THOUGHTS ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY PART 2

"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble...Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. "
James 4:6,10 ESV

In 1967 I played in the Hawaiian State Golf Championship for Aiea High School. I’d like to say that I was able to participate because I was such a great golfer, which I wasn’t; it was because every school got to play, even though we finished in last place and I was the bottom golfer on the team. At the tournament were representatives from various universities checking out the talent for recruitment. I remember thinking to myself as my turn was coming up at the first tee, “Bill you hit an awesome drive off the tee, this could be your meal ticket to college.” When it was my turn to get up to the tee, the loudspeaker blared, “And now representing Aiea High School, Bill Robison” At the tee were not only recruiters but also pros, golfers from all the other high schools, all sorts of media types, and several hundred people. Suddenly, the gaze of all these people, especially the recruiters utterly paralyzed me. It seems as if every basic skill I had and every golf fundamental I ever had learned left me at that moment. I stood over my ball for what seemed for an eternity, taking several practice swings, all the time thinking of all these people watching me and not blowing my drive off the tee. Finally I swung my driver and proceeded to hit the ball. Immediately I knew I had done the worst thing possible, I had looked up to see my 350 yard drive without looking at the ball. As a result, my 350 yard drive turned into me topping the ball and the ball dribbled about ten yards from the tee. I wanted to die! There went my golf future and in place entered complete humiliation. I didn’t even want to look at the crowd after that embarrassment. I just picked up a club and immediately hit my next shot and never looked back. I ended up taking twelve strokes to get into the hole in the Hawaii State Championship! So much for my golf career!

Phillip Yancey says, “What we think about God and believe about God matters-really matters-as much as anything in life matters.” There have been times in my life that I have thought that God was like those scouts, looking for talent to help His team win. There have been times I have thought that I was that talent that could do just that. But then spiritually I have way too many times approached the tee and have failed miserably. Now I know that when it comes to the Christian life neither have I the talent nor is God a talent scout.

What is God looking for from us when it comes to Christian living? What gets the attention of God? In Isaiah 66:2 we read these words from the Lord: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Here God is telling us what it is that gets His attention. This is the one to whom I will look is a striking statement. It’s pretty hard to get God’s attention, but right here God is telling us what makes him stop what He is doing and take a second look.

Brothers and sisters, Humility draws the gaze of our Sovereign God. Humility attracts His active and gracious gaze. The eyes of God are a theme running throughout Scripture. Take, for example, the familiar words of 2 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him." Obviously God doesn’t have physical eyes, God is spirit (John 4:24). He doesn’t need physical eyes, because He's also omni­scient. Nothing escapes His notice. He's aware of all things. But though He's aware of everything, He's also search­ing for something in particular, something that acts like a magnet to capture His attention and invites His active involvement. God is decisively drawn to humility. The person who is humble is the one who draws God's atten­tion, and in this sense, drawing His attention means also attracting His grace-His unmerited kindness. Think about that: There's something you can do to attract more of Gods gracious, underserved, supernatural strength and assistance: humility!

As I said earlier, though He's aware of everything, He's also search­ing for something in particular, something that acts like a magnet to capture His attention and invite His active involvement. God is decisively drawn to humility. The person who is humble is the one who draws God's atten­tion, and in this sense, drawing His attention means also attracting His grace-His unmerited kindness. Think about that: There's something you can do to attract more of Gods gracious, underserved, supernatural strength and assistance! What a promise! Contrary to popular and false belief, it's not "those who help themselves whom God helps; it is those who humble themselves.

This is the promise of humility. God is personally and providentially^- supportive of the humble. And the grace He extends to the humble is indescribably rich. Nothing could be better than to have an infinitely powerful and wise God treat us graciously. Grace is a wonderful word. It means we are recipients of the favor of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When we are humble, we are in a place to receive His grace which He lavishes upon us. Isaiah 57:15 "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." What a promise! You cannot be too insignificant for God to reach you; He loves to dwell with the lowly and contrite. That is bad news for the proud and self-reliant, but good news for broken sinners.

In William Bridge's lovely words, `If you lay yourself at Christ's feet he will take you into his arms.” What is humility? James’ wording here again speaks of continual action. God has always and will forever continue to give grace to those who humble themselves before the Lord. The word “humble,” as it’s used in verse six, is not only a reference to an attitude, but to a position as well. God gives His grace to those who recognize their lowly position in the presence of a holy and righteous God by honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holi­ness and our sinfulness. That is the twin reality that all genuine humility is rooted in: Gods holiness and our sinfulness.

Fenelon explained, "A peasant shut up in his village only partially knows his wretchedness, but let him see rich palaces, a superb court, and he will realize all the poverty of his village. He cannot endure its hovels after a sight of so much magnificence. It is thus that we see our ugliness and worthlessness in the beauty and infinite grandeur of God.” In the same way, it's easy for a man or woman to be proud until they catch a glimpse of God's holiness. John Piper says, “Humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes, humility goes. In fact, you might say that humility follows God like a shadow.”

John Calvin wrote, “It is evident that man never attains to a true self knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look at himself.” Without an honest awareness of the reality of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, all self-evaluation will be skewed and we'll fail to either understand or practice true humility: We'll miss out on experiencing the promise and the pleasures of grace that God offers to the humble. That is why I want to direct you to God's help for evalu­ating your life honestly, to understand whether you're growing in the humility that draws His gaze and attracts more of His grace.

What are you building with your life? A marriage? A family? A business? A church? A career? A ministry? A friendship? In all your ven­tures, are you aware of your need for God's grace to give your efforts lasting value? So many human ventures have failed because humility was lacking. Ultimately, there can be no effective expansion of your life’s mission and ministry, no growth and maturity, no fulfillment of the specific purpose that God has called you to, apart from the cultivation of humility in your heart and the weakening of pride in your life. But I don’t want you rooting out pride because of its perils and pitfalls. Our pursuit should be driven by the amazing promise James gives that humility holds out to us: God gives grace to the humble!

Do you long for God's providen­tial help and blessing? Then let's allow the promise of humility to shape our life and choices, so that your life will begin to be colored in every area by grace. God clearly states that He is drawn to the humble. He's also clear that He opposes the proud. These two, humility and pride, cannot coexist. Where one is fostered, the other is defeated. Which will you pursue? If you feel convicted of pride in any form, of failing to humble yourself or failing to glorify God, take the time right now to flee to the cross and receive the forgiveness for this sin of pride that God hates. Humble yourself before Him and confess it specifically to the one whom you have offended. And receive the grace of His forgiveness. Tell Him that you want to declare war upon pride in your life- that you want to declare war on this active, daily tendency towards self-sufficiency, this desire to live independently of Him when in truth we are dependent upon him for every breadth. Gladly announce make a declaration of dependency. Make this confession humbly and daily for the rest of your life. Hold on to the promise God gives to those who are humble before Him: GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE!

Pastor Bill