Church Is Not About You!
A series on the “one another’s”
Part 3 – Honor one another
Romans 12:10
I. Introduction
II. Christ’s Supreme Example
-As Jesus Christ walked this Earth, He set many examples for us. In fact, He set the supreme example for us in all matters of life and godliness. Toward the end of His life on Earth, He made a powerful statement of action that set the supreme example of what it means to honor one another. (Read John 13:1-17)
Joh 13:1-17 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (2) During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, (3) Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, (4) rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. (5) Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (6) He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" (7) Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." (8) Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." (9) Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" (10) Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." (11) For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." (12) When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? (13) You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. (14) If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. (15) For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (17) If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
-The act of foot washing was a menial task, reserved for servants. It was performed when a person would arrive at
the house. In that day, as you know, people walked everywhere
they went. They were either barefoot, or they wore sandals, and
the roads were dirt, so their feet were always dirty, like when
you go to the beach. The washing of feet was done out of
respect, the servants respected their masters and their masters
guests. There was no servant present at the last supper, and no
one else volunteered to wash feet. Jesus waited, I believe on
purpose, until the middle of the dinner to wash His disciple’s feet.
-He was making a statement to them, as well as setting an
example for us. The statement that He was making to them
was that they were not aware of each others needs. The
example He was setting for us was that no matter how “high
and lofty” our position maybe, we should not consider
ourselves to be above any seemingly menial task. Stooping
down and doing lowly tasks will bless not only others, but you
yourself.
-Jesus wasn’t the only one who set this example for us, although He set
it supremely, JtB also exemplified what it means to honor one anther above yourselves. Read John 1:24-28
Joh 1:24-28 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) (25) They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" (26) John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, (27) even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." (28) These things took place in
-It wasn’t solely the practice of foot washing that Jesus was trying to teach, but it was the principle of the nature of service that He desires
from us. The Apostle Paul does a much better job of explaining this than I do!
-Philippians 2:5 Paul tells the Philippian believers “Php 2:5, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”
-What attitude was Paul talking about? I’m not going to stretch the text and imply that Paul had the foot washing example on his mind, but he does explain in detail what he is thinking. (Read 2:6-8)
Php 2:6-8 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
-Jesus Christ considered us better than Himself! He honored us by providing a way for us to have restored fellowship with God the Father.
-What was the end result for Jesus?
-Let’s read on…(2:9-11)
Php 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
-God exalted Him to the highest position! – exaltation is the result of humility. Not just for Jesus, although our exaltation will not be the same magnitude as His, but for us as well!
-Jesus taught this wonderful truth to His disciples.
(Read Matt 23:1-12)
Mat 23:1-12 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, (2) "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, (3) so practice and observe whatever they tell you--but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. (4) They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. (5) They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, (6) and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues (7) and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. (8) But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. (9) And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. (10) Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. (11) The greatest among you shall be your servant. (12) Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
key is vs. 12 – humble = serving (11) serving = honoring.
-So the end result for Jesus was exaltation in that He was raised from the dead and sits in His place of glory at the right hand of
God, and God promises to exalt us too!
-Paul definitely grasped the idea of humility. To make sure the Philippians understood what it meant to imitate Christ’s actions
and attitudes, Paul introduced the paragraph about Christ’s
humility and unselfishness by saying: Php 2:3-4 Do nothing from rivalry or
conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (4) Let each of
you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
III. Pride vs. Humility
-This is something that I have thought a lot about and recently have read more about. It is vital to understand that these two things are at war with one another. A proud person cannot be humble. Being humble is the only way to truly honor your brother or sister.
-PRIDE
-Thomas Watson said, “Pride seeks to ungod God.” What a
powerful and true statement that is. I will tell you that every sin can be traced back to pride as its source. Consider this, Let’s take a “little white lie” for example. Why did you tell that lie? (lying is sin #1) Was it to get out of a certain situation or to make yourself look better? If so then you had a wrong motive. (giving in to a wrong desire is sin #2) That wrong desire happens because of pride, (pride is sin #3) because for that very moment you considered your desire or will to be more important than God’s desire or will for you. These things result in not loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. (sin #4)
-As much as we hate to admit it we all have pride, each and
every one of us. The question then is not, “Do I have it?” but, “Where is it?” and, “How much of it do I have?”
-We all think too much of ourselves and/or too much about ourselves and our desires. This is in stark contrast to what Philippians 2:3-4 says we should be thinking of!
-There are a couple different types of pride, and those types manifest themselves in many ways.
-The first type is the most obvious. Thinking too
highly of ourselves and having expectations of how other should treat us. This is the one that stands out when we think of those that are proud.
-Steve Wynn, owner of Wynn Las Vegas, and who
you may have recently seen on TV in commercials for his new hotel, Encore, was doing a TV interview when his first hotel opened. Mr. Wynn was giving a tour of the hotel and he takes the TV crew out back to this garden. Beautiful botanical garden, with a waterfall, gorgeous pathways and benches, just amazingly beautiful scenery is the only way I can describe it. It was gorgeous. When asked about the garden Steve Wynn said, “This is the sort of garden that God would build if he had my money!”
-This is the most obvious type of pride but not the only type.
-The second type is less obvious in our minds but I
would say that it is just as prevalent. I call this type reverse pride. This is the type of pride that it self deprecating and self denouncing. We all know people like this. Those people that when you ask them to do something they say they couldn’t possibly do that because they are not worthy. They are seeking affirmation from people. They want a response that would be something along the lines of “yes, you are worthy. You’re great at what you do.” It is a sort of fishing for compliments. This also manifests itself by having self pity and a woe is me attitude. These people are constantly talking about how life has cut them a raw deal and they also are fishing for compliments. Both of these examples are very me focused.
-There is a way that this sort of thing can be done properly, however. JtB was truly humble when he said that he was not worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus. So what is the difference in his statement and what I’m talking about? He was still acting and doing what God had called him to do; he was just doing it with a proper perspective. It wasn’t about him!
-A proud person will not be one who honors others. They will only be seeking to honor themselves.
-HUMILITY
-Stuart Scott says, “If pride is the epidemic vice, the humility is the endangered virtue.” It is so rare because it is so unnatural. Since the fall man has been guilty of the same things that plagued Eve. She desired to gain more knowledge and be more like God (not in a good way). That has been man’s struggle ever since.
-As we discussed already, Jesus was our chief example in this. It is summed up in the statement he made in Mark 10:45, Mar 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
IV. Two steps to application
-To evaluate you attitudes toward other Christians, the following
questions will help you pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses.
1. How many situations can you recall where you purposely attempted to honor someone above yourself? In what ways did you reflect sincere appreciation for the other person?
-Some people use this technique as a selfish device, they know that promoting someone else will bring them praise as well. They live by the rule of “I’ll scratch your back, if you’ll scratch mine.” The Bible says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, these people say “Do unto others so they will do for you”
-This kind of attitude is usually discernible, and it usually backfires. It contains elements of insincerity. If the results are not immediate, the person with the wrong motives often becomes impatient and reverses his field. He/she will sometimes put down the people that they were building up. This is sinful behavior! Beware if this is your temptation!
-If you cannot easily recall several situations in which you have attempted to carry out Paul’s injunction, you are probably not “honoring others above yourself.”
2. Is it difficult for you to compliment others and enjoy their successes? If so, why?
-Here are some checkpoints that may help you determine why it is hard for you to genuinely enjoy the successes of others.
1. Have you always been the center of attention? Maybe you are an only child and used to getting everything you want. Maybe you weren’t paid any attention as a child, and you are trying to make up for it now, whatever the reason, these are serious emotional and spiritual problems which indicate immaturity and carnality.
-This was the problem with the Corinthians. If this is your problem, confess your sin to the Lord, and make a conscience effort to re- program you life. Start by memorizing Philippians 2:3-4, and meditate on it everyday. As you are tempted to “hog the show”, quote those verses to yourself. Ask God to bring them to your memory when you find yourself being tempted.
