Ash Wednesday: Pride

Welcome to all of you. Welcome to Church of the Advent. Happy Valentine's Day.

Glad that we could be here to celebrate Valentine's Day together.

It's an interesting, fortuitous, amusing coincidence that these two days would occur on the same day.

It's a wonderful illustration in many ways of the contrast between the culture that we live in

and the faith that some of us in this room profess.

Yes. You may not know this about Valentine's Day, but it actually has a sort of assorted history.

It's named after St. Valentine, but long before that, even before probably the Roman Empire,

it was originally a festival called Lupercalia.

And you may have read about this, but Lupercalia was a little bit different than our modern version of Valentine's Day.

And they would say, priests would gather in a cave and they would sacrifice a dog and a goat,

or sometimes multiple goats, depending on, I suppose, the year.

And they would then take the bodies of the animals and they would take the flesh off

and they would turn the hides into whips.

And then they would take all of their clothes off and they would run through the streets

whipping the women because they believed it would bless them with greater fertility.

So this is the origins of Valentine's Day.

So the next time you want to complain about the D.C. dating culture,

just be thankful that we don't live back then.

So this is the history of Valentine's Day.

Since then, it has become this ode to romantic love and desire.

And tonight, maybe many of us or some of us are maybe even going to go out after this.

It's a night to sort of escape the realities of our life for a night to seek romance and passion and erotic desire.

It's a great celebration of those things in our culture.

It feels like you couldn't contrast that more with what we're doing here.

We are gathered to talk about death.

Now, why would anybody want to do that?

It feels like such a joyless thing to focus on mortality and sin.

But in reality, if you begin to push into the heart of what we're here to do this evening,

it has a lot more to do with joy and pleasure than we might originally think.

Because when we talk about sin,

and tonight begins a series for those of us who are part of Church of the Advent

looking at what are called the seven deadly sins,

when we push into the reality of what sin is,

what the seven deadly sins are,

they are all ways in which amazing, beautiful, glorious gifts that God has given his people

have become twisted, disconnected from the giver,

distorted, so that instead of giving joy and pleasure,

they rob us of those things.

And so the more we understand sin and how to escape the power of sin,

the more we are actually delving into the territory of pure joy,

the likes of which a holiday like Valentine's Day could never hope to touch.

And so tonight we're going to begin by talking about what most people consider to be,

and I think biblically speaking,

what is the sin that gave birth to all sin in the world,

which is, of course, the sin of pride.

And we have this parable that Jesus told that Zachary just read for us

that comes from Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

Most of the time, Jesus' parables are hard to understand.

They're obscure, and you need to pull open a commentary

and sometimes see what people think they mean.

Well, this parable is actually an exception to that rule.

This parable is completely straightforward in its meaning.

Suspiciously straightforward in its meaning.

You read it and you think it can't be this obvious.

It's a story of two men who go to the temple to pray,

and the Pharisee prays aloud, stands off by himself,

and prays aloud so that everybody can hear,

God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,

people who voted for Hillary, people who voted for Trump, whatever.

I thank you that I'm not like those men or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week.

I give tithes of all that I get.

And Jesus contrasts that with the tax collector

who can't even raise his eyes from the ground

and can only beat his breast and cry out,

God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

You read this parable and you think, it's so obvious.

The meaning, it's right there.

Right?

What's the answer?

What does the parable tell us?

Well, it tells us, don't be like that Pharisee

and pray in the prideful way that he prayed.

Be like the tax collector.

Beat your breast.

Cry out to God for mercy.

And then we do that and we say,

thank God I was smart enough not to be like that Pharisee.

And then we realize all too quickly,

a little too late, that the trap has sprung

and that Jesus purposefully laid this parable out

to be temptingly simple

so that it would be like reaching for peanut butter

on the trigger of a rat trap

and we're caught.

And we realize that this is the way human beings

are wired to think in terms of comparison.

Right?

Jesus understands something about human nature

and something specifically about pride.

That pride, and this is not his language,

this is my language,

that pride is like a rat.

That pride is something that hides

in the basement of our hearts

and it spreads sin and division

and discontentment and evil wherever it goes.

And so pride, Jonathan Edwards said,

Jonathan Edwards is the 18th century pastor

and theologian who was one of the principal players

in the Great Awakening,

this huge movement of spiritual revival.

When he wrote about revival

and then he wrote about things that inhibited revival,

he said the thing that most inhibits revival

is pride.

Hidden spiritual pride.

Pride that you don't even know is there

but it's hiding like rats

in the basement of your heart.

And like rats,

pride is extremely difficult to exterminate.

You can't just go down into the basement

with a broom and sweep it out the door.

The problem is,

the minute you do that

and then you turn your attention elsewhere,

it sneaks right back in.

And you know, D.C.,

if you live in a row house in D.C.,

they're just rats that just go from one house

to another.

And it's the same with pride.

Pride just gets transferred

from one person to another,

one situation to another.

It has to be baited.

It has to be coaxed out.

It has to be killed.

This is why Jesus tells this parable.

It's a rat trap for our pride.

And so as we think about this

and the nature of pride

and we wonder how much of this is an issue

in my heart,

we have to ask the question,

how do we see spiritual pride in our own lives?

How do we actually lay eyes on it?

In the darkness of the basement.

And coming back to Jonathan Edwards,

he actually writes this.

He says,

quote,

Since spiritual pride in its own nature

is so secret,

it cannot be so well discerned

by immediate intuition on the thing itself.

So you can't just turn inward

and sort of spot your pride

and say,

oh, there it is.

Oh, there's where I'm being prideful.

He says,

that's fruitless.

He says,

it is best identified

by its fruits and effects.

In other words,

and this is as far as we'll go

with this metaphor,

pride like rats leaves droppings.

As far as I'm going to go.

It leaves droppings.

In other words,

there are fruits and effects of pride.

And when you see those things in your life,

those symptoms,

if you follow them like a trail,

they will lead you to the nest.

And so Edwards lists some things.

He says,

if these things show up in your life,

if you see these things,

these are evidence of hidden pride.

So the first thing he talks about is criticism.

Are you a person who has a critical spirit?

Do you tend to find faults in others

and minimize them in yourself?

Are you the kind of person

that hears a sermon on spiritual pride

and thinks,

I really know somebody

who needs to hear this sermon on spiritual pride?

If you're thinking that way,

chances are there is some pridefulness underneath it.

He also says that contempt,

right,

so the devaluing of other people,

that that is evidence of spiritual pride.

He also talks about defensiveness.

You know,

people who,

the moment you're questioned,

the moment you are challenged,

the moment someone tries to rebuke you,

even someone who loves you,

your hands come up.

He says that's actually evidence

of spiritual pride.

He talks about indifference

to the needs of others.

Do you have a hard time

generating compassion and empathy

for people in your life,

people with real needs?

Do you have a hard time caring?

He says that's actually connected to pride.

So all of these things that he's listing,

he's saying,

the real reason that you're critical,

the real reason that you're contemptuous,

the real reason that you don't care

about the needs of the people around you

is pride.

And actually what's interesting

about these first four

is John Gottman,

who some of you know

from his work on marriage.

He's the famous marriage researcher

who says that he can predict

with over 90% accuracy

whether or not a couple

is going to be together

in five years.

Just by hearing a snippet

of their conversation,

he can predict

whether or not

they're going to stay together.

And he says one of the main ways

he does that

is by detecting

what he calls

the four horsemen

of the apocalypse.

So when he hears

a couple interact,

he's looking for four things.

And he says,

if any of these things

show up significantly

in their interactions,

there's a very good chance

the marriage is going to fall apart

and the couple's going to end up divorced.

And guess what those four things are?

The four horsemen

of the apocalypse.

Criticism,

contempt,

defensiveness,

and indifference.

It's interesting.

He's not quoting

Jonathan Edwards.

He's found this on his own.

So what that shows us is

is that Gottman has found

that the real killer

of marriage,

in other words,

the real killer

of intimate relationships,

is actually pride

underneath criticism

and defensiveness

and all of these things.

And then he adds

a couple of more

signs or leavings,

if you will,

in our lives

that evidence pride.

Superficiality,

you know,

people who tend to

care more about

how they're perceived

than the actual state

of their heart.

The religious community

is full of this,

full of people

who are experts

at visible holiness.

The holiness

that is observable

and measurable,

right?

He says that

conceals pride.

Presumption before God.

How dare you, God?

How dare you

not answer the prayer

that I prayed

in the way

that I hoped.

If there is a God

and he's loving,

surely he would love

and accept a person

like me.

He says that's evidence

of pride.

And then lastly,

attention seeking.

Now, I don't think

we go out and say,

look at me,

look at me,

look at me.

At least most of us

don't.

Don't do that.

If you do,

you shouldn't.

But I think that

there are other ways

that we seek attention.

I think that

an inability to say no

to people,

a need to be needed,

you know?

I think that's

a form of attention.

He says that's rooted

in pride, right?

So all of these things

are evidences of pride.

And so, you know,

another way of looking

at this is this.

He says, you know,

if you want to become

less critical,

if you want to become

more compassionate

toward the needs

of others,

if you want to become

more open

to critical feedback,

these are issues

that you are wanting.

He says you shouldn't

target those things.

Target pride.

And by targeting pride

in your life,

you root out

all of these other things.

You clean out the nest.

Fortunately for us,

we have Ash Wednesday

and the season of Lent.

And if you're new

to this observance,

if you're new

to this season,

then it is custom designed

to enable us

to seed out

and to root it out

and ultimately

to leave it

at the foot of the cross.

That's why we're here tonight.

tonight is to begin

this war on pride

in our own hearts.

The extermination

has begun.

And so tonight,

in just a little while,

Dan and I are going

to stand up here

and we're going

to invite you

to come forward

and we're going

to put ashes

on your forehead

and we're going

to tell you,

remember that you

have come from dust

and that one day

you will go back

to dust.

From dust you have come

and to dust

you shall return.

That sounds morbid,

but think about

what we just said.

There's no such thing

as proud dust.

Right?

There's no such thing.

There's nothing proud

about dust,

about mortality.

I think perhaps

that may be why

our culture

has such

a vigorous focus

on youth.

We spend billions

of dollars

to continue

looking young.

We deny death

in every way

we possibly can.

We do everything

we can

to extend

life

because mortality

is humiliating.

You know?

It's humiliating.

So we put ashes

on our head

to remind ourselves

of that.

We also fast

during Lent

because guess what?

When you go down

into the basement

of your heart,

that rat

of pride

is not going

to be out

in the open.

Pride hides

behind our comforts.

So when you begin

to strip away

your comforts,

you know,

even little things

like caffeine

or alcohol

or any of the things

that people give up,

you strip away

even the smallest things

and sometimes,

you know,

the little things

are even more effective

because then you go

a week or two

and you're about

ready to crumble

and then you realize

how utterly dependent

we are on all

of these stupid

little comforts.

And that is

severely humbling.

It's incredibly humbling.

So we fast.

To show ourselves

that while we love

to think of ourselves

as autonomous,

independent,

self-possessed beings,

that we are in fact

creatures of

quasi-addictive habits

in all areas

of our life.

And then thirdly,

Lent is a time

to focus on

more than ever before.

Christians should

always do this,

but Lent this season

that we're entering into

is a time to focus

on the needs

of those around you.

Isaiah 58 says,

the kind of fasting

that the Lord desires

is to care for the poor,

right,

to free the oppressed.

That's the kind of fasting

that glorifies God.

The reason we give

these things up

is to focus

on the needs around us

because guess what?

That annihilates pride

because pride

is not so much

thinking less of yourself,

or I'm sorry,

humility is not so much

thinking less of yourself,

it's thinking of yourself

less,

as has often been said.

And then lastly,

and most importantly,

Lent is a time

to remember

why we need Easter

and why we need

a Savior

precisely like Jesus,

why He is the only one

who can offer hope

to people like us.

And there are two things

that we see

that offer that hope.

First,

His life and His death.

You cannot look

at the life of Jesus,

compare it to your own,

and remain proud.

If you think of yourself

as a loving person

or a kind person,

or if you think

that you care about

the downtrodden,

or that you're doing good

in the world,

compare yourself to Jesus.

And then look at His death

on the cross.

You know,

as this parable says,

and I think in many ways

foretells,

you know,

the cross humbles the proud.

You cannot look at the cross

and the innocent suffering

and remain proud.

If you really look at it,

the cross humbles the proud.

And then as we continue

in this story

and in this journey,

we will eventually come

to Easter morning.

And on Easter morning,

we will celebrate

the resurrection.

And the resurrection

shows the exaltation

of the humble.

The resurrection shows

the great mystery

at the heart of our faith,

where the path

of humility leads,

leads,

where all of this

is meant to take us.

And that is why

we end this journey

in the celebration

of Easter.

It shows us

that the man

who was most humbled,

once that had been accomplished,

rose from death

and was glorified.

And the promise of Easter

is that we will one day

share in that glory.

But the road to life

passes through death.

And so that's why we're here.

We are entering into death

that we might one day

taste life anew.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.