A Travelogue, An Envoy, and Two Humble People

Thanks, Andrew.

I'm reading from Philippians chapter 2, verses 19 to 30.

Philippians 2:19–30

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you.

For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

But you know Timothy's proven worth.

How of a son with a father, he has served me in the gospel.

I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me.

And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

I have thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier,

and your messenger and minister to my need.

For he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed, because you heard that he was ill.

Indeed he was ill, near to death.

But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

I am the more eager to send him therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honour such men.

For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in you, in your service to me.

Are we back on?

There we are.

Good morning, everyone.

Good to see you all.

Welcome.

If you've got your bulletin handy, there's some points that we'll be following, and it'd be good to follow along.

I'm going to be doing a bit of interactivity together today, because it's a professional courtesy to do that.

So be ready to call back, particularly those of you with ADHD, this is for you.

Before we start, let me pray.

Majestic God, as it says in Psalm 8, despite your supreme majesty, your mind is on us.

How is it possible that we fill your mind?

You love and care for us so much that you are willing to become a weak infant and vulnerable child, all in order to save us.

Now, help me, help us, in all daily interactions, to treat each person that we meet as being infinitely precious in your sight.

Help us to hear your word today and to be transformed.

And we ask this in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen.

Well, folks, this is a catchy title.

I think this will be big somewhere sometime.

This is called A Travelogue, An Envoy and Two Humble People.

So if you're going to write a book, I'd encourage you that this is a good title.

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Everest.

Though later decorated with the highest of worldly honours, he spent his life in service.

Building hospitals and schools and serving the Nepalese people.

Years later, while in the region, tourists spotted him and begged him for a photo.

And one of them handed him an ice axe so that he could look the part.

A passing climber who was blind to the legend that was standing before him, straight up to Hillary and said,

Excuse me, that's not how you hold an ice pick.

Let me show you.

Everyone stood around amazed in silence as Hillary thanked the man, let him adjust the pick,

and happily went on with the photograph.

And the intruder's presumption diminished him, the intruder, because pride repels us.

Yet Hillary's greatness was magnified by his restraint.

We see here that true humility doesn't obscure glory, it actually enhances it.

And this was the pattern of Edmund Hillary's life.

Forgoing status and resources for others.

The Encyclopedia Britannica, I hear that's still a thing, they declare this.

Hillary never anticipated the acclaim that would follow the historic ascent.

Throughout his life, he maintained a high level of humility.

And his main interest came to be the welfare of the Himalayan peoples of Nepal.

Especially the Sherpas.

Humility is beautiful.

Today we're continuing to step through the next section of Philippians.

And we arrive at a bit of a weird spot.

We arrive at Paul's travel plans.

Now this section, it's flanked by the section before, the soaring majesty of a Christ hymn.

And then in chapter 3, we have some sharp warnings.

And these 12 verses about Timothy and Epaphroditus can seem mundane.

Mere logistics.

But do not be deceived.

Here, doctrine becomes duty.

We move through the theory of humility into the practice.

Let us define this grace.

Then behold, it lived out in two faithful men.

So the first point is, what is humility?

And we're going to look at a working definition of that.

Now this question is posed in Philippians 2, after calling for humility in Philippians 2, from verse 3.

Can you open your Bibles, if you haven't already, to Philippians 2?

And I'll read this for you.

We're reading from Philippians 2, verse 3.

Philippians 2:3

It says,

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Paul gave the extreme example of lowliness of the mind of Christ Jesus in 2, 5 to 11.

That was and is the ultimate example of true humility.

The second illustration was Paul himself being poured out as a drink offering on behalf of the Philippians.

And that's in verse 17 and 18 of chapter 2.

And now we meet two real-life examples.

Paul's young son in the faith, Timothy.

That's in verses 19 to 24.

And Epaphroditus, a godly man who was sent as an envoy from the Philippians to minister to Paul.

That's from verses 25 to 30.

Let us learn from these two men what authentic humility looks like.

And why does Paul even continue on this theme?

Well, I think it's simple.

It's because he knows that like the first humans, they and we all too easily fall into the trap of pride and selfishness.

Despite all of the positivity that Paul sees flowing from this incredible group, he just says joy after joy after joy.

He is gushing.

He knows, like with us, that disunity is inevitable.

As we're reminded of that famous passage from James 4 verse 1.

James 4:1

Disunity comes from within.

Where does disunity come from?

It comes from?

Good job.

He knows that encouragement, he knows that encouragement to keep their eyes on Jesus is what's necessary.

Which drives his desire to support this fledgling church.

Now, at this point, I think it's important to actually define what we mean by humility.

It's a pretty modern word and it was based on probably three ancient words that these guys would have known about.

And in his book, John Dixon writes, it's titled Humilitas, which is the Latin version of humility.

He discusses the etymology of the modern Western meaning.

I'm not going to go much into that.

But he says it's derived from a bunch of words.

And the modern usage of that word that we understand and they would have understood can go both negatively and positively.

Negatively, you could see humility as being put down or to be put low or to be humiliated.

But positively, the words can mean to lower yourself or, referencing the word itself, to be humbled.

And can you see, they're two very radically different definitions.

One is the experience of being conquered, of being shamed.

And the other is to redirect your power in the service of other people.

For our purposes, and using Dixon's ideas as a guide, our working definition will be this and then we'll shorten it.

Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself.

And more simply put, you could just say this.

The humble person is marked by a willingness to hold their power in the service of others.

Humility is a willingness to hold your power in the service of others.

And this is the definition that I'm going to consider and we should consider today.

And you might want to write it down.

A willingness to hold power in the service of others.

It's quite a good definition.

And we'll see it illustrated in our two examples from this passage.

And it highlights some of the key aspects.

One of the great things about it is it retains the dignity of the person choosing humility.

It retains their dignity.

But the other thing to consider is it's also willing.

It's not coerced of them.

They're not being humiliated.

They're choosing humility.

And it's social.

It's not a private thing.

It's not an act of self-deprecation, which is often associated with humility.

So, we're going to use this example today, this working definition, which is a willingness to hold power in the service of others.

And we'll begin with two case studies.

Real-life examples of men who demonstrate humility.

And like Hillary and Norgas, they do it in a teamwork kind of way.

They defy the odds.

The examples illustrate a manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

So, read along with me as we get back to verse 19.

It says this,

I hope in the Lord to send Timothy to you so that I may be cheered by the news of you.

Verse 19.

Paul is in prison.

He's in Rome.

No doubt he's a little bit unpopular.

And probably not that easy to be around.

And one of the first character traits we see in Timothy, and this is a bit of alliteration again.

It's helpful.

You might want to write this down.

Timothy is long-lasting.

What is he?

He is long-lasting.

Ready?

Three, two, one.

Say with me.

Long-lasting.

Well done.

There's so much cringing going on back there, Caitlin.

I can see it.

He's long-lasting.

He's sticking with Paul through the tough times.

And because of his imprisonment, Paul can't return to Philippi at the present time.

His plans are not certain.

But in the Lord, subject to his divine guidance or overruling, if the Lord permits, in verse 23,

as soon as the road is clear for Paul, he's going to return.

And he's shortly sending Timothy also as an envoy.

So the first thing we know about Timothy is he is long-lasting.

And look at how Paul describes Timothy's character.

Verse 20.

Read with me.

I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

And verse 22.

You know his proven worth.

As a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel.

Not only is Timothy long-lasting, he's also like-minded.

What is he?

He is like-minded.

Ready?

Say it with me.

Like-minded.

Well done.

Or another way you could say it is he's a kindred spirit.

He's loyal.

He thinks as I do.

Another word that's used in the Greek, which I won't go into that, however, I will say equal sold is a reference for it.

He is my equal.

Now this is a rare jewel.

And he has the same kind of mind as the apostle.

But not only that, another L word or hyphenated word, Timothy is large-hearted.

He's large-hearted.

Ready?

Three, two, one.

Say it with me.

Large-hearted.

So he is long-lasting, like-minded and large-hearted towards other people.

And he's genuinely concerned for these people's welfare, seemingly above his own.

Now this is not a negative statement.

Like mentioned in Philippians 4, where the church are exhorted to stop worrying.

But rather, Timothy, like Paul, he actively cares for their welfare.

His anxiousness is for their welfare.

And Paul, who expects to be alive when Timothy returns from his visit to Philippi, would be genuinely encouraged when he learns about the Philippians' circumstances.

So Paul is planning to send Timothy as soon as he can.

And his envoy or representative will be of full support, full authority from Paul.

All others whom Paul might have sent, they're concerned about their own interests, their own affairs, rather than the cause of Christ.

But not Timothy.

There is no one like Timothy.

He is free from self-centeredness.

Timothy was present and no doubt active when the gospel was preached at Philippi.

And you can read in your own time Acts 16 and 17, where he's mentioned.

Timothy has proven his worth with his close personal relationship with Paul as servants of Christ.

Timothy's humility is clearly seen because he is long-lasting, like-minded and large-hearted.

Okay, this one's a bit of a stretch for an L word, but I'm doing what I can with it.

Not only this, Timothy is laboriously hard-working.

He is laboriously hard-working.

Ready?

Three, two, one, say it with me.

Laboriously hard-working.

That was such a stretch.

I didn't use ChatGPT for that.

Another strong attribute of Timothy is his work ethic.

As we see in verse 22, read along with me, it says that he has served with me in the gospel.

The word he uses here, I will say this one, it's doulos.

It means slave or performing duties of a slave.

It's also the word behind deacon.

Timothy serves God to further the cause of the gospel following the model of Christ.

He's genuinely concerned for the Philippians.

And he's made himself a slave with Paul to further the gospel.

Now, if you were Timothy, what would that require of you?

What might it be like?

Well, coming back to our definition, a willingness to hold your power in the service of others,

which, to add a Christian perspective, a willingness to hold your power in the service of others to further the gospel,

on Timothy's part, we can certainly assume a few things.

We've got to assume that he was largely flexible.

We can imagine that in the scheduling of his time and his energy, he had some flexibility about him.

He had a willingness to yield his desires and his plans in favour of Paul's plans and Christ's plans.

He must have been adaptable.

All right, let's have a look at our next guy, Epaphroditus.

An interesting name.

We don't know very much about this guy.

Maybe, some people say, maybe his parents worshipped Aphrodite and maybe that's where his name came from,

but we don't know, we're guessing.

But let's have a look from what it does say in the passage, from verse 25 and 26.

Read along with me.

So, what do we know about him?

Nothing other than he was closely connected to the Church of Philippi.

He was probably some kind of spiritual leader.

He was serving in some capacity and was sent probably with some kind of financial gift to help Paul's expenses while being imprisoned,

which we can see in chapter 4, verse 18.

He was sent to minister to Paul by taking care of Paul's personal needs, verse 25.

But while serving, he became desperately ill, to the point of death, verse 27.

No doubt, when the news reached the Philippians, they understandably were probably deeply concerned for him.

And what were the distinguishing marks of Epaphroditus?

He has an incredible title here.

Look at what he has.

He's sort of like a quadruple threat.

He's got a fourfold description.

He is brother, fellow worker, messenger, fellow soldier.

Firstly, let's look at brother.

Epaphroditus was a genuine believer.

Or a brother in Christ.

Not just a brother or my brother.

Sorry, not just a brother, but my brother.

So, Paul is really indicating a deep and cherished affection for Epaphroditus.

A close relationship must have existed between them.

And you can assume that Paul is providing yet another great example to the Philippian church of,

this is what you are to be like, if you want to be like Christ.

Like Timothy, Epaphroditus demonstrates many excellent qualities.

Now, we've had L words.

We're going with S's now.

So, we're doing some S alliteration.

Firstly, he is a sacrificial soldier.

Ready?

Three, two, one.

Say with me, he is a sacrificial soldier.

Verse 25.

Working shoulder to shoulder at the coalface of the Lord, working together in difficult times like in battle,

allegiance comes out the most in the midst of Paul's difficult imprisonment.

The next thing he is, is Epaphroditus is a sent servant.

So, not only is he a sacrificial soldier, he is a sent servant.

Three, two, one.

Say with me, he is a sent servant.

Like in wartimes, he brings an important message.

And Paul uses the word apostolus, where apostle is derived, meaning one who is sent on an official mission.

That is what he is.

Next, he's described, I could have used servant here, but that's already referenced.

So, it's no S's.

He's a minister to Paul's need.

I feel bad asking you to say that.

It's not an S word.

I've broken my covenant with you.

But he's a minister to Paul's need.

If you come up with an S word, tell me later, I'll share with everyone else.

And that word really just means doing spiritual work.

So, he's a sacrificial soldier.

He is a sent servant.

He's a minister to Paul's needs.

Paul's needs.

Paul's needs.

But also, there's one other thing about Epaphroditus, which I could find an S word for.

And it describes his humility in terms of emotion.

Epaphroditus is soulful or emotional.

He's soulful.

Ready?

Three, two, one with me.

Soulful.

If I can say it.

Hopefully, you said it.

Verse 26.

There's a deep emotion going on here.

It says this.

He has been longing for you.

Longing for you all and has been distressed because you hear that he was ill.

Now, the word that Paul uses here is one that carries a depth of desire or intense feelings.

He has a depth of desire or intense feelings for his fellow believers.

That's Epaphroditus.

Rather than a stoic going through the mechanical motions, he feels, rather than self-pity, which

you can imagine he would fill due to his near-death experience, which could be distressing, no doubt.

He is concerned for his brothers and sisters.

And thankfully, God spared Epaphroditus' life at that time, as we see in verse 28.

And Paul himself is deeply connected.

He was not a man devoid of feelings.

He was not a doctrine-fixed robot that he might be accused of.

Paul has a deep affection for those that he served and with whom he served.

And now, Paul is willingly sending back the willing messenger to be received with honour, verse 29,

because they could have presumed that maybe he didn't quite get the job right, so he's being sent back.

No, they should regard him highly, because he served to the point of death to complete that which was lacking in Paul, verse 30.

Now, a question, really, I'd like us to consider is, that's fine.

Those are two people who are long dead.

What would it look like for us in 2026 to consider humility?

What would it look like for us?

And are we the kind of people that are just happy to rest in our comfort zone,

or are we happy to serve with a ministry mindset like these gentlemen had?

I think it's worth asking.

Now, I want to give you an example of an Australian person,

not this generation, a few generations back.

It's virtually an unknown, obscure reference.

Some historical circles, you may know about it.

It's not particularly popular, even.

But it's inspired special mention in Dixon's book.

Dixon even wrote a song about this guy.

If you were into the band In the Silence, back in the 80s and 90s,

is there anyone in here who was it?

Okay, three of us, great.

He wrote a song about this guy.

Let me tell you a little bit about this person.

Now, cast your mind back.

We're going back about four generations.

And the first Australians, the Aboriginal people, were subject to inhumane treatment.

There was a commonly held attitude towards Aboriginal people that they were an evolutionary throwback,

devoid of a soul.

As a result of this, atrocities happened all too frequently.

It was not uncommon for an Aboriginal person to be shot for bounty.

And many other unspeakable acts, which were largely supported by the society of the day.

But there are some exceptions to this.

And inspired by God's clear declaration that all people are made in his image

and are worthy of dignity and respect, this example arises from the ashes.

The name of these two people that you may not recognise is Daniel and Janet Matthews.

And they lived on the Murray River in the 1860s.

And Janet lived for a little bit longer than Daniel, but by about 1920, both of them had passed away.

They ran a merchant company supplying food and clothing and other vital supplies to the settlers

up and down the Murray River.

They owned a substantial amount of land.

And by all accounts, these were people who were well off and they lived very comfortably,

albeit a hard-working life.

After witnessing a large number of Aboriginal people in a desperate poverty-stricken state,

Daniel began to stir.

He wrote in his diary, and I don't think this is blasphemy, I think this is a cry for help.

My God, can this be right?

From that day onwards, he and his family committed themselves to the service of the Murray River Aboriginal community.

They would use their resources to advocate for Aboriginal people above themselves.

They would use their power to benefit others.

To the glory of God.

And some examples included Daniel's strong written advocacy.

He apparently had a gift with the pen, or whatever he used.

And he wrote countless letters to newspapers, government agencies.

And he begged that government policy and societal attitudes might change towards the Aboriginal people.

Not only that, not only advocacy, but Matthews gave a large portion of his land back to the Aboriginal people.

Having discovered that it was regarded as sacred with the local name of Malgoa.

Malgoa Station was formed and was used for the Murray River people,

and not for any of Matthews' commercial profit, despite his business partner brother's annoyance.

It became a safe haven for Aboriginal people across New South Wales and Victoria, providing medical attention.

And because Janet was a teacher, she also provided an education for anybody who wanted to.

There's even stories, and perhaps it's folklore, but there's stories of Daniel breaking into people's houses

and rescuing those who were chained up and slaved.

He was shot, and he was beaten in the process.

But that was of a higher calling than following the law of the day.

Daniel could not rest.

This is not a good example.

He worked for 18 hours a day for 40 years.

Six days a week.

And he couldn't keep his business functioning.

While dedicating his resources to those who had no advocacy, his brother and business partner thought that he was crazy.

The business revenue suffered, and his pretty shameful quote, the brother said,

he has blackfella on the brain.

The friendship and affection of the Aboriginal people that they felt towards him was clearly obvious.

They named him a special name, which was Maranuka.

And it means friend.

In an article in the Footscray Advertiser,

the writer describes the state of affairs when he visited Mulgawa Station.

And he says this about the personal cost and the extraordinary willingness of Matthews

to hold his power for the good of others above himself.

This is what he says.

The superintendent, he means Matthews,

I gather from the outside sources,

probably had that 1950s, sort of 1820s, 60s, whatever.

Australia's favourite people.

He probably spoke like that.

I gather from outside sources,

he has impoverished himself and his family,

being forced to neglect his own material interests

through his extra care and affection for the blacks.

I left that place,

feeling that a life had been given away in devotion to the natives' welfare.

Can you see the journalist's perspective?

What a waste, is what he was saying.

But the Matthews family didn't feel that.

They didn't feel that they'd thrown anything away.

They believed in holding their power and resources for those who needed them the most.

Even after her husband's death,

Janet continued their work for another decade,

opening two more homes in South Australia.

Their permanent mark was left in New South Wales,

in Victoria, in South Australia,

and it was long-lasting.

Daniel's modest tombstone has this inscription,

and it reads,

Maranuka Friend.

His works do follow him.

Now, this is a powerful example, don't you think,

of a Timothy,

of an Epaphroditus kind of person,

or people,

or family,

or follower of Jesus.

It's a person who gets outside of their comfort zone

for the benefit of others.

This is where it's going to get a bit hard to hear.

What evidence of humility do you see in your life

that was present with Timothy,

Epaphroditus,

Daniel Matthews,

Janet Matthews?

The human disposition

is kind of the opposite.

Andrew Murray writes in his book on humility,

towards the journey towards holiness.

He says this,

Pride,

the loss of humility,

is the root of every sin and evil.

Speaking of Adam and Eve.

It was when the serpent breathed the poison of his pride,

the desire to be God,

into the hearts of our first parents,

that they too fell from their highest state

into wretchedness,

to which all humankind has sunk.

In heaven and on earth,

pride and self-exaltation

is the very gateway to hell.

This is a sobering reality

and it continues to impact

not just the unsaved,

but it still impacts the saved.

But there is hope,

as Murray continues.

He says this,

Jesus came to bring back humility to earth,

to make us partakers of it

and buy it to save us.

In heaven he humbled himself to become a man.

The humility we see in him possessed him in heaven.

It brought him here.

Here on earth,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death.

His humility gave his death its value

and so became our redemption.

And now salvation he imparts

is nothing less

and nothing else

than a communication of his own life and death,

his own disposition and spirit,

his own humility,

and a relationship with God

and his redeeming work.

His humility became our salvation.

His salvation is humility.

Can you see Murray's point?

Humility is not something

that you just bring to God

or it's not something

that he just gives you as a gift.

It's simply the sense

of entire nothingness

that comes

when we see

how truly God is everything.

Seeing the truth

of our position in Christ

and as God's creature

and yielding to God

in his place.

Humility is giving in

to God.

But oh how much

we need this today.

Oh how much

there is a realising

of a lack of humility

even in the Christian community.

Christian brothers

and Christian sisters,

in using our power

let us consider

how a lack of love,

indifference,

indifference to the needs

and feelings of others,

our sharp comments,

our hasty judgements

that are often excused

as I'm just being honest.

I'm just being straightforward.

They're thwarting the effect

and the influence

of the Holy Spirit

on you and others.

In our power,

outbursts of temper,

touchiness and irritation,

feelings of bitterness

and estrangement,

they have their root

not in humility

but in pride.

Pride creeps in

almost everywhere

and church communities

are no exception.

Let's ask ourselves,

what would the effect

be

if all of us

were guided by

the humility of Jesus

minute by minute,

day by day,

holding our power

as the cry

of our whole heart?

Let us honestly

fix our hearts

on our lack

of humility.

Let's give that to God.

That which has been revealed

in the likeness

of Christ's life,

in the whole character

of his redemption

and realise

how little we know

of humility

as is described

in our passage today.

Let's believe

with our whole hearts

that Christ

will enter

and dwell

and work

within us

to make us

what the Father

would have us be.

Well,

brother,

sister,

let me ask you,

do we prioritise

or how do we

prioritise

our approach

to the service

of others

and for the Lord Jesus?

Like Timothy,

do you find yourself

being tested right now

in a difficult trial?

which God

is no doubt

using to conform you

to the likeness

and image of Christ

or maybe

he's preparing you

for future demands.

Discipleship

always requires

demanding assignments.

Are you loyal

to your fellow believers

and to our Christian leaders

and to our church community

and to others?

Do you choose

encouragement?

Do you uphold

those who serve you?

Do you instead

rather quickly

become negative,

critical,

proud?

Are you diligent

in all that you do

in our Christian community?

You know,

there's something

for everyone.

It doesn't matter

how young,

old,

smart,

silly,

really,

really good looking

or whatever you are.

There's something

for you to do.

Nobody just shows up.

Everybody.

We all have a part

to play

in God's

good work

for us.

As we do,

we become more like

Timothy

in increasing

the cause

of the Lord.

Well,

like Epaphroditus,

do you work

shoulder to shoulder

as a soldier

with our family

responsibilities around here

assigned by the Father?

However,

no saint

has the luxury

of being served

while not serving others.

As you consider

your life,

how do you need

to be more like

Epaphroditus?

Like him,

we're sent

on official missions

to bring his word

to an unbelieving world,

to bring encouragement

to others in need,

wherever God takes you.

we take the message

of edification

to everybody.

Now,

do you tend

to wallow

in self-pity?

Or do you carry

a genuine concern

for your brothers

and sisters in Christ?

Like Epaphroditus,

our ministry should be

carried out

not only with our hands,

but with our hearts.

We must be

emotionally connected

with others

in the service

of the Lord.

God asks us

to look at Epaphroditus

to consider

what it looks like

to place the interests

of others

above yourselves.

These two servants

are set before us

as those we should emulate

and after whom

we can learn to model

in our own lives.

What would it look like

for you

to be given

to God

in humility

in a manner

that is worthy

of commendations

like Paul

and Timothy

and Epaphroditus

and the Matthews family?

What might it look like

this week

for you

to hold

your power

in the service

of others?

Well,

like Paul,

Edmund Hillary

cared.

He cared deeply

for those he served.

whether it was

on an adventure

or whether it was

in the service

of others

after that adventure.

He gave up his time,

he gave up money,

he gave up status,

he gave up energy,

he served them well.

He held his power

in the service

of others,

even arrogant

ice climbing hacks

and patrons alike.

He held his power.

But unlike Matthews,

Epaphroditus,

Timothy,

Paul,

his great work

didn't seem

to be motivated

by any kind

of service

of Christ.

It seemed

to be

just his own power,

only that which

he humanly possessed,

not the mind

of Christ.

And it's said

that on his ascension

to the summit

of Everest,

he actually did

place a crucifix.

I'm not sure

if that's true or not.

And I'm not sure

whether that was

a gesture of achievement,

whether that was

his reliance

at that moment

and God brought me

through it.

I'm not sure

what he was thinking.

But there's little

evidence to suggest

that he had much

more than that

in terms of any

kind of relationship

with Christ,

which is disappointing.

He climbed the highest

summit in the world

with a faithful companion

and yet he didn't

reach the heights

of understanding

humility in Christ.

May we more

than just hold

our power

and our strength

this week,

but do so

to the honour

and glory

of God,

achievable

through his

redemptive work,

not your own power

but him working

in you.

True Christ-centred

humility

is beautiful.

Let me pray.

Lord and Saviour,

as we've seen

in your word today,

so many other things

compete for you,

for our allegiance

and the allegiance

of our hearts,

keeping us from

knowing the joy

of your presence

and the peace

of your protection.

Thank you

that Christ's humility

became our salvation.

Help us today

to lean more

into you

and less into self

with you doing

your work

in our lives.

And we pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.