Scripture: Luke 14:1-14 (cf. verses 7-11)
Theme: Table Talks about Humility
Title: Eating Humble Pie and loving it!
Proposition: Jesus teaches a lesson on Humility. He tells us that 1. We can possess a life of humility. 2. First we have to see ourselves realistically 3. We have to see ourselves in Him - In Christ.
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sins of the world.
You can learn a lot listening to people while you share a meal with them. In fact, it can prove to be a life transforming experience. In Luke chapters 14 -16 we discover Jesus sharing space with various types of people. He is welcomed by Pharisees and scribes, tax collectors and sinners. He is surrounded by his disciples and large crowds of people. Most of his encounters in these chapters revolve around meals, banquets and social gatherings.
In our passage this morning Jesus had been invited to the home of a wealthy Pharisee ruler for a Sabbath meal. Normally, such an invitation was an act to forward your relationship with that person. It was a way to deepen communication and personal connection. However, in this case, it appears to be more of an act of treachery and malice. The real reason our Pharisee ruler invited Jesus to his house was to ambush him. He and his friends thought they had laid a perfect trap for Jesus. They were hoping to get Jesus into a situation where he would either condemn himself or at the very least discredit himself and/or his ministry.
At a proper moment during the meal a man with dropsy appeared. His appearance was intentional and strategic. Jesus' host counted on Jesus reaching out to the man and healing him. According to Jewish tradition the mere act of healing someone was work and therefore generally forbidden on the Sabbath1. Everyone present would witness Jesus breaking the Sabbath. It was a perfect set-up. From there this Pharisee and his friends could then begin to condemn Jesus and heighten up their smear campaign against his ministry.
There was only one hitch in their plan. Jesus knew what they were planning. In a battle of wits these men had no chance against the Son of God. Jesus simply shifts the focus and begins to deal with an imagined situation. "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out? No one would have said that saving a life would be disobeying the Sabbath. Anyone in their right mind knew that a life superseded tradition or ritual. In fact, to save a life was to honor the Sabbath. Was this poor man who could not work, could not attend Temple, was he less valuable than an animal or a son?
Now of course, the dropsy of the man could have waited a few hours until the Sabbath was officially over ( 6 PM). It was probably around 2 pm which meant in a mere four hours the Sabbath would be over. Jesus could have simply told the man to come back and that time and he would be healed. No one would have raised a fuss and the meal would have gone on without a hitch.
However, that is not how Jesus viewed such situations. To Jesus, people are always more important that rituals and traditions. Especially, if those traditions and rituals are manmade and not God given. Expressing the love of God is always more important than observing religious ritual. Four more hours of this man suffering was four hours to long. Jesus was always picking people over tradition and ritual. So, too should we this morning.
It's the next part that I would like for us to focus our attention on this morning, in particular verses 7 - 11. Taking hold of the opportunity Jesus begins to serve his own banquet. Following the man's healing, Jesus begin to pass out plate after plate of humble pie. Jesus was not interested in some kind of counter attack on his host or his guests. Jesus was merely trying to teach them how to live as God's righteous and holy people.
The Pharisees and the lawyers had not been the only ones watching what was going on during the meal. Jesus had watched as they had displayed some rather unsightly social manners. All the scrambling to get the best seats had not gone unnoticed. He seizes upon their lack of dinning etiquette to teach everyone an amazing lesson on humility and sacrificial service.
What made those men scramble the way they did? What made them do everything in their power to get at the choice seats? What drove them to want the exalted positions?
Jesus tells us in his parable it all has to do with Pride. Father David Sellery2 tells us that "Pride is Satan's curve ball. More souls have gone down swinging at that sucker pitch than any other in his repertoire." He believes that Satan can throw the curve ball of pride so well because it is one of his oldest if not oldest weapon. It was his greatest pitch when he was tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Pride is man's original sin and is the gateway sin that opens the door to all kinds of evils ranging from mere snobbery to genocide.
The opposite of pride of course is humility. And there is not a better example or teacher of humility than our LORD JESUS CHRIST. No one lived a more humble life than Jesus. This morning let's see what it means to possess Christ-like Humility.
1. First of all, is it possible for us to truly possess Christ-like humility?
That's a very important question. Is it possible for us humans to possess the kind of Christ-like humility that Jesus lived and taught? Yes, I believe it is possible for us. If it were not possible then Jesus would not have shared this parable or any of his other teachings on the subject of humility. Jesus came for us to have an abundant life and part of that abundant life includes possessing a spirit of Christ-like humility.
The Bible is full of examples of individuals who on different occasion displayed what we today would call Christ-like humility.
+ Jacob in Genesis 32:10
+Moses in Numbers 12:3
+King David in 2 Samuel 7:18
+King Solomon in 1 Kings 3:7
+John the Baptist in Matthew 3:14
+The Centurion in Matthew 8:8
+The Syrophenician woman in Matthew 15:27
+Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15
The Bible is also very clear about warning us against the danger of possessing the very opposite spirit of humility - a spirit of arrogance and pride (Psalms 10:2; Proverbs 21:4; 1 John 2:16 etc...). The Bible gives us plenty of examples of individuals whose pride was their ultimate downfall:
+Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2
+Naaman in 2 Kings 5:11
+Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16
+Haman in Esther 3:5
+The Pharisee in Luke 18:11
Each of those men lives were adversely affected because of a spirit of pride/arrogance. This morning, Jesus doesn't want any of us to fail into the same traps of arrogance and pride and thereby ruin our lives. To make sure that doesn't happen to us Jesus is teaching us in this passage how to possess Christ-like humility. For in doing so we will experience a victorious Christian life.
In fact, possessing a Christ-like humility is seen as a great leadership characteristic. Many in the business world believe that humility is one of the greatest characteristics in need today. They believe that too many people rely on their own confidence when they should possess a more humble attitude and presence. They believe that a leader who possesses a humble attitude is the type of leaders that our world needs today.
So, if Christ-like humility is possible then are there some steps that we can take to help us possess it? Thankfully, this morning there are some steps we can take. Let's share two of them.
II. First we must take a frank and honest look at ourselves
We can start by taking a serious look at ourselves as individuals and humanity in general. We must allow the Holy Spirit to pull back the veil so that we can see the clear and absolute truth. The Devil has done his best to blind us in this area. He had done his best to get us to believe that a little pride and arrogance is good for all of us. The Devil has done his best to make pride into a Christian virtue when the Bible is clear that it is not. This morning we must take a frank and honest look at ourselves.
Throughout history the LORD has used some very special people to help us understand that fact. People whose passion is for us to understand that we need to take our walk with the Lord seriously. One of those people was a man by the name of William Law. Rev. Law was a great friend of another special person God used by the name of John Wesley. Both men were passionate when it came to promoting a serious, devout and holy life. They gave their lives teaching and preaching salvation and spiritual formation.
Law's signature work was a book back in 1729 when he was around the age of 43 entitled, A SERIOUS CALL TO A DEVOUT AND HOLY LIFE. It is a fascinating book that both challenges and encourages your heart, mind and soul. It is not a book for the faint of heart. It will stretch you in every area of your Christian life. It is also considered to be one of the greatest devotional books of the Christian faith and through the years has helped millions of people experience a deeper walk with the LORD. One of the subjects that Law spends a great deal of time with in this book and in his other writings is humility. Law believed that:
"Humility does not consist in having a worse opinion of ourselves than we deserve, or in abasing ourselves lower than we really are, but as all virtue is found in truth, so humility is founded in a true and just sense of our weakness, misery and sin. He who rightly feels and lives in this sense of his condition lives in humility." (THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY)
“Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves.”
"We have no power of our own to move a hand or stir a foot than to move the sun or stop the clouds."
In writing these statements, William Law was not demeaning mankind but was instead desiring that we see ourselves in the true light of holiness. We are not demi-gods. We are not super beings. We are sin broken people who are in desperate need of salvation. We are sinners who are in need of the grace, forgiveness and mercy that can only come through Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD. We need the saving and sanctifying grace that comes through the infilling presence of the Holy Spirit.
William Law wants us to understand our true human nature so that we can nix any form of narcissism that might arise with us. He wants us to understand that we must eliminate all forms of entitlement and defeat any source of selfish arrogant pride. He desires that we cultivate an accurate sense of self. He simply wants us to understand who we are in regards to our standing before a Holy God. By doing so we will always turn away from pride and towards humility. Humility as a means of grace and as gateway towards spiritual formation.
Father Richard Rohr writing in Radical Grace reminds us that "Humility and human come from the Latin word - HUMAS - dirt. A human being is someone ... taken out of the dirt. A humble person is one who recognizes that and even rejoices in it."
Father William Teasdale writing in The Mystic Hours shares this truth: "There is no possibility of a mature spiritual life without humility. Nor is it possible to be a successful human being without it. Humility is also, most fundamentally a relationship of truth with ourselves. Humility begins with self-honesty about our actions, attitudes and speech."
What all of these individuals are seeking to help with is very simple - once you and I can truly see our true selves then we will begin to strip off the layers of narcissism, entitlement, arrogance and pride that Satan wants to put upon us. Who we are is rather simple - we are God dirt who has turned our backs on God. We are God dirt who has rebelled and as a result of that rebellion lost our ability to be genuinely human. We instead are broken. We live in a broken world that we have created. We live in a world in which our relationship with God is broken, our relationship with ourselves is broken, our relationship with others is broken and our fundamental relationship with creation is broken.
We truly have no reason to be prideful or arrogant. We have no reason to lord anything over another human being. We have no reason to think that we are better or that we deserve anything. We are as Paul says about himself in 1 Timothy 1:15 - the chief of sinners.
III. Then we look at ourselves in Christ . We look at who we can be in Christ Jesus.
Rev. Andrew Murray that great South African scholar and writer reminds us that once we have a proper perspective of who we are without Christ we must also understand who we can be in Christ. We first understand that our hubris, that we are flawed. But then we go past that and see who we can be in Christ Jesus.
True humility can only come through the grace of Jesus Christ. Try as much as we will we cannot make ourselves humble. The more we try the more we end up showing our arrogance and pride. We create a false humility. We have no better example of that than the Apostle Peter. It seems like every time he attempted to prove his humility it was quickly superseded by his arrogance and pride.
Jesus pays the way for everyone to possess a life of true and genuine humility. In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul shares the story of Jesus' amazing humility. Let's read verse five - "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus ...". Have this mind, in other words we are not only able to possess this mind we are challenged to in fact possess this mind. Through His Holy Spirit Jesus has made it possible for us to have the same mind as Christ. We can possess genuine humility. Humility that brings blessings, honor and glory to our Heavenly Father.
Murray believed that it is just sin that must humble us. It is not simply knowing that we are broken sinners in a broken sinful world. It is grace that we need and not sin to make us humble. Jesus is our truest example of humility and he was without sin. Pause on that for a moment. Jesus is our truest example of genuine humility and he was without sin. Jesus didn't need sin to make him humble. Jesus was humble because of the power of the Holy Spirit in his life.
Murray believed that Jesus died so that we would not only be redeemed but that we would be able to live as Christ lived. He believed that even as Christ can give us the grace to not sin, Christ will also give us the grace to experience a life of true humility. The nearer we grow close to Jesus the more we will experience a life of true humility.
Even as Christ experienced the Incarnation, washed the disciple's feet and was obedient even to the death of the cross so too can we experience a lifestyle of humility. Self-renunciation is too difficult for us; we cannot do it on our own. It takes resting in the grace of the LORD and living in the grace of the LORD.
Christ like humility is not cheap. There are no short cuts leading us to becoming a humble and meek person. It takes a death. The death of pride and arrogance.
"And being found in human form, he humbled himself to becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:8
We must allow Christ to nail our pride to His cross. We must die out self and learn how to live only for God and for our neighbors. This requires a day to day dying out. This requires making Christ like humility a goal to be achieved.
Romans chapter 12 reminds us that we are called to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the LORD. We are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. If we are to have the mind of Christ, the mind of humbleness then it will come through us presenting our bodies and allowing our minds to be renewed. Only then will we truly experience the power that will come through His Holy Spirit helping us to become humble in our speech, in our actions and in our lives.
Benedict of Nursia and Jeremy Taylor are two of our great ancestors in the faith. Both men desired to help others possess a life of humility. They believed greatly in the grace of Jesus Christ and in the ability of the Holy Spirit to help us become God's humble servants. In our worship folder this morning you find the steps that each believed would help all of us become humble people of God. These steps are not for the weak of heart. As you read them you will become fully aware of the depth of surrender and consecration that they call forward for us to possess. But what a glorious life that they can help us to live. Listen now as we look at first Jeremy Taylor's rules and then Benedict's rules.
Jeremy Taylor - THE RULE AND EXERCISES OF HOLY LIVING -
Steps to Humility
1. Do not think better of yourself because of any outward circumstance that happens to you.
2. Possess a realistic opinion of yourself.
3. Be content that others have a realistic opinion of you.
4. Nurture a love to do good things in secret.
5. Never be ashamed of your birth, of your parents, your occupation, or your present circumstances.
6. Never say anything, directly or indirectly, that will provoke praise or elicit complements from others.
7. When you receive praise for something you have done, take it indifferently and return it to the LORD.
8. Make a good name for yourself by being a person of virtue and humility.
9. Do not take pride in any praise given to you. Rejoice in the LORD.
10. Do not go fishing for compliments
11. When you are slighted by someone, or feel undervalued, do not harbor any secret anger.
12. Do not entertain any of the devil's whispers of pride.
13. Take an active part in praising others.
14. Be content when you see or hear that others are doing well in their jobs and with their income.
15. Never compare yourself with others unless your intention is to give them praise.
16. Do not constantly try to excuse all of your mistakes. Confess it and learn to bear criticism patiently.
17. Give God thanks for every weakness, fault and imperfection you possess.
18. Do not expose others' weaknesses in order to make them feel less able than you.
19. Remember that what is most important to the LORD is that we submit ourselves and all that we have to him.
20. Humility begins as a gift from God, but it is increased as a habit we develop.
Twelve Steps of Humility of St. Benedict
Step 1. A first step is taken when one consciously obeys all of God’s commandments, never ignoring them but always holding within himself a fear of God in his heart.
Step 2. The second step is achieved when one thinks not about pleasing himself but instead follow the injunction of the Lord.
Step 3. The third step is reached when out of love of God, one obediently submits to a superior in imitation of the Lord.
Step 4. The fourth step is achieved when one, under obedience, patiently and quietly endures all thing that are inflicted on him. It should make no difference whether the trials are painful, unjust or even completely beyond his understanding; he should neither tire nor give up.
Step 5. The fifth step is reached when one humbly discloses to his superior all the evil thoughts in his heart, as well as those faults and evil acts he has actually committed.
Step 6. To achieve the sixth step one must without qualms accept all that is crude and harsh; at all times he considers himself a poor and worthless workman.
Step 7. The seventh step is attained when one not only confesses that he is an inferior and common wretch, but believes it to his very core. He must be willing to humble himself.
Step 8. One reaches the eighth step of humility when he does only that which is demanded by the common rule of his seniors.
Step 9. The ninth step can be achieved when one, practicing silence, only speaks when asked a question.
Step 10. The tenth step is climbed when one restrains himself from undue laughter and frivolity.
Step 11. To reach the eleventh step one must speak gently, without jests, but simply, seriously, tersely, rationally and softly.
Step 12. The final step is attained only when one can at all times show humility not only in his appearance and actions, but also in his heart.
Again, these steps are not for the faint of heart. They are for those who are willing to present themselves before the LORD. They are for those who are serious about their spiritual formation. They demand us to daily surrender ourselves over to the LORD. They require an active faith of making sure that we are allowing the Holy Spirit to truly renew our minds.
This morning - can we possess a genuine Christ like humility that Jesus preaches about in our passage?
Yes, I believe that the Bible tells us that we can and should.
How can we do it?
1. By having a frank and honest look at ourselves
2. By looking at who we can be in Christ Jesus.
Jesus lived a life of humility. Philippians 2:5-11 tells us that we too can live the same life. Romans 12:1-2 reminds us that it will come as we present our bodies and as we allow the Holy Spirit to renew/rewire our minds.
Today, let us close this morning by reading together a prayer for humility written by John Wesley. It is a prayer that can help us begin and continue the walk towards humbleness.
A Prayer for Humility
O Lamb of God, who, both by your example and precept, instructed us to be meek and humble, give me grace throughout my whole life, in every thought, and word, and work, to imitate your meekness and humility. Mortify in me the whole body of pride; grant me to feel that I am nothing and have nothing, and that I deserve nothing but shame and contempt, but misery and punishment. Grant, O Lord, that I may look for nothing, claim nothing; and that I may go through all the scenes of life, not seeking my own glory, but looking wholly unto you, and acting wholly for you.
Let me never speak any word that may tend to my own praise, unless the good of my neighbour requires it; and even then let me beware, lest, to heal another, I wound my own soul. Let my ears and my heart be ever shut to the praise that comes from men.
Give me a dread of applause, in whatsoever form, and from whatsoever tongue, it comes. Deliver my soul from this snare of hell; neither let me spread it for the feet of others. Whosoever perishes thereby, let their blood be upon their own head, and let not my hand be upon them.
O giver of every good and perfect gift, if at any time you please to work by my hand, teach me to discern what is my own from what is another’s, and to render unto you the things that are yours. As all the good that is done on earth you do it yourself, let me ever return to you all the glory. Let me, as a pure crystal, transmit all the light you pour upon me; but never claim as my own what is your sole property.
John Wesley
1 http://ourrabbijesus.com/articles/logic_healing_sabbath/ There has been growing debate whether ancient Judaism saw healing on the Sabbath as forbidden. It appears that if a life was in danger then medical attention was allowed and even encouraged. The issue came about when a life was not in danger as in the case of this man with dropsy and the woman with the bent over back. In those cases it was considered work and therefore forbidden. However, in those cases Jesus pointed towards “tzar baalei hayim” – preventing suffering to living things as rationale.
2 http://davidsellery.org/about
