Sermon - February 21, 2010

Get Blessed 1: Poor Soul
Isaiah 57:14-15, James 4:7-10, Matthew 5:1-3

    A patrolman was monitoring traffic when he noticed  a woman driver in an expensive car aggressively dart in and out of traffic. Suspicious, he followed her. He noted that she honked impatiently at the car ahead  just as the light turned green, and gunned her engine.. When another car attempted to pass, she flagged an obscene gesture. Then  when a car ahead stopped, stalled, and struggled, she rolled down her window and shouted insulting remarks.  Finally, the patrol man flipped on his lights and she pulled over. When he asked for her license, registration, and insurance, she spouted, “I know I wasn't speeding.”  “No, ma'am” he replied, “But seeing the “WWJD” Bumper sticker and watching  you drive, I thought the car might be stolen.”
    The world watches and notices how Christians behave. Our witness is determined by our attitude: Jesus teaches us how to be, or as one preacher calls them, the Be-attitudes. Or, what the character of every Christians ought to be. When the crowds pressed in, Jesus went up the mountain side with His disciples and began to teach, as it were, in a natural amphitheater. In the next ten verses, He offers eight  golden keys to unlock the secret of a rich and satisfying life. They all begin with the word, blessed, meaning fortunate, or blissful.  For the next six Sundays, we will examine each of these golden keys. Look at the first, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 5:3  What does Jesus mean by “poor in spirit.” We live in a culture that encourages people to excel. Who wants to be poor in anything? Poor in school?  Flunky!  Poor in sports?  Loser! Poor in business? What would be the point?  Poor in cash?  I don't think so. So what's with “poor in spirit?”  Jesus is pointing at pride.
  Shouldn't we be proud of our accomplishments? Of our children, our grandchildren?   Don't we take pride in our community and our church?  Isn't patriotism pride in your country?  In the Bible we learn that Pride comes in two kinds, like Cholesterol. Just as there is good Cholesterol that we need, and bad that will kill you, so there is good pride  and bad pride. Good pride is self-respect, self-esteem, and dignity. Last week we heard the second greatest commandment is “love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you don't love yourself, that is, have self-respect, self-esteem, how are you going to love your neighbor. We take pride, satisfaction in a job well done. I take delight and pride in a sewing or crochet project that turned out well. While compiling the Statistical Reports I was reminded of all that has been accomplished for the love of Christ in this church. I am deeply proud of each of you in the Church and it's ministry. I understand the words of the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.  2Cor. 7:4. He said of his pride over the Philippians,“It is right for me to feel this way about all of you , since I have you in my heart...” Good pride, like good cholesterol is important for healthy living.
   Bad pride, however, is deadly. It is stubborn, selfish, unwilling to admit wrong or fault. It holds grudges, fosters gossip, and defies God, His mercy and grace. That kind of pride expelled Lucifer from heaven, because he sought to be like God. That kind of pride gives God no glory, but seeks to glorify itself. It is the pride that is so deluded it believes it has no need of God. What does that kind of pride do?
    It causes crisis and creates havoc. Scratch just beneath the surface of any conflict and you will find pride lurking there. Marriages suffer because of self-centered attitudes and actions. There are scores to be kept under the scrutiny of self-appointed score keepers. I know of a marriage that almost didn't take place because the couple was fighting over who did the laundry. Another marriage nearly ended in divorce because the husband, despite his wife's objections,  bought a house, a Mercedes, and a puppy – all in the same month.  Churches fail, because prideful members are unwilling to include others, share with others, work with others and often gossip about others. By the way, if someone gossips to you, be assured they will gossip about you.  Last week, we were reminded of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 that love “is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. vs. 5  No score-keeping.
   Pride causes conflict and it inhibits personal growth. Pride makes you unteachable. If you know-it-all, what can anyone teach you? I would much rather admit I don't know everything, and meet a lot of interesting people! I can learn from people like me, or very unlike me, from my critics, and even from people who don't like me. Pride shuts our minds and walls our hearts:  Proverbs 10:17  Anyone willing to be corrected is on the pathway to life. But anyone refusing has lost his chance.
  Pride generates anxiety: Psychologists would tell us that the greatest source of stress in life is preoccupation with self. If I keep my focus on myself, how I look, what I do, what will people think, I'm going to be nervous, that makes me worried, and that stresses me out. The more I think about myself, the more anxious I become. Worrying about myself, or what others think of me, if I'm trendy or cool, impressive, or memorable, prevents me from being real – genuinely myself. Pride makes me look bigger on the outside than I am on the inside.
    But life is not about me! Our culture tauts everything that is in opposition to the Bible.  Society would have you believe that you are number one. Have it your way. You deserve whatever is the hot item. But the Bible says, Nope, it's not about you. It's about God. What are you going to do about God? 
   Pride causes conflict, prevents growth and, generates anxiety. But the very worst thing Pride does, is it angers God. God hates pride. “To fear the Lord is to hate evil: I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” Pr. 8:13. Pride flaunts God by saying, “ I'm going to do my own thing. I'm running my own life. I'm my own savior, my own god.” Pride sets us up as competitors, enemies with God. Believe me, there is no blessing in that.  God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6  We can never find satisfaction or peace in pretensions of pride or joy in life without grace.
   Blessed are the poor in spirit, happy are the humble! Jesus shows us in Himself that humility is the hallmark of emotional maturity. Jesus was completely secure in the Father's love. When we are secure in Christ's love, the love that knows us through and through and still offered Himself to die on the cross for us, we have no need of the bad pride, and we can zealously give thanks for all that has given us good pride.
    The poor in spirit know that they are spiritually bankrupt without God.  The golden key that unleashes power to live admits, “God  I need YOU! In college during the seventies, I came to believe I could be and do anything I wanted to be and do. I had been invited by the dean of medicine to apply for medical school.  I seriously entertained becoming a doctor, even though I had  barely passed biology and nearly flunked chemistry  I thought, “ if I want it badly enough, I can become it.” But it is not about what we want. It is what God wills and desires for us. No matter how long you practice, or how hard you try, you will never become an opera singer if you are a deaf-mute. All the time and effort you spend in the attempt, will detract from becoming the author of great novels God intend for you to write. Humility lays our hearts in God's lap and says, Lord, Your will, not mine. 
    So how can we know the blessings of the poor in spirit. How can we overcome pride and be humble​? God will expose pride, but His love respects your person-hood. He won't trespass your will and make you humble.  James teaches us that humility we have to do ourselves, “humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.” Note that it is in the plural. James is speaking to the church as a whole, not only just one person. As a church we need to get down and be humble before mighty God.  When we do, when we meet that contrite condition of heart, and He will lift you up. James teaches us how to break free from the pride that inflicts pain on ourselves and others, and infuriates God.

1.     Submit yourselves to God: Search the Scriptures, know what is sin and what is not. Come before the Lord, confess sin, and as the song goes, admit, It's me, it's me O Lord, Standing in the need of prayer. It's me...

2.     Evaluate your strengths honestly and realistically. Pride is based on a false image of yourself, and humility is like corrective lenses. You see yourself more accurately. You will only be happy in what God wired you to be – and give thanks. Accept failures for what they can teach you. My application for doctoral studies was nearly rejected because my computer skills were minimal.  I cried  all the way home from Kansas City. I felt that I was no good. I'm nothing. I can't succeed. That is false humility. It's pride saying, I need somebody to tell me I'm really as good as I think I am.   But the next day, in true humility, I called Western Iowa Tech and enrolled in their course Computers for Dummies. Praise God.  When I begin to compare myself to others, good pride deteriorates to bad pride.

3.     Enjoy success gratefully. In all of God's blessings, be humble. Praise God.  Seven hard years later, when I walked up to the podium, shook hands with the President of St. Paul School of Theology and received my degree, I lifted my hands and joyfully praised God... perhaps to the amusement of the audience, but with all sincerity. Only by God's grace did I succeed.

4.     Serve unselfishly.  Look around you. The happiest Christians are Christians who serve generously, unselfishly. When you're busy helping others, you have no time to feel sorry for yourself. Paul writes Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ” Phil. 2:3-4 .  This was the attitude of Jesus our example: Knowing His own worth, as the Son of God, He poured Himself out in teaching, preaching, healing, working of miracles, and ultimately, on the cross for us, each of us, all of us.
Beloved, there are plenty of places to serve. First and foremost, worship: that is our spiritual sacrifice.  Serve in worship, serve in  vacation Bible School, serve as a greeter, open your home to a Bible Study group. Participate in Prayer Band, participate in the missions of the church, join us for prayer before worship, serve in Sunday School, children's time, organize a local outreach, make and take a meal to someone who is home bound. Write a letter of encouragement to someone having a struggle.

5.     Most importantly, wholly depend upon Jesus. That is the  essence of humility:
total dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “apart from Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5 When pride is pulled out of the way and Jesus rules where self had been, everything that is His is ours: the Kingdom of heaven. 

   Do you really want to do something humble? Love Jesus supremely, Serve Jesus continually, and in Jesus' Name - not your own - give God the glory constantly. Then you, poor soul, will be richly blessed  Amen.

     

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