Orla Shup, of Albion, Pennsylvania, was babysitting her pastor’s 3-year-old daughter, playing their favorite game together, Go Fish. One evening, after winning several rounds, the little girl kept bragging about how good she was. Jokingly, Orla Shup said to her, “I'm going to have to teach you a little humility.”
Immediately the little girl looked up and asked, “How do you play that?” (Orla C. Shup, Albion, PA, Today's Christian Woman, “Heart to Heart”)
Last week, we examined the Beatitudes to learn the secret to true happiness, and we discovered that only the humble are truly happy. The first 4 beatitudes make it very clear, if we want to be happy, we must be humble in our attitude towards ourselves; we must be humble in our attitude towards sin; we must be humble in our attitude towards others; and we must be humble in our attitude towards God.
But the question is: What does that humility look like? How does it work itself out in our everyday lives? Or as the little girl put it, “How do you play [humility]?” Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, where we see what a humble attitude looks like when it is played out in the lives of genuinely humble people.
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (ESV)
Humble people are merciful people. They are sympathetic to the needs of others, because they realize their own needs. And as a result, they themselves are truly “blessed.” So if you want to be truly happy in this new year, then…
DEMONSTRATE HUMILITY IN MERCY.
Show compassion to those who are suffering, and freely forgive those who sin against you. The word for “mercy” encompasses both ideas of forgiveness for the guilty and compassion for the needy.
The world says, “Don’t be burdened with other people’s problems; you have enough of your own. Besides, people deserve what they get. Just take care of yourself, and you’ll be happy.” Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful. Oh how happy are those who reach out to people in pain, even when they don’t deserve it.”
But only humble people can do that. You see, only when we are aware of our own sin are we willing to reach out in kindness to fellow sinners. And only when we are aware of our own need can we truly sympathize with those in need. Literally, we feel their pain (or their pathos) with them.
In Luke 7, Jesus was eating dinner with a local preacher, when the local prostitute showed up and poured perfume on His feet along with her tears. Then because she had nothing else to use, she wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair.
The preacher was indignant. “How can Jesus allow this filthy, evil woman to do that to him,” he thought to himself.
So Jesus told him a story. “Two men owed money to a certain loan officer. One owed him $75,000 and the other about $7,500. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled both their debts.”
Then Jesus asked the preacher a question, “Now which of them will love him more?”
The preacher replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
And Jesus said, “You have judged correctly.” Then he turned toward the woman and said to the preacher, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, [you did nothing to welcome me.] You did not wash my feet [like most people do in desert climates], but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not greet me with a kiss [in typical Middle Eastern fashion], but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not refresh me with oil on my head [as is customary in the Middle East], but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:36-47)
Those who really don’t believe they need a lot of forgiveness have a very little capacity for love. But those who know they have been forgiven much have the capacity to love much. They love their Lord more and they have a greater compassion for those who struggle just like they. The self righteous are merciless and hard. The poor in spirit are merciful, full of forgiveness and compassion.
It’s the kind of forgiveness demonstrated by Lloyd LeBlanc. Lloyd was the father of David LeBlanc, a 17-year-old who was murdered by Patrick and Eddie Sonnier. When neighbors started harassing Ms. Sonnier for her sons' actions, Lloyd Leblanc came to her house with a basket of fruit. Lloyd told Ms. Sonnier that he was a parent too, and he understood that she wasn't responsible for the murder.
So how does a parent do such a thing? Helen Prejean, author of the book Dead Man Walking, talked about her conversation with Lloyd in answer to that question. She said:
“Lloyd told me how the sheriff had brought him to the morgue to identify his son's body. David was a beautiful kid, 17-years-old. He had been shot in the back of the head, and when the sheriff pulled his body out on the cold tray… Lloyd – who was good with his hands and could fix things – looked down at his son and thought, ‘I can't fix this.’ And he began to pray. He came to the line in the Lord’s Prayer about forgiving those who trespass against us. ‘I didn't feel it,’ he said, ‘but I knew that was where I had to go.’ And that is where he went.”
Helen Prejean said, “Lloyd embodies forgiveness – not just something we can do for others, but forgiveness…that says, ‘I am not going to let this anger and hatred kill me. I'm going to remain kind and loving.’ [Forgiveness] is a path, not a single act. One's commitment to it has to be renewed every day. (David Cook, “And Justice for All,” The Sun, August 2010, p. 11; www. PreachingToday.com)
That’s the kind of mercy Jesus is talking about here. It’s the kind that chooses to remain kind and loving in spite of what people have done.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Do you want to be truly happy in the New Year? Then 1st of all, demonstrate humility in mercy. And 2nd…
DEMONSTRATE HUMILITY IN PURITY.
Be clean on the inside as well as the outside. Be genuine through and through without any duplicity.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (ESV)
The world says, “Perception is reality, so be sure you make a good impression, even if you have to fake it until you make it.” Jesus says, “Be pure in heart, not just in appearance.”
A police officer pulled a driver aside and asked for his license and registration. “What's wrong, officer,” the driver asked. “I didn't go through any red lights, and I certainly wasn't speeding.”
“No, you weren't,” said the officer, “but I saw you waving your fist as you swerved around the lady driving in the left lane, and I saw your flushed and angry face as you shouted at the driver of the Hummer who cut you off, and I saw you pounding your steering wheel when the traffic came to a stop near the bridge.”
“Is that a crime, officer?”
“No, but when I saw the ‘Jesus loves you and so do I’ bumper sticker on the car, I figured this car had to be stolen.” (Homiletics magazine, May 2004)
That man was NOT pure in heart. The impression he tried to make with his bumper sticker certainly did not reflect the attitude of his heart. The proud are concerned about appearances and impressions. The humble just have a heart to serve.
Steve Sample, president of the University of Southern California, won a fellowship from the American Council on Education in 1970 when he was only 29. The fellowship allowed him to serve as an administrative intern with Fred Hovde, the president of Purdue University.
Sample was excited about pursuing the opportunity when he ran into a colleague of his, Vern Newhouse, a highly respected member of the electrical engineering faculty at Purdue. “So, Sample,” Newhouse said, “I see you've won some sort of administrative fellowship in the president's office.”
“Yes, that's true,” Steve Sample replied.
“And you'll be learning how to become an administrator?”
“I suppose so.”
“And then you'll probably want to be president of a university somewhere down the road?”
“Well, I don't know. I guess I've thought about it now and then,” Sample said, somewhat disingenuously.
Newhouse smiled and said: “Personally, I've never had any ambition whatsoever to be an administrator. I am totally inept at managing things… But I've been a careful observer of ambitious men all my life. And here, for what it's worth, is what I've learned: many men want to be president, but very few want to do president.” And with that he wished Sample well and walked away. (Steve Sample, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, Jossey-Bass, 2002, pp. 159-160)
A lot of people want the prestige of the office, the outward trappings of success. Very few people genuinely want to serve. But those are the people that are truly happy, whether they are in the president’s office or the janitor’s closet.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Do you want to be truly happy in this New Year? Then #1, Demonstrate humility in mercy. #2, Demonstrate humility in purity. And #3…
DEMONSTRATE HUMILITY IN MAKING PEACE.
Take the initiative in pursuing reconciliation. Do what you have to, to resolve the conflict, whether you were the one wronged or the one who did wrong.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (ESV)
Peacemakers are like God. Peacemakers are like the One who took the initiative to make peace with us. God saw how our sins had turned us against Him, so instead of waiting for us to come back to Him, He came to us. He left heaven, took on the role of a servant, and died on a cross to win us back into a relationship with Himself.
God took the initiative to make peace with us, and God’s true children do the same with each other. If you’re at odds with someone, don’t wait for them to make the first move. You make the first move. Take the initiative, like God did, to work things out.
You may have to humble yourself, like God did. You may have to give up some of your rights, but in the end it’s all worth it. In the end you gain a God-like reputation. People will say, “He’s the son of His Father in Heaven.”
The world says, “Use people to get what you want in life. Use people and love things.” Jesus says, “Love people and use things. Blessed are the peacemakers, even if they have to give up their own rights to make peace, because that’s what God Himself did for us.”
Ghassan Thomas leads one of the few churches that emerged [in Baghdad] after Saddam Hussein was toppled. His congregation erected a sign on their building that said “Jesus Is the Light of the World,” but the church was raided by bandits who left behind a threat on a piece of cardboard. It read: “Jesus is not the light of the world, Allah is, and you have been warned.” The note was signed “The Islamic Shiite Party.”
In response, Pastor Ghassan loaded a van with children's gifts and medical supplies – which were in critically short supply following the American invasion – and drove to the headquarters of the Islamic Shiite Party. After presenting the gifts and supplies to the sheikh, Ghassan told the leader, “Christians have love for you, because our God is a God of love.” He then asked permission to read from the Bible. Ghassan turned to Jesus' words in John 8, “I am the light of the world.” He then showed the cardboard note to the sheikh. The Muslim leaders, astounded by Pastor Thomas's actions, apologized.
“This will not happen again,” [the sheikh] vowed. “You are my brother. If anyone comes to kill you, it will be my neck first.” The sheikh later attended Pastor Thomas's ordination service at the church. (Skye Jethani, The Divine Commodity, Zondervan, 2009, pp. 61-62; www.PreachingToday.com)
Pastor Thomas was a peacemaker. He took the initiative to return good for evil, and it confounded his enemies.
But that’s exactly what God did for us. Romans 5:8 says that “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ took the initiative to make peace with us. And when we do the same with those who have sinned against us, we gain a reputation that’s God-like in comparison.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Do you want to be truly happy in the New Year? Then #1, Demonstrate humility in mercy. #2, Demonstrate humility in purity. #3, Demonstrate humility in making peace. And #4…
DEMONSTRATE HUMILITY IN ACCEPTING PERSECUTION.
Don’t retaliate; instead, rejoice. Embrace the harassment that will come when you try to live according to these principles.
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted (literally, those who are run down, pursued, driven out, harassed and oppressed). Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad (literally, plume yourself; wear the insults like a badge of honor), for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
It’s not important what people think. It’s only important what God thinks, and He thinks you’re in good company with the prophets who were also persecuted by the people around them.
Jesus doesn’t want to give us any false impressions. Living life His way will make you truly happy, but it will also bring you trouble. People won’t like it. They will misunderstand and mistreatment you. But true happiness is not the absence of trouble. It’s the ability to rejoice in the midst of trouble, and that takes genuine humility.
You see, only humble people accept unjust persecution without fighting back. Only humble people receive insults without the need to return insult for insult. The world says, “Don’t get mad, get even.” Jesus says, “Don’t retaliate. Instead, rejoice when people insult you, persecute you and lie about you, because heaven will reward you even if the whole world is against you.”
Following Sunday worship services on January 8, 2006, five young men attacked and threatened to kill a Protestant church leader in Turkey's fourth largest city. Kamil Kiroglu, 29, had just left his church in Adana when he was ambushed and beaten so severely that he fell unconscious twice.
“They were trying to force me to deny Jesus,” Kiroglu said. “But each time they asked me to deny Jesus and become a Muslim, I was saying, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ The more I said, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ the more they beat me.”
One of the attackers pulled out a long butcher knife and threatened to kill Kiroglu if he did not deny his Christian faith and return to Islam. Kiroglu refused.
After the incident, he said, “I am praising God – not because he saved me from death, but because he helped me not to deny him in the shadow of death.” (Compass Direct, January 2006)
That man found true happiness, not in the absence of trouble, but in its very presence.
Do you want to be truly happy this New Year? Then Be humble in your attitude towards yourself. Be humble in your attitude towards sin. Be humble in your attitude towards others, and be humble in your attitude towards God.
Then demonstrate that humility in mercy. Demonstrate that humility in purity. Demonstrate that humility in making peace, and demonstrate that humility in accepting persecution. In a nutshell: be humble if you want to be happy.
In his book What Good Is God?, author Philip Yancey writes about the 2004 Ukraine election in which the reformer, Victor Yushchenko, challenged the entrenched party and nearly died for it. On election-day the exit polls showed Yushchenko with a comfortable lead, but through outright fraud, the government had reversed those results. Yancey writes:
That evening the state-run television reported, “Ladies and gentlemen, we announce that the challenger Victor Yushchenko has been decisively defeated.” However, government authorities had not taken into account one feature of Ukrainian television, the translation it provides for the hearing-impaired. On the small screen insert in the lower right-hand corner of the television screen a brave woman raised by deaf-mute parents gave a different message in sign language. “I am addressing all the deaf citizens of Ukraine. Don't believe what they say. They are lying, and I am ashamed to translate these lies. Yushchnko is our President!” No one in the studio understood her radical sign-language message.
Inspired by that courageous translator, deaf people led what became known as the Orange Revolution.
They text-messaged their friends on mobile phones about the fraudulent elections, and soon other journalists took courage… and likewise refused to broadcast the party line. Over the next few weeks as many as a million people wearing orange flooded the capital city of Kiev to demand new elections. The government finally buckled under the pressure, consenting to new elections, and this time Yushchenko emerged as the undisputed winner.
Yancey makes the following point: Our society is hardly unique… like the sign language translator in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, along comes a person named Jesus who says in effect, “Don't believe the big screen – they’re lying. It's the poor who are blessed, not the rich. Mourners are blessed too, as well as those who hunger and thirst, and the persecuted. Those who go through life thinking they're on top will end up on the bottom. And those who go through life feeling they're at the very bottom will end up on top.” (Philip Yancey, What Good Is God?: In Search of a Faith That Matters, Faith Words, 2010, pp. 184-186; www.PreachingToday. com)
It doesn’t make sense, does it – the idea of the last being first and the first ending up last? It seems backwards, but that’s Jesus’ way.
Hey, some of you have tried your way long enough. You’ve tried demanding your own way, asserting your own rights, and getting even for every wrong. It hasn’t worked, has it? In fact, it’s made you more miserable than ever.
I have a suggestion for you: Give up doing it your way and try Jesus’ way. Humble yourself and find true happiness this year.
