Overcoming Pride
Luke 14: 7-11
By Chris Nerreau
Prayer / Read The Text:
Father God we come to you not good but yours, not whole but broken and not faithful but seeking you. Father in you there is no deceit, no false hope and grace that extends to us even in our times of unbelief. It is my prayer now that you’re Holy Spirit will continue to be present in this place opening our hearts and minds to the truth found only in Your Word. Father forgive us our sins that we may see, hear and apply your word this afternoon. Speak O’ Lord for your servants are listening, In the name of Jesus Christ we pray amen.
ILLUSTRATION:
I can remember taking a girl on a date a long time ago. She was a nice girl and I really wanted to impress her. I took her to meet my parents not because I really wanted her to meet them but because at the time my parents were in the middle of remodeling the house with a new swimming pool, landscaping, pool house, fence, interior design the works and it looked nice. In short I was going to impress her. After leaving my house she seemed impressed and I felt extremely pride filled, It was not until I dropped her off that I realized her parents were extremely wealthy and that our house looked as a maid servant’s home compared to hers! I think that date really helps me to understand the passage we are going to be looking at this afternoon.
INTRODUCTION:
• Background: This story begins with Jesus visiting the house of a prominent Pharisee:
o It was customary to invite the visiting preacher after Synagogue
o Chairs would be in a “U” shape around a low table and the people would recline as they ate.
o Each of the seats had an imaginary level of honor attributed to it
o No assigned seats
o People picked their seats based on their opinion of themselves
PROPOSITION:
What we are going to find Jesus teaching is that the only way to overcome pride is to seek to be exalted by God rather than man.
PREVIEW:
In today’s sermon I would like to take a look at:
I. The Problem of Pride – vs. 9
II. The Place of the Humble – vs. 10
III. The Praise Of God – vs. 11
TRANSITION:
So let’s begin today by looking at…
I. The Problems of Pride
EXPLAINATION:
• Over and over again we see scripture addressing pride:
o Proverbs 3:34 “God mocks the proud”
o Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
o James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord”
The question is why does God have a problem with Pride?
The Problems Of Pride:
• Vs. 7 “Picked places of honor”
o Pride leads us to forget who we are as fallen people instead we think we deserve places of honor.
o Pride leads us to forget our absolute dependence upon God and so we decide where we stand.
• Vs. 8 “Give this man your seat”
o Pride leads us to walk over others
• Vs. 9 “Humiliated, you will have to take the least important seat”
o Pride leads us to be humiliated and in a place we never expected to be
ILLUSTRATION:
Maybe you say well I have never been humiliated because of my pride, let me ask you a question how many times have you talked about someone you perceived to be prideful when they were not around? You say things like “That person is so in love with themselves” or “Did you hear what so and so did they think they are so great”. Now think about this how many times have you been the topic for someone else when you were not around?
In the movie Zoo Lander (Ben Stiller) plays the role of a model seeking his 4th annual “Most beautiful model in the world award” When the winner is announced he confidently walks up to receive his reward, the only problem was he was so proud that he did not even hear when his rivals name was called and ended up making a fool of himself in front of everyone. This is the outcome of a life of pride. The fact is when you base your entire life on what others perceive you to be eventually you will fall and fall hard.
APPLICATION:
• In the end the problem with pride is that it leads us to seek the exaltation of man rather than God.
• We trust in ourselves and in turn reject God.
• Jesus noticed the pride in this particular room and was so concerned with it that He taught this parable. This parable was not just for those then but for us this afternoon.
• Is pride a factor in your life today? Let’s take a moment to try and identify it?
o Are you overly concerned with what others think of you?
o Are you more concerned with what others think than God?
o Do you constantly seek approval of the world?
o Have you purchased things in order to fit in?
o Is it important for you to name drop?
o Is your plan for your life better than Gods?
o When you are having a conversation can you hear the other person or are you just waiting for your turn to talk?
TRANSITION:
If you sense pride in your life take do not get discouraged but allow Jesus to teach you…
II. The Place Of The Humble
EXPLAINATION:
We often saw Paul describe himself as humble:
• I am the least of the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9
• I am the very least of all the saints. Ephesians 3:8
• I am the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15
Jesus is the master of turning the world on it head, he always has the heart in mind. (Examples: Do not commit adultery, but I tell you do not lust, do not commit murder but I tell you don’t be angry.) this passage is no different look if you will at..
• Vs. 10 “Lowest” – Jesus teaches that the lowest place is the safest place. When we seek the lowest place we can only go up. (Story of Mike Swartz)
• Vs. 10 “Move up to a better place” – True humility can lead to healthy admiration from others.
• Vs. 10 “Honored” – Jesus shows that true humility (Not fake) will lead to admiration of God.
The council of Christ is simply this: It’s better to be honored for humility than to be humiliated because of honor.
ILLUSTRATION:
On a visit to the Beethoven museum a young American student became fascinated by the piano on which Beethoven had composed some of his greatest works. She asked the museum guard if she could play a few bars on it; she accompanied the request with a lavish tip, and the guard agreed. The girl went to the piano and tinkled out the opening of the Moonlight Sonata. As she was leaving she said to the guard, "I suppose all the great pianists who come here want to play on that piano."
The guard shook his head. "Padarewski [the famed Polish pianist] was here a few years ago and he said he wasn’t worthy to touch it."
APPLICATION:
• God seeks true humility, not false humility
• We do not need to elevate ourselves – We glorify God by being ourselves
• At the proper place and time God will see to our promotions – God lifts us up as we lift up others.
TRANSITION:
So we have seen the complications of pride and Christ council regarding pride but lastly look with me if you will at
III. The Praise Of God
EXPLAINATION:
• In the end the fact remains that all of us need to be picked up, all of us long for approval, all of us need to have value and worth and all of us need to hear our name gently spoken and affirmed.
• The question Jesus brings to us is who do you want affirming you, approving of you and speaking your name? Is it God or something less than God?
• If you long for the Praise of God look at vs. 11 with me:
o Vs. 11 “He who Humbles Himself” – Sincerely putting others before ourselves, not necessarily loving other people more than we love our self but denying our selfish desires in order that others may be placed first.
o Vs. 11 “Will be exalted” – The exaltation of God is unlike any other. It is not like a passing compliment that is here today and gone tomorrow. It is the completion of God’s joy, when He sees humility He affirms it not just for us but because it completes His joy to tell us.
ILLUSTRATION:
• God had witnessed Jesus leaving his thrown for earth, Washing the feet of the disciples when He had He had all power in heaven and on earth, being baptized although sinless, eating with the worst of the worst and asking forgiveness for those who nailed Him to the cross.
• This was God’s response Matthew 3:17 "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
APPLICATION:
• Jesus was our example both in the way that He lived and the praise that He received from God. Although we will never be equal with Jesus, never be God’s son and never live a perfect life God has made us a promise “Humble yourself and you will be lifted up”.
• When God lifts you up you will be free from the need of approval from man
• When God exalts you, you will begin to understand the great value you have in his eyes not because of what you have but because of who you are in Him.
• When God exalts you, you will hear your name gently whispered “well done ________”
• The truth is that although pride is something all of us struggle with on one level or another and although it is very difficult to overcome there is a promise and that promise is that if we determine to humble ourselves in our hearts and actions God will exalt us.
TRANSITION:
As we begin to conclude lets recap what we have seen today…
REVIEW OF MAIN POINTS:
IV. The Problem of Pride - Humiliation
V. The Place of the Humble – The lowest place
VI. The Praise Of God – He will satisfy and lift you up
FINAL ILLUSTRATION:
At the beginning of this sermon I told you about my embarrassing date, what I did not tell you was about our second date. On our second date I wore jeans, a white tea shirt and took her to a supposedly haunted cemetery in the next town over. It was not impressive, it was not high class but she described it as one of the best dates she had ever been on and in the end I was not embarrassed. When we returned to school she had told everybody about the fun of visiting the cemetery and I was complimented by others whose approval I had not sought.
CONCLUSION:
In the end what God wants is for us to seek Him, to His approval. We can only do this when we heed the example of Christ of putting others before ourselves.
Today I call on you to for one full week put everyone and everything before yourself. When you have a conversation let the other person talk and simply say that’s amazing. When you have a chance at the front seat of the car sit in the back and allow someone else the privilege. If you behave like this you will find:
How hard it is and how much you really do struggle with pride
How wonderful it feels to hear God gently whisper in your heart congratulations you’ve got it now let me exalt you.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
