What we have discovered over this past year is that it can happen to us corporately, and that indeed, it has.
We have developed an air of superiority and independence that has hurt us, and God has stood against us in this, all the while lovingly urging us to reverse course.
It is dangerous territory to be in, isn’t it?
So note this…
The evidence of independence is self-centeredness and self-exaltation (Luke 22.24).
I am reminded of the story that we find in Luke.
Jesus is at the table with His disciples eating a Passover meal.
He is going to be arrested this very evening.
And what happens?
The text tell us…
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
They were jostling for position.
They figured Jesus was going to establish a physical Messianic kingdom.
And they were wrestling for the seats of power.
They did not get it.
They did not get what He was saying because they were too self-centered to hear or understand it.
They were too busy wanting to be on top to get the idea that being a follower of Jesus means you are a humble servant.
We all struggle with this, don’t we?
We tend to believe that we are more than we are.
We tend to believe that we are products of our own doing.
It is humanity’s constant fight for independence.
It is no wonder, for…
We live in a culture that encourages and rewards ambition (James 3.16)
James very wisely warns us…
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
We live in a chaotic culture.
It encourages and rewards ambition without qualification.
We are surrounded by a way of life in which betterment is expansion, acquisition, and fame.
We all want more.
We want to be on top, or at least on top of something.
The problem with this is that we are caught up in a way of life that defies God.
Instead of delighting in finding out the meaning of God and searching out the conditions in which our human qualities can best be realized, we recklessly seek ways to circumvent God’s design for us.
It is pride.
It is difficult to recognize pride as sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue.
Scripture calls it sin.
But we do it anyway.
We take things into our own hands.
We grab what we can.
We improve ourselves by whatever means we are able.
We reach to get ahead regardless of the price.
It is, “take care of me first.”
But there is a better way.
With an allusion to Proverbs 13, we once again hear from James…
Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
What occurred to me when I came across this particular passage is meant to be our directing thought for this morning’s message.
It is this…
HUMILITY IS OUR WEAPON AGAINST THE ENEMY (James 4.6-8).
Pride aligns us with our enemy – Satan.
For note this, it is pride that brought him into opposition to God (Isaiah 14.12-14):
How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
But when we are humble, it aligns us with our Creator.
This is all so opposite of what our culture teaches us.
It was also the opposite of the New Testament culture as well.
Back then, humility was a characteristic of those that were weak and afraid.
It was a characteristic that was only tolerated in slaves.
Everyone else was to hold their head high.
The Greeks detested the eastern customs of bowing prostrate before rulers.
They didn’t want to surrender their honor.
But God’s Kingdom, for you comic book aficionados, it’s like Bizzaro World, things are upside down.
The first shall be last and the last shall be first.
The least will be the greatest.
The weakest will be exalted.
The exalted will be humbled.
How much better to discover this now!
How much better to discover that…
“I am not all that” (I Corinthians 1.27-29).
Note how Paul effectively communicates it…
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
This passage of Scripture has often struck me about how opposite God works from us.
While we pay attention to the strong and intelligent, God has no inclination to do so.
Instead, He goes after the lowly and raises them up.
This is how great our God is!
He would step down to you and me and lift us up.
It is not because of our deserving.
It is because of His grace.
He delights to show up in us.
He delights in encouraging us in our state of defeat.
ILL Humility (S)
It was January 30, 1994 and Super Bowl XXVIII was being played out at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The NFC champion Dallas Cowboys had just defeated the AFC champion Buffalo Bills, 30–13. Dallas scored 24 unanswered points in the second half, and Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith was named the Super Bowl MVP, with 30 carries for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also catching 4 passes for 26 yards.
At the end of the game, Buffalo Bills player Thurman Thomas stayed on the Buffalo bench with his head in his hands. It had been Buffalo’s fourth straight Super Bowl loss. The Bills became the first team to both appear in and lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls. During the game, Thomas fumbled the ball three times which had contributed to the Bills losing the game.
But Thomas looked up from the bench to see the Dallas Cowboys’ star running back, Emmitt Smith standing in front of him. He was holding his small goddaughter. Smith looked at her and said, “I want you to meet the greatest running back in the NFL, Mr. Thurman Thomas.”
Emmitt Smith, in that very moment, expressed grace. He could have laughed. He could have made a sarcastic remark. He could have said, “I proved it – I am the best!”
Instead, Emmitt Smith humbly demonstrated in that moment, “It’s not about me.”
So how do we get this right – individually and corporately?
How do we live “Jesus must increase, and I must decrease”?
How do we live completely dependent on Jesus alone?
How do we win in this spiritual warfare with humility as our weapon?
First…
Seek God above all else (Isaiah 66.2).
Note how Isaiah quotes God:
But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Humility enables us to get the right perspective before God.
And here is the thing about that.
When we get that, we are in position to be in right relationship with Him and it increases our appreciation for Him.
The only way – the only way – we get to experience true peace and joy is to humbly surrender to the will of God.
So what does this mean?
It means I will not try to run my own life.
I will not try to run the lives of others.
This is God’s business.
I will not pretend to reinvent the meaning of the universe.
I will accept what God has shown its meaning to be.
When I get this, I then can…
Enjoy the love of God (Galatians 6.14).
Paul gets the right perspective when he says…
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…
The cross is the great evener-outer (I am not so sure that is a word – but the spell checker let it go).
How dare we even try to compete with one another as we both stand at the foot of the cross?
For the cross puts us all in our place.
We all need the cross.
We all need Jesus.
Now note this…
Christ did not die on the cross for nothing.
Jesus came to redeem fallen humanity.
You know what this means?
It means that you and I have value.
In the eyes of God, we were worth saving!
But, our value is not based on our own merit.
It is not based on who we are.
It is not based on what we do.
It is based on the fact that we are His precious children, dearly loved.
Enjoy His love for you!
So, if you happen to come to the place you think you have nothing to offer God, you are right.
Nevertheless, you have value!
You have value because God has placed it there.
I want to tell you a story that was told to me as I was coming out of the depression.
It helped me in a time that I felt so broken and that I had no value.
ILL Broken (S)
The Cracked Pot (Indian parable)
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master’s house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its
accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter
failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the
stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to
you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed
of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house.
Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side?
That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it.
I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,
and every day while we walk back from the stream,
you’ve watered them.
For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table.
Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We re all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father’s table.
In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don’t be afraid of your flaws.
Finally, I encourage you to…
Trust like a child (Mark 10.14-15).
Jesus put it this way…
“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Both individually and corporately, there is this continual tendency to depend on our own smarts to get us through.
This, though, is a losing strategy every time.
We need to trust Jesus, like a child does.
We trust Him utterly.
We live in expectation, knowing that He provides all we need.
We do not cling to God desperately out of fear and the panic of insecurity.
We come to him freely in faith and love.
So let me recap…
Humility is our weapon against the enemy who keeps pushing us to be like him.
So, seek God above all else.
Enjoy His love.
And Trust Him fully.
For Further Study: Psalm 131; Isaiah 14.12-15, 57.15; Joel 3.10; John 3.30, 13.1-20; Romans 12.3, 10, 16; II Corinthians 12.5-10; Ephesians 5.21; Philippians 2.1-8; James 3.13-18, 4.13-17; I Peter 5.5-9
COMMUNION:
ILL Cross (S)
Max Lucado (‘In the Eye of the Storm’), told this fictional story of an angel trying to find another way for salvation:
He looked around the hill and foresaw a scene. Three figures hung on three crosses. Arms spread. Heads fallen forward.
Men clad in religion stood off to one side…Arrogant, cocky.
Women clad in sorrow huddled at the foot of the hill…Faces tear streaked.
All heaven stood to fight. All nature rose to rescue. All eternity poised to protect. But the Creator gave no command. “It must be done…,” he said, and withdrew.
The angel spoke again. “It would be less painful…”
The Creator interrupted softly. “But it wouldn’t be love.”
I hope you know Jesus today, and are enjoying His love.
We are here today, because it is all about Jesus.
If you know Jesus today, you are invited to share in the elements of the table.
You do not have to be a member of our church, but we do ask that you know Jesus and have a relationship with Him.
We practice "communion" because we are to remember the death of the Lord Jesus.
We take the bread to remind us that it was by the body of our Savior that our salvation came.
He died in our place.
He became our substitute.
PRAYER
The apostle Paul writes, "The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
Let’s partake together.
We take the cup to remind us that it was by the blood of our Savior that our salvation came.
He died for our sins.
He became our sacrifice.
PRAYER
Again, the apostle Paul writes, "In the same way, after supper he took the cup saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
Let’s partake together.
Deacon offering
BENEDICTION:
EACMS
REACH Day
Tom McDawley, a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor reported on a poll conducted in January 2006 by the Terror Free Tomorrow organization.
The poll suggested that humanitarian aid delivered by real human beings is a very effective way to improve how Muslim countries view the United States of America. In May of 2003, not long before the country was devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami, research indicated that only 15 percent of people in Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim nation — had a favorable view of the U.S.
In the year that followed, humanitarian aid poured into the affected areas from the U.S. and other Western nations. As a result, a January 2006 poll showed that Indonesian people with a favorable view of the U.S. had nearly tripled, jumping to 44 percent.
In addition, information from the well-respected Indonesian Survey Institute showed that “support for Bin Laden and terrorism has dropped to its lowest level since 9/11.”
Finally, the ISI reported that Indonesians with a “very unfavorable” view of the U.S. had fallen to just 13 percent — down from 48 percent prior to the tsunami. It made a huge difference that we showed we cared.
So I am thinking, if it is true in Indonesia, why would it not be true here as well.
Let’s show our community that we care.
Available for prayer
Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral
Barraclough, Joseph The Glory of the Cross
Buchanan, Rodney The Humility of Jesus
Fogerson, Mike Humility: If You Are Not All That, What Are You?
Hughes, Sr., Wade Is There Hope for Broken Pots?
Stapleton, Joseph Moving Out in Humility
Thomas, Roger The Declaration of Independence
Other
Anderson, Neil T. Restored: Experience Life with Jesus. Franklin, TN: e3 Resources, 2007.
Bridges, Jerry. The Practice of Godliness. Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1983.
Peterson, Eugene H. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. revised and expanded ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.
