Humility

I spent half of this weekend on an NRG leaders retreat, and yesterday we all went for a very uphill hike through the forests of Warburton. We stopped to turn around and had to wait for the ambitious ones who had run ahead. Where we stopped someone found the most enormous, juicy, and very ugly worm on the ground. And Michael Miatke, our leader of leaders, found much enjoyment in picking it up on a stick and shoving it right in front of my face, not just once but many times. And someone (I think it was Shelley) said “There you go Lind, I’m sure you can find an illustration in that for your sermon.” I have no idea what she had in mind, but as it happens I was actually thinking of something I read in an article by John Smith. He said “Many Christians seem to believe a Revised Standard Perversion of the Bible. They think it says: ‘Humble yourselves before the Lord, and you will find out what a worm you are.'” And with this worm literally almost up my nose, I was thanking God that he doesn’t see me as an ugly worm and rub it in my face. What the Bible actually says is: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Jas 4:10).

I wonder how you measure up in your own eyes? Do you look at those around you and think “well, I’m doing alright really – I have enough personality and natural talent to make it in life, I can look after myself, and I have a pretty good chance of achieving my dreams of making an impact, being recognised as significant, even great. Maybe your dream is to be a radical or successful Christian in the world, and you look forward to the day when you’ll become outstanding in the power of your example and esteemed as a truly great Christian.

Or maybe in your eyes you don’t amount to much – you haven’t achieved much yet, you don’t really expect people to like you, and you wonder why you had to be born as you, and not that other person who is more popular and more gifted.

Every one of us longs to be significant. We hunger after recognition from others – to be valued, praised and highly esteemed. And although this is not necessarily bad, it has become our obsession. Because we crave the acceptance of others we have learned to pose, and our society encourages us to become specialists in the art of self-promotion. This focus on who I am, and who I wish I was, my subtle comparisons with others, and my promotion of an image, and defensive protection of an image, are all forms of pride, arrogance and conceit. And no one can read the New Testament honestly and not be struck by how Christ slammed this kind of pride.

It was pride that ate away at Satan until he was full of himself and God was disgusted and cast him out of heaven. It was pride that destroyed the beauty of the creation God had called good, and it continues to destroy creation today. Pride eats away at your soul and mine like termites (if we were trees). The whole Bible is full of warnings that whoever exalts themselves will be humbled – if not in this life, most certainly in the next, when we see God as he really is and finally understand the values of his kingdom.

Pride is anything we do to exalt ourselves or put our own interests above the interests of others. (That means the interests of our family, friends, neighbours, strangers, enemies and the world). And pride keeps us from knowing the truth about ourselves – the facts of how much we need God, and how much we need each other. Its almost impossible to realise the full extent of our own pride. CS Lewis says “if you think you are not conceited, you are very conceited indeed”. And religious and even ‘spiritual’ people are just as prone if not more so to this deadly disease. Pride makes us enemies of God and destroys our relationships with each other. And so God hates pride. Proverbs 16:5 says “everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.”

(See: Parable of the Pharisee and tax-collector. Salvation is only available to those who recognise their spiritual inadequacies. The person you look down on the most might be more right with God than you are!).

And so most Christians are aware of a constant battle within themselves. We’re always trying to stomp on our pride and our selfishness but every day it rears its ugly evil head. And it comes up in all sorts of guises and often we don’t even recognise it. And we’re confused because we’re bombarded with messages from the world and the church to respect ourselves and know how much we’re worth to God, and it is baffling how that fits in with Christ’s call to deny ourselves and die to ourselves. And if I die to myself, who am I meant to be? A nobody emptied of all personality and any interests other than doing good things and serving everyone except myself, and basically being at anyone’s disposal because I don’t have any needs or interests of my own anymore? It’s all a bit confusing! And if that’s what you have understood to be our goal you probably feel like you’re fighting a losing battle.

Being a Christian is all about following Jesus, the one who laid down his life. It is all about knowing him, trusting him, obeying him, becoming like him. Tonight I want to suggest that the most important thing about Jesus, the one thing it is most important for us to understand is his humility. The only time Jesus made a moral statement about his character was when he said: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls”.

But what does humble mean? It seems that these days the true nature of humility is so often misunderstood.

Jesus was not a soft whus of a guy. He cleaned the temple out with a whip. He told the religious leaders they were a nest of snakes. His humility obviously didn’t mean he was passive and always soft spoken..

Think about how that word is used today. What images are brought to mind when you hear someone described as humble? Maybe a shy, apologetic person? Or someone over-modest, denying their strengths or achieve-ments? Or someone who wears their weakness all over them and gets treated like a doormat? Or someone who leads a poor or simplistic lifestyle? Or someone who goes around doing good things without seeking a reward? Maybe this trait is easily associated with some personality types and not others. Or maybe you think of it as a desirable character trait but when you see it in others you’re quickly skeptical because you know it to be so elusive and so often false, just another one of those masks pulled out to disguise another proud self-seeking ego fishing for recognition.

As I have studied humility this week I’ve become convinced that I’ve given it far too little emphasis in my life. I know that I desperately need the content of this message tonight to sink into my heart and become the pursuit and goal of my life. Augustine said “For those who would learn God’s ways, humility is the first thing, humility is the second thing, humility is the third thing.”

Zephaniah 2:3 says “Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.” Paul and Peter both tell us to “Clothe yourselves with humility… because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (Col 3:12 and 1 Pt 5:5-6)

God has always commended humility and delighted in it in his people. Isaiah tells us “For this is what the high and lofty One says – the One who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Is 57:15) and “These are the people I esteem: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and tremble at my word.” (Is 66:2). The promises God makes to those who are truly humble are amazing. The infinitely high and lofty One who lives forever promises to dwell with them, to esteem them, to give them grace, to lift them up, and to exalt them. (see Is 57:15 and 66:2, James 4:6, 1 Pt 5:6 and Lk 18:14)

But what does humility mean, and how do we humble ourselves?

“Humility is not a matter of saying “I am a worm”. It does mean lowering yourself, but it doesn’t mean destroying your identity”. (John Smith) Humility has been described as a condition of man in which we recognise our need. To be humble is to recognise that we are not self-sufficient, and that denying our need for God and for others is spiritual death. Someone once said that humility isn’t even a virtue, any more than to recognise the sky is blue is a virtue. The call for humility is a call for simple realism. The fact is that we are dependent. All that we have comes from God – our lives, our salvation, our hope, our Christ, our strengths and abilities. Everything is given by God and nothing is our own.

So humility is not just another Christian virtue. It is actually the very soil necessary for any growth toward Christ in our lives, for any fruit of the Spirit to be developed in us. James 4:6 says “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” When you first become a Christian what do you do? You humbly recognise your need for God – that you are utterly powerless to defeat the selfishness that corrodes your soul, and you ask God to save you from the consequences of your sin, and to come in and defeat that sin by his power. But this is not the only stage that requires humility. If we want to receive from God the grace of intimacy with him or the grace of his Spirit changing our lives to make us more like Jesus, we have to humble ourselves.

The humility of Christ:

Jesus was humility at its utmost when he died the worst criminal’s death for us. But Jesus also exemplified humility throughout his life: God chose the humblest of circumstances for his birth; he was born to lowly parents; he called unexceptional people to follow him and said he was among them to serve them, not to be served; and he taught them over and over again “everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Lk 18:14). Jesus could have been King and ruler. He could have chosen a place in the world that would have received the highest of human honour which was the least that he deserved, and instead he turned our human concept of greatness on its head.

In our society we tend to scorn the idea of humility. We look down on those who express need, and admire those who seem to be self-sufficient, those who don’t need anybody. We equate humility with failure and arrogance with success. Yet what Jesus communicated about the values of his kingdom are radically different. Jesus said “the one who is least among you all is the greatest” (Lk 9:48) and “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Lk 18:17). The greek word refers to infants, and we all know how utterly and vulnerably dependent a newborn baby is. Jesus said that in this classic case of total neediness we have an illustration of what God requires of us if we want to be in his kingdom, an attitude of complete and utter dependency and need.

Luke followed this illustration with a story about a rich young ruler, who by worldly standards was completely self-sufficient. Even spiritually he appeared to lack nothing because he had kept all the commandments since he was a boy. Yet Jesus said he would have great difficulty entering the kingdom of God. He had not discovered the most important thing, what it means to be humble. He was far from seeing his relationship to God and others as like that of a newborn baby.

Yet Jesus is our example of this childlike mentality! He was the Son of God and yet there was no self-sufficien-cy about him. He took a place of entire subordination. He is our example of what it means to let God be every-thing, and to give all glory to him. Listen to his words in the gospel of John: “The Son can do nothing by himself… my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me… I do not accept praise from men… I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me… my teaching is not my own… I am not seeking glory for myself.” Jesus was nothing so that God could be all. It was because of his total dependence on God that God was able to use him in power to bring redemption to the world.

And Jesus was not only dependent on God, he was willing to express his need for others, even at the risk of being disappointed and let down by them. He grew up like any child dependent on imperfect parents. He could have embarked on his mission alone, but instead he called a team of ordinary people around him and concentrated on teaching and equipping them. He accepted hospitality from people throughout his life. And he relied on the support of three disciples in particular, and expressed a need for them to stay awake and pray him through a time of spiritual agony.

Maybe you’re wondering why an attitude of openness and need is the most important factor in finding entry to the Kingdom of God. Counsellors and people in helping professions tell us that no help can be given a person, and no problem is likely to be resolved until they recognise their need of help beyond themselves.

Humility before God:

Humility can only begin with a right concept of God, how awesome and powerful and holy he is. Any character in the Bible who was shown the glory of God was immediately humbled and in most cases fell to the ground. After one of Jesus’ first miracles, Peter recognised whose presence he was in he cried “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” When we see his greatness we realise our smallness, and when we see his holiness, we’re convicted of our sinfulness. But Andrew Murray in his book Humility says the church has forgotten that “it is not sin that humbles us most, but grace.” Humility is not just the mark of shame because of sin. Apart from all sin, it is our original calling, it is our participation in the life of Jesus, and Murray would say “it is our true nobility”. Jesus found his glory in taking the form of a servant and he said “those who want to be great among you must be your servant.” God created us to be servants whose mark is humility. He created us in his image, to reflect his glory. And when we start to realise how beautiful and perfect he is, and how powerful his love, we see that nothing is more natural and there is no greater privilege than to be nothing so he can be everything.

But instead of being a servant of God and all people we destroyed this glory by proudly serving ourselves. Jesus came to reintroduce humility into the world. He was humility incarnate. He challenged all our human concepts of greatness and taught that in humility lies our salvation.

Self-image:

Humility is not thinking little of ourselves and refusing to accept our gifts and strengths. Self-acceptance and self-respect are vital to a balanced personality. Sociologist Peter Berger says “to exist authentically is to live in the full awareness of the unique, irreplaceable and incomparable quality of one’s individuality”.

Some of us are insecure and self-conscious because we never received much affirmation from parents or significant others. Others of us are over-confident and full of ourselves because we’ve been praised all our lives. What we need is God’s perspective. God is not a critical, disappointed parent to any one of us. If we were better at hearing his voice I have no doubt that he would be continually affirming each of us in our unique worth. But he knows something else that we need to learn. He knows that everything we are and everything we have has come from his hand. Paul says in 1 Cor 4:7 “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” We never earned or deserved any of what God has given us, and it is not given for our glory, but as a means of serving and blessing others on behalf of God. Charles Spurgeon said “true humility is to fully acknowledge your God-given gifts and humbly use them for his glory in the service of others.” Humility is gratefully acknowledging that all that we are, all that we have and all that we have accomplished comes from the God who gives us grace.

So be yourself, and don’t be afraid of becoming everything you can be. Aim high, dream big dreams, and celebrate who you are. But be careful always to give to God all praise and glory. And don’t put your confidence in yourself, but in the God who created you with gifts and abilities and empowers you to use them. He said if we humble ourselves, if we become nothing so he can be all, we will be exalted, that is, we will know who we are and have the confidence to be free and creative with the gifts God gave us, thus reflecting his glory and letting him express himself through us.

Anyone who has desired this total dependence on God has struggled with the difficulty of discerning whether you are serving in your own strength or relying on him. I wonder what thoughts have run through your head. I used to wonder if three hours of prayer a day was the key and without that I was obviously living and trying to serve God in my own strength. I’m beginning to think it might not be so tricky after all. I think that the tension between self-confidence and dependence on God comes down to a faulty point of reference which is myself. If I had a mindset of humility, a focus on God, all my efforts would be with a pure desire to serve him and glorify him, and I could say with Paul that “I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

And no doubt I would fail sometimes because God doesn’t promise me 100% success. He knows I need that reminder of my human frailty. But although a humble person might fail, they need never suffer humiliation.

Humility enhances our humanity and makes us more like Christ whereas humiliation diminishes our humanity and tempts us to forget that we are made in the image of God. Its like the difference between conviction and condemnation, repentance and remorse. One lifts up and the other destroys. John Smith says “Remorse can feel as broken as repentance but remorse makes us go and hang ourselves because we have awareness of sin without the awareness of the saving grace of God. God doesn’t want to humiliate us! If we choose remorse instead of repentance, humiliation is inevitable, but under grace it is not necessary.”

If you let God be all, you will experience life in abundance and you will be a victorious Christian, and you can boast and brag all you like – but not of your wisdom, or your strength, or your achievements. You can boast in the Lord. “This is what the Lord says: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (Jer 9:23-24 & 1 Cor 1:31)

“When I am about to do out and face a huge audience which is applauding me and cheering me, I turn to Christ and say to him simply: ‘Lord this is your triumphal entry into Jerusalem! I am just the little donkey you are riding on.” (Dom Helder Camara)

“The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatest greatness is.” (Philip Brooks)

Humility before others:

As a practice of humility in our relationships with each other, can I encourage you to lavish affirmation on each other? I think sometimes we choose not to affirm because we fear we’re assisting the inflation of proud egos, and focusing on the glory of the person. I think that withholding affirmation is one of the ugliest and most destructive expressions of our pride, and our misunderstanding of humility. God wants us to be well aware of our unique gifts and abilities not unaware of them, he just wants that awareness to go hand in hand with an attitude of humility, a recognition that every gift is from God to serve others.

We cannot claim or hope to be humble before God unless we are willing to humble ourselves before other people. The Bible spells out at least three things that this means. It means submitting to others, serving others and honouring others.

Paul tells us to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). This doesn’t mean always giving in to other people’s demands or opinions. It means being teachable: realising that we don’t know very much, that we’re often wrong, and there is something we can learn from anybody. It means receiving and responding to instruction and correction from others, even if they are younger in any respect. Submission can be awfully hard for naturally proud hearts.

How do you handle criticism? If we want to be humble we will receive even unfair criticism graciously, without justifying ourselves and rallying support for our side. We will trust God to reveal even the 1% of truth in it. We no longer see the recognition of another as all-important, it is God’s perspective that matters.

Another application of humility is to serve one another. We’ve already recognised Jesus as our ultimate example in this. Some people, Christians and non-Christians seem to be natural servants. They are always helping out and going the second mile. But often it is their reputation that is enhanced. Peter tells us that those who serve “should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised.” A focus on God will enable all of us to practise the servanthood that is truly marked with the humility of Christ.

A third way to learn humility in our relationships with each other is to “honour one another above ourselves.” (Rom 12:10). In our pride we are forever asserting ourselves at the expense of others, consciously and not. We have to start considering others interests before our own, and that means the interests of family, friends, neighbours, strangers, enemies and the world!

Challenge:

Richard Foster says: “Do we simply wait for God to pour humility on our heads? We can undertake spiritual work in this realm… By the grace of God we can strike a blow against pride and increasingly experience the joy of a meek and humble life.”

Set aside some time in the next couple days for confession. Let God begin to renew your mind. Have the courage to face the truth about yourself… don’t make excuses and justify your pride. Be willing to take whatever actions he indicates are necessary to begin practising humility. It may mean finding a person you trust, telling them your confession and asking for prayer or accountability. It may mean a thorough apology to someone for how your pride has damaged them; how you have failed to serve or submit or honour them. You could start memorising some Scriptures that will renew your focus on God and reinforce his perspective on you. If we prefer to ignore Christ’s call to humility, the Bible says that the unfortunate side-effect is that our pride and the distance between ourselves and God will be reinforced. I hope that something of this message tonight has attracted you to the freedom of humility and inspired you desire that God receive all the glory in your life.

And although we can set our hearts on humility and apply ourselves to learn to be humble, we can never measure or compare our progress. If we ask ourselves “Are you humble?” our only response can be “That’s for my Lord to say.”