If my people... Humility
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If my people… Humility
If my people… Humility
GOOD morning Northside… It’s so good to be with you all today. My name is Jamey Mills and I am the lead pastor here at Northside Church.
A couple of weeks ago, we put aside what we had been planning to talk about… instead we were wanting to address a bit of all that’s going on around us.
The truth is, for me at least it’s just a lot. It’s a lot to take in, a lot to process, and with it comes feelings of concern, frustration, sadness…
It’s hard to know what to do… and so we dove into this passage in 2 Chronicles… where we are reminded that God has a role for you to play… for me to play… for His Church to play. In fact God calls us to lead, but it's in a way that’s very different than what we may think…
God told His people in that day… this timeless truth.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
IF… my people, that is us… who are called by His name… God lays out 4 things… 4 ways that His people are to lead in times just like this.
1. Humble ourselves
2. Pray
3. Seek His face
4. Turn from Wickedness
Last week pastor Matt did a great job of helping us consider what it looks like to Seek His face… to consider what it means to put Jesus first and seek out His truth as the foundation of our lives.
and it clearly reminds me of one of the statements that now weeks later… is still driving this conversation for me… which is this.
“Life is better when we are listen to and follow God’s instructions”
Do you believe that?
At this point I have spent a lot of years in ministry… and I have seen it thousands of times… based on my experience I find that statement to be factual. It’s truth! It was true way back then and it’s true now.
I believe the world would be a different place if people believed, embraced, and lived out this truth… to go further, I believe the world would be a different place if Christians, if the Church believed, embraced and lived it out. Life goes better… when we listen to God and follow His instructions.
And for whatever reason… it feels like a struggle… like in the process of buying in, believing, embracing and living that truth out… a battle or sorts… and maybe it has to do a little with what we are talking about today?
When God communicates with His people… about being heard and about bringing healing to their land… He communicates these four things… four important things that seem to catch the ear of God and bring about real Change…
And the very first on that list is humility.
If you were to google what does the bible say about humility… you’d see that it's in there a lot… I knew it was but I was a little surprised at just how much the Bible talks about humility.
Why do you suppose that is?
One author spoke about how humility is the bedrock of Christian character… it's the ground floor… Humility adds depth and shape to the other characteristics that God desires to see in us for our own good… things like honesty, compassion, love, selflessness and things like that…
Humility impacts every part of our lives…
Here are a few examples of what the Bible says about humility. it says…
Prov says that humility comes with wisdom, that it leads to honor,
1 Peter says God gives grace to the humble,
James says that in humility it’s God who lifts us up.
Micah says that God has told us all along that walking in Humility with Him is part of what it means to follow Him.
Ephesians says that part of bearing with each other well.. Part of doing life with others well is found in humility.
The Bible speaks so much about humility, because humility or a lack of it impacts every area of our life…
And so today when I ask you, are you humble, what would you say?
Here is the passage I want to focus on this morning…
Philippians 2:1–11 NLT
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
There are 4 major truths about humility I want to point out from this passage.
Changes the way we relate to God.
This passage says that Jesus… in humility… even though He is God… didn’t consider equality with God… something to cling to… and while this looks different for us a bit, we aren’t Jesus… I do think this example is there for us. There is something we can pull from it….
And part of that is… we aren’t God.
The definition that I use for humility is right here… It means to have an accurate view of yourself in the light of God, realizing all we aren’t and all God is…
The ancient Greek believed that humility was a form of weakness… when in reality humility takes strength, wisdom, transparency, honestly, and self-control…
Humility is not for wusses. Two weeks ago… it was said like this… Humility doesn't take our voice away, it informs it, tempers it, it clears our vision and changes our posture before God and man. (Picture)
But here is the thing, they were kind of right. The more I studied humility, the more I realized that humility is a sense is about weakness… it means recognizing all we aren’t and all He is… humility means being aware and honest about our smallness and weakness before God and His awesomeness…
And in that humility and honesty… we see His strength at work in us and through us. Have you ever seen that? The way God can turn our weakness and even our sin into opportunities for good?
2 Cor 12 says that when we are weak… where we are weak He is strong.
It sort of reminds me of the earthquake Brandi and I felt in Seattle years ago… it was fairly small… and that the damage in the area was minor… but for me… feeling the ground shake beneath my feet was a crazy sensation… that my world is not as stable or as immovable as it often seems.
and in that moment I realized just how small… I am.
And for whatever reason… it is often in humility, in realizing my inability and smallness that I most accurately see God and am most open to Him and dependent on Him… Humility changes things in my relationship with God.
Humility leads us to realize our need for God… In all that we aren’t and all that He is. For his love, His grace, His wisdom, His intervention… when so much is out of control in me and around me.
Humility also leads us to Him when our world isn’t right. When we realize all we aren’t and all he is… we understand that even in our best efforts we fall short. We at times make a mess of life… and its humility even then that leads us to Him… finding forgiveness, closeness, healing for our hearts and for our land.
Humility changes the way we relate to God… the way we seek Him… the way we depend on Him.
It’s impossible to seek God well without humility… without seeing our need for Him.
# 2 Changes the way we see ourselves.
One of the best opening lines to any book I have read is right here… “it is not about you”. Humility realizes that real life… real freedom… real meaning… real purpose… is lost in being self absorbed.
There is a higher good… a greater purpose… a better way to live than trying to make my own name great.
W/o humility… seeing God and seeking God is hard.
This mirage that we are and have all we need… that we are big enough to face life and earth on our own… that we can be our own moral compass… that our own wisdom is enough… that we have all the answers… it is a painful thing to live that way until you can’t.
And true humility in these senses… realizing life is not about me, that things are often out of my control, and that I fall short… and understanding that God meets us there… leads to true and real gratitude. Humility… changes the way I see myself… it changes that way I relate to God… and it leaves us thankful.
Humility leads us to gratitude.
Kyle Idleman shared signs that may point to our need to get over ourselves… that we may lack humility.
When you walk into a room and often think… I wonder what they think of me.
You take everything personally and get defensive.
You believe that your feelings and opinions really are the most important and reasonable.
You think what you desire is most important.
You believe the other person needs to apologize first.
You tend to be negative and critical instead of positive and grateful.
You’re already thinking about people who need to hear this right now.
Humility is such an odd thing… you’ll never be able to say I am super awesome at humility… why? Because it goes against the grain of what humility is and means.
The antonyms of humility are things like… pride, selfishness, self-entitlement, and arrogance…
Selfishness is considered by many to be the root of all other sin in our life… that it's selfishness that gives way to things like lust, greed, hate, lying, stealing, bullying, gossip, misusing our time and resources
By God’ s design it’s hard to acknowledge God, see our need for Him, or follow Him well if we are most concerned with ourselves.
Humility reminds us that life is not about… me.
#3 Changes the way we relate to others.
This is a message our world needs to hear. Humility changes the way we see and relate to people.
While things like pride, arrogance, selfishness and self entitlement… draw lines, build walls, and create division… humility helps us elevate others. Humility is huge in building bridges, building trust, seeing things from the perspective of others, fostering unity, and building community. Humility is a major need in our world right now.
Philippians 2… says it like this…
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
Just one more example on how life is better… if we listen to God and follow His instructions. God’s instructions aren’t simply things God wants from you but for you… and for those around you.
How different would our world look right now… if we lived this out… thinking of others more than ourselves… not looking to our own interest, but taking an interest in others.
It even goes further to talk about the fourth key truth which is…
#4 Humility is lived out in serving others.
It always blows me away to think about all that Jesus laid down… all that He gave us to “take an interest in us”.
Can you imagine how different things would have looked if Jesus came in and led the way we most often imagine leadership? If he didn’t listen, forced His way on others, or was dishonest to get what he wants... Jesus was humble… even to the point of taking on the very role… of a servant.
He considered others… cared for others… lowered himself… put aside His desires… to listen, speak truth to, care well for, and to meet the real and true needs of people.
Jesus didn’t compromise truth… he modeled it. He didn’t scream about love with a megaphone… he lived it out.
Jesus didn’t demand His way… He showed them the way out of real love and real concern.
Jesus didn’t take, he gave.
Jesus didn’t demand to be served… but came to serve.
And Jesus didn’t show the way and model the way for only those who looked like Him, or spoke like Him, smelt like him, or even believed like Him.
Jesus’ motivation is summed up by these words that were spoken to the most culturally unacceptable person of that day….
Luke 19:10 (NIV)
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Jesus came to seek those who were far from God…
Who were stuck in a vicious cycle of emptiness, selfishness, pride and destruction.
To walk with and care for those who were not experiencing all that God had for them… not at the back of his hand… but in the brokenness of His heart and in His desire for them to live out the fullness and freedom we were created for from the very beginning.
He came to speak and show truth… in love… in ways that would be heard…
Laying down his position, his rights, what was His… it says He took on the very nature of a servant… to care, love, and serve those that didn't have it all together… and in humility we realize that means people just like you and just like me.
Jesus wasn't silent… He wasn't passive… He wasn't weak… He was humble…
He spoke truth… He modeled truth… He showed the way… driven by his great love for people… that they would experience all that God has for them…
That is the power of humility… of having an accurate view of you… and all that you're not in light of all that He is.
If I were to ask you… are you humble? What would you say.
Does humility describe the way I relate to God? Does it describe how I see myself? Is it proven by the way I see and treat others? Am I a servant?
Today… as we wrap up our teaching time… I want to remind you of this… hearing God’s truth about humility is not what God asks of you.
My hope and prayer is that each one of us would do that hard work of looking into and praying about humility in our lives… and digging into what it would look like to make it less about me…
Pride and selfishness… rob us of so much of what God has for us… but life… real life… involves real humility. So much… of what God desires for us… starts there.
I hope and pray that NS is a church known for serving… knowing for caring well for others the ways Jesus did… but it will NEVER happen without humility.