Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Proverbs 26:6-7a
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  August 28, 2022

Today I’m preaching on just one proverb from the Bible, our first reading today. Just one little Proverb might not sound like much to go on, but I hope you’ll come to see this as a good thing. The medieval monks had an adage that each word of the Bible is like a grain of spice, meant to be held in one’s mouth until it yields its full flavor. In the same way, I pray that our mediation on this one brief proverb today will help you to savor it completely, to apply God’s wisdom in your life. Proverbs 25:6-7 Do not honor yourself in a king’s presence. Do not stand in a place reserved for great people, because it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than for you to be humiliated.

For the most part, we already know this. I mean most of us know not to act as if we are more important than we are, especially if that means taking someone else’s position. Plus, it is also in our best interest not to do so. Those who constantly try to exalt themselves are likely to have it turn out badly. We get this. This isn’t some brand new revelation, is it? Nevertheless, King Solomon thought that this common sense proverb about humility and pride still needed to be included in his Book of Proverbs. He obviously seems to think that we need to hear it. And we do—even if you haven’t been to a banquet with a king lately, when you think about it, we’re all experts at tailoring the seating arrangement. We find all sorts of ways to get attention and turn situations to our own advantage. Our current world has new temptations and even new technology by which we can exalt ourselves (like social media). We know the folly of pride and the wisdom of humility, and yet we still fall for self-exalting temptations.

Have you ever heard of the term “Energy Vampire”? It’s a term for people who tend to exalt themselves by taking advantage of their relationships. These are the people who draw others into their orbit to vent frustration, air complaints, and pull attention to themselves. In doing so they suck the energy out of their loved ones and friends, hence the name “energy vampire”. You might be thinking of one or two energy vampires in your life right now, but the truth is, we are all on the energy vampire spectrum to some degree or another. We all struggle with self-exaltation often at the cost of our loved ones. Randy Rolfe, a family therapist and author, notes “Energy vampires tend to be unaware…They think they’re doing fine. They suck energy without knowing it—it’s unintentional.” The unintentional part is important. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if we are dictating relationships to serve ourselves. Sometimes we don’t even realize how we harness situations selfishly. Here are some common signs of energy vampirism. See if you relate to any of the following: 

• You often complain to friends/family about how difficult your life is.
• You often dominate discussions or want to win arguments.
• You often turn conversations to yourself and your problems.
• You often don’t respect the personal time or space of friends/family.
• You are very critical and enjoy making fun of others with friends.

We might not think of these things necessarily as self-exaltation, but one way to exalt yourself in a sinful world is to tear others down, or to act like your problems are the most important. It’s to believe that you are worth more than others, either because of how much you’ve achieved or because of how much you’ve suffered. Pride comes in two shades, boasting and self-pity. Oh we are all quite good at self-exaltation. We are experts in tailoring the seating arrangement. We would never sit in a place reserved for another in front of a human king, but we try to exalt ourselves in many subtle ways even though, if we’d stop and think about it, we are always in the presence of the King. The King who repeatedly promises that he will cut down the proud. Yes, we need to take this simple proverb to heart. Do not honor yourself in the King’s presence for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than for you to be humiliated.

You see, when it comes to humility, we need more than information. Because that doesn’t change our hearts. We need wisdom that is more than common sense or acting in our best interest. We need to be set free from our slavery to self-exaltation by the heavenly King who makes our exaltation his job. We need the kind of wisdom that the book of Proverbs says can only begin with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). My friends, Jesus stamped this wisdom onto his kingdom with the ink of his very own blood! Our Lord was most exalted because of his humility. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Now come verses 9 & 10: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth…” (Phil. 2:5-10) Christ is the wisdom of God which not only forgives our sins of self-exaltation, but who inspires us by the Holy Spirit to be truly humble ourselves.

This proverb tells us the bad consequences of exalting ourselves, but that also invites us to think about the wonderful thing that happens when God leads us to the humility of faith:   The humble will be exalted! This is the wisdom that our Savior wants to carve into you today, the spice to hold in your mouth until it yields its full flavor. God said it; Christ proved it. Let’s trust it! The humble will be exalted. What could that look like in your life?

Novelist Jon Hasser wrote a book about influential people from his life and in it he talks about a boy from his childhood—a truly humble person, a bright, insightful boy named Jackie whom he calls “a twelve-year-old saint.” Hassler was a close friend of Jackie when he contracted a fatal illness. Hassler visited him regularly, and said that the “sweetness of [Jackie’s] soul” stayed with him for a lifetime. He noted that Jackie never complained or tried to garner sympathy about his illness. Jackie even liked to talk about the boys playing football outside his window and did so without “a trace of envy in his voice”. But what stuck with Jon Hassler the most was when Jackie’s brother, worried about his weight loss, often brought him a quart of ice cream. Jackie would eat it, only to throw it up shortly after the visit. Hassler wrote: “God knows how many quarts of ice cream Jackie forced down and brought up again to sustain his family’s hope. I know only that the more I saw of Jackie’s self-abnegation, the more fascinating it became. Wasn’t this the sort of God-pleasing humility the church had been urging on me since the first grade?” (Good People: From an Author’s Life, Jon Hassler) Hassler recognized a Christ-like humility in Jackie because he did not use a situation to draw attention to himself. Rather he denied the opportunity to exalt himself or attract further sympathy by simply eating the ice cream out of love for his family. 

That’s what humility looks like. It isn’t deferring praise or pretending to be a nobody. Genuine humility is trusting that exaltation is God’s job. Genuine humility is simply to serve and love others, and trust that the humble will be exalted in God’s timing and to God’s degree. The humble will be exalted, not just in the eyes of those who are truly wise on earth. But the humble will be exalted eternally. My friends, you know the King in whose presence you stand. You know what kind of kingdom he rules. May we follow Christ on the path from humility to heaven. Savor this truth and don’t let it go until you get the full flavor: The humble will be exalted. I’ll let a verse from the book of James have the final word:

 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13) 

Amen.