17th November 2024 Infill Service - Yasmin Chaffer - Clothe yourself with humility

She works at Canaan Bookshop in stead a trustee though

no not, but you were, you were, And she's absolutely

passionate about sharing books. And one of the books we

are studying in one of our Bible studies is a

fantastic book called God on Mute. And so for the

people who are part of the Bible Study on Tuesday,

we're studying this book and we're coming alongside this with

a guy called Pete Gregg from twenty four to seven prayer.

If you'd like a copy of this book, can you

please please speak to Yasmin after she's got an old

bag full of them. She doesn't really want to take

them home, but if you'd like one. It's a fantastic book,

and it's something we don't talk enough about in church,

is what happens when God doesn't answer prayer? Does he

not like me anymore? We tackle some of those things,

and you can watch the Bible Study in your own time.

You don't have to make it on Tuesday at eleven o'clock.

You can watch it in your own times. So that

book's there, And let me pray for Yasmin and she

brings the word, Father God, I thank you for this

woman of God. Father, I thank you for the diligent

seeking of you and your heart.

For us today.

And Father, I pray that you didn't want her Lord

to speak forth with boldness and confidence the word that

you've given her. Father, we want to hear from you.

We're ready to hear from you. Those are home online,

those this thing later, those in the room, we're ready

to hear from you. Speak O God'll be praying Jesus' name.

Amen, thank you, good morning.

So our theme this month is Dressed for the task,

and the title of this morning's message is Clothe yourselves

with humility. Now, I'm sure I'm not the only one

who's ever changed more than once. Whilst I figure out

what I feel like wearing, I realized this is probably

more of a female thing. But anyway, there are several

factors we take into consideration when we're getting dressed other than.

What we feel like.

For example, there's the occasion and what we anticipate doing.

Does it involve young children and or animals? Are we

going to work the gym, doing some gardening? And there's

also the weather, et cetera. But these are just clothes.

This is about what we put on externally. But what

about what we put on internally? Again, it's helpful to

consider the occasion and what we anticipate doing and what

we need for the task at hand for the day.

To illustrate what I mean, let's look at our key

verse for today, one Peter five, verse five, and I'm

reading from the NIV. That's one Peter five, verse five,

Clothe yourselves with humility. I think it's good to consider

the original Greek here before you switch off. My knowledge

of Greek is limited to little more than the words

for chicken, and.

That's all you need to know. So this is going

to be quite short.

But I did find something quite useful here on the internet.

The Greek translated clothe yourselves means the putting on of

a garment which is to be tied, and is used

to refer to an outer garment which covers over other clothing.

So it's the first thing that others see of us.

Because humility is an inner attitude, we may not think

about how visible it is to others. I remember a

friend telling me that some years ago she was working

at a conference and her company was hosting the event,

and her job at one point was to look after

the delegates in a particular room before the event began.

So she and her colleague were there chatting.

Away to various people when they both noticed a really

good looking guy come into the room. So they looked

at each other and as politely and subtly as they could,

made a beeline for him. Within seconds, they couldn't get

away fast enough. This guy was really good looking and

he knew it, and it just wasn't nice spending time

with him. Pride is just as visible to others as humility.

It's just the other end of the same spectrum. Clothe

yourselves with humility. The Greek is written as a command

and in a way which shows that this is something

that we must do to ourselves. So Peter here commands

all believers to make the conscious choice to clothe ourselves

with humility in such a way that it's the first

thing that others see. So what is humility? Humility is

the opposite of pride, in Jesus obviously embodied it. But

I'm going to draw on one meaning that I saw,

and bearing in mind our human nature, I'm going to

say the quality of not being proud because you're aware

that you're not perfect. It's an attitude that recognizes that

I'm not better than others, but that doesn't mean that

I'm worse either. I'm neither superior nor inferior to other

people in God's eyes, and therefore I choose to take

that tatitude towards myself and others. Humility will help us

to maintain a right attitude towards others and a right

perspective on ourselves in so many different ways and situations,

including whether we're successful or not. I'm mindful that it

depends hugely on how we define success, but in this instance,

I'm talking about our perspective on our social status. I'm

also mindful that this is a very limited view of success,

and as an aside, my personal definition of success is

to fulfill your potential in Christ to become and do

all that God has called us to become and do.

This is regardless of whether we're visibly doing well in

a way that others can see or not, or in

a way which others value. Humility helps us to not

be defined by outward success, for example, great exam results,

or our position at work or in the community that's

perceived as giving us social standing. There's nothing wrong with

these things Believers are needed in all walks of life

to shine God's light where they are. The opposite is

also important that our sense of self worth shouldn't be

shaken by outward failure. Looking down on ourselves is not

the same as humility. I know I've quoted it before,

but I really like the quote from Ruddyard Kipling's poem

If that is inscribed above the entrance to Center Court

at Wimbledon Tennis Club. It says if you can meet

with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just

the same. The way I read it, it's about not

allowing either victory or defeat, success or failure to define

you or change your attitude towards yourself or other people. Humility,

in my opinion, says I choose to believe what God

says about me, even if it differs from what I

think about myself. Humility also says I choose to believe

what God says about other people, even if it differs

from what I think. It's about valuing God's opinion above

my own. The only way we'll get and keep a

proper understanding of God's view of ourselves and others is

if we keep spending time in the Word of God,

be it reading the Bible, listening to podcasts, whatever. I

remember going to a dinner party years ago hosted by

some very wealthy business people. I'd been invited because the

people I was staying with were good friends of the hosts,

but I didn't know the other guests as you do.

I introduced.

I introduced myself to someone, made some small talk, and

moved on. Very soon afterwards, the person I was staying

with appeared at my elbow, giggling away quietly.

She said, you realize you just introduced.

Yourself to the most important person in the room, Whilst

I knew what she meant, and she clearly wasn't being

nasty to me. I remember thinking, no one person is

more important than another. Jesus, God's own son, paid the

same price for each one of us his life. He

was brutally tortured and died to pay the price that

same price for each one of us for our sins,

then rose again and is now seated at the right

hand of our heavenly Father. The invitation is therefore now

open to all to accept and what Jesus did for us,

and ask him to be Lord of our lives, and

he will help us to live for him by his

Holy spirit. Because we're all dependent upon him. No one

person is better than another. As it says in one

Peter five, verse five, clothe yourselves in humility. Let's look

briefly at the context for that verse, because I'm not

a fan of taking scripture out of context. It can

be accurate, but the habit of checking context helps us

to ensure that we don't misinterpret what we're reading. So

I'm going to read one p. Five verses one to

seven from the NIV. That's one p. Five verses one

to seven. To the elders among you. I appeal as

a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings who

also will share in the glory to be revealed. Be

shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching

over them, not because you must, but because you're willing,

as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain,

but eager to serve, not lauding it over those entrusted

to you, but being examples to the flock. And when

the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of

glory that will never fade away. In the same way,

you who are younger submit yourselves to your elders. All

of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because

God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's.

Mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time,

cast all your anxiety on him, because He cares for you.

I realize this passion passage initially addresses elders, and obviously

not everyone here is an elder in the church. But

you may be at some point, or you may have

a leadership role or a position of authority, or care

for others in some way, but not in a church setting.

So it's important that we're all mindful of God's word

on this matter. One Peter five, Verse two, be shepherds

of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them.

I'm going to quote my lovely friend Carol now who

led me to the Lord when I was eighteen. I

know I've said it before, but years ago I remember

hers saying to me, there's only one savior of the world,

and it's not you or me.

Thank God, I might add, and so might you.

But the point is be shepherds of God's flock that

is under your care. In other words, don't try and

be all things to all people, taking on care responsibilities

that are not yours to do. Be shepherds to those

who are under your care, but check in with the

Lord what is yours to do and what is not.

That might mean saying no to some people, or it

might mean saying no some other time, but not always,

and that might not be popular, but it's so important

that we set healthy boundaries with people. We will get

unduly burdened if we try and take on what we

don't have the grace to do, and if it's ongoing,

we can get burnt out. Recognizing our limitations and the

limitations of what God has called us to do is

one expression of humility. There is only one savior of

the world, and it's not you or me. Be shepherds

of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them,

not because you must, but because you're willing as God

wants you to be. Not pursuing dishonest gain that eager

to serve. This is about serving others, caring for them

with a willing heart, rather than just out of a

sense of duty and obligation. If you've ever received anything

because the person gave it from a sense of duty

or obligation, you'll know the difference compared to when it's

given willingly. I remember some years ago, as a social worker,

being given flowers by a lady whose mother I had

worked with, and this was our last meeting as my

role in her mother's care had ended. It was clear

by the way that she presented the flowers to me

and the very little that she said that from her perspective,

the flowers were a gift from a sense of polite obligation,

rather than I thank you from the heart. I was

also occasionally given flowers as a thank you from the heart,

and speaking from the receiving end, it feels very different.

God loves a cheerful giver, as it says in two

Corinthians nine, verse seven. Whilst the context is about giving financially,

I believe that the principle can be applied more broadly,

and obviously giving doesn't have to involve physical gifts like

flowers either. We can give in so many different ways

care like it says in one Peter five verse tea time, prayer, etc.

And clearly some of our giving will only ever be

seen by God. But He does see, and he sees

the attitude of our heart when we give too, as

this verse makes so clear, and when we're cheerful about it,

we bless God who made the universe. We have the

ability to bless the almighty, all powerful God when we

give and serve with a right heart.

That's not a small thing.

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care,

watching over them, not because you must, but because you're

willing as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain,

but eager to serve verse three, not lording it over

those in trusting and trusted to you. That being examples

to the flock, or as it says in other translations,

don't laud it over the people assigned to your care.

Don't be arrogant or overbearing, but lead them by your

own good example.

Obviously, Jesus is the best example.

Of this, and illustrated it perfectly in so many ways,

including when he washed his disciples feet, which will look

at briefly later one Peter five, verse four. And when

the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of

glory that will never fade away. We don't often think

about reward and even less in the same breath as

serving others and humility, but perhaps surprisingly God does here.

My personal view is that humility is a necessary attitude

to help help us to accept what God wants to

give us, the crown of glory that will never fade

away verse five. In the same way, you who are

younger submit yourselves to your elders, all of you clothe

yourselves with humility toward one another. Because God opposes the

proud but shows favor to the humble, all of you

clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. That's it in summary, really,

isn't it. As I said earlier, we are to put

on humility. It's an active choice about our attitude towards

another one another. That should be the first thing that

people see. So to repeat what I said earlier, one

definition of humility is the quality of not being proud

because you're aware that you're not perfect. I'm neither superior

nor inferior to other people in God's eyes, and therefore

I choose to take that attitude towards myself and other people.

And again we see how God rewards it. God opposes

the proud, but shows favor to the humble. In the

previous verse, we saw that God rewards our humble service

to others with a crown of glory when Jesus appears,

in other words, something that's in the future. In this verse,

we see that we also receive a reward. Now I'm

not sure how well we understand that word favor. It's

the Greek word charis also translated elsewhere as grace. The

meaning includes good will and loving kindness, so that we

can say that God shows good will and loving kindness

to the humble. This is not a small thing. He

also knows we need his help to be consistently humble

one five verse six. Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand,

that he may lift you up in due time. Promotion

comes in God's timing when he knows that we're ready

for it. There may also be other factors that he

takes into consideration of which we're not aware. God sees

the bigger picture we don't. The bottom line is that

we need to trust him Verse seven. Cast all your

anxiety on him because he cares for you. This may

feel like it doesn't really follow on from what we've

just been reading. But anxiety or worry is us trying

to manage or figure out independently what we were never

designed to to manage or figure out. We've all done it,

and it's done us no good whatsoever. Let's try and

get into the habit of recognizing worry or anxiety as

a queue to pray and trust God and an opportunity

for a testimony. God is trustworthy. So many verses make

that clear. For example, Isaiah twenty six, verse four, and

this is the new living translation.

Trust in the Lord always. For the Lord.

God is the eternal rock. He is eternal, and he

is solid. He's our rock. God is trustworthy, and every

day we regularly have moments when we can practice trusting Him.

So in summary, as it says in one p Five,

verse five, clothe yourselves with humility. Moving on, I believe

that the Lord wants us to briefly consider the abc

of what we put on, so to speak, how we

clothe ourselves on the inside. That's our attitude, our behavior,

and our conversation. It's about what we deliberately put on.

God's humility takes so many different forms. Therefore ours needs

to as well. Firstly, let's look at our attitude on

mostly summarize rather than turn to the parable of the

prodigal son that Jesus told in Luke fifteen. A man

had two sons, and the young one demands his share

of what will be his inheritance when his father dies.

The father gives it to him, and he goes off

to a distant country and squanders it all. He ends

up having to work feeding pigs and is so hungry

that he envies the pigs for their food Luke fifteen,

seventeen to nineteen. This is the Christian standard Bible. When

he came to his senses, he said, how many of

my father's hired workers have more than enough food, and

here I am dying of hunger. I'll get up, go

to my father and say to him, Father, I have

sinned against heaven, and in your sight, I am no

longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like

one of your hired workers. Notice, humility is equated with

coming to his senses. His reasoning fueled by both his

physical state hunger and his attitude. Humility leads him to

recognize his sin. In other words, his spiritual state as

well as a potential solution to his physical need. It

takes humility to acknowledge when we've done wrong, to acknowledge

it not only to ourselves, but also to others and

to God. It takes humility to acknowledge when we need help,

and especially from those whom we have wronged. This might

be with respect to God or other people. It takes

humility to not only acknowledge it, but also to take

to act on it. It's an attitude that leads to

a change in behavior. Verse eighteen, I'll get up. The

prodigal son makes the decision to go back to the Father,

to do what was right, and with a humble attitude,

make me like one of your servants. Then he acted

on it, and the father welcomes the prodigal son back

with open arms. In lewis autobiography, surprised by joy after

what was, in my opinion, a long and winding intellectual road,

he says, in nineteen twenty nine, I gave in and

admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed. Perhaps

the most reluctant convert in all England, I did not

then see what is perhaps the most shining and obvious thing,

the divine humility which will accept a convert even on

such terms. How does humility on the part of the

prodigal son challenge us? How does humility on the part

of the father challenge us? That's something for us to

think about. So in the abc of how we clothe ourselves,

we're talking about an attitude that leads to change in behavior.

So looking at behavior and jesus washing of his disciple's

feet at the Last Supper, as I mentioned earlier, is

such a great example of humility and action. This is

recorded in John thirteen. Jesus was so utterly secure in

his identity and sure of his destiny that he did

not consider this lowly act beneath him, but rather a

necessary example illustration of leading by example. The nature of

it would make it even more memorable, As it says

in the NIV Cultural Background Study, Bible disciples served teachers

rather than the reverse, and the one act of service

specifically not expected even of them was dealing with the

master's feet. Washing other's feet was normally your task, done

for example by servants.

Dirt roads made feet dusty.

Urban streets sometimes included refuse from chamber pots dumped from windows.

Depending on how well to do an area was In

John thirteen fifteen, Jesus says, I have given you an

example that you also should do, just as I have

done for you. Remember, God notices everything. It may feel

like you're the only one trying to do the right thing,

and you may feel like you're on your own and

it's not making a difference. But God is the same, yesterday, today,

and forever. He notices, He cares. He will strengthen you

and help you and uphold you with his righteous right hand.

As it says in Isaiah forty one ten, He's promised

in his word, which is unchangeable. Jesus is very clear

about why he washed the disciples feet. I have given

you an example that you also should do, just as

I have done for you. How does this example of

jesus behavior challenge us? Is there anything that we need

to start doing or stop doing, or start doing differently?

So in the abc of how we clothe ourselves, that's

our attitude that leads to a change in behavior and

is reflected in our conversation.

So what does our conversation reflect?

Jesus quotes a well known proverb in Luke six forty five.

In the New King James version, Luke six forty five.

Out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks,

or person speaks, or as it says in another translation,

your words reveal what's within your heart. Given the power

of words and how they can be used to build

up or tear down, it's so important that, with God's help,

we learn to clothe ourselves with humility, and that we

remember our abc to let the attitude of humility guide

our behavior and be reflected in our conversation. Let's pray, Lord,

we need you. You've designed us to depend on you

because in you is the fullness of life. In your

presence is fullness of joy. We repent of our resistance

to your design. Thank you that you give grace to

the humble but oppose the proud. Please show us where

we've been resisting dependency upon you, the ways in which

we've been going our own way, and help us to

humble ourselves before you admit it and change because we

ask it in Jesus name.

Amen.