Love Is Humble | Chino Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship
INTRODUCTION
I’d like to start today with a story about a little turtle that wanted to go to Florida for the winter. But he knew he couldn’t walk that far.
And so, he convinced two Canadian geese to help him. Each of the geese would take one end of a rope in their beaks. While the turtle would clamp his vise-like jaws in the center of the rope.
Now, the take-off was a bit rough on the little turtle. But after they were airborne things were going pretty good. That is until someone on the ground saw what was going on.
They yelled out in admiration, “That’s absolute genius? Who came up with that idea?”
Unable to resist the chance to take credit The little turtle opened his mouth and said, “I did.”
Proverbs 16: 18 says, “Pride goes before…a fall.”
In our current series on God’s unconditional agape love for us We’ve seen that love is patient, love is kind And love is content.
Paul’s next description of God’s agape love In 1 Corinthians 13: 4 is that “…(Love) does not boast, it is not proud.”
GOD’S LOVE IS HUMBLE
God’s love is humble. Because God Himself is humble. The Lord is the humblest being in the universe. And that really boggles our minds. Because we all know what a little power and a little position Can do to us. And it certainly doesn’t usually lend itself to making us more humble.
FOCUSING ON THE SAVIOR
Now, needless to say, brothers and sisters, Today’s message isn’t entitled: “Humility and How I Finally Achieved It!” We are all very much works-in-progress. And humility is a really funny thing.
Because the moment we think we’ve got it; we’ve lost it! And so, our focus today is going to once again be on the Savior. Actually, that’s where our focus should always be. And what’s amazing is that Jesus had nothing to be humble about. Jesus does all things well.
Colossians 2: 9 tells us that, “(In Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
John 1: 2-3 speaking of Jesus says, “He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Jesus is all-powerful and He is perfect in every way. And yet, He is also the most humble Being in the universe. Our Savior is incredible. And as we come to know Him better We can and will become more like Him. And again, that growth in grace that we experience As we come to know the Lord better doesn’t add to our salvation in any way. But it is a great blessing to us personally And to everyone in our sphere of influence.
HOW ARE WE SAVED?
We are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone. Grace is the unearned, undeserved favor that we have with God Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. And so, even our faith doesn’t save us. It’s God’s grace–His unearned favor that saves us. Faith is just God’s chosen conduit for connecting us With everything that has always been ours in Jesus.
JESUS WAS DIFFERENT
Now, the common people enjoyed being around Jesus. He was so different from all of the other religious leaders. Jesus was humble and kind. And He was always trying to make the principles of His kingdom
As easy to understand as possible. That’s what Jesus’ parables are all about. They are all about putting God’s truths on a shelf Where even little children can reach them. And yet, there is a depth and a richness to those parables That can challenge even the greatest theological minds.
THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR
In the context of today’s subject Let’s look at one of Jesus’ parables in Luke 18: 9-14. “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Verse 11 says, ” The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men…”
This Pharisee wasn’t praying to God. He was praying to Himself. The reason his prayers didn’t reach heaven Is because of his lack of humility. Here’s the thing, it’s true that he was thankful to God. But he was thankful because he thought he was better than other people.
In Jesus’ day, there was a common prayer that Jewish men prayed every day. It was, “God I thank you that I was not created as a Gentile or a woman.”
Jesus was letting His culture and ours know that those kinds of prayers Don’t make it to heaven. Because those kinds of prayers are the complete opposite Of His heart of agape love. The only prayers that reach heaven Are those that are prayed in humble recognition that in and of ourselves, we are not any better than any other person on the planet. The ground is all level at the foot of the cross.
Pride is what led to Lucifer’s downfall. In His pride, Lucifer forgot that He was a created being Who was totally dependent upon His Creator for everything. And pride causes us to forget our total dependence upon God.
1 Peter 5: 5-6 says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,”
God gives grace to the humble Because the humble are the only ones who are willing to accept What God has to give.
The problem with the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable Was not that he was doing good things. The problem was that he was proud of his goodness. The problem was his self-righteousness. The problem was that he thought he was better than other people.
And there’s a certain group of people that has struggled with this same problem all down through history. That group is everyone who has been born after the fall of Adam And before Jesus’ return. In other words, all of us.
Jesus’ parables have stood the test of time Because they reveal timeless truths That need to be heard in every generation. Jesus knows exactly what we need. He knows exactly what we struggle with. And He has the answer to our every problem Before we even realize we need His help. We all struggle with pride because we all struggle with self. “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” In His humility, Jesus won a decisive victory over “self” And He invites us to accept His victory as ours.
1 John 5: 4 says, “… This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Faith links us to the great victory that Jesus achieved for all humanity at the cross.
Martin-Loyd-Jones said, “There’s one thing that humbles me in the dust. And that’s when I look at the Son of God, especially when I contemplate the cross. ‘When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.’ Nothing but the cross can give us that spirit of humility.
And John Stott says, “Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to be saying to us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying. Nothing else can cut us down to size like the cross.”
Brothers and sisters, all of us have inflated views of ourselves. That’s why we need to always be praying “Jesus, keep me near the cross.”
In Jesus’ parable, the Tax Collector was the exact opposite of the Pharisee. In Jesus’ day, Tax Collectors were Jews who collected taxes on behalf of the hated Gentile Romans. Tax Collectors were considered to be traitors to the nation And to God. They were considered to be spiritually hopeless cases. And so, to show us that there is no such thing as a hopeless case in His eyes Jesus made the Tax Collector the hero of His parable.
So often, what Jesus taught Was in direct opposition to the popular ideas That people had about God and spiritual things. When people met Jesus, they were seeing God in the flesh. Jesus shows us what God is really like. And He’s so much better than most people think He is.
And so, when the religious leaders of the day Were rejecting Jesus and His teachings They weren’t just rejecting some backwoods preacher. They were rejecting God Himself.
JESUS’ EASY YOKE AND LIGHT BURDEN
Jesus extends an invitation to the whole world In Matthew 11: 28-30. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Now, some people will say, “How can Jesus be humble when He claims to be “lowly in heart?” Doesn’t that negate His claim to being humble? No, Jesus is the one exception to that rule. If Jesus didn’t admit to being humble, He wouldn’t be telling the truth.
Jesus invites us to learn from Him. He invites us to find rest for our souls. And He invites us to take up His easy yoke and His light burden.
The reason Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light is because He has already done all of the heavy lifting. Those who claim that the way of salvation is hard Aren’t yoked together with Jesus. Those who claim that the burden God puts on us is heavy Aren’t carrying Jesus’ burden.
The Pharisees had created a religion of their own making That wasn’t easy and it wasn’t light.
In Matthew 23: 4 speaking of the Pharisees Jesus said “They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”
THE SILENT MONASTERY
It’s like the factious story about a certain monastery. All of the monks there had to take a vow of silence. They were allowed to speak just two words each year. After his first year at the monastery, a new recruit was asked by his superior What he thought of the place. He said, “Bed hard.” The next year he was asked the same question. He said, “Food cold.” The third year when he was asked again he said “I quit.”
His superior said, “It’s no wonder. All you have done since you came here is nothing but complain, complain, complain.”
The thing is, those heavy burdens of the Pharisees didn’t die out with them. Every one of the world’s religions outside of Gospel based Christianity Is a different variation of “binding heavy burdens” on people that are “hard to bear.” Only the religion of Jesus proclaims the Good News message That His ‘yoke is easy and His burden is light.’
HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED HUMILITY
It takes an act of Holy Spirit-inspired humility In order for us to admit that we need a gift from God that we don’t deserve and we can never earn. That’s not easy for us because we all have this natural tendency
toward being self-sufficient rather than God-dependent. And so, it’s not just “not easy”, it’s actually impossible for us. That is: it’s impossible without the Holy Spirit working on our hearts to convince us to accept this most precious gift.
Well, back in Jesus’ parable in Luke 18: 13-14 it says “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The tax collector in Jesus’ parable is a great example of the kind of person Jesus was describing at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus started that sermon by saying in Matthew 5: 3.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
God’s whole plan is about bringing us to the place where we recognize our need for what only He can give us. And when He finally gets us to that place the Lord calls us blessed. And He declares us to be His precious subjects in His kingdom of grace that is soon to become His kingdom of glory.
In the parable, speaking of the Tax Collector, Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
To be justified means God treats us “just-as-if-I’d” never ever sinned.
And because that’s how God treats us that’s how we are to treat others.
Andrew Murray defines humility like this. He says, “Humility is quietness of heart… It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed and despised. Humility is to go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and be at peace in the deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble.”
THE SIMPLICITY OF SALVATION
Another great passage related to our subject today is found in 2 Kings chapter 5. It’s about Naaman, the Commander of the Syrian Army. He had leprosy. And he had heard about the prophet Elisha And the miracles the Lord had wrought through him. Naaman came bearing great gifts. And he expected to be received and ceremoniously healed by the prophet. But Elisha didn’t even go out to meet him. He sent his servant with this simple message “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you’ll be healed.”
Well, Naaman went into a rage. He thought, “How dare he be treated with such disrespect”. But praise the Lord, Naaman had some wise counselors.
2 Kings 5: 13 says, “And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
What was it that kept Naaman from accepting the simple answer to his problem? It was his pride. He was saying, “The rivers in Syrian are much better than this dirty little creek called the Jordan River.
What makes that water so special? I’m not putting up with this. Let’s get out of here.”
DESPISING THE GOOD NEWS
And the very same thing happens today. For no good reason, people despise the simplicity of salvation. They despise Jesus saying on the cross, “It is finished!” They despise Jesus saying that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. They say, “Just who does Jesus think He is?”
Well, Jesus knows exactly who He is. He’s the Creator of heaven and earth. He loves each of us with an unconditional, unchanging, patient, kind, and humble agape love.
And in His love, He wants to reason with unreasonable people like Naaman. People who refuse to believe His Good News because “How dare God claim to be that good!” “How dare Jesus claim, as He does in John 14: 6. That He is “The way, the truth, and the life. (And) no one comes to the Father except through (Him).
LIKE NAAMAN’S SERVANTS
And the Lord calls us to be like Naaman’s servants Who in love and humility try to reason with these folks. By God’s grace, we try to convince them not to let this opportunity pass them by. We try to convince them, that it just makes no sense to pass up This miraculous gift of salvation that is actually already ours in Jesus. We try to convince them, that all we have to do is, by faith, accept that free gift.
And when, by God’s grace, we do accept that gift We can’t help but want to say “thank you” to the Lord For the rest of our lives. And we also can’t help but want to help others To accept their healing gift of salvation, as well.
And all we have to do is just keep appreciating just how precious that gift is. And keep realizing how undeserving we are of receiving that gift. And that’s mostly what our time together here week by week is all about. Because these are all things that don’t come naturally to us. The principles of God’s kingdom are all exactly the opposite to the way things work here in our world. And so, we all need to be constantly reminded of these things. Because the love of Jesus is like no other love on this planet.
And the Lord has built right into His creation An entire day that is specifically designed to remind us of His love and grace toward us. Because the Lord knows we need more than just an hour of worship each week. We needed a whole day for worship and contemplation of God’s goodness in the Garden of Eden. We will need a whole day even in heaven. And so, how much more do we need a whole day now where we are just soaking in and glorying in this amazing agape love that the Lord has for each of us.
And really it is all about God’s agape love for us. 2 Corinthians 5: 14 says, “The love of (Jesus) compels us…”
There is nothing more powerful or more compelling than Jesus’ love.
It’s a power that motivates us and moves us from the inside out.
Jesus’ love for us is the reason we are alive. And His love for us is the reason there is an eternal purpose for our lives. And what exactly is that eternal purpose? Well, no one knows for sure.
But at least part of that eternal purpose is described in Ephesians 2: 7. “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
And so, as ironic as it might sound one part of our eternal purpose is that we are actually going to help keep eternity safe. We are going to be the perpetual–eternal memorials to God’s unconditional agape love and grace.
Through the mercy the Lord has extended to us He is going to be able to show the exceeding riches of His grace and kindness to the rest of the universe, for the rest of eternity.
Let’s look now at Numbers 12: 3. “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.”
MOSES’ SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Last week we saw how Moses’ brother Aaron and his sister Miriam
wanted Moses’ place. But they sought it in completely the wrong way.
They didn’t realize that it was humility that got Moses where he was.
Aaron and Miriam wanted Moses’ spiritual position but they didn’t want what gave Moses his spiritual authority. The Scribes and the Pharisees had positional authority. And they used that authority to “lord over” people. They burdened people with their boulders of legalism while they themselves didn’t lift a finger in regards to those things.
Jesus had and still has all spiritual authority. When people heard Jesus speak they realized there was spiritual authority behind His words. And that’s why it’s essential that when we speak on God’s behalf we need to be backing up everything with the authority of God’s Word and not be trying to speak from a place of mere positional authority.
Positional authority means absolutely nothing. Spiritual authority means everything because we are just conveying the King’s message. And when people have a problem with His words they don’t really have a problem with us. They’ve got a problem with the Creator of heaven and earth. And they’re going to have to take that up with Him.
LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU
Philippians 2: 5 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”
And then, Paul proceeds to give us seven different steps down that Jesus took to be our Savior. You could say that Jesus “Descended Into Greatness.”
Jesus became “downwardly mobile in time” so that we could each be “upwardly mobile in eternity.” Once Jesus’ life on earth started He never stopped descending.
The Owner of all things had no home. The King of all became the servant of all. The source of all truth was accused of blasphemy. The Creator was spit upon by His creatures. The Giver of life was made to die a torturous death.
Every moment of His life Jesus swam against the current of this world.
The Highest came to serve the lowest. And from the world’s perspective the cross is the ultimate symbol of foolishness.
THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS
Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 1: 18. “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The message of the cross, is that God loves you with an unconditional agape love. And He values you so much that He was willing to enter His creation. He was willing to take on our humanity so that He could die the death we deserved and give us the eternal life that only He deserved.
And the message of the cross says that those who place their faith in the saving merits of Jesus’ sacrifice will be with Him throughout eternity.
Now, that message makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to the world. But to us who are being saved, it’s the power of God. It’s the message that empowers our lives And gives us hope and joy and causes God’s love to be shed abroad in our hearts.
POEM: WHEN I SAY I AM A CHRISTIAN
There’s a poem that does a great job of describing what we mean when we say we are Christians.
“When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not shouting ‘I’m clean livin’.
I’m whispering, “I was lost now I’m found and forgivin’.
When I say, “I am a Christian” I don’t speak this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble and need Jesus to be my Guide.
When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say, “I am a Christian” I’m not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are plain to see but God believes I am worth it.
When I say, “I am a Christian” I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches so I call upon His name.
When I say, “I am a Christian.” I’m not holier than thou.
I’m just a simple believer who accepted God’s good grace, somehow.
Now, 1 Corinthians 13: 4 says that “…(Love) does not boast, it is not proud.”
But there is one exception to that. We see that in Jeremiah 9: 23-24. “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.”
And so, if we feel like we just have to boast about something. The Lord says, “Okay” here’s the one exception. “You can glory and boast that you understand and know Me” And My heart of loving-kindness.”
“You can glory and boast that you understand and know that I bore your judgment at the cross.” “And you can glory and boast that My righteousness counts as yours as you maintain living faith in Me.”
“Other than that, all boasting is off-limits.”
Let’s look at how Paul puts it in Galatians 6: 14. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
HUMBLE
There are not a lot of books that stick in my mind from elementary school. But ‘Charlotte’s Web’ is one that does. If you’re not familiar with the story it’s about an undersized pig named Wilbur and his barnyard friends.
With fall approaching, Wilbur was anxious about the possibility of being on the wrong side of a Thanksgiving feast. His best friend was a spider named Charlotte who lived in the barn and promised this would never happen to Wilbur.
She came up with the idea that she could use her web to write special words directed toward the little pig. If she could make him seem “special” enough in the master’s eyes, just maybe his life would be spared.
Charlotte spun words like “some pig”. “Terrific” and “radiant”. Wilbur was overwhelmed by all of this. But it was the last word the last character trait that Charlotte chose that Wilbur was especially moved by. That word was “humble”.
“Well,” Charlotte asked Wilbur, “What do you think?”
“It’s a great word”, answered Wilbur, “It’s just….”
“Just what?” Charlotte asked.
“Is it the right word? Is it true? Cause I don’t really feel like I deserve any of the things you’ve written about me.”
Charlotte responded, “Then, it’s the perfect word.”
By God’s grace, brothers and sister, on that great day when Jesus comes again may we each hear these words from our all-powerful yet humble Savior in Matthew 25: 23. “Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”