OPEN: A man by the name of Keith Miller told of the time when his daughters were very young. They’d drop them off at the church's children's chapel on Sundays before the 11 am service. But one day Keith chanced to be in the class when the preacher was telling the story for the day to the kids.
The preacher was talking to the children about sheep. He said that sheep weren't very clever and needed lots of guidance and that a shepherd's job was to stay close to the sheep, protect them from wild animals and keep them from wandering off and doing foolish things that would get them hurt or killed.
He pointed to the children in the room and said that they were the sheep & needed lots of guidance.
Then the minister put his hands out to the side, palms up in a dramatic gesture, and with raised eyebrows said to the children, "If you are the sheep then who is the shepherd?"
He was pretty obviously indicating himself.
A silence of a few seconds followed.
Then a young visitor said," Jesus, Jesus is the shepherd."
The young minister, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, "Well, then, who am I?"
The little boy frowned thoughtfully and then said with a shrug "I guess you must be a sheep dog."
APPLY: That preacher had just experienced a humbling moment.
In his pride he literally felt upstaged by Jesus
He had been trying to teach the children that HE was the pastor of the church, the shepherd of the flock. But then he was faced with the obvious truth that Jesus was that true shepherd… and it flustered him.
Now, I don’t really think that preacher felt that he was equal with God… but in our text this morning, we read the story of King who thought he was pretty close.
His name was King Uzziah.
STORY: King Uzziah had the opportunity to be one of the greatest Kings in Israel’s history. II Chronicles 26:3-5 tells us:
“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.”
How was he successful?
He was a success as a builder.
He built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate and at the turning of the wall, and he fortified them.
He also built towers in the desert, and dug a number of wells in low country, and in the plains because he had a lot of cattle, and people worked for him who raised livestock and others who kept his vineyards in the mountains, and in Carmel.
And he was a successful military leader.
It was he who finally conquered Israel’s arch enemy the Philistines.
He had a huge army of over 307,000 highly trained and well-equipped fighting men. His army was outfitted with shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings.
And he had machines made that he put upon the towers and on the walls of his cities to shoot arrows and great stones at down upon any enemy.
His military might was so formidable that the Ammonites to the East paid him tribute. And his fame spread as far as Egypt.
And WHY did he have such power and influence?
Because God gave it to him.
“As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” 2Ch 26:5
Uzziah had the opportunity to become one of the greatest of Israel’s mightiest Kings.
But something went wrong.
Scripture tells us that “… after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.” 2 Chron. 26:16
Pride seems to be one of the things God hates most.
Proverbs 16:5 tells us “The LORD detests all the proud of heart”
Or as Peter writes: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5
And Prov. 16:18 warns us “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
(PAUSE) But now… what’s wrong with a little pride?
I mean, can’t I be proud of my car… my home… my job?
Can’t I be proud of my family… my children?
(pulling out wallet) Have I shown the pictures of kids lately?
Can’t I be proud of what I’ve accomplished in life?
Well yes, I can be “proud” of those things. But there is one small caveat when I say I’m “proud” of those things:
If I think those things are mine because I deserved them
If I think those things are mine because I obtained them by my own strength and wisdom… and cleverness.
If I think that these things can’t be taken away, or damaged or destroyed… THEN I have the pride of the foolish man.
ILLUS: When I was a teenager I was talking to my dad and I proudly said:
“I’m proud to be a Strite!”
And my father looked at me and gruffly said: “What did you ever do to deserve it?”
And that comment has stuck with me all these years.
I hadn’t done ANYTHING to deserve being a Strite.
In fact, I haven’t done anything to deserve a lot of the blessings I enjoy.
I didn’t do anything to deserve being able to see/ walk/ talk/ or sing.
I didn’t do anything to deserve being born of a loving family, to have the family I have now, to be born in a great country where I’m free to worship God.
When you get right down to it… there isn’t anything that I really DESERVE.
Because everything I have is a gift from God.
The Bible teaches that all you have ultimately comes from God.
Your children are a gift from God.
Your spouse is a gift from God.
Your very life is a gift from God.
But the problem for the proud is that they believe: what they have is theirs because they deserve it.
They tend to believe what they have is theirs because they EARNED IT.
Their advantages are due to the fact that they’re self-made people.
And as one person once observed: “The trouble with self made men is that they worship their creator.”
And that’s what God tells us happens to the proud in Deuteronomy 8:10-14 (TURN THERE)
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
If we forget that God is the source of their blessings… we can become proud and forget Him. We can literally end up tossing God off to the side of the road… and leaving Him there.
And of course… that’s what happened to King Uzziah.
He became strong and His heart became proud.
He got to thinking that what he had… he deserved.
He began to think of himself as – maybe not equal to God - but pretty close
And we know this because, one day, Uzziah decided he had the right to enter the Temple and burn incense on the incense altar.
Now why would he do that?
Didn’t he know that ONLY the Priests were allowed into the Temple?
Well… yeah!
Even the most uneducated Israelite knew that no one but the priests entered temple. And Uzziah had learned all about God through a Godly man named Zechariah. Not the same Zechariah who wrote the book of prophecy in the Old Testament. We know very little about this Zechariah… except that he was responsible for making King Uzziah the kind of successful King he’d become. He had taught Uzziah all about God. And most importantly, he had taught Uzziah to “Fear God”… to do things God’s way.
But one day Uzziah decides that – as King – he should have the RIGHT to perform this task. Azariah the High Priest and 80 courageous priests tried to stop him. They probably stood in his way and explained that this was not allowed. But I can picture Uzziah marching with an armed guard, forcing their way past the priests. And here was Uzziah set about lighting the incense thinking he could PLEASE his God by this act of worship.
(pause) BUT God was NOT pleased.
God struck him with leprosy on his forehead.
And the leprosy turned King Uzziah’s head white.
First Uzziah turned white with leprosy… then he turned white with fear and he fled the temple and went and lived the rest of his life in a separate house.
Never again could he approach the Temple… because of his leprosy
Never again could he offer sacrifices for his sins… because of his leprosy
Never again could he serve as King… because of his leprosy.
(His son Jotham took the throne and served as co-regent till Uzziah’s death).
Now, why would Uzziah do something so obviously stupid?
I mean – it’s one thing to be proud - but to blatantly ignore God’s command?
Why would he do that?
Now, the Bible doesn’t say… but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that Uzziah thought he was too good to have to abide by those silly rules. He WAS King… why should HE have to abide by these outdated standards.
He was too good to honor God’s will for his life.
Do people do that today?
Well, yes, they do.
One of the most obvious examples of this is when people will tell you that they’re too good to go church. Now, they’ll never say they’re TOO good for church. What they actually say is: “I can be just as good a Christian without going to church.”
Have you ever heard anyone say that?
What they’re actually saying is they’re too GOOD to go for church.
Now, Jesus died to save our sins… but He also died to establish His church.
Ephesians 5:25 tell us “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”.
Let’s repeat that: “Christ loved THE CHURCH and gave himself up for her.”
So, Jesus died on the cross - He gave His life - for HIS Church.
But these folks don’t need His church.
They don’t feel bound by His desire that they encourage His people.
They don’t feel bound by His desire that they minister to His people.
They don’t feel bound by His desire that they bring others into Church.
Why?
Because they’re just as good a Christian without going to church. Just like King Uzziah – they’re too good to do what God wants.
I’ll put it even more bluntly:
If a person loves Jesus they go to church.
If they don’t – they’ don’t.
Let’s repeat that:
If a person loves Jesus they go to church.
If they don’t – they’ don’t.
If a person loves Jesus… they go to church.
BUT if a person doesn’t love Jesus… they won’t go to church.
If a person doesn’t love Jesus… they won’t serve in the church.
They’ll come and sit; but they will not serve.
If a person doesn’t love Jesus… they won’t financially support the church.
Jesus “loved the church and gave himself up for her”.
But these folks don’t care.
Jesus gave himself up for the church… but they don’t want to.
They’re too good for that.
They’re so full of themselves there’s no room for God in their lives.
Now there’s one more thing I’d like us to look at in this text.
It says in 2 Chronicles 26:22 that:
“The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.”
So, where are these records?
Isaiah wrote them down. Why don’t we have them?
Well, I have a suspicion the answer to that question is found in Isaiah 6.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’
And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
Now I want you to notice: this all happened in the year that Uzziah died.
One commentator I read said that it was almost as if Isaiah couldn’t see God until Uzziah had died. Perhaps Isaiah was so full of love and admiration for King Uzziah that he was literally had little room for God until then.
Notice, it’s at this point in his life that Isaiah is overwhelmed by his own sinfulness and believes that God may destroy him for being in His presence with all this sin dripping from his lips.
The year that King Uzziah died Isaiah saw the LORD high and lifted up and God so filled the temple with His majesty and glory that Isaiah fell to his knees and cried out that he was a man of unclean lips and lived among a people of unclean lips.
It was then that Isaiah’s sin was cleansed, and at that point God asked “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
Who will DO something for me?
Who will allow Me to fill them with My presence and My will and actually serve Me?
It was when Isaiah saw that God filled the temple that he felt the need for God to fill him as well and he cried out “Here Am I – Send Me!”
Uzziah had been a man who full of himself… he was a proud man.
But when Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw that the Temple was full of God.
Uzziah was full of himself… the temple was full of God.
You can either be full of yourself… or you can be full of God.
BUT you can’t be both.
Sooner or later you’ve got to decide who is more important in your life.
CLOSE: Back in 1014 there was a King who ruled over England named Canute. He was a powerful king… but he was a Godly man. During his reign King Canute would often hear people come into his court and flatter him with extravagant praises of his greatness, power and invincibility.
He grew tired of that, because – unlike King Uzziah – Canute wasn’t full of himself. So, one day he ordered his chair to be set down on the seashore and with great fanfare he commanded the tide not to come in and get him wet.
But no matter how forcefully he ordered the waters to obey they didn’t listen. Soon the waves lapped around his chair.
One historian tells us that he left the beach, went to a church where there was a statue of the crucified Christ and he hung his crown on that statute… and never wore it again.
CONCLUSION: Today you may need to make that decision.
Today you may need to turn your crown over to Jesus and let him have His way in your life.
Perhaps, as a Christian, you need God to fill your life so that you say “Here Am I, send me, use me. Make use of my life”
Perhaps, as a Christian, you need God to fill your life so that decide that this is the day you say to God “Here Am I God, use me in this church” and you step forward to become a member of this congregation and allow God to use your ministry in this local church.
Or perhaps you’ve not yet become a Christian and you need to say to God “Here Am I. Take me and make me fully yours!”
