Bunbury
Wed pm
28/07/10
“DDD”
(Dignity Deficiency Disorder)
Intro: *** I was sitting in the emergency waiting room of the hospital the other day waiting to be attended & the theme music of a daytime T.V. program caught my attention, it was the theme music of Days Of Our Lives. Not having a T.V. myself I didn’t even know it was still on T.V.
I’ve never seen a full episode of it (boredom wouldn’t permit me to watch a full episode) but the one impression I’ve taken away from the little I know about the mindless mush of this show is that practically everyone in the program is a doctor / lawyer / corporate executive or some other kind of extremely impt person.
The subtle message of nonsense pumped out through Days Of Our Lives over the years is that to have any dignity in life you have to be some kind of high rolling professional w/ lots of money.
Something tells me that this idea is in conflict w/ the very heart of the gospel message!
It’s a lie that says unless you have a bulging pay packet, work in a high rise office & live the beautiful life surrounded by the beautiful people you can’t have any real dignity.
But this is a lie that needs to be exposed!
My Bible tells me that the Son of God who came down to earth to take on Himself the form of a man made Himself of no reputation.
Mark 10:45 (NKJV) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
He had nowhere to lay His head, was despised & rejected by men but He now sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven.
As the church we need to guard against the folly of embracing the world’s idea of dignity.
Many Christians today suffer from what I call ‘dignity deficiency disorder’ simply b/c they are looking in the wrong places for dignity.
T/n I want to preach a sermon called ‘DDD (Dignity Deficiency Disorder).
Text: Luke 14:7-11 (NKJV) So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
# 1. Dignity addiction.
A. Every one of us are born w/ an inbuilt craving for dignity.
a. Every one of us wants to feel as though our life is valuable / means something / makes a difference.
i. No one wants to live w/ the feeling that they are a nobody & don’t count.
ii. What Jesus was witnessing at this feast / luncheon / dinner was the great grab for dignity.
Vs 7. He noted how they chose the best places, .....
iii. Let’s face it, everybody wants to be somebody in life – no one wants to be a no one!
*** A young lawyer was setting himself up in his first private practice. As he sat in his office which was basically bare except for his desk w/ a telephone on it & a book case w/ filled w/ impt looking legal books, he wondered how long it would be b/4 he got his first client.
Then as luck would have it he saw a man across the road cross the street & stride towards his front door. Feeling nervous & wanting to make a good impression on the working class man he quickly picked up the phone receiver & began talking to an imaginary client on the phone. The man now standing in the office in front of his desk waited several minutes while he concluded his conversation w/ this very impt client. Finally after ending the conversation he looked up at the man, now directly in front of his desk & w/ an air of superiority said to the man “Can I help you?” The man looked at the young lawyer & without missing a beat said “I’m from the phone company, I’m here to connect your phone!” OUCH!
b. You see this is the problem we all face – we all have a dignity addiction!
i. And we all like to cover it up & act as though dignity / self esteem / our value to others doesn’t even enter the radar of our thinking.
ii. Jesus gave us this parable as He watched a live display of ‘dignity addiction’ ..... people who thought that position would give them the dignity they needed in life.
** But as the ancient philosopher Aristotle once said – “Dignity does not consist in possessing honours, but in deserving them.”
iii. We all struggle w/ the thought of having to stand aside for others .......
Vs 8-9. do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’
iv. We don’t cope well w/ being told that we are less impt than someone else, having to ‘give place’ as Jesus says .... to another person.
c. Sometimes we see people take on alter ego personas ..... they begin to model th/s & their behaviour after someone else.
*** Back in mid 70’s Happy Days was the big thing to hit T.V. The Fonz - Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, also known as The Fonz or Fonzie was the central figure in the program. Everybody was watching Happy Days. It had almost developed a cult following.
But what was really strange is that everywhere you went you would hear young people imitating the voice / posture & actions of the Fonz.
What we were witnessing back in those days is young men everywhere embracing their alter ego!
i. Why? B/c they were struggling to find dignity in being what God created them to be.
B. Dignity addiction plagues the church.
a. Think about the people that were probably invited to this dinner / feast.
i. Jesus did everything w/ His disciples & in all likelihood they were right there at the feast vying for the best positions too.
ii. Maybe they were the ones who embarrassingly snapped up the most premium seats around the table.
iii. We certainly know that position was foremost in their thinking a lot of the time ......
Mark 10:37 (NKJV) They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”
iv. Here are James & John two of the inner circle disciples who are suffering from dignity addiction.
v. We don’t want to just be in the inner circle here ...... we want to guarantee our positions in eternity!
vi. If you think this didn’t affect the other disciples – read on! They had a healthy dignity addiction too.
Mark 10:41 (NKJV) And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.
b. Dignity addiction is alive & well in every one of us!
i. One of the reasons why you just can’t get some Christians to do some things is b/c it is below their dignity.
ii. How many times is a piece of paper / rubbish left on the floor & everyone walks past it – why? b/c it’s below their dignity to pick it up!!!
# 2. The cause of DDD.
A. So what causes this dignity deficiency disorder?
a. Certainly the primary cause of DDD is the need to feel as though our lives mean / amount to something.
i. And to have this need fulfilled most of people crave / need some kind of position or acknowledgement.
ii. Give them a title / position / put some letters after their name & all of a sudden they feel some sense of worth.
iii. But the Bible tells us our sense of worth has nothing to do w/ our position / title or recognition in life but our relationship w/ God.
Psalms 139:14 (NKJV) I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
iv. People who u/s this don’t need position / title / recognition.
*** A young executive sat at one end of the board room table as the CEO walked into the board room to commence a meeting. As all of the executives took their places around the table the nervous young executive said to the CEO “Sir would you like to sit here at the head of the table?” The CEO quickly shot back at the young exec “Son, wherever I sit is the head of the table!”
b. Another cause is a perceived lack of progress / success in life.
i. Every one of us wants to feel as though we are recognised / noticed / honoured & appreciated.
ii. It’s easy to feel as though you have no dignity when everywhere you look you see people who have – Bsc, M.D. Lb’s, BMW’s Mer;CD’s after their names!
iii. Jesus makes it clear to us that our worth doesn’t come from our material position in life.
Luke 12:15 (NKJV)... one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
B. At the very heart of the cause of DDD is pride.
a. Pride always demands more than it is worthy of.
Vs 7. So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, .....
*** Some of you will remember the T.V. show ‘Keeping Up Appearances’. The main character in the show was Patricia Routledge who played the part of Hyacinth Bucket – pronounced ‘Bouquet’ by Hyacinth. She was determined to have all the airs, graces & appearances of nobility. She was an English social snob of the finest order. The problem however was that she was a mere commoner, there was nothing noble about her at all except the appearance she kept up. W/ Hyacinth position was everything in life & she just couldn’t entertain the idea of not being thought of & treated as nobility.
But the truth is that there is a little bit of Hyacinth in all of us!
i. Pride is always looking for the best place / deal / offer .... pride always wants self to be exalted.
ii. Pride is always concerned w/ appearances even though the reality of what we might be is completely different.
*** We were in London a few years back now & we’d gone out to a restaurant for something to eat. It was a freezing cold night & along the street where the restaurant was I saw a long line of young people waiting to get into some kind of club. What astonished me was that the young ladies were dressed in short skirts & skimpy tops! They must have been freezing but appearances were everything.
iii. This is the very same issue that Jesus is talking about in our text – appearances ..... people finding their dignity not in who they are but how they appear!
b. Pride stops us from seeing what we really are!
Luke 15:17 (NKJV) “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luke 15:22-23 (NKJV)“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
i. How quickly we forget what we really are ...... like the prodigal; put a ring on our finger, a new robe & sandals, welcome us into the celebration feast & we soon forget what we are!
ii. We soon forget that we have all been rescued from the pigpen of life, destitute & no future to look forward to.
iii. Jesus points out that we do well to remember what we really are lest we b/co exalted in pride.
Luke 17:10 (NKJV) So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”
c. The real question here is not where men place you in their pecking order but where does God place you?
i. Jesus was watching every one of the men scrambling for position, looking for the higher place in the pecking order.
Vs 7. ......He noted how they chose the best places,....
ii. Where does God place you ..... that’s the real issue here today, not what men think of you but what God thinks of you!
iii. Men may injure you by failing to recognise what / who you really are but what matters is what God knows you to be.
# 3. The DDD cure.
A. If you’re going to recover from DDD then you’re going to have to focus on your calling rather than your injuries.
a. Many times in life you’re going to find that your calling is much higher than your position!
i. This is the very thing that injures / wounds us … b/c even though it’s a high calling we often find our/s in a low position!
ii. And it’s in these times you are going to have to make a decision about the focus of your life.
*** Rachel Barton was a child prodigy. She’s a violinist who first appeared on the public scene at the age of eight, when she played solo with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her performance was one that few would forget, bringing tears to the eyes of the audience. The violin she played that day was an Amati, worth over three hundred thousand dollars. It was on loan from a local benefactor for the concert.
She had that same violin slung over her shoulders on January 16, 1995, as she commuted home on the train from a recital. The train stopped, and as Rachel was exited, she somehow got caught in the door when it closed behind her. To the horror of all nearby, the train started to move with Rachel dragging behind it. Bystanders screamed for the engineer to stop, but by the time he heard them she had already been dragged for several hundred yards, her legs dangling beneath the train. When it was over, her left leg had been severed below the knee and her right leg seriously damaged.
She would have died had it not been for the quick actions of a few rescue workers. They stopped the bleeding using their belts as tourniquets and then quickly got Rachel to a hospital. Eight surgeries later, Rachel was on the road to recovery. After a few months she held a press conference. As the reporters gathered around, Rachel sat in her wheelchair wearing a bright red dress and a glowing smile. Everyone was surprised to see her so cheerful after what had happened to her, but the girl seemed undaunted. She talked more about her daily violin practice than about her accident.
“In the years to come,” she told them, “I hope to be known for my music, not my injuries.”
iii. Do you want to be known for your calling or your injuries?
iv. The focus of your life can be your injuries / lack of recognition / reputation / obscurity….
or the high calling that has been bestowed upon you!
v. Possibly it was b/c of DDD that the apostle Paul boldly declares …..
Phil 3:14 (NKJV) 14I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
B. We also need to identify the true source of all authentic dignity.
a. The Bible tells us that Jesus shunned position in order to pursue true dignity.
Phil 2:5 - 7 (NKJV) 5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
i. Real dignity comes from our relationship w/ God …… He’s the One who gives true dignity / lasting / genuine.
ii. When we’re ready to look to Him to give us the dignity we so desperately crave He meets that need!
iii. Jesus was willing to forego temporal dignity so that He could fulfil eternal destiny.
2 Cor 8:9 (NKJV) 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
b. Real dignity comes from our personal relationship w/ Jesus Christ.
i. The trouble is we often make the mistake of finding our dignity in all the wrong things.
*** One brother would always remind me ….. “I’m an engineer pastor!” He obviously found his self worth in the fact that he had an engineering mind.
ii. But let not our dignity be extracted from our level of education / position / station in life.
iii. Rather let it be derived from Whom we know!
iv. Let our boast not be how much we earn / know / have accomplished ..... but let our boast be in the fact that God is our God.
C. Real dignity comes from living a life that is pleasing to God.
a. And what pleases God is not when we grasp / grab position / power but living in humble submission to Him.
i. Jesus gives us the answer to those suffering from DDD.
Vs 10. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, ......
ii. Find the lowly place & serve God there w/ dignity & honour ...... b/c that’s the place where you’ll find Jesus!
iii. Jesus Himself took to Himself the lowest station in life.
John 13:4-5 (NKJV) [He] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
iv. If we will be willing to humble our/s He has promised to exalt us.
Vs 10-11. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’....... For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
