Ancient Wisdom for a Postmodern World

I just did something that I was told not to do when I was just a boy.

And I was told not to do this by someone I greatly admired.

It was someone who was a few years older than me,

but someone who I knew really knew God.

And they said to me, Daniel, never ever pray for humility.

Because if you ask God for humility, he delights to answer that,

and you won't like his answer.

And they weren't joking either.

They were sincere.

Don't pray for that.

And I think a lot of us would not ever tell us,

or tell someone else not to pray for something,

but I think a lot of us actually walk around with that unspoken suspicion

that if we actually ask God for humility, we're not going to like the answer.

Because a lot of us are afraid of what that would actually look like

if we truly were to become a humble people.

We're spending the summer at Church of Messiah going through the book of Proverbs,

looking at the various themes that Proverbs speak to.

Proverbs, as you know, is a book that was written with all these incredible pearls of wisdom from God.

And so rather than what we normally do at Church of Messiah,

going through a passage of Scripture and unpacking it,

we're kind of putting a thread through these various pearls of wisdom from the book of Proverbs

around different themes.

And so this summer we've looked at the need to fear God

and what that really looks like from the book of Proverbs.

We've seen the harm sexual impurity causes and the healing found in the gospel.

We've seen the need to take good advice, to listen to people, to truly be listeners.

We've looked at these and other things,

the responsibility to care for the vulnerable and the marginalized.

Various ones of these themes, I'm guessing, have hit various ones in various ways.

Some of these things have probably gripped various ones of our hearts.

And there's certain weeks where it really hit home for us

and the person beside you just didn't really hit home for them.

And other ones, unlike the certain weeks that convict you a lot,

other weeks it's really your sweet spot.

There's some of us in the room and you heard about protection for the vulnerable.

That's your jam.

That's your thing.

And so you hear about that and you're really tracking with it.

Not so much from a conviction standpoint,

but just to be inspired to continue doing what you're doing.

But it is this week, specifically it is this week,

that I'm praying will hit home for every single one of us

because this is the week we're looking at pride and humility.

And while various ones of us have various strengths and weaknesses,

I do believe that the struggle with pride,

being a people with pride,

is something that every single human being struggles with.

C.S. Lewis in his famous chapter on Pride and Mere Christianity wrote,

It is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation

and every family since the world began.

Other vices may sometimes bring people together.

You may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people

or even unchaste people,

but pride always means enmity.

It is enmity, and not only enmity between man and man,

but enmity to God.

By this he is saying that whereas other sins,

other things that are contrary to God's way,

there is the sense of fellowship in these wicked things,

pride is unique in the way that it always puts you in opposition to others,

in the way that it always makes you an enemy of those around you.

It's by nature competitive.

It is by nature opposed to those around you,

threatened by other success.

And in that respect, it brings disunity

and breaking of friendship between people

and breaking of friendship between people and God.

Now, I'm not here just to unpack C.S. Lewis' words,

but rather to unpack what the Bible says about this.

So, Proverbs 16, verse 5 says,

Proverbs 16:5

Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord.

Be assured he will not go unpunished.

I believe you have the words on the screen, I'm hoping,

but I'll read it again.

If they're not on the screen, I'll read it again for you slowly.

Everyone who is arrogant in heart

is an abomination to the Lord.

Be assured he will not go unpunished.

There we are.

The next verse we'll look at is Proverbs 6, 16-19.

There are six things that the Lord hates.

This is strong language.

There are six things that the Lord hates.

Seven that are an abomination to him.

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood.

A heart that devises wicked plans.

Feet that make haste to run to evil.

A false witness who breathes out lies.

A one who sows discord among brothers.

So in this list of six and seven things that God hates,

the very first is haughty eyes.

And it's not meaning like eyes that are hot.

It's not saying that like that.

You have very attractive eyes.

It's not saying that God hates that.

It's saying that God hates the eyes of those who are arrogant.

He hates arrogance.

This is strong language.

And I think sometimes we find ourselves,

sometimes we find ourselves reading the Bible

as if there's two different gods.

It's a God of the Old Testament who hates things

and pours out wrath on things.

And then a kind and loving, nice, tame God of the New Testament.

But just to burst that bubble,

in 1 Peter 5.5 and James 5.6,

so those are two different authors in the New Testament,

it says,

God opposes the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.

So whereas in Proverbs,

it speaks of God hating pride,

and we can think of it as

God is hating this pride element,

but liking all this other stuff about us.

In the New Testament,

it speaks of God opposing the proud.

So if we're a proud person,

it means that God is opposing us.

Now how can this be if we know that

for God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son?

How can it be that

that this God who we know is so loving,

that He created each person to know Him,

that He would actually oppose

the very people He created?

How can this be?

Well, this is because pride,

by its very nature,

as Jesus was spoken of,

pride by its very nature

is putting ourselves in enmity

with people and with God.

And that pride is, in essence,

a desire to kind of tower over people,

to be looking down on people,

to be looking down on all things.

And when you're looking down,

you cannot see what is above you.

And so the person that is proud

is, in a sense,

not going to see the beautiful sunset above

or anything above them,

including God Himself.

The person who is proud

is threatened by the success,

the well-being,

by the thriving of someone else.

And so God who is perfect,

God who is always going to be more powerful,

who is always going to be more,

more everything good than us,

is by very nature a threat to us.

And so it puts us in opposition to God.

And so God, in His love for us,

and His desire for us to be people

who are people who have more than money,

people who have more than friends,

people who have more than wealth,

people who have Him,

people who have come alive

and that they know the living God.

And God's desire for us

to truly come alive and to know Him,

to be people that aren't bent over like this,

but people who are fully,

who are upright and able to live

and to see the beauty that He made us for.

In God's desire for our good,

our thriving,

He must necessarily be opposed to our pride,

for our pride is truly a bending us out of shape.

In his book,

The Blessedness of Self-Forgetfulness,

Tim Keller talks about how

we only notice those parts of our body

that are hurting.

We don't often stop and think like,

oh, what a wonderful small toe I have.

But if you're like me

and you've ever stubbed your small toe,

all of a sudden you realize

that every step you take

and every moment you're awake

depends on that small baby toe of yours.

And the same can be true

if you pull a random muscle in your lower back.

You don't even realize that muscle existed,

but all of a sudden you know that muscle.

In fact, all you can think about is that muscle.

Some time ago,

after reading this,

maybe a year and a half ago,

one of my roommates and I

were walking home from the church office

and we were just discussing the reality of this.

So we thought,

you know what,

let's just stop as we walk home

and let's start thanking God

for all our healthy body parts

that you'd never think of.

We're just like,

God, thank you for my esophagus,

that it's swallowing food properly

and it's not hurting right now.

We just thought this would be

the one moment of our lives

where we actually are thinking

about the body parts that are healthy.

And you chuckle because it's funny.

We don't do that.

We don't think about our body parts

that are healthy.

We think about the body parts

that are broken.

And so for all the various body parts

with its various weaknesses that we have,

some of us have lower back issues

and other ones of us have really bad eyes

and whatever it is,

whatever is unhealthy in us,

the thing that is most unhealthy,

that is always drawing attention to itself,

is a part of us that isn't actually physical,

but is our ego,

our perception of ourselves.

We can define the ego as our self-perception,

our idea of our identity.

And that part of our being,

of who we are,

is always drawing attention to itself.

I might be much worse at this

than many of you,

but I believe all of you can relate to,

just this past Tuesday,

I was at a worship service.

And I'm not someone,

you'll notice I'm ever on the worship team,

I'm drumming,

I'm not singing,

because I don't have one of those voices

others want to listen to.

I don't,

my voice doesn't help people enter into

thinking of God's goodness.

It more speaks of the fallen nature of man.

And so I'm at this worship service,

and I'm singing,

and all of a sudden I hear that,

I'm hitting the notes.

And it was this beautiful worship time,

it was just such talented musicians,

and they were so God-centered,

and those songs we're singing

were all about the glory of God,

and I was in the zone,

and I'm worshiping God,

I felt so alive,

and then I hear my voice,

and I'm like,

oh, this is beautiful.

And all of a sudden,

instantly,

my attention goes from being about God

to, like,

my voice is awesome.

And I go from, like,

this puffed up thing

to all of a sudden this shame,

like, oh,

I'm such a proud person.

And then I'm like,

oh,

not only am I proud,

but like,

man,

I'm looking at myself again,

like,

how come I'm not,

and then I turn to worshiping God.

And then I'm just,

like,

just lost in the worship of God,

and all of a sudden,

like,

I started thinking about,

like,

how,

like,

I'm,

I just,

I kept going back and forth with this.

We find that our ego

is always drawing attention to itself,

always trying to find worth

and value in ourselves.

And,

and it's broken,

it's broken.

And you'll find,

like,

throughout the day,

like,

just pay attention,

just take a day,

pay attention

to how often you find yourself

kind of defending yourself.

I,

I,

a lot of people,

like,

I'm not someone that,

like,

looks for offending people.

Like,

I,

I like getting along with everyone.

And so I tend to be,

like,

a nice,

polite person.

If I'm at the dinner table

and a sibling will say something

about me that I just feel is not fair,

and,

like,

right away,

I'm just defending myself.

Like,

that's not true.

Like,

I just,

when it comes to,

when someone is threatening

our,

the way people see us

and our perception of ourselves,

I know that you and I,

I might be worse than you,

but that you and I both struggle

with always the need to defend ourselves

because we feel like our,

our perception of who we are

and our value is,

is under threat

over and over and over.

And so,

even as these words are heavy

before us today,

on Proverbs,

speaking of God's hatred

for pride,

we actually are going to find

as we go through

the book of Proverbs

on pride and humility

that these,

these words actually

speak to us

about how we find our healing

and our freedom

from our broken ego.

So,

so what we see,

the first point I want us

to just pause on today

is that pride positions us,

positions,

you need to learn

to speak English,

pride positions each one of us

as an enemy of God.

I'm strong with that,

but it's up on the screen.

You can see it.

Pride positions,

positions each one of us

as enemies of God

in that the way that it,

it bends us out of shape

as we seek to tower over people,

as we seek to,

to find this,

this,

our value

in,

in the,

in being in something awesome

is something in this way.

It,

it turns our attention away

from God

and in doing that

it puts us at opposition to God.

But not only that,

as several of the verses

Nora read,

I'll read again right now.

Proverbs 11 verse 2,

Proverbs 11:2

when pride comes,

then comes disgrace,

but with the humble

is wisdom.

Proverbs 16 verse 18 through 19,

Proverbs 16:18–19

pride goes before destruction

and a haughty spirit

before a fall.

Now this is one of those things

a lot of us have learned

when we're pretty young.

We're told pride goes before the fall.

And I think a lot of us

treat this truth

that Proverbs speaks of

as if it's karma.

Like,

oh,

I don't want to be proud

because then something bad

will happen.

You know,

if I'm a proud person,

then I'll get what I deserve.

And so we don't want to be proud

as if it's a formula.

But it's not a formula.

In fact,

if we stop and think about

the people we know

and the people who are most proud,

or if you look at the Bible

and look at who are proud,

the proudful people,

you'll see that very often

it seems like this truth

is not true at all.

That very often,

like for example,

not to name names,

but that you'll find someone

who is exceedingly,

exceedingly in love with themselves,

the most proud person

that is on the airwaves today,

and you find that

unlike what these words are saying,

that they'll have destruction,

instead they're a multi-billionaire,

one of the richest men in America,

and that when they throw their hat

into running for being

the Republican nominee,

they find themselves

pulling at the top.

You know what I'm saying?

It just doesn't seem fair.

You look at these words,

pride brings destruction,

and then you see a man

who is exceedingly arrogant,

and he seems,

not just,

he is so successful

financially,

politically,

business-wise,

in all these different ways.

It's phenomenal.

So what do we do

with this truth and that?

Well, there's actually,

these words, I think,

are telling us,

not simply that

the proud will one day

meet their judgment,

their maker,

one day.

We know that's true.

But that there's this misery

that is found in pride.

There's a misery,

not glory,

that's found in pride.

And that is something we saw

this past week

at Church on Wednesday.

We just happened

in a very different passage.

We're going through

different kings of the Bible.

But it just so happened

this week,

I was scheduled to speak

on pride and humility.

And at Church on Wednesday,

we were looking at Nebuchadnezzar,

and that happens to be

on pride and humility.

And we see that Nebuchadnezzar

was the richest of all kings

that had ever lived before him.

It was the richest

of any of his contemporaries.

Not only does the Bible

speak of his wealth,

but historians also know

that Nebuchadnezzar

was this ferocious,

wealthy,

luxurious,

just king of kings.

He was known

as the king of kings,

even though that's a title

that's supposed to apply

to God alone.

And Daniel chapter 4

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

opens with him,

on the one hand,

being so successful,

and on the other hand,

he's filled with anxiety.

He's having these scary dreams,

and he's so afraid.

And as you meet people,

and you actually get to know people

who have so much success,

you'll often find

that they're actually people

who don't have any enjoyment

in their success.

I don't often quote from her.

In fact,

I never before this week

quote from her,

but to illuminate the scriptures.

But as someone who actually

has a lot of insight

on this issue,

is a woman who's been

so successful as a musician,

as a pop star.

She has so much more money

than any of us in this room have.

Probably more money

than all of us combined.

She has a lot more friends

and popularity

and just all the various things

that you and I tend to find ourselves

pursuing to find happiness.

She's got them in spades.

And her name is Madonna,

and she wrote this

in Vogue magazine,

which I read quoted

by someone else.

I didn't actually read Vogue.

Just saying.

She says this,

My drive in life comes

from a fear of being mediocre.

That is always pushing me.

I push past one spell of it

and discover myself

as a special human being.

But then I feel

I am still mediocre

and uninteresting

unless I do something else.

Because even though

I have become somebody,

I still have to prove

that I am somebody.

My struggle has never ended.

And I guess it never will.

Madonna's words

should devastate our pursuit

of the American dream,

of pursuing whatever it is

that you and I pursue

to find a sense of value and worth.

Whether that's money,

or whether that's material stuff,

whether that's popularity

and friends,

or even some of us

have forsaken all of that

and instead we're pursuing

this seemingly humble life

of service.

We may even find ourselves

living among the poor

and maybe even being hippies

and fighting the system

and raging against the machine

and all that stuff.

We're not pursuing

the American dream.

But what instead we're pursuing

is a sense of worth found

in our doing,

wonderful Mother Teresa-like stuff.

And what Madonna is saying,

it doesn't matter

how much you pursue,

whatever you choose to pursue,

as you achieve that thing,

you find that this thing

you thought would give you

significance is failing that.

There's a poverty,

there's a destruction

that is greater

than not having any food.

And that is having a lot of food

and yet finding it

doesn't fill you.

There's an emptiness

that is greater

than having no friends

and that is being surrounded

by tons of friends

and feeling so very alone.

King Nebuchadnezzar found that,

the king of Babylon

in Daniel chapter 4,

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

that he has everything

a man or woman

could ever dream of

and so much more

than he can ever have.

And yet even in the midst of it,

he's so afraid

he's going to lose it.

There's no enjoyment in it.

C.S. Lewis speaks

how pride does this to us.

He writes,

pride gets no pleasure

out of having something,

only out of having more of it

than the next person.

We say that people

are proud of being rich

or clever or good looking,

but they are not.

They are proud of being richer

or cleverer

or better looking than others.

If everyone else

became equally rich

or clever or good looking,

there would be nothing

to be proud about.

He writes about how pride

is the most perverted

of all sins

and it robs us more

than anything else

in that we looked

a few weeks ago

about how sexual impurity,

how lust will lead us

to do things

that are harming ourselves

and others

in such horrific ways.

And yet C.S. Lewis talks

about how as perverted

as sexual impurity is,

that lust brings a man

to sleep with a woman

or a woman to sleep

with a man

because he desires her,

albeit in a selfish way.

But pride leads someone

to sleep with someone else

in an impure way,

something to prove

that they can.

That the proud person

is not actually desiring

the things they're pursuing,

they're desiring

a sense of significance

from it.

And so it actually robs them,

empties them.

It takes from them

the ability for them

to enjoy those very things,

even those sinful things.

In a sense,

pride robs people

of even being able

to enjoy sin.

It's a very,

very destructive thing.

And if it robs us

of the ability

to enjoy sin,

how much more

it robs us

of the ability

to enjoy

what we're really made for.

Pride is a horrible,

horrible thing.

And in that respect,

even though you may see

billionaires

who are very arrogant,

you'll find that

their destruction,

they're already living

in their destruction.

So often,

the proud are actually miserable.

And that not only applies

to the billionaires,

it also applies

to you and me

as we continue

to search for significance.

So we see that

not only does God,

not only does pride

put us in a position

of being an enemy of God,

we read it in that

about how God hates pride.

We see that pride

harms each one of us.

It causes destruction,

it causes misery

and disgrace.

That's the second point

if we can pull it up.

Pride harms each one of us.

We read about how pride

brings destruction.

It harms us.

It is the opposite

of what we're made for

and it robs us

of our ability

to enjoy life.

Now, the scriptures

illuminate part

of why this is.

It says in Proverbs 29,

Proverbs 29:25

verse 25,

if we can bring it up

on the screen,

Proverbs 29,

Proverbs 29:25

verse 25,

the fear of man

lays a snare,

but whoever trusts

in the Lord

is safe.

The fear of man

is a snare,

but whoever trusts

in the Lord

is safe.

The fear of man

is a snare,

is speaking

to the very nature

of what pride is.

See, pride

is this search

for a verdict

of who we are.

Every single one

of us is born

with this.

Again, we have this ego,

this perception

of self,

when we're looking

for a verdict,

who am I

and what is my value?

And the fear of man

is saying that.

It's not that simply

that we're afraid

that every man

is actually the boogeyman.

No, the fear of man

means that we're looking

for a verdict

of our value.

Our ego is calling

out to us

for its sense

of identity

from the value

that others give us,

from the verdict,

the judgment of others.

Now, today,

if you speak

with a lot of

popular counselors

and all that,

or even just

your average guy

on the street,

they'll tell you,

don't care what

others think of you.

All that matters

is what you think of you.

I was at camp

a few weeks ago

and I was about to,

I was going to be leading

for all the kids

a fitness exercise,

like dance class thing.

I'm not a dancer,

but I was going to lead it.

And so,

we were trying to figure out

whether or not

the clothes that they

were thinking of me

wearing for this

was clothes from

workout videos

of the 1980s

or girls' clothes.

I don't know

if you're familiar

with the 80s,

but there's some overlap

right there.

So,

we're trying to discern,

is this cross-dressing

or is this funny?

You know?

And I mean,

you can,

because cross-dressing

in the Bible

actually speaks against

the funny from the 80s

would be okay.

So,

we're trying to figure this out

and kind of looking

at the Bible,

trying to see what it says

about this.

And this guy,

this Christian,

he's one of the leaders

of this camp,

just blurs out to me,

like,

judge not lest you be judged.

He was saying,

like,

don't try to make

a judgment about this,

just do whatever

feels right to you,

go for it,

thinking that that's

what the Bible

calls us to.

In a sense,

he's doing what

a lot of people do today,

which is,

okay,

don't fear man,

just fear yourself.

Just find your verdict,

your value,

your sense of ego

from yourself.

That's what determines

your verdict

of who you are.

But,

these words about

fearing man,

them being a trap,

is a trap for us,

whether it's that

we're fearing the opinion

of others,

we're looking to others

for value,

or we're looking to

ourselves for value.

Either way,

it's a trap.

And it's a trap

because there's such

promise in that.

If you've ever tasted

praise from people,

if you've ever received

praise from someone,

others or from a sense

from yourself,

it feels so good

for a moment.

And so we continue to pursue

that,

pursue people thinking

highly of us,

or pursuing ourselves

thinking highly of us.

But what we find

and what Madonna

found to be true

is that it's a trap,

that it never satisfies,

that it's never enough.

And we have this

relentless,

never-ending

pursuit of significance,

pursuit of a verdict,

a good verdict,

that never lasts,

that never ever lasts.

So if pride

and looking to others

for the verdict

ever solves

is a trap,

how do we become

free of it?

Benjamin Franklin,

in his effort

to become humble,

found this.

These are his words.

There is perhaps

no one of our natural passions

so hard to subdue

as pride.

Beat it down,

stifle it,

mortify it as much

as one pleases,

it is still alive.

Even if I could conceive

that I had completely

overcome it,

I should probably

be proud

of my humility.

And I think that

you and I can relate

to that,

that we sometimes

find ourselves

living and thinking

in a humble way

and instantly we're like,

yes,

I am the humble man,

like I am,

this is awesome

and then you find

that you're proud again.

Another way

that we deal with it

is not simply

being proud of our humility

and that's perverted

but is that

we so often,

especially in the church,

we try to become

humble people

by thinking

really,

really bad stuff

about ourselves.

We often want to

just dwell

and think about

our wretchedness

thinking that this

will make

our humility possible.

But what we find

is that that ego

that is always

drawing attention

to itself

and in a sense

longs to be puffed up

that the reverse of that

that a very much

deflated ego,

a very low view

of yourself

is actually still

this self-obsession.

And so we find

that whether we are

those who think

that we're awesome,

super, super awesome,

or we're those who think

that we're super,

super trash,

that either way

it's this broken ego

that's always drawing

attention to itself.

in a pursuit

of trying to become

a humble person

as a teenager,

I used to always be

saying under my breath

about myself

and I thought

this was good spirituality.

I thought this was

walking with God.

I'm a wretch.

I'm a wretch.

I used to always be saying

that something would happen.

I'm like,

I'm a wretch.

I'm broke.

I'm a wretch.

I'd always be saying

these things

and some of the things

I was saying

some of it is bordering

on biblical

but it was always

about me.

I was not someone

who was a worshiper of God.

I was someone

who was self-obsessed

of my wretchedness.

It was still my ego

calling attention to itself.

So how do we become

free of this?

Well, Proverbs 11.2 says

what we already read,

when pride comes

then comes disgrace

but with the humble

is wisdom.

Proverbs 22.4 says

the reward for humility

and the fear of the Lord

is riches and honor of life.

We see that humility

is in a sense

synonymous with wisdom.

We see that humility

is synonymous

with the fear of the Lord.

Why is that?

Because each of us

is searching for this verdict

and so many of us

our ego is broken

and it's always relentlessly

trying to find that verdict

for ourselves

to illustrate

what it means

to be fearing God.

And Paul,

the Apostle Paul

is an amazing example

of someone

who is truly

a humble person.

In 1 Corinthians 4.3

he says

he's rebuking

the Corinthians

for competing

with each other

for their verdict

of their significance.

And he says

but with me

it is a very small thing

that I should be judged

by you

or by any human court.

In fact,

I do not even judge myself.

So he's saying

I don't actually look

for my verdict and value

from any one of you

from any one of you

nor am I trying to

find the verdict

from what I think of myself.

No,

it doesn't matter.

Instead he says

but I'm not thereby acquitted

by the fact

that he doesn't judge himself.

He says no,

it is the Lord

who judges me.

He's saying

I'm looking for my verdict

of who I am

from God.

Now,

that might sound

really freeing at first

but if you think about it

God knows each one of us

and the depravity of ourselves

so much more

than any one of us.

God knows

the wickedness of our hearts

even more than you and I

can ever imagine.

And so when he turns his attention

to a verdict from God

that might sound good at first

but then you think

oh no,

God actually knows.

When everyone else

is fooled by my politeness

and when I seem like

I'm caring for people

but I'm actually doing it

for the desire of praise

God sees that.

So in a sense

God being our judge

should actually fill us

with more fear

and more insecurity

in a sense

than if it was

us fearing man.

Except that Paul

knows reality

and he knows

that the good news

isn't just an idea

it's the reality

that Jesus has actually

achieved the perfect verdict

that he lived

the perfect life

and that Jesus

made the verdict

that he received

God said over Jesus

this is my son

whom I love

and whom I am well pleased.

And by Jesus dying

on the cross

we all know the story

we celebrate every Easter

and every communion service

that Jesus died on the cross

Jesus did that

in order that we might

receive that verdict

from that Jesus deserves.

That the verdict

over Jesus

that God says

this is my son

with who I am well pleased

that you and I

can actually receive

that verdict

that value

of who we are

is the value

that Jesus has

that we receive that

as we turn from

our own self-obsession

and turn from

our own sin way

and we look to God

as we pray to him

for forgiveness

and look to him

for life

and trust in him

we receive what Jesus

has made possible.

And as Paul

does that

that's becoming a Christian

Paul has become

a follower of Jesus

and receives Jesus' verdict

he no longer

has this broken ego

that's always calling

attention to itself.

2 Timothy

is Paul's final letter

before he dies

and I know that

when he's chained

to a wall in that letter

and it's incredible

how that letter

which is where Paul

has so much to be

in a sense

unthankful for

he's going through

such hard times

instead the letter

bursts with Paul's

love for the Lord

and his concern

for Timothy's well-being.

How do you be someone

that when you're going

through your worst day ever

you're actually concerned

about someone else

you're not just there

to just pour out

all your lament?

It's because Paul's ego

was healed.

Paul had a healed self

a healed understanding

of who he was

that it wasn't

bent out of shape

always trying to

call attention to itself

instead because he had

become someone

who was actually humble

whose view was on God

his life was on God

whose attention was on him

his fear was of him

he was able to therefore

be someone genuinely

interested in other people.

C.S. Lewis writes

in that famous chapter

on pride and humility

how if you ever meet

a truly humble person

you probably didn't realize

you're a humble person.

He writes how

it's not the person

who is always speaking

of their wretchedness

that is a humble person

but that person again

is actually quite self

obsessed with their wretchedness.

Rather you wouldn't notice it

because the humble person

would be someone

who's actually genuinely

interested in you.

He's genuinely interested

in other people.

Lewis writes that

a humble person

is not someone

who thinks less of themselves

it's someone

who thinks of themselves less.

That a humble person

isn't someone

who thinks less of themselves

it's someone

who thinks of themselves less.

that as our ego

becomes healed

as we receive

a verdict

from what God

thinks of us

we become people

who are actually able

to turn our attention

away from ourselves.

We're actually able

to find freedom.

And as our attention

turns away

from always trying

to get that verdict

from other people

we're actually

you're able to

when we thank God

for a meal

we're actually there

saying

I'm not trying to

have this meal

so to have

more of a meal

than someone else.

I'm actually able

to enjoy my meal.

that you have friends

not for the sake

of having more friends

than others

but you're having friends

not to find value

in your friends

but you found your value

in God

and therefore

you're free

to actually enjoy

the friendships you have.

And in that respect

the person who might have

much less than the rich

is living a life

of so much more joy

and meaning

and even enjoyment

and pleasure

than the person

who is so very proudful.

And so just finally

a few takeaways

of how we can become

these people

who instead of

fearing what others think

or fearing what we think

of ourselves

or living a life

that is thinking

of ourselves less.

How do we become

free of that cycle

that Benjamin Franklin

spoke of

as we try to become

more humble

we just get more pride

about our humility

or be free

of just trying

to be obsessed

with our wretchedness.

How do we become

truly humble people?

Well,

as so many other issues

we need God's help.

And so this is a prayer

I want to invite you

to pray

even if you use other words

to consistently pray

this in your life.

Dear God,

grow in me

a humble

trust and confidence

in your saving work

in my life

through the gospel.

That we'd be

people who consistently pray

Dear God,

grow in me

a humble

trust and confidence

in your saving work

in my life

through the gospel.

The next thing

to pray

another way

to pray this

would be to pray

a prayer like this.

Dear God,

grow in me

a fear of you

an awe of you

and a love for you

that captivates my heart

holds my attention

and transforms

the way I see

everything.

In preparation

for the sermons

this week

I went onto Twitter

and I just typed

in the hashtag

Grand Canyon.

I wanted to see

what do people tweet

when they go

to the Grand Canyon.

And I saw that

although if you look up

almost anything else

you'll see selfies

of someone in front

of whatever monument

a famous monument

or place

when you look at

tweets of the Grand Canyon

what you see

is the Grand Canyon

and you end up

reading these tweets

about I never felt

so alive

freedom

all this kind of stuff

about freedom

and being alive

and being awake

and about the beauty

of the Grand Canyon.

You don't see much selfies

almost none.

Why is that?

It's because no one

goes to the Grand Canyon

this majestic thing

in nature

to glory themselves.

They go to feel

so small

and so alive

as they turn

their attention

finally from themselves

for a moment

to the majesty

of the Grand Canyon.

I'm trying to become healthy

so I've been trying

to go to the gym

and I was at the gym

the other day

there was a guy

whose muscles were

I think 18.6 times

bigger than mine

like he was huge

and I noticed that

like every time

he passed any mirror

in the gym

like he just kind of stopped

he just like

he caught his own eye

and he just looked

and he just like

looked so lovingly

at himself

and I just picture

like what would this guy

look like if he went

to the Grand Canyon

like would he actually

be standing at the Grand Canyon

just like looking

at his biceps

like his biceps

might be big

but compared to the Grand Canyon

they're very small

and it's something

so freeing

people chop the Grand Canyon

as if it's like

quite often

because

it's something

where they finally

get a piece

a moment

of what it feels like

to turn your attention

from yourself

the Grand Canyon

as awesome as it is

can hold your attention

perhaps for an afternoon

or maybe if you camp there

for a week

but there's only one thing

in all of the universe

that can hold our attention

for all of eternity

and for all of our lives

and that is God

the one who breathed

the universe

into existence

this freedom we find

as we look to God

and so that's why we pray

dear God

grow in me a fear of you

and an awe of you

and a love for you

that captivates my heart

that helps you

turn my heart

and my attention

away from my muscles

or my voice

or my

how caring I am

all those kind of things

Lord turn my attention

from that

would you hold my attention

and transform the way

I see everything

so those are

two different prayers

to pray

just that God

will grow in us humility

and the third thing

is that we'd be

worshippers of God

one of the best ways

to combat pride

in our lives

is just as we worship God

that's the final point

just worship God

that's why

some of why we sing songs

is that it's turning

our attention from ourselves

and turning our attention

to the bigness of God

I mentioned King Nebuchadnezzar

before

and how he was the richest

of kings living in such fear

eventually

in God's mercy

God drives him

into the wilderness

and makes him like an animal

for seven long years

and Nebuchadnezzar's healing

and restoration of sanity

is found

as he turns

after seven years

turns his eyes toward heaven

and worships God

and as he worships God

his self-obsession

his arrogance

is taken away

and he becomes someone

who's fully alive

and the joy

that jumps out

of the page

of Nebuchadnezzar's prayers

and worship

is a beautiful thing

we become alive

as we turn our attention

away from ourselves

and turn our attention

to God

so the final point

that we have

is that humility

restores our sanity

our friendships

our joy

and our life

that humility

restores our sanity

our friendships

our joy

and our life

this is contrary

to the input

I received

as a young boy

this is something

to pray for

this is something

to ask God for

and to look to God for

that he would make us

a humble people

so let us

look to him right now

in prayer

Heavenly Father

I would venture a guess

that every single one

of us in this room

knows what it's like

to try to be humble

and to find that

even in our pursuit

of humility

we're so proud

God it seems that

we lack the ability

as human beings

to be really

truly humble

apart from you

and God we don't want

to be apart from you

Lord we want to be

so close to you

and so Father I ask

that you would help

each one of us

in this room

to overcome

this sin

that every man

and woman knows

the sin of pride

that you would bring

us freedom

from trying to find

a verdict

in the value

and opinion

others give us

or that ourselves

give us

that instead

we would look

to you

that like Nebuchadnezzar

you would heal us

God

from our

self-obsession

that you would

restore to us

the joy

and the meaning

and the purpose

and the lives

that we were made for

that each one of us

would truly be lovers

and worshippers

of you

God that you would

grow in us

a humble

trust and confidence

in the finished work

of Jesus

and the verdict

we receive

from you

through him

and that you would

captivate our hearts

that you would

hold our attention

and you would

transform the way

we see everything

that we might be people

fully alive in you

for your glory

and for the good

of this world

in Jesus name

Amen