December 6, 2009
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6We began the season of Advent last week with the first gift, the gift of fear. Not “the painful apprehension of some impending evil; being afraid or dread,” but “to feel reverence and awe” for God. Jesus came to transform our fears from “being afraid” to “fear not;” to honor the Lord your God with a deep awe.
I continue to pray for this gift: a fear that drives you to acknowledge your need for a Savior; then the awe and reverence that comes with knowing, loving and serving that Savior. This morning we turn to a second gift from God, one that is not an easy one to define or live by because as soon as we have this gift, we are in danger of losing it by being proud that we have it. It’s humility. When I mentioned the sermon’s subject at staff meeting, one of our staff members jokingly said, “I guess I don’t need to hear this sermon” (so, if anyone wishes to join Laura Shafer for coffee now at Einstein’s, she will meet you out front in a few minutes). When it comes to humility, we also have a way of distorting and twisting it into something the Lord never intended it to be. I find that many people do not use the gifts they have been given as they continually defer to others, thinking that asserting themselves would be a lack of humility. And they often fail to grasp a moment of opportunity that God brings them when it comes their way. I. What Humility Is Not Let’s begin by examining what humility is not. This is the way the Gospel reading for today began. Luke mentions seven historical figures who could hardly be described as having the gift of humility. One of the first things that Tiberius Caesar did after the death of Caesar Augustus (his step-father) was to declare him god. Of course, that made Tiberius the son of god. Pontius Pilate’s pride and self-preservation led him to wash his hands of the injustice of having Jesus crucified at the mad request of the crowd. Luke’s point here is that the message of humility came when the proud Roman government was in charge in Judea. Herod, Philip, and Lysanias were the sons of the famous but paranoid Herod the Great. Herod the Tetrarch of Galilee was the one who had John the Baptist executed only to satisfy his sensual attraction to Salome (you can read about that in Matthew 14). Annas and Caiaphas produced the pride-filled, trumped-up charges that led to Jesus’ crucifixion. Both Roman and Jewish leaders were too proud to accept God’s intervention of mercy personified in Jesus. Writing of ancient Rome in his classic book The City of God, St. Augustine wrote in 425 A.D. “They were greedy for praise; they were passionately devoted to glory. Those Romans belonged to an earthly city and a kingdom not in heaven but on earth; not in eternal life, but in the process where the dying pass away and are succeeded by those who would die in their turn. What else was for them to love but glory? Through glory, they desired to have a kind of life after death on the lips of those who praised them.” If this life is all there is, then why not “go for it?” Grab all the gusto you can get. Live for self-pride, notoriety; be the best you can; just do it. Humility has no chance in a person’s life when winning is not only the most important thing, but the only thing, as some famous athletic coach said. II. What Humility Is Enter John the Baptist. Enter Jesus of Nazareth. What a contrast between them and those first mentioned in this third chapter of Luke. They had little of what the others had: no colorful, long-flowing garments, no crown, no earthly abode, no palace, no temple, no political or religious position, no pulpit. John was a simple desert person. Grasshoppers and wild honey were his common diet; a camel’s coat his clothing. But what John had set him apart from the others. He was the bearer of God’s Word; really the last of the Old Testament prophets. The Bible reminds us that wherever the Word is spoken, things will change. Isaiah said it in prophetic truth. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread to the eater, so is my Word that goes out from my mouth,” says the Lord. “It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose fro which I sent it” (that’s in Isaiah 55). Change is always needed when the Lord enters into the human heart. Both John and Jesus called it “repentance.” This Greek word means a “change of mind.” As long as people are full of themselves, they resist the life of faith and trust in Christ. They cannot receive his gifts. They don’t sense the necessity of forgiveness. They cannot accept their own need for Christ. John’s preaching contradicted such human pride. In place of achievements and self-glory, God’s Word offers a humility that is neither puffed up in arrogance nor is it deflated in self-worthlessness. As John fulfills Malachi’s prophecy of the messenger who will prepare the way for the Lord, the Messiah-Savior, Isaiah is quoted again (Isaiah 40). “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” John is telling his listeners to make their lives ready for the Lord to come to them. To prepare for Jesus’ coming, to live through an Advent season, we too must focus on Christ, listen to his words, and respond with humility. “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.” This means that the down trodden will lifted up in the love and grace of God. And the prideful will be knocked off their high horse before they can enter the kingdom of God. Isaiah promises the return of God’s people to their homeland after the terrible exile about to befall them. John likens that return to a return to the Lord himself. But this cannot be done if the people are so full of themselves (like mountains) that they cannot hear the Word of God or, on the other hand, are so completely empty with despondency (like valleys) that they live without hope. With appropriate humility to bring down or raise up, Jesus has come to save, rescue, redeem all those who trust in him. It says, “And all people will see God’s salvation.” Conclusion Let’s see, are they back from Einstein’s yet? In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis adds to our understanding when he wrote, “If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell them the first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. Nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are conceited indeed.” As we continue this Advent and Christmas season, as we come to the Lord’s Table this morning, let us pray that God will give us this gift, the gift of humility, humility that allows us to accept Christ, to become a child of God, to live in faith, and to follow our Savior.
Pray with me; echo this prayer in your mind and heart and for your life. |
