"humility That Comes From Wisdom"

“Humility that Comes from Wisdom”

James 3:13-4:10

You wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult.

We were all formed from the same dust of the earth, by the same Creator.

Basically, our bodies are pretty much the same.

We all get sick.

We all need to eat.

All of us are lonely at times.

Everyone has insecurities and fears, and we are all going to get old—Lord willing—or are getting old and then we will eventually die.

I remember, as a real young kid, I thought that the guy who played the Six Million Dollar Man on t-v…

…now if you are younger than 50 you might not know who this is…but stick with me…

…I thought the guy who played the Six Million Dollar Man on t-v—Lee Majors-- and was married to Farrah Fawcett—the sex symbol of the late 1970’s was just the coolest person in the world—almost god-like!

Then, one day, my dad said to me: “Kenny, Lee Majors has to put his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.”

This revelation was quite startling, and at first, a little difficult to picture in my mind.

It is hard to come to grips that the idols we sometimes worship are no better than we are.

And it may be harder still, for us to realize that we—ourselves—are no better than anyone else.

I remember when my sister Lisa found out that she was going to have to get glasses.

She ran into the house, up the stairs and into her room crying and wailing.

I asked my mother why Lisa was so upset.

My mother responded: “Don’t worry Kenny, Lisa has just found out that she is not perfect.”

Ever since the first two humans, Adam and Eve, gave in to the serpent’s temptation in the garden and realized they were naked we humans have been trying to sew fig leaves together in order to cover our nakedness…

…our humanness…

…our faults, our fears, our sins—you name it!

But what was true in the Garden of Eden is true today—from birth to death—all of us stand naked before the God Who created us.

Nothing is left uncovered.

So, from the outside looking in, you wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult to be humble…but horror of horrors…it is VERY difficult.

James is very practical in what we are reading this morning and he pulls no punches.

The word that sticks out to me is humility.

As we look around our culture and our world, humility is not something we easily find.

But when we do find it, there is almost nothing more beautiful or noble.

“Who is wise and understanding among you?” James asks, “Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

“Humility that comes from wisdom.”

Isn’t that cool?

The most wise are the most humble.

You’d think it would be the other way around.

You’d think the most wise would be the most arrogant…

…but then, when you really think about it…

…that couldn’t be true.

And that is because arrogance is absurd.

For any of us to think we are any better than anyone else is the most naïve and unwise thing imaginable.

And yet, it happens all the time.

For example, have you ever passed a beggar on a highway over-pass and looked down on him or her?

Ever pass judgement?

When we see some of the situations that take place in 3rd world countries…say, like the way they wash their clothes or the kind of clothes they wear do we look down on them…even just a little bit?

Do we somehow think of them as at least a little less than we are?

Or have we ever tried to get a “leg up” on our neighbors, co-workers—whoever?

Have we ever done anything just a little bit shifty in order try and make ourselves seem better than we are or better than someone else?

Ever hurt someone else’s feelings in order to try and get ahead?

Have you ever bullied someone?

Have you ever gone along with the crowd in order to fit-in?

So many of us work so hard, get so stressed out, and expend so much energy trying to make others think we are something great.

And no matter how much we may say we want to please God, we are really wanting to please other people.

Popularity with the masses has become salvation for many of us…and what a shame…because popularity with the masses…when pleasing God is put aside…will only fade, leave us unsatisfied and will lead to our eventual destruction.

God’s way is so different than the way of this dark and lost world.

And thank God for that.

James teaches us that there is a wisdom that does not come from heaven—it is “earthly, unspiritual, demonic.”