Chan Gailey, who just began his second season as head coach for the Buffalo Bills, got his start coaching football at Alabama’s Troy State University. In 1984, with a 12-1 record, he led the Troy State Trojans to a Division II NCAA national championship. A week before the big game, he was headed to the practice field when a secretary called him back to take a phone call.
Somewhat irritated, Gailey told her to take a message because he was on his way to practice.
She responded, “But it's Sports Illustrated.”
“I'll be right there,” he said.
As he made his way to the building, he began to think about the upcoming article. It would be great publicity for a small school like Troy State to be in Sports Illustrated. As he got closer, he realized that a three-page article would not be sufficient to tell the whole story. Coming even closer to his office, he started thinking that he might be on the cover. “Should I pose or go with an action shot,” he wondered. His head was spinning with all of the possibilities.
When he picked up the phone and said hello, the person asked, “Is this Chan Gailey?”
“Yes, it is,” he replied confidently.
“This is Sports Illustrated, and we're calling to let you know that your subscription is running out. Are you interested in renewing?” (Chan Gailey speaking at a dinner in Dalton, Georgia, 4-20-04; www.PreachingToday.com)
Coach Gailey had visions of glory, but then reality set in, and that’s often the way it is with life. We get visions of glory, but reality gets in the way and we’re humbled in the process.
So then how do we find true glory? What is the way to true honor even when we have been humbled? What is the way to real respect even if we have to go through pain?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5, where God’s Word shows us the way to glory.
1 Peter 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (NIV)
If we want to receive God’s favor, then we must humble ourselves before each other. We must “be submissive” to those who are older. Literally, we must rank ourselves under them. AND all of us, no matter what our age, must tie on the apron of a slave and serve each other. That’s what it means when it says, “Clothe yourselves with humility.” The noun form of the verb “clothe” was the apron of a slave in Bible days. And that’s the way we’re to relate to each other – all of us!
We’re to behave like slaves for each other; otherwise, God Himself will stand in opposition to us. “God opposes the proud,” verse 5 says. Literally, He sets himself in battle against those who appear like they’re over or above others.
Let me tell you: that’s not a place where we want to be – with God like an army at war against us. So let’s humble ourselves before each other and experience His grace. It’s the way to true glory and dignity even if we find ourselves down and out.
That’s what Abbe Pierre discovered when he founded the Emmaus Communities in 1949. The Emmaus Communities today serve homeless men and women all across Europe in a unique way. They don’t just give the homeless handouts. Instead, they ask the homeless, whom they call “companions,” to serve others.
It all started with Abbe Pierre's first companion in ministry, a homeless man named Georges. After Georges' release from prison, his family couldn't cope with his reappearance, so they told him to leave. Homeless, unemployed, and on the verge of suicide, Georges came to Pierre and asked for help. Much to Georges' surprise, Pierre asked Georges to help him instead. Pierre told Georges that he was overwhelmed with meeting the needs of homeless mothers and their children. So Pierre challenged Georges to turn his life around by serving those less fortunate than he.
Georges became the first “companion” for Emmaus, helping Pierre build shelters for homeless mothers and their children. In the following years, every companion, like Georges, was invited to serve others as they received help. Initially, all the companions collected second-hand goods and prepared them for resale, thus earning the name “the rag pickers.” Later in his life, Georges said, “Whatever else [Abbe Pierre] might have given me – money, home, somewhere to work – I'd have still tried to kill myself. What I was missing, and what he offered, was something to live for.” Well, those sentiments became the unofficial motto for Emmaus – give the poor a reason to live, not just things to live on.
According to Margaret Visser, this ministry restores dignity and breathes new life into the poor because “members turn to those who have nothing and ask them to give.” (Margaret Visser, The Gift of Thanks, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009, p. 373; www.PreachingToday.com)
They find dignity in service, and that’s true for all of us no matter how high or low we think we are. If we want to find the way to true glory, then we must humble ourselves before each other.
But that really can’t happen until we humble ourselves before God. We will not “tie on the apron of a slave” and serve each other until we learn to make ourselves low before Almighty God Himself.
1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (NIV)
When we make ourselves low before God, in time, He makes us high before others. In time, He honors us before our peers.
So then how do you humble yourself under God’s mighty hand? You do it, verse 7, when you “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” True humility means we stop depending on ourselves and start depending on God to take care of us. The proud person thinks he can handle all of life’s distractions, cares and worries. The humble person knows he can’t, so he throws all his worries on God Himself. Just like throwing a bundle on a donkey’s back (Luke 19:35), the humble person throws all his burdens on God’s back, letting God carry the load, because he knows that God really cares.
Jan, who was a young mother in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 20 years ago, tells a remarkable story from that time in her life. In a note to her pastor, she wrote:
It was the end. I knew it. I could no longer fight. I sat here emotionless. I was totally alone. Others had tried to help – doctors, nurses, parents, husband, children. But they were gone. Hours earlier I had come into the hospital on an emergency basis. I had back pain so severe that at times, it dropped me to my knees. This was not my first hospital stay. I had been sick for a long time it seemed…
I sat in the bathroom. It was the middle of the night. No people, no “miracle” medicine, no strength left. I was too tired to fight. I sat there – four walls surrounding me. And a bleak, monotonous “bleep” from my battery-operated IV filled the silence. I couldn't stop the sound of that miserable machine, anymore than I could control my own miserable life. So I sat there – dull, miserable, in pain, with no hope.
[Then I heard] something else. I didn't hear it with my ears – but I did in my spirit. I heard someone crying. And I immediately knew that it was Jesus crying for me. I was shocked – totally surprised. I didn't think he would do that for me.
This experience did not leave me emotionally elated. Nor did I feel a physical touch. Life was the same, except I now knew I really was not in this battle alone. Jesus cared in a way my wildest imagination would never have hoped for or expected.
Slowly I got up and shuffled back to bed, my IV still “bleeping” in my ears. Life was the same but different entirely… When there was absolutely no one else that would help me, he cried for me… (Lee Eclov, Where the Battle Is Fought, www.PreachingToday.com)
And Jesus cries for you. He really does care, so cast all your worries on Him and let Him carry them for a while. Stop depending on yourself and start depending on the Lord. Humble yourself before God in this way and find honor in the end. Humble yourself before God so you can humble yourself before one another and experience His grace. It’s the way to glory even in our pain. We find it only when we…
HUMBLE OURSELVES before God and others. Then we must…
HARDEN OURSELVES AGAINST THE DEVIL.
If we want to find the way to true glory, then in dependence upon God, we must be alert to Satan’s ways and stand against Him.
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (NIV)
This may be a veiled reference to Nero’s persecution of Christians in the Roman Coliseum. There, lions mauled and devoured Christians. Well, in the same way, Satan wants to tear apart the believer’s testimony.
Dear friends, Satan is not your friend by any stretch of the imagination. He may promise you pleasure and power if you give into his ways, but know this: He is your enemy, who will destroy your life if you give him even the slightest opportunity, so be sober and alert. Be aware of his destructive ways.
Two boys were walking home from Sunday school after hearing a strong sermon on the devil. One said to the other, “What do you think about all this Satan stuff?”
The other boy replied, “Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It's probably just your dad.” (Dale W. Decker, Mount Washington, Kentucky; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the problem with too many people. They think Satan is just a myth like Santa Clause and the tooth fairy. They don’t realize how real he is and how destructive he can be. As a result, their lives are destroyed before they even know what hit them.
Please, don’t let that happen to you. Be aware of Satan’s presence. Then stand against him. In dependence upon God, resist the devil’s attempts to get you to sin and so destroy your life.
1 Peter 5:9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (NIV)
You are not alone in your pain, so don’t give in to the devil. Stand against him by standing firm in your faith. Resist him by depending wholly on Christ.
Did you know that in the United States, mountain lions are the number one predator of human beings? So says author and naturalist, Craig Childs. On one occasion, he was doing research on the lions in Arizona's Blue Range Wilderness. As he approached a water hole from downwind, he spotted a mountain lion drinking water, but the lion did not know he was there. When it finished drinking, it walked slowly away into a cluster of junipers.
“After a few minutes, Childs walked to the water hole to identify tracks in the mud and record notes. Just before he bent down to look closer, he scanned the perimeter, and there among the shadows of the junipers, 30 feet away, he saw a pair of eyes. He expected the lion to run away, but it walked into the sunlight toward him. Childs pulled his knife and stared into the eyes of the lion. He knew what he had to do. More importantly, he also knew what he must not do. He writes:
“Mountain lions are known to take down animals six, seven, and eight times their size. Their method: attack from behind, clamp onto the spine at the base of the prey's skull, snap the spine. The top few vertebrae are the target, housing respiratory and motor skills that cease instantly when the cord is cut… Mountain lions have stalked people for miles. One woman survived an attack and escaped by foot on a road. The lion shortcut the road several miles farther and killed her from behind…
About the incident in Arizona’s Blue Ranger Wilderness, Childs says, “I hold firm to my ground and do not even intimate that I will back off. If I run, it is certain. I will have a mountain lion all over me. If I give it my back, I will only briefly feel its weight on me against the ground. The canine teeth will open my vertebrae without breaking a single bone…
The mountain lion begins to move to my left, and I turn, keeping my face on it, my knife at my right side. It paces to my right, trying to get around on my other side, to get behind me. I turn right, staring at it… My stare is about the only defense I have.”
The amazing thing is Childs actually maintained that defense as the mountain lion continued to try to provoke him to run, turning left, then right, back and forth again and again, until it came to just ten feet away. Finally, the standoff ended. The lion turned and walked away – defeated by a man who knew what never to do in its presence. (Craig Childs, The Animal Dialogues, New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2007; www.PreachingToday.com)
Never take your eyes off a mountain lion. Always be absolutely aware and stand your ground against him. Now, that’s exactly what we need to do with Satan. Stay alert and stand your ground. James 4 says, “Resist the devil, and he WILL flee from you” (James 4:7).
It’s the only way to glory even in times of pain. 1st we must humble ourselves. 2nd, we must harden ourselves against the devil. And finally, we must keep our…
HOPE IN GOD.
We must continue to remain confident in our Lord. We must not lose the assurance we have as believers in Christ.
1 Peter 5:10-11 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV)
This is a promise from God: After the pain there will be power. God himself will restore us, fix us, strengthen us and establish us. The Greek words here picture a skilled fisherman mending broken nets (Mark 4:21) and a wise master builder laying a strong foundation (Heb. 1:10). After life has broken us up some, God Himself will fix us up better than ever. After the pain there WILL be power.
It’s God’s promise to us and we can count on it, so don’t lose your hope in God. Hope in God because of His grace – He is “the God of all grace.” Hope in God because of the glory ahead – “He called you to his eternal glory.” Hope in God because your pain is but for “a little while,” but His power is “forever and ever.”
On May 17, 2008, Christian recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his family suffered a devastating loss. Their five-year-old adopted daughter, Maria Sue, was struck and killed when Chapman's seventeen-year-old son was backing his SUV out of the family's driveway.
Then just two months later, Chapman returned to his concert ministry continuing to lead people in worship. It was not easy, but the words from Job as expressed in Matt Redman’s song, “Blessed Be Your Name,” kept him going. It was the first song Chapman sang the day Maria died when he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to sing again:
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me,
When the world's all as it should be.
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering,
Though there's pain in the offering.
Blessed be Your name.
You give and take away.
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
“Lord, blessed be Your name.”
Chapman says, “As I sang this song … it wasn't a song, it was a cry, a scream, a prayer, [but] I found an amazing comfort and peace that surpasses all understanding.”
Chapman says he also reconsidered the words to all his songs and whether he could still sing – and believe – them. Instead, he found that losing his little girl brought the meaning of those songs into sharper focus. In fact, he added a new verse to his song, “Yours,” which he had just written a year previously:
I've walked the valley of death's shadow
so deep and dark that I could barely breathe.
I've had to let go of more than I could bear and
I've questioned everything that I believe.
Still even here in this great darkness
a comfort and a hope comes breaking through
as I can say in life or death, God we belong to you. (Elizabeth Diffin, Still Blessing His Name, Today's-Christian.com, 2008; www.PreachingToday.com)
Dear friend, that’s the way to glory even in our pain. Humble yourself before God and one another. Harden yourself against the devil. And by God’s grace, keep your hope in Him.
