Humility Brings a Greater Grace
CCCAG August 4th, 2019
God’s Grace: Humility Brings A Greater Grace
Just to forewarn you- we will be examining a lot of scripture today! Reading/summarizing
Prayer
If you were here last week, we talked about how grace is closely tied to a pretty expansive list of spiritual attributes that are pleasing to God and help us reflect His character and nature to the world.
This week we will focus on one of those spiritual attributes as it works with and through grace. We are going to explore the connection between God’s grace and humility, along with the great enemy of God’s grace, human pride.
There once was a little boy who attended a Christian school. In second grade, they were doing a study on the character attributes of spirit-filled Christians, and for one month they focused hard on humility. One of the assignments was to write a report and to do an action that demonstrated biblical humility.
At the end of that month, they a chapel service where they named the winner of the “Humility Award”, and this boy won the award. As he reached up to take the award from the principal, the principal took the award back and said he now lost the humility award for accepting it.
It’s a funny little story to illustrate some of the conflicting ideas Christians entertain regarding what it means to be humble.
The Apostles Peter and James both quote the Old Testament in their epistles saying, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” It’s notable that two of God’s chosen leaders in the early church spoke about this subject using the same scripture, so it must be an important that our character reflect humility as we grow in God’s grace.
Here are a few questions to consider about grace and humility-
Where do we get our ideas about humility?
Why is this important to grace?
The bible says that God gives grace to the humble. If we take that as biblical truth, and we should, how can I eagerly pursue his best for me without falling into mere self-interest?
First, the bible tells us that God gives grace.
God giving grace is one of the bible’s central messages. It’s what God does.
But does God give grace as a wave, or as a targeted stream of water? Is grace tsunami that engulfs everything, or a focused stream that comes out of a garden hose and hits only what He aims at?
This verse gives us the answer- God gives grace to certain kinds of people—humble people.
It also tells us that God can withhold grace from another kind of people—the proud.
Three times the scripture reminds us of this fact.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Three times! Prov. 3:34, James 4:6, and 1 Peter 5:5.
This means there is a link between humility and grace. When the Father sees his children willing to take the low place in the family, he pours out a special portion of grace to strengthen us in service to one another.
Humility draws the blessing and favor of God. The same one who stripped to the waist and washed the feet of his disciples will rejoice when we learn be humble and serve one another.
On four separate occasions Jesus employs this phrase, “the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
These passages are not simply repetition caused by the gospels writers retelling the same story.
Each passage is unique (Matt. 18:4, Matt. 23:12, Luke 14:11, and Luke 18:14).
Four times Jesus lays out the challenge, humble yourself, and, by grace,
God will exalt you. But how?
For times sake, we will summarize these four scriptures but I encourage you to write them down and read them on your own.
The first is
Matthew 18:1–4: Lay aside dreams of greatness and embrace dreams of dependency. This is the highway of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said that, among men, there was none greater than John the Baptist, yet the person who was “least” in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater than John. Living in the kingdom requires God’s intervention every day. We cannot “make the kingdom happen,” we can only proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is breaking in, and then depend on him to invade the ordinary with his presence and power.
The second is found in
Matthew 23:1–12: Jesus tells us to Lay aside the thrill of recognition and find the joy of serving. If we are honest, we will recognize ourselves in the people Jesus describes; those who strive for recognition by the way they dress, or where they park, or by the titles they hold.
Meanwhile, the servants come and go in the midst of all the clamor, quietly attending to the master’s business. Those are the people who experience God’s grace in it’s fullness
The third example is
Luke 14:7–14: (read carefully) Lay aside the thirst for honor from others and seek to honor others instead. In fact, Jesus tells us to honor those who cannot repay us. There will come a day where reward will come, but it is not here and now; it is later. Can we delay gratification, or do our selfish desires seek to be satisfied now?
The final example-
Luke 18:9–14: Lay aside self-assessment and depend on God’s mercy. Jesus draws a picture of two men at prayer. The first man begins his prayer with “thank you,” but quickly tallies up the score of the game he has been playing. He has been keeping score all along and reminds God that he is the winner. The other man starts with God's mercy instead of self-assessment. Scorekeeping (and judgment) belong to God. Let’s be careful.
If we have a measuring stick toward others, we will eventually be asked to stand next to it!
Sometimes we can be like the Mean older brother- traveling to carnival teasing little brother that he wouldn’t be tall enough for the rides, only to discover he was too short also.
We often talk during Sunday School or occasionally Wednesday nights about how bad our elected officials are getting.
Imagine we had a president that was doing the following-
Imagine a man who practices witchcraft and séances, fortune-telling, and necromancy.
Picture him engaged in human sacrifice by burning his own children on altars of fire.
Because of his nationwide authority and influence, he not only practices these things, but encourages and trains others to do the same.
All of us would be crying out to God to remove such a man from his position of authority.
Now, envision this man who has done and encouraged others into the deepest evil that could be to other humans finding a way to win God’s affection.
Buried deep in the Chronicles of Israel- probably in a part of the bible most people skip or skim over is the story of a despicable king, guilty of all these things.
Yet he captured the Father’s grace and mercy by humbling himself before God. His name is Manasseh; you can read about him in 2 Chronicles 33.
In the space of one chapter, King Manasseh was transformed from a man who provoked God to anger, to one who caught God’s attention because of his humble heart.
There is a lesson here for every student of Jesus. It’s not that Manasseh simply experienced God’s mercy; he provoked it.
How did he provoke mercy and grace? Humility
Our Father God loves humility. It turns his head. Humility opens the spigot in which grace flows.
Humility is an expression of truth and integrity.
People intuitively hunger for humility in their spiritual and political leaders.
Recently we have had the Democratic Debates and the news media was focused on who got in the best lines and zingers and insults. They play the clips over and over again to show who was the quickest to make their enemies look stupid and ill prepared. The insults kept flying as they mocked each other’s plans and proposals trying to belittle everyone else in an effort to elevate themselves over the next person on the stage.
Self promotion and pride are epidemic in our culture
It’s not just politicians. There are many who call themselves pastors/preachers who concentrate on telling people how to live a better life here but fail to tell you how to better prepare yourself for the life to follow.
They are what the bible calls
2 Pet 2:17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
Humility is the sail that captures the winds of God’s grace and mercy.
His ear is tuned to hear the weakest words of a humbled heart.
We will see that today in the biblical example of King Manasseh’s. This is the story of a man who did everything possible to shove a stick in the eyes of God and blaspheme anything having to do with him, we can find hope for everyone who has wandered that they can possibly grab God’s attention.
I’m going to quickly summarize a few highpoints in the story, but I encourage you to read the whole chapter when you can.
Here are four sure lessons from Manasseh (2 Chron. 33) for those whose hearts are chasing after the heart of God
The first lesson:
Even in the midst of gross iniquity, God is still speaking (v. 10)
“The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention”
Even after a long list of horrific and rebellious acts against God, the text reveals that God was still reaching out to Manasseh.
If you’ve been told that God hides from your sin, you’ve been misled.
Our sin is one of the very reasons God continues to reach out to us. He loves us and refuses to give up on us. But it's not just that his love reaches down; a humble heart reaches up. That brings us to the-
2nd lesson
God knows how to humble us (v. 11):
2 Chron 33:11 So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
There’s a massive difference between being humbled by the Almighty and humbling yourself before him. God may arrange circumstances that bring us low in the eyes of others, but only we can lower ourselves before God.
The same sun that hardens clay can soften butter- it’s how we let God’s sovereignty affect us. He can extend mercy on a scale that would eclipse the entire universe, but we remain in control of our own thoughts and hearts.
3rd lesson
Our hearts can move God’s heart (v. 13):
2 Chron 11:13“And when Manasseh prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his prayer and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
Isn’t that incredible? For some, this may be an astounding revelation!
Witchcraft, idol worship, child sacrifice, sexual sin that would make Hugh Hefner blush, and yet God forgave and restored this man.
God is not moved by human power, wealth, or wisdom, but he is moved by finding humility in our hearts. When a man or woman chooses contrition, the Father tells all heaven to be quiet.
Our prayers never have more power than when we take our proper place before him.
4th lesson from Manasseh
Our humble example can influence the generations to come (v. 25):
2 Chron 11:25 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
Manasseh had a grandson named Josiah, who, as a child, sparked a nationwide revival. I like to imagine that Josiah heard firsthand from his grandfather the horrors of rebellion and the grace of humility. Our life lessons can become the seed that springs up thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold in the lives of those who follow.
These are more than interesting Old Testament stories.
They were recorded for us to test the condition of our hearts.
They are the measuring rod that we hold up to ourselves, and see why we need God’s grace to measure up.
But Even more than Manasseh, Jesus modeled the way of humility
Jesus embodied the life of humility before the Father.
Jesus is our example.
Paul’s describes the Jesus way- the humble way Phil 2:
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:6–11)
What is whispered in the Old Testament is shouted in the New:
humility is the doorway to God’s kingdom.
Many believers are surprised to learn that there is something we can all do to bring the grace of God into our lives: we can humble ourselves.
But the opposite is also true. Let’s balance the equation.
Our pride can block the grace of God. This means that among the enemies of grace, human pride hides deepest in our souls. Because God’s grace meets us in our weakness, we think grace will expose us as frauds, when all the while grace flows ever stronger toward the humble in heart.
One of the ways as believers that we can step across the border from truth and enter into arrogance is to think of those who cannot see the truth as fools.
Spiritual pride is and was the root of all sin every committed. Think about it- Every sin starts there.
It’s so easy to fall into and before we know it, we have crossed into the enemy’s territory, even while we congratulate ourselves on being right all along.
Grace understands that merely knowing the truth is not enough. Along with our knowledge, we need to be a grace-filled people. The problem with knowing it all is the tendency to judgment.
The Apostle Paul was one of the most highly educated men every to live, and he said "knowledge puffs up" (1 Cor. 8:1). Sometimes, the most insightful people appear uncaring and cold. They are like an oncologist who diagnoses the cancer, but misses the human being standing before him.
Pride has a thousand faces, but always the same dreary aim, to make more of ourselves and less of God. If we allow grace to do it’s work, then we see pride’s desire to sit on the throne of our own private kingdom.
Pride is the leaven of the Pharisees. Pride is an enemy of grace. You can’t give grace to people you look down upon; you can only give them pity.
Pride itself has read the Bible, so pride’s hides itself in false humility.
False humility is our attempt to fool God (even though in the end, we are only fooling ourselves).
We utter modest things about ourselves that we do not believe. The problem with false humility is that it’s false. False humility is the self-abasement we want others to reject, thus affirming our talent and skill.
I catch myself doing this all the time- using self-deprecation to reaffirm my self-worth.
C.S. Lewis helps us guard against false humility, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself: it is not thinking of yourself at all.”
Pride harms us deeply but humility given by God’s grace heals us utterly.
Is it any wonder that “God resists the proud?”
We should be the kind of people who humble ourselves.
All stand
Today, I invite you to take inventory of your heart. A humble heart paves the way for a greater grace; a prideful heart does the opposite. Which one describes your heart?
Some of us have been hurt by others- deeply. I understand that pain can cloud our spirit, and make us do, say, and believe things that are not God’s best for us.
Something that I’ve found in life that I think may serve you well when you find people that irritate you or make you so mad you could punch them-
One of the most important things Jesus gave us to do is this- pray for our enemies. Why? For their sake? Yes, but much more for your sake.
The funny thing about humans is that they can’t have a prideful opinion of a person and offer them grace.
You can’t hold onto pride and effectively pray for someone.
That’s why God’s beauty in found in the humble way.
