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Title: Blinded by Pride
Text: Psalm 32 and James 1:2-4
Thesis: Pride keeps us from recognizing our weaknesses, confessing our need and receiving God’s blessing.
Lenten Series: Reflecting, Repenting and Returning to God
The Lenten Season is a time for reflection, repenting of our sin and returning to God. During Lent we confront the presence of evil in the world, the reality of temptation and human sinfulness. However, it is in acknowledging human sinfulness and the need for repentance that we find our way to return to God who is merciful and gracious.
Introduction
A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas. He told the rancher who met him at the gate, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.” The rancher said, “Okay, but don’t go in that field over there,” as he pointed in that direction.
The DEA officer immediately took exception, flashed his badge and said, “Sir, I have the authority of the United States Government and this badge says I am allowed to go wherever I wish.”
The rancher politely apologized and went about doing his chores.
A short time later he heard a terrorizing scream and looking up he saw the DEA officer running for his life in an attempt to outrun the rancher’s massive Texas Longhorn bull. The rancher hurried over to the fence and at the top of his lungs he shouted, “Show him your badge.”
Sometimes people in authority tend to be a bit self-assertive and proud and we get a fair amount of pleasure from seeing them humbled, broken and admitting that they could use a little help.
I have just begun reading John Grisham’s book The Confession and already I can’t wait for Drew Kerber, the corrupt cop and Paul Koffee, the prosecutor to get their come-up-in’s. They are both so proud that they would rather see an innocent person executed for murder than admit their own error.
Pride is a devastating thing and it is particularly destructive to the nurture of one’s spiritual life. It is only in recognizing and acknowledging our own humanity, our own mortality, our own frailty, our own short-comings and sinfulness that we can experience God’s sufficiency for our weaknesses and grace for our sinfulness.
In Psalm 32 David tells a story of how he refused to acknowledge his weaknesses and he describes his experience like this: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
David was planning to take his guilt to his grave. David was planning to be self-sufficient. David was too proud to own his own stuff. He spoke of how he was like a stubborn mule that has to be forcefully reigned in and brought under control.
When we are blinded by pride the Season of Lent is a good time to face up to our stubbornness and pride and come clean. It is a good time to admit that we struggle with the temptations and trials of life and that sometimes we succumb to sin. It is a good time to turn our hearts to God.
Our text today is about what we do when we encounter trials and temptations in life. We know that Jesus faced trials and temptations just as we face them. The story of his own testing is recorded in the gospels and in Hebrews we read that Jesus is not someone who cannot sympathize with us, because he has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin. And because of that we may turn to God assured that God understands and God will be merciful and gracious toward us. Hebrews 4:15-16
So the first thing we learn today about the trials of life is this:
I. Temptations and Trials Lead to Maturity
Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
The bible tells us that our demeanor in the face of the trials of life is to be one of joy.
A. Joy is the attitude we should reflect in the face of trials.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds… James 1:2
Why does James need to tell us that joy is the appropriate attitudinal response to the trials in our lives? It’s because joy is not normally the first response we have when we face a challenging circumstance in life.
I try to get up early enough to miss the School Zone Speed Limit on 64th Avenue near Secrest School. If I get up early enough I can miss it both ways. It is important to obey the speed limit in a school zone, not only because we do not wish to injure a child but we also do not want a speeding ticket. Speeding tickets in school zones are intended to teach you a significant enough lesson that you do not do it a second time.
When I see the flashing light I know I must slow down to 20 mph or risk a ticket… and when I do see a police cruiser or a motorcycle officer with a radar gun my immediate response is, “Oh noooooo! I’m dead!” Even if I am safely within the speed limit I react with dread.
It is normal to react to trials with just about any emotional response other than joy. Joy is the last thing we think of evoking when we are facing a trying circumstance.
But that is the point… James knows that and feels compelled to remind us that we, as followers of Christ, may react just the opposite from what people normally do. The opposite of unhappy is happy. So rather than react in any manner that reflects unhappiness… we do the opposite and react with joy when faced with a trial.
Then James tells us why we can see the positive in what, by every definition, appears to be negative circumstances. And here is why:
B. Persevering through trials and testing results in maturity.
Because the testing of your faith produces perseverance and perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:3-4
In verse 2 we were told that the trials and testing in our lives are many kinds. In other words the “trials” is a big umbrella word under which fall a myriad of kinds of trials. One bible version describes them as divers temptations. (I still remember how our pastor explained that “divers” does not refer to the unique temptations of Olympic divers or deep sea divers or oyster divers.) It means many and diverse kinds of trials.
So the implication is that in the course of our lives we will be faced with trials of every stripe. Some of our trials may take the form or sorrow. Some may take the form of bitter disappointments. Some may take the shape of seduction or enticement. Some may have the feel of sacrifice and loss. Some trials are literally painful. Some are marriage and family trials. Some trials are heartbreaking and others are backbreaking. And so on…
James says that we will face or fall into or find ourselves in the midst of all kinds of people, things or circumstances that we will consider to be trials. And when that happens we will feel like we are up against a huge, immovable object, so to speak. We will feel the weight of the world. We will feel like we are being knocked down and kicked around and buried underground.
James tells us that persevering through those trials results is what makes for maturity. However, it is important that we understand that persevering is a process.
1. When we experience trying circumstances we have an opportunity to develop perseverance. The bible says, “The testing of your faith produces perseverance…”
Perseverance is a character quality that enables a person to be tenacious or remain constant and stay on one’s feet through a storm, so to speak. And the premise is that through the experience of persevering through a trial we become better and stronger people. Perseverance develops spiritual stamina.
One of my favorite films is Hidalgo. In his review of the film published on March 5, 2004, Roger Ebert said that anyone who does not have a soft spot in his heart for stories about brave cowboys, beautiful princesses and noble horses is “way too grown up.”
Set in 1891, an Arabian Sheik invited Frank Hopkins and his horse, Hidalgo, to enter the Ocean of Fire, a 3,000 mile race across a desert. The horse race had always been limited to purebred Arabian horses but since Hopkins and his horse had been promoted in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as the world’s greatest horse and distance rider, a claim to which the Arabs took exception, they were invited to compete against the finest of Arabian steeds as a test to prove themselves.
It is a race so grueling that riders and horses die. It is a race fraught with danger and peril. It is a race so fiercely contested that some men are murdered by their competitors along the way. But in the end Hopkins, dying of thirst and Hidalgo, severely injured, win the race.
It is a story of pride and determination of a man and a horse that refuse to concede defeat.
Life is not a horse race across a Middle Eastern desert but it is no less challenging.
2. When we persevere through a circumstance we enter into a maturation process. The bible says that “perseverance must finish its work.” In other words, our goal through the experience of persevering is to become more mature in our faith.
When I experience my own moments of doubt and wrestle with defeat I am reminded of the words of Job, who upon losing virtually everything said, “Though he [God] slay me, yet will I hope in him…” Job 13:15 As Job maintained his faith though devastating blow after devastating blow, his faith did not fail him. Rather it became stronger.
In Job 1 and 2 we read of the excruciatingly painful chain of events that reduced his life to ruin. He lost everything dear to him. It says that, “One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came. All of his oxen and donkeys taken and his servants killed. Immediately a second messenger arrived to tell him that lightning struck and killed all his sheep and the shepherds watching them. Immediately a third messenger arrived to tell Job that a raiding party had rustled all his camels and killed his camel herders. And another messenger arrived to tell him that a tornado had flattened his oldest son’s house and killed all ten of his children.
In the face of all that devastating loss Job said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’”
Later after Satan had ruined his health, he sat on the ground scraping puss from the sores that covered his body from head to toe. Then his wife, weary with watching him suffer, suggested that he “curse God and die.” In response Job said, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” The bible says that in all of this Job did not sin.
It is out of that devastation and loss that Job later maintains the integrity of his faith stating, “Even if God kills me, I will still hope in him.”
Sometimes Bonnie and I reminisce and reflect on the things we’ve faced together over the years. When you have lived long and experienced all kinds of trials and find yourself still standing, so to speak, your maturity is evident when you look at the next bump in the road and smile. Because you can look back over the years and see all those other bumps in the road that you’ve weathered… and you know that one more bump in the road is not going to run you off the road and wreck your faith.
One of the commercials we saw for the first time was a humorous 2011 Chevrolet commercial titled "Tommy," in which a Silverado pick-up truck acts like a modern-day Lassie, repeatedly rescuing a young boy named Tommy from various disasters. The ad begins as the truck rushes into the driveway and honks. Tommy's father listens to the truck "speak," and then the anxious father asks the truck, "What? Tommy slipped into a well?" Then the father and his faithful truck proceed to drive off and rescue the boy from danger.
This scenario repeats itself several times. The truck peels up the driveway, horn blasting and lights flashing, as it tells Tommy’s father about Tommy’s latest misadventure. The father blurts out his frustration: “Tommy’s stuck in a cave?” or “How did Tommy get stuck in the belly of a whale?” or “I didn’t know this town had a volcano!” Each time Tommy gets in trouble the loyal Chevy Silverado shows up and powerfully delivers Tommy from his latest disaster.
The thing Tommy learns over the course of his many misadventures is that the powerful Silverado will alert his father and they will always come and rescue him.
When we persevere through a circumstance we enter into a maturation process wherein our faith matures and we learn that we are stronger than we think and that we can trust God. The bible says that “perseverance must finish its work.” In other words, our goal through the experience of persevering is to become more mature in our faith.
Conclusion
A landscape gardener, who was about to begin work on a woodland area that included several acres, was surprised when the lady-of-the-house asked him what it would look like when it was finished. “Will it look like this picture in Better Homes and Gardens?” she asked.
He tried to explain that he could show her where the fish pond would be and where the rose garden will be planted and the way the paths will wend through the garden but he could not tell her what it would look like when it is finished… his point was this: Essentially, anything that is living and growing is never finished growing.
With living things you are continually planting and replanting, cultivating and trimming. If you do not plant and replant and uproot and plant new and if you do not cultivate and trim… what you have planted will become a wild and unruly thing that looks nothing like the beautiful garden she envisioned from Better Homes and Gardens.
He said, “Hard to say, you know, we're dealing here with living things. I can show you a pattern, I guess, but these things grow. Okay? It's just never going to get finished growing!" (Julie Masters Bacher, The Quiet Heart, Christianity Today, Vol. 34, No. 12)
Who’s to say what you or I will look like or act like or be like? We are living things and we are constantly growing and as we grow we are encountering all kinds of things, including trials and temptations that test our will to survive. But it is in growing that we become mature in our faith as followers of Christ.
So as God works in your life through the many and varied trials of life, it is all about the making of a person of God:
Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
