1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation
of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. Our
readings from the Book of Proverbs and today's Gospel seem to present to us
only useful instructions for the daily living out of the Christian faith. And
they do. But, today’s Epistle shows us how it is the once for all sacrifice of
Jesus that is the real motivation for our treating others with our own
sacrifice of love. Christian living is our "sacrifice of praise to God." The message is taken from Proverbs 25:2-10,
and here in Proverbs we’re called to confess our unrighteousness before God our
Heavenly King (vs. 6) and then God the King will exalt us (vs. 7). The message is entitled, “Humble Yourself,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. After a year of baseball bans, basketball whiners, sprinting scandals,
and a football murder, an athlete putting others first sounds odd in our world
today.
Thanks to superstars like the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, we
think of performance-enhancing drugs and cheating when it comes to the sport of
baseball. Rodriguez was on pace to challenge
baseball’s most prestigious hitting records. But, as a result of his
involvement in baseball’s latest steroid scandal, he’s been suspended for 211
games. His career and legacy are in ruins.
A-Rod is appealing the suspension, causing controversy at every ballpark
at which he suits up. New York Times
columnist David Brooks wrote a thoughtful piece about Rodriguez and the
narcissism that many see in his every decision, including demanding that a
personal assistant put toothpaste on his toothbrush. “One of
the mysteries around Rodriguez,” Brooks says, “is why the most supremely talented baseball player on the planet would
risk his career to … take performance-enhancing drugs?” Brooks theorizes
that “self-preoccupied people have
trouble seeing that their natural abilities come from outside themselves and
can only be developed when directed toward something else outside themselves. …
Locked in a cycle of insecurity and … self-validation, their talents are never
enough, and they end up devouring what they have been given.” It’s devastating.
3. But, there’s another
story out of the sports world that provides a contrast to A-Rod’s idea of what
life is all about. A few weeks ago at the Canadian Open, golfer Hunter Mahan
left the tournament to be with his wife, Kandi, who had gone into labor three
weeks early. The amazing thing about Mahan’s decision
is that the 31 year old was leading the tournament at the time and had a chance
at the million-dollar winner check. Let me repeat that: “a million dollars.” According to Mahan the decision was easy
because he wasn’t focused on himself or the money, but his family. “When I am done playing golf,” Mahan
said, “I’d rather be noted for being a
good husband and good father than anything else … success comes and goes. …
Seeing your daughter every day, having a family—that is stuff that makes you
happy to your core.” The sad thing
is that Mahan’s decision wouldn’t have been so newsworthy just a generation ago.
4. The Christian cure for narcissism,
that is selfishness, pride, and self-interest is stepping away from the mirror
and looking at someone else, specifically our Lord Jesus who is the true desire
of us all. And, our Lord Jesus Christ isn’t just the
cure for narcissism. He’s the cure for all forms of sinful pride and
selfishness, and every other sin. By dying on the cross in our place,
taking the punishment we deserve, the Lord was looking out for us, not
himself—which is the very opposite of narcissism! As Paul wrote in Phil. 2:6-8,
Jesus, “though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant…. And being found in human
form, humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross.” Are you ready to humble yourself, step
away from the mirror and up to the plate, and receive this incredible gift
Christ offers?
5. Proverbs 25:6-7 says, “6Do
not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the
great, 7for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower
in the presence of a noble…” These are obviously the words of Scripture
Jesus had in mind when he spoke today’s Gospel lesson (Lk 14:1, 7–14). They’re
simple words of advice. Yet no one can truly have the motivation to carry them
out unless he or she has first learned the humility that comes from having a
relationship with Jesus. As I mentioned earlier in Philippians chapter 2, St.
Paul tells us: Be humble. But Paul doesn’t call on us to bring about this moral
behavior on our own. He quickly follows up his command by saying, “Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped, but made himself nothing” (vv. 5–7).
6. What gives us the strength to act this way is
not our own willpower or even the positive, inspiring example of Christ. Our
strength is based on the fact that Christ has given us his righteousness.
Trading places with us and taking our humanity upon himself, he removed what
made us offensive to God. Because Christ removed our sin by his death on the
cross and raised us spiritually as a result of his physical resurrection, we
now have the spiritual powers—not in an inherent way, but in an inherited way. With
the spiritual powers that Christ gives us by his grace, we can follow his
example and be humble. But of course, we continue to be hindered from showing
complete humility by our old sinful Adam. Yet as far as our new self is
concerned that we received through the waters of Holy baptism and the hearing
of God’s Word, we can carry out the command Jesus so often gave his disciples,
to take the lower position (Mt 18:4; Mk 9:35; Lk 14:8–11; Jn 13:14).
7. As sinners we’re often tempted to seat
ourselves in God’s presence based on our works or on our kindness toward
others. We may see that our
identification with a church, faithful attendance at church, giving to the
church, and serving on a church board are the things that are earning us a
place in God’s presence or we may perceive that it’s our obedience to God’s
commandments that gets us a seat at God’s table. We may believe that our Christian faith is
something of our own doing, something we should be rewarded for attaining. All these attempts at self-glorifying seem
appropriate in our world, which constantly tells us: Hard work will get you moving up the ladder. You’ve earned it or you’ve deserved it. If you try as hard as you can, that’s enough. You’re not as bad as the people sitting next
to you.
8. Lording power over others is such a natural
habit of this world. Jesus said, “You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high
officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants
to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first
must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:25–28). Even the
Son of God was not above lowering himself for the sake of others. So when we
become part of him, we too will have this natural inclination to seek the
lowest position and restrain our old Adam’s desire to lord it over others.
9. Our own American society has lost touch with
what it means to humble oneself. Most people today have no idea of what it must
have been like in Bible times when there were kings and subjects, masters and
servants. We have no inkling of what it feels like to bow, kneel, or lay
oneself flat on one’s face in front of a king. We Americans live in a country
where it is ingrained in our minds that all people are or, perhaps better
stated, should be considered equal. In the family, at school, and in the
workplace an attitude of “partnership” is fostered rather than the idea that
God has set certain people in places of greater responsibility. Our society
stresses rights rather than responsibilities. We are taught to demand our
rights more than to carry out our responsibilities.
10. And this constant focus on our own human
rights can cause us to build up our own pride, which ends up leaving us shocked
that our works don’t merit a place in God’s kingdom. For, “All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23; cf. Eccl 7:20). “For all who rely on works of the law are
under a curse” (Gal 3:10). “You are
severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen
away from grace” (Gal 5:4). “We have all
become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted
garment” (Is 64:6). These words do
put us in our place. It’s true! We are
guilty! Suddenly, we remember countless
ways we’ve fallen short.
11. Thanks be to God that He exalts at His
banquet table those who are humbled (v 7).
Stranded in our sin and banned from the eternal banquet, we are
confronted with and humbled by our inability to seat ourselves in God’s
presence. We can do nothing but confess
our sins. Before God, we slink to the
lowest place. But God does not leave us in our despair. He sent to us His Son Jesus to be our Savior. Jesus
clothed himself in human flesh so that he might defeat death and the devil and
deliver us from their power (Heb 2:14–15).
Jesus was made like us in every way so that he could satisfy God’s wrath
for our sins (Heb 2:17). Jesus is able
to sympathize with our weaknesses but maintained the righteousness we cannot
(Heb 4:16). Jesus allowed himself to be
placed “outside the gate” (Heb 13:12), driven out of the city and crucified, to
sanctify us by his blood.
12. As we cling to Christ in faith, God
graciously seats us in his kingdom. “Come
up here!” To the font and be washed in the baptismal waters and joined with
Christ. “Come up here!” Receive
forgiveness of sins and be reconciled to me and to one another. “Come up here!” Hear my Word and allow my
Holy Spirit to create in you a new heart.
“Come up here!” Eat and drink at my table. Feast on the abundance of my
house. “Come up here!” Remain in my
presence forever, never be separated from me again, and rejoice in the unending
life I have given you.
13. The Lord motions with his finger to you:
“Come here!” And you are thrilled! You do step toward him with
eager anticipation, because he’s told you and you know: through Jesus Christ,
you do have a seat at God’s eternal banquet table. Amen.
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