Our theme for today is learning how to better Walk with God.
Some would say that this is the most powerful practice of a Christian life, and here is why. What we are going to talk about today – walking with God – is what will KEEP us praying, what will KEEP us in God’s word, what will KEEP us serving, and what will actually KEEP us applying what God continues to teach us.
In talking about walking with God, I am going to use the model of walking with others, because I believe that is how God literally interacts with us … through others.
In life, we often get our feelings hurt by other people. We all have experienced that on some level. And oftentimes, our hurt causes us to see ourselves in a negative way, which can even make us feel insecure.
We can certainly say nothing will HURT US more than other people, BUT THEN, we can also say that nothing will HEAL US more than God working through other people.
So, my point is this … if you and I are going to walk with God, we’ve got to walk with others, and we’ve got to learn to do that in an authentic way. That will help us practice and hone everything else in our Christian lives.
To start with, I am going to make the case that walking with God ALWAYS includes walking in humility with others. The Christian life can never be a lone-wolf existence. The Christian life is not a solo sport. The Christian life is meant to be lived with others in relationships … in fellowship.
Think about this for a moment. Jesus was asked by the Pharisees in our Gospel lesson to give us a sound bite. Take everything in scripture and just give us the greatest command?
Jesus responded, “Sure, I can do that and here it is. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Then Jesus added a second command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
He explained that “All the Law and the Prophets, meaning all of Scripture, all of God’s teaching, hangs on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
In other words, you and I need to get to loving God with everything we’ve got, and loving others with everything we’ve got.
If we can get those two things right, we’ve got everything right.
Here Jesus is teaching us using a big-picture view what life should be all about. Life is about relationships. In the end, all that matters is God and people. Think about this for a second. Even the cross is about God and people.
Picture a cross in your mind. The vertical post represents our relationship with God. The cross piece is horizontal so that represents our relationships with each other.
We discussed last week that a Christian life is all about learning to receive the love, mercy, and grace of God, and then learning to give them away to others.
You could say that God works it ALL IN, and we work it ALL OUT. If you are going to walk with God, you and I have to learn to walk in humility with others in order to work it all out.
A few weeks back we discussed humility using 1 Peter 5 as our text. Here is the way Peter put it…
”All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.” 1 Peter 5:5
If we look carefully at what Peter is saying here, he is clearly indicating that our humility should be directed towards EACH OTHER and not towards God.
Our acts of humility involve our relationships with each other. This whole passage is about interactions between people.
And Peter concludes this section with this comment…
”God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:5-7
After these strong words of comfort and care and encouragement, God then gives us a strong WARNING through Peter’s words in the next verse…
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-9
The idea here is to always be on guard since the Devil is always lurking and seeking to separate you from God. And he does not have to convince you that God does not exist. He just has to cause you to doubt that God exists.
But Peter says resist Satan with your firm faith. And take comfort in the knowledge that people throughout the world are similarly being tempted and attacked by Satan.
One of the tools God gives us to fend off Satan’s efforts is to clothe ourselves with humility toward one another. Peter earlier said that God OPPOSES the proud, but GIVES grace to the humble.
Hence, we can conclude that perhaps humility is the chief virtue of the Christian life, since all other virtues seem to flow out of it.
God works them in. We work them out. I cannot live a life that is pleasing to God without living a life of FAITH-FUELED humility, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Humility, as it grows from sincere faith in Jesus Christ, is the chief virtue of the Christian life because it’s the first step to receiving the grace of God in our lives, and it’s the grace of God that produces godly virtue in and through us.
Without humility, one would be in opposition to God because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So, this word humility is a BIG deal. But I suspect it is often misunderstood. So, to better understand humility, let’s look at three aspects of humility.
First, humility is always a Choice.
Peter wrote that humility is something we choose to put on. He said, “…clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.”
1 Peter 5:5
Just as you chose to put on the clothes you have on right now this morning, Peter says do likewise with humility … choose to put humility on each morning. It is not an emotion. It is something you can choose to put on, something you can choose to practice.
But let’s pause a moment. How should we define humility? Some people think that humility is about being timid or shy, and not thinking much of oneself. But that is not at all the biblical definition of humility. Humility and timidity ARE NOT the same thing. You can be very courageous and humble at the same time.
Humility is a trust word. It is choosing to trust God and to trust others with the real you.
Perhaps a better way to look at the word humility, is to say that humility is how we RECEIVE love from others. The degree that I trust you is equal to the degree that I allow you to receive my love. Thus, humility is how love is received.
That being the case, the only way to experience the real love of God, and the real love of others, is to be courageous enough to be the real you in your relationship with them.
The more prideful you are, the lonelier you will be. Why?
Because people could be trying to love you, but they don’t know the real you. They are trying to love an image that you are presenting. They are trying to love somebody in that case who does not exist.
The only way to experience the real love of God, and the real love of others, is to be courageous enough to be the real you.
As a practical example, what about the behavior and image we portray in church? For some, church is where they go to pretend, in the sense, that we work hard to be really “good” while in church.
And then, after we leave the church building, we go back to being our “real” selves, which may not be as “good” as we portrayed ourselves in church.
The truth is none of us are “good”. We may say we are good, we may say we are fine, but in reality, when we do that, we are all in denial because we NOT GOOD. None of us are good because of the sin in our lives. But God says TRUST Him, and He will MAKE us good.
It is okay NOT to be okay, obviously, because we were all born a sinner, and we will all die a sinner. But it is NOT okay to STAY that way. This is where our relationships with each other are so important. We all need each other to walk better with God.
Church was designed to be a place where we can get the help we need to live more-Christ-like lives. Church is for sinners WHO need a savior … that’s us.
The more we are honest about who we are and what’s going on in our lives, the more we can share our struggles and LEARN to BETTER walk with God.
We need to give God the opportunity to HEAL us, CHANGE us, and EMPOWER us to do the good deeds He has created for us to do. And He does that through the people around us that we LOVE in Christ.
This is how the church works. Church is where we are honest about our sin as we confess and hear God’s forgiveness.
Humility is about TRUSTING God and others with what is really going on in our lives. Here is an acronym that is easy to remember, and may help you clothe yourself with humility and guide you as you practice your humility.
S.O.A.P.
Think of SOAP as something that helps keep you clean from sin.
The letter S stands for Scripture … the Bible … God’s Word. It is important for us to digest and understand God’s Word, but it can be difficult, especially if you are an infant in God’s Word.
I would encourage you to find some friends that you can have some conversations with to freely discuss, “What is God teaching you in the scriptures?” And be humble enough to ask questions about things you do not understand. It is not embarrassing to NOT know the answer to all the questions. Have the encourage to ask tough questions.
We hear God’s Word in every Worship service so that we can continue to learn what God is saying to us through His Word. The S stands for Scripture.
The letter O is for Outreach. Is there anyone that you are praying for so they would become a believer? Do you intentionally hang out with non-believers trying to be a witness for the love of God? This is important because God wants us to share and demonstrate our faith. He wants us to witness our faith. The O stands for Outreach
The letter A is for Accountability. Here’s what you do. Develop some ways you can hold yourself accountable. Perhaps you can involve a family member or close friend to help you. As you choose to clothe yourself with humility daily, how can you hold yourself accountable as you practice humility? The A stands for Accountability
The letter P is for Prayer. This idea is to just pray for each other daily. Now, this is going to require some persistence and accountability as well. It is really easy to say, “I’ll do that later”, and eventually, you forget about it all together.
So, the more honest you are, as you walk through S.O.A.P. each day, the healthier and more beneficial it will be. Do recognize that trust only happens up close and over time. In the beginning, this may feel awkward.
If you’ve never clothed yourself with humility like this with real honest friendships, this will obviously take some effort over a period of time. Just give it the needed effort and time, and I guarantee you … that you will build trust with many of those around you.
It seems that the greatest obstacle to God working in your life daily IS your OWN pride. Always remember, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So, let’s clothe ourselves with humility by trusting God and others with the real us.
So, my first point is that Humility is an intentional CHOICE. Secondly, humility invites God’s Love to Work in My Life
Peter told us earlier, “Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand that He may lift you up, cast all your anxiety on Him.”
1 Peter 5:6
This is where you can GET YOUR courage and encouragement to practice humility. Practicing humility may seem awkward and confusing in the beginning, and it will perhaps make you nervous. If that is the case, just remember Peter’s words to “…cast all your anxiety on Him (Jesus).”
We all understand that Jesus came to save us, but here’s the thing … He did not come just to save us by giving us a ticket into heaven. He also came to save us in the HERE and NOW.
Remember, as we concluded earlier … I am NOT okay, and you are NOT okay. All of us have stuff in our lives that make us NOT okay. And you will not heal from it by ignoring it. The “it” being the sin in our lives. The Bible calls this walking in the light.
But to walk in the light, we need to step out of denial, and stop ignoring our sin. Bring it to God, and to others you can trust, so that we can get the help we need through God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. The more you walk in the light, the more you invite God’s love to work in your life.
Did you ever see the movie called “Wonder”? It starred Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts. They have two children. They have a girl who is the older sister, and they have a little boy. His name is August, or just Augie.
Augie has some facial deformities. He doesn’t look normal. He’s been homeschooled up to fifth grade, and the movie is about him going to public school for the first time.
You can just imagine how mean the kids were to Augie. His face is deformed, and people are always staring at him
So, the movie is really the story of Augie’s experiences. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. His room is decorated with astronauts and NASA stuff. So, he loves to wear a space helmet out in public, which kind of makes sense because he can hide his deformed face.
His first day at school, he wears the space helmet until somebody makes him take it off. Then, about midway through the movie, he cannot find his space helmet. He’s ashamed of the way his face looks, but he can no longer hide his face behind his helmet.
Toward the end of the movie, Augie’s dad says, “I got to confess something to you. Augie, I hid your helmet. It’s in my office. You can have it back if you want it.”
Augie says, “Dad, I love that helmet. I don’t want everybody seeing my face.” Then the dad tells Augie, “I know you’re a little ashamed of your face. But, you are my son. I love your face, and I want to see your face because you are my boy, and I love you.”
Isn’t that exactly what we are talking about today? God knows ABSOLUTELY everything that you are ASHAMED of in your life.
And the beautiful thing is … God loves you no matter WHERE you’ve been,
no matter WHAT you’ve done,
no matter WHAT’S been done to you.
God loves you as you ARE, not as you SHOULD be,
because NONE of us … are as we SHOULD be.
In a way, isn’t humility just taking off OUR own space helmet? It is essentially saying, “This is who I am. I’m not proud of it. I’m not excited about it, but God would you love me anyway?” and God always says “YES.”
When you take off your helmet, you are inviting God’s love to work in your life, and it will radically change you from the inside out.
So, Humility is a CHOICE, and invites God’s love to WORK in OUR LIVES. Finally, let’s see if humility can protect us from Being Eaten.
This sounds kind of weird, so I had better clarify. As we mentioned earlier, Peter wrote this warning…
“Be sober-minded. Be watchful, your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
The devil is like a lion roaming around, wanting to eat somebody. And this metaphor of Satan is taught in the context of humility.
Do you know how lions hunt?
If you are a male lion, you have got a really good deal in life because a male lion eats, sleeps, and helps make little lions. That is all he does.
They are super lazy. The female lions do all the work, including the hunting. Female lions will go out on the hunt. They will try to get one gazelle out of a group of gazelles, and they will begin to chase it.
The good news for the gazelle is that it is faster than the female lions. The bad news is there is a bunch of female lions. So, the gazelle will run and, if it is smart, it will get into some really thick brush to use as protective covering.
Then, because the gazelle is small and the female lions are large, they cannot get to the gazelle. The gazelle is safe as long as it remains in the protective covering. That’s where the male lion comes in. The female lions will go back, get the male lion, the male lion will go up to the brush where the gazelle is safe, and the male lion will roar.
If you have ever heard the roar of a male lion, it is terrifying. The male lion will come up to that protective covering where the gazelle is safe and roar. The gazelle, if it is not paying attention, is so terrified by the roar, it will hop out of the protective covering, and with the help of the female lions, the gazelle will become dinner for the group.
Jesus called Satan the “father of lies”. And in a sense, that is how Satan roars. For example, Satan will say…
If you are honest, nobody will love you, they will just take advantage of you.
If you are honest, nobody will talk to you anyway, so you just as well forget about it.
You cannot be honest with God because He doesn’t really care.
You cannot be honest with the people in the church because you cannot trust that they are really your friends.
All these lies will keep you from growing your faith, if you buy into them. These lies will lead you to NOT clothe yourself with humility or practice humility.
Satan’s lies are like the roar of the male lion to get you out from under your protective covering.
If we will choose to practice humility, it will keep us from being eaten by Satan. Authentic friendships centered around God’s word will always protect us from being eaten.
When we step into a place where we have authentic friendships centered around God’s word, God’s power will work in our life.
It protects us from bad choices and decisions. My encouragement for each of you today is to intentionally practice humility. When you choose humility, you invite God’s love to work in your life and it protects you From Being Eaten.
When we can truly walk in humility with others, we can truly WALK with God. Amen