SHARING BREAD
11 “The greatest among you will
be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever
humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matt
23:11-12 (NIV)
True humility of heart is definitely the brightest star on
the “Christian’s tree” – topping our lives as the shining fruit which reflects
upon all the others. Indeed, the Prophet
Micah tells us it is one of the three things God requires of His people:
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does
the LORD require of you? To act justly
and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NIV)
“Love and humility are the highest attainments in the school
of Christ.” John
Newton
In God’s eyes, he who advances to any place of dignity is
through the door of humble service. He
who stands the highest in God’s favor is most submissively serviceable or in
more common vernacular, he is the one who willingly stops the lowest – just
like our Jesus. Nothing is beneath the
humble – no person, no service. Paul
tells us in Philippians:
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own
interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ
Jesus: 6 Who, being
in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, 7 but made
himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness. 8 And being
found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to
death--even death on a cross! Phil 2:2-8 (NIV)
“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die
for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep
confidence at the same time.” Tim Keller
The Lord Jesus goes on to say in our verses for today that there
is sure punishment pending for those who are proud in heart – those ever eager
for their own exaltation. In lieu of a
crown they are so desirous to receive they are humbled instead – forced to bend
the knee. These that are proud in heart
are much akin to our adversary Satan whose greatest desire is to be worshipped.
But silly Satan, there is only One God
and no other – it is He alone Who is to be worshipped. The Prophet Isaiah pens God’s Words to us
regarding this for our knowledge and safety:
11 “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no
savior.” Isaiah 43:11 (NIV)
6 “This is what the LORD says--Israel's King and
Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the
first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6 (NIV)
5 “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me
there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its
setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:5-6 (NIV)
18 For this is what the LORD says--he who created the
heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did
not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited--he says: “I am the
LORD, and there is no other.” Isaiah
45:18 (NIV)
9 “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am
God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient
times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do
all that I please.” Isaiah 46:9-10 (NIV)
At the very least, I think we should be beginning to get the
picture here! Jesus goes on to say in our verses for today that quite the
opposite is true for those who willingly choose to humble themselves – they, in
turn, will be exalted. Interestingly, honor
is like a shadow which flees from those who pursue it and grasp after it yet
follows those who flee from it. The way
up is down. The one bowed low becomes
the lifted one. There is a marked
advantage to humility in God’s Kingdom economy – it will eventually bring
honor.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift
you up. James 4:10 (NIV)
“Christians who are real saints and the
greatest in the Kingdom…humble themselves as a little child…They look upon
themselves as children in grace...” Jonathan Edwards
“Humility
is nothing else but a true knowledge and awareness of oneself as one really
is.” The Cloud of Unknowing
What
I glean from this:
· God desires for me to be humble.
· My role model is to be Jesus Who did not grasp equality
with God rather took on the nature of a servant and humbled Himself even to
death on the cross - for my sake.
· In God’s eyes humility brings honor.
