Sermon

THE TWO WAYS

Jesus said: '... all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.' (Luke 18: 14b)


There's a story about a brash and inexperienced theological student who seemed to think that he was God's gift to the church, and that by offering himself for the ministry of Word and Sacrament he was doing God a favour. Soon the time came for his first trial sermon. The Professor was in the congregation to write a report.

The young man bounded up the steps of the pulpit with an over abundance of enthusiasm and confidence. It wasn't long before he began to falter. One slip up after another. The more mistakes he made the more crestfallen he became. When it was all over the congregation breathed a sigh of relief, and the young man, head down, almost stumbled downs the steps of the pulpit ashamed and humbled by the experience.

Talk about pride going before a fall. (from Proverbs 16: 18)

The Professor's report was brief. 'Young lad, if you had gone up the way you came down, you would have come down the way you went up'.

How easy it is for us:
To reach out to pick the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden?
To think and act as though we are superior to the Creator and Redeemer of the Universe; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Father of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

How easy it is for us:
To replace God with our own egos;
To become so proud that we dare to create for ourselves convenient gods to suit our purposes;
To elevate ourselves, while diminishing in our own minds the relevance of the Living God to whom we are responsible.

Muslims call it 'SHIRK', the sin of placing anything on the same level, or above the level of God. We call it 'ORIGINAL SIN'; and the temptation is within us all.

It is of utmost importance that when we come to worship God, we come carefully, thoughtfully, humbly, reverently, conscious that:
here, like Moses, we stand on Holy Ground;
here our humanity is enhanced;
here the Living God may comfort us, and challenge us, and forgive us and inspire us and bring to us, what the Church calls 'SALVATION' which means wholeness of body, mind and spirit.
The chief end of human life is to worship God and serve him/her forever.

When we worship God we remember that we are an integral part of God's creation, rather than creating our own weak god to be an integral part of our creation.

When I was the Minister at the Uniting Church Congregation in East Kew (1977 - 1986), Professor Harry Wardlaw was a member of the Congregation. I remember Harry on one occasion at a meeting of our Worship Committee thumping the table as he firmly stated, 'Worship may be informal but if it becomes casual it's blasphemy.'

I like the emphasis of Albert Schweitzer on 'reverence for life' which he says is the first spiritual act of human beings through which we come to realize our dependence on events beyond our control. (from The Ethics of Reverence for Life)

'Reverence for life' implies humility before the whole of creation and before God.

Our need to be humble before God is a constant theme running throughout the Bible, as a challenge to our ever present temptation to become full of our own importance and act only in ways that always suit us.

In First Samuel (2: 1a and 2-3a), Hannah, the mother of Samuel, prayed:
My heart exalts in the Lord;
my strength is exalted by my God...
There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God
Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
And Jeremiah speaks for God in these words: (9: 23-24a)
Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me,...
The prophet Micah thunders out;
'...what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice,
and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6: 8)
And in the book of James (4: 16) we find these words;
As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
We also find this constant theme plainly stated in the familiar stories of creation (Genesis Chapters 1 to 4); the book of Esther; the exploits of King David over Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 and 12); as well as in the well known Parables of Jesus. Parables such as the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12: 16-21); the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37); and the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. (Luke 18: 9-14)

Two men went up the Temple Mount to pray in the Temple. (known today as the Second Temple) One was a humble and contrite tax collector while the other was a Pharisee who was a model of self importance and self righteousness and consequently regarded others with contempt. The Pharisee told God how good he was, while the poor tax collector was contrite as he cried out to God, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' We are told that the tax collector rather than the Pharisee was justified before God because as Jesus concludes, 'All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.'

I hasten to add that scholars now know that that this self righteous Pharisee was an exception among Pharisees, rather than the norm. (See the booklet Rightly Explaining the Word of Truth published by and available free from the Victorian Council of Christians and Jews (Vic) Inc. 179 Cotham Road, Kew, 3101. Also available from the following website http://wgcjr.unitingchurch.org.au / )

Earlier in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus makes much the same point, 'Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life will save it' (Luke 9: 24)

If we think only of ourselves, we build a wall around ourselves attempting to protect ourselves from the demands of God and the demands of others. But this wall soon becomes a prison and we become lost to the real purposes of life. However, through the life and fellowship of the Christian Church and the inspiration of Scripture, by the grace of God, miraculously, it is possible for us to lose our lives in the service of God, the environment and other human beings and find our true selves in the process.

Egotism is the enemy of what Jesus called 'abundant life' which is life lived here and now in the presence of God, in the Kingdom of God.

Once a lad was playing around with facing mirrors. He noticed that the images became smaller and smaller and went on, well, almost for ever. He said, 'I could almost see eternity, except that my big head kept getting in the way.' Exactly so.

Egotism, the enemy of 'abundant life'.

Jewish writings, outside the Hebrew Scriptures, make the same point:
'There is no one more lonely that those who love only themselves.'
     (Leo Rosten's Treasury of Jewish Quotations page 179)

'There is no room for God in a man who is filled with himself.' (page 469) and

'The conceited man is not only a sinner but a fool.' (page 139)
A couple of years ago I heard an address given by the then President of Rotary International, Bhichai Rattakul, a Thai. (President 2002-2003)

He said,
'When I joined Rotary I was a selfish man not interested in service. When the Club were looking for volunteers I would always have my head down hoping I would be overlooked. One Saturday morning the President of our Club rang me to ask if I would help with a group of disadvantaged children. The Club was short of one volunteer.'

'Soon, I found myself reluctantly supervising disadvantaged children at the beach. My heart was awakened by one needy boy who wrapped his arms around my legs and said, "I wish you were my dad." Wishing the day would never end I felt the joy that comes from unselfish pursuits. When one's life is changed the whole world is changed. The love you give is the happiness you get.'
One of the fundamental truths about human beings is that we are built with two tendencies, as our Jewish and Muslim friends also teach us. We have a tendency to close up and be selfish, and a tendency to be open and compassionate.

One way leads to unhappiness, unsatisfactory living, shaky relationships and the destruction of all good possibilities. While the other way leads to the joy of helping others, the blossoming of possibilities as well as creative, useful and fulfilled living.

Jesus tells us that there are two ways. The hard way and the easy way. The hard way, the way of self sacrifice leads to life, but the easy way, the way of self indulgence leads ultimately to destruction. (Matthew 7:13-14)

This truth was embodied in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But it's not only a Christian truth it's a universal truth, a universal law, written into the way the universe operates - just as much a universal law as the law of gravity.

The Bible contain true statements about human life because they are true. They are not true just because they happen to appear in the Bible.

This truth about the hard and the easy way, transcends all religions although all religions at their best express this truth. And people of no particular religion may demonstrate this truth through the quality of their lives as they are touched by the Creator, although they may not speak in those terms.

How do we learn to pray? How do we learn to live a fulfilled life in the Spirit?

Well, certainly not by attempting to save ourselves. Not by living within the confines of our small little world. But rather by humbly reaching out to others and allowing the Spirit of God, the presence of Jesus Christ to reach us, and enliven us and empower us, through our study and worship within the fellowship of the Church.

This Spirit is the same creative Spirit on which the universe turns.

Jesus said: '... all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.' (Luke 18: 14b) and

'Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life will save it' (Luke 9: 24)

And Saint Paul wrote:'Whenever I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor 12: 10c)
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A sermon presented by the Rev George W Grant BA, BD, Dip Ed at St Aidan's Uniting Church North Balwyn, on 9th July, 2006

IT MAY BE REPRODUCED WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT.


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Page updated  11/07/06