Our last two family holidays have been road trips to Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast respectively. One of the things I found trickiest whilst driving was remaining alert to changes in speed limits. It is easy to get so used to driving the same speed that you can easily miss the transition from one zone to the next, and end up driving too fast or too slow.

As we walk with Christ, there will come different seasons of ministry for us also. Some of these seasons will be inaugurated by major life events: getting married; starting a new job; illness; the birth of a child; bereavement etc. Others will come on gradually, as you grow in spiritual maturity or your health declines. It is important to be alert to these transitions, whether immediate or gradual, and be prepared to seek and understand God’s call on your life for this season.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. (Eccl. 3:1)

Jesus had distinct phases in his ministry. There were periods where he was fully engaged in public ministry, addressing crowds, healing the sick, casting out demons and confronting the religious leaders. Yet at other times, he withdrew to pray, to meditate and to spend time focused on his disciples. Jesus was alert to God’s timing, and shaped his ministry accordingly.

Why not take some time this week to assess your commitments in light of the season that you are in? Perhaps you will find that you are ‘driving’ too fast and need to slow down. This can be painful: slowing to 80 or 60km/h after driving for an hour or more at 110km/h is a special kind of hell! Alternately, perhaps it is time for you to stop driving slow in the fast lane and increase your commitment to advancing the Kingdom of God. Either way, ask God to show you your life through his eyes, and how you ought to use the time, energy and resources he has granted you.

In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells of a vineyard owner who employs people at different times during the day to come and work in his vineyard. At the end of the day, he calls all the workers in, starting with those he employed last and working back to those who had worked the full day, paying each a denarius (a day’s wages).

Those who had been hired first grumbled that they who had ‘borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day’ (v. 12) were being paid the same as those who had only worked one hour in the cool of the evening. They believed that they ought to be paid in proportion to their labours: those who worked few hours should be paid little; those who worked many hours should be paid much.

But the vineyard owner had a different perspective. Behind each worker he saw a family in need of support, and he knew that a fraction of a denarius would not be enough for the daily needs of a family. And so he paid them in proportion to their need, rather than their efforts.¹

Isn’t it easy to fall into the labourers’ envious way of thinking? We look at those around us and ask ourselves whether they ‘deserve’ the things (good or bad) they receive from God. But our Father sees their need and meets it, just as he meets ours.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Cor 9:8)

Endnotes

1. Kistemaker, Simon. The Parables of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1980, 78.

What is a parable? To what shall we compare it? It is like a medicine, carefully crafted to release its benefits steadily over time. Too much, too quickly and the drug results in harm rather than good. But the right remedy, in the right dose and at the right times, results in lasting healing.

Such are parables on the lips of Jesus. Presenting his message in vivid, sometimes startling imagery and stories, Jesus captures the interest and imagination of his listeners. The same people who instantly dismiss a bald theological assertion (‘God loves his people’) will find lodged in their memory the image of a shepherd seeking his lost sheep; or a woman seeking her lost coin; or, strongest of all, a father straining his eyes, watching for the return of his lost son, running to meet him and embracing him warmly (Luke 15). Every time they attend a wedding banquet they are reminded of another banquet, whose invited guests scorned the invitation (Matt 22:1-4). When they see a farmer scattering seed in his field or a mustard tree growing (perhaps a daily occurrence), they are reminded that Jesus also spoke of a sower sowing (Mark 4:3-8) and a mustard seed that grows (Mark 4:30-32).

Whilst such a person may not have understood at the time, may not have been ready for the truth wrapped up in Jesus’ message, later recall may be precisely the means by which God draws them to himself. Praise God that he has given us such an effective means of both remembering the lessons he taught, and of sharing them with others!

Some weeks ago, a friend suggested that most of us would feel pretty comfortable if Paul had not bothered with chapters 9-11. Surely it would have been the easiest thing to move on from the climactic conclusion of chapter 8 straight into chapter 12. Let’s try it on for size:

‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom 8:38–39)

‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.’ (Rom 12:1)

What do you think? Flows pretty nicely, doesn’t it? Why, then, does Paul get sidetracked into a discussion about the future of ethnic Israel in chapters 9-11? I believe it is because Paul wants to establish beyond doubt the credibility and comprehensiveness of God’s mercy.

Let me explain.

Recently, a well known Christian televangelist went on record as believing that it is OK to get a divorce from a spouse who contracts Alzheimer’s Disease. Quite apart from the ethics of such a decision, imagine if a man who had divorced his first wife for this reason – a technical ‘loophole’ – were to seek remarriage. How much credibility would he have with his second wife? Don’t you think she might harbour some doubts about what other ‘loopholes’ might crop up?

In the same way, chapters 1-8 outline the mercy that God has shown to the Gentiles, yet without chapters 9-11 that very mercy is thrown in doubt. God had chosen Israel as his people; Paul wanted to demonstrate beyond doubt that they were not being abandoned because of some loophole, but rather that this inclusion of the Gentiles was ultimately for their benefit as well. In other words, he is saying: ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy [to Jews and Gentiles alike]’ to act accordingly.

In her 1997 book Truly the Community, Marva Dawn relates the story of a child trying to open a flower bud. As a result of his sincere – though misguided – efforts, the blossom falls apart in his hands. Exasperated, he queries his mother, ‘Why does the bud fall apart when I try to open it, but when God opens it the flower is beautiful?’ Lacking assistance from his (speechless) mother, he reaches his own conclusion: ‘Oh, I know! When God opens a flower, he opens it up from the inside.’

No matter how hard we try to change an individual or community from the outside, unless the change is also driven from within it is ultimately doomed to failure. The Apostle Paul evidently knew this, instructing the Christians in Rome: ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Rom. 12:2). Few things in this world are more difficult to change than a closed mind, and that is an accurate description of all who are not in Christ. In fact, Paul implies that this kind of transformation requires an act of God, instructing that the Romans must ‘be transformed’, not that they ‘transform themselves’.

Yet, when such a renewal does occur its effects are felt in every area of life – the way we think, speak and act in every circumstance. For it is not just any old mind that God gives us; the Apostle says in another place that ‘we have the mind of Christ’ (1 Cor. 2:16).

When God opens a flower, he opens it from the inside… and it is beautiful indeed!

Have you ever read through the book of Acts looking for the ideal way to proclaim the gospel? Frustrating isn’t it? Sometimes the gospel was proclaimed to thousands in one go (2:14-41); at other times to one man travelling alone (8:26-40). On some occasions it was in response to particular need (3:1-10) or revelation of the spirit (16:9-10); other times it was defending the gospel in front of riotous crowds (22:1-21), courts of law (4:8-12) or even kings and emperors (26:1-29). In marketplaces, synagogues, private homes, and by the river the gospel was proclaimed… and each time the circumstances were a little different. There was one message, but many methods of presenting it, each tailored to the context.

Over the next five weeks we will consider a number of common contexts in which the gospel may (must!) be proclaimed today. But please don’t fall into the trap of passive listening! A preacher can talk about the gospel in the workplace… but they cannot tell you how to apply that to your workplace. Nobody knows your family, your school or uni, your friends and neighbours – in short, your context – quite the way you do. So if the gospel is to be promoted and proclaimed in your life, then you are going to have to prayerfully translate words into actions. In this, you will be following the Apostle Paul, who wrote:

‘I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings’ (1 Cor 9:22-23).

The Bible is an intensely practical book. Whenever it reveals a truth it also gives us a cue as to how to live according to that truth. This afternoon we are going to look at a small portion of what the Bible teaches about marriage, and from that try to answer the very practical question: When, if ever, should I get married?

Before I read to you from 1 Corinthians 7, just a quick comment about the word ‘virgin’. Paul uses this word to refer to those who have never been married – as opposed to those who have married and then been widowed. In his eyes that also people who had never had sex (and hopefully that’s the way you see it too!) but it is their marital status that he is emphasising rather than their sexual experience.

The Master did not give explicit direction regarding virgins, but as one much experienced in the mercy of the Master and loyal to him all the way, you can trust my counsel. Because of the current pressures on us from all sides, I think it would probably be best to stay just as you are. Are you married? Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don’t get married. But there’s certainly no sin in getting married, whether you’re a virgin or not. All I am saying is that when you marry, you take on additional stress in an already stressful time, and I want to spare you if possible.

I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God. I’m trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.

If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to marry, having decided to serve God as a ‘single,’ and then changes his mind, deciding he should marry her, he should go ahead and marry. It’s no sin; it’s not even a “step down” from celibacy, as some say. On the other hand, if a man is comfortable in his decision for a single life in service to God and it’s entirely his own conviction and not imposed on him by others, he ought to stick with it. Marriage is spiritually and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I indicated earlier, because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for encouraging singleness.

     – 1 Corinthians 7:25-38 (The Message)

On first reading this passage seems quite negative towards marriage – and it is! Paul is at pains to point out how much effort marriage is, and how it requires more effort and energy than the single life – things that could just as easily be devoted towards God. How do we reconcile this with Paul’s teachings on marriage elsewhere, where he paints a much rosier picture? I believe that the key is to recognise that Paul’s highest priority is to serve and honour God. ‘All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions’ (35).

But if serving God is the priority, why would anyone ever get married? Why did I? The simple answer is that I reached a point where I was better able to serve and honour God as a married man than as a single. After I met Katrie I found that increasing amounts of my time, energy and affection were being directed towards her… and less towards God. This was a real dilemma because I wanted to serve God but my attention was divided and that was not honouring to him. Paul wrote that ‘when you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master’ (32) but that was no longer true for me.

After much prayer I realised that the answer was marriage. Not because it would reduce my distraction but rather because it redeemed it. God had entrusted me with the task of caring for Katrie; being married meant that I could serve my wife and serve God at the same time. The service that God required and continues to require of me is to love and serve my wife (and, soon, my child!).

Sometimes getting married will not help to honour God. For example getting married to someone who is not a Christian will certainly not be helpful in this regard. Similarly if you are marrying because you think it is the ‘right thing to do’, because you’re afraid of ‘ending up single’ or because you want to have sex then your marriage will be on very shaky foundations and this will not be honouring to God.

So the first thing to consider in deciding whether or not to marry is a theological question: will marriage help me to honour God or not? But once that question is answered there is another to follow: is now a good time for me to marry? Are you finishing your studies or trying to establish a career? Probably not a good time to be getting married. Are you financially placed to be married? Marriage is not a great place for brand new Christians either. The wrong answers to any of these questions should act as a red flag; this is not to say you definitely shouldn’t get married but you should definitely get godly council from mature Christians who know you well.

I believe that Paul’s instruction in this chapter is clear: wherever you are, whatever your situation in life is, seek to honour God. If you are married, honour God in your marriage; if single serve him in your singleness; if studying study for his glory; if working then work as an act of worship. Don’t spend your time wishing you were married, unmarried etc. especially not because some religious nut-job tells you that ‘all Christians are called to be X'; Paul reminds us that serve God where you are. And if the time comes where getting married will aid you in serving God better – go for it!

And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life.

     – 1 Corinthians 7:17 (The Message)

Questions

One of your friends says marriage is a waste of time, and it’s better to stay single so as to be better able to serve God; another says every Christian should get married because it honours God. What would you say to each of them?

Read 1 Cor. 7:25-38 again. What is your initial reaction to that passage? What is Paul teaching us about marriage? Does he see it as a good thing or not?

What is Paul’s main reason for arguing against marriage in this passage? (See particularly v. 32). What are some of the concerns that marriage brings?

What are some of the things that you should consider before getting married? Imagine you have a close friend who is considering getting married – what would you say to him or her?

Read 1 Cor. 7:12-16. These verses are directed towards people who are already married when one of them becomes a believer – but what about those who are not yet married? Some people marry a non-Christian believing that this may bring about the conversion of their new spouse. Is this a good idea? Why?

Anyone who has been a Christian for any reasonable amount of time has suffered disappointment in their church. Maybe you feel that the church is heading in a direction you consider unwise or unwarranted, or teaching things that you can’t agree with. Possibly you are frustrated because you feel the church is not moving in the direction God is calling it, or is moving too slowly. Perhaps it is because you have been sinned against by a leader or another member. In my case it came when one of my leaders told me that she had committed adultery and was getting a divorce.

Whatever the reason, it hurts. It hurts because when we join a church and engage in community with others we open ourselves up to one another, we trust each other. So when sin comes – and it will, for we are all sinful – we feel the betrayal that much more than if we had never let our barriers down.

At such times, it is only natural to ask, ‘Why do I need the church?’ Wouldn’t it be easier and safer for me to just go it alone and do my own thing? Surely it’s enough if I read my Bible and pray – just me and Jesus, no need for anyone else.

It might be nice to think so, but the reality is very different. If you take time to read through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, you will find that he uses a number of images to describe the Church. The church is Christ’s family, his temple and his body. All of these are images that imply participation as a group. There is one family, and the whole church is a part of it. There is one temple, and each member is a stone, being built together to make it.¹ There is one body and each one of us is a part of it.² Whether we like it or not, regardless of whether it is convenient or not, we are dependent upon one another. C. S. Lewis writes:

[Jesus] works on us in all sorts of ways… through Nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) anti-Christian… But above all, He works on us through each other.³

Men are mirrors, or “carriers” of Christ to other men. Sometimes unconscious carriers.

Another thing to note about the images that Paul chooses to illustrate the nature of the church is that there is no real choice involved. Do you get to choose what family you are born into? Of course not. Can the brick say to the builder, “Please use me for this building and not for that” ? No, it cannot.

This is an important message for our society, where the consumer is king. Recent years have given birth to the phenomenon of ‘church shopping’. This is where people go from church to church looking for one that is a good ‘fit’. Once again, C. S. Lewis offers some helpful insight here. In The Screwtape Letters a senior demon, Screwtape, writes to his inexperienced nephew, Wormwood, who is on his first assignment.

Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches… the search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where the Enemy [i.e. God] wants him to be a pupil.⁴

God wants us to be pupils; ‘church-shopping’ makes us into critics.

This requires common sense, of course. There should be certain minimum requirements – for example a church should proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and should be committed to teaching the Bible. It’s no good showing up to your local mosque or Kingdom Hall just because it is the closest religious establishment and calling that ‘church’. You will have to work out for yourself what your minimum requirements are, but so long as the church you are in meets those requirements, don’t go shopping around for one that is ‘better’. And if you do happen to stumble on a ‘perfect’ church, whatever you do don’t join… for then it will no longer be perfect!

Brothers, the Bible makes it clear that we are dependent upon one another. God’s people are being prepared to serve each other so that the whole body of Christ may be built up.⁵ This means that we are responsible for supporting one another. Why do we lay bricks the way we do so that they overlap? I am no builder, but I imagine that at least part of the reason is so that they spread the weight of the building more evenly. Imagine what kind of building you would have if you had to check each morning to make sure none of the bricks had decided to move on to another building! Similarly, if we are always on the lookout for something better then we will be hesitant to commit to the overall work – and others will be hesitant to depend upon us.

So, like many of the other disciplines we have considered this weekend, the discipline of church requires that we be committed. If we are not, then we are short-changing ourselves and others. Kent Hughes writes,

We are tragically diminished by non-participation in Christ’s Body. Correspondingly, the Church is diminished by our non-participation as well.⁶

This why the writer to the Hebrews commands that we ‘not give up meeting together… but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’⁷

In our remaining time, then, let’s consider what such discipline looks like in practice. Firstly, it involves regular attendance. ‘[Y]ou do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship.’⁸ Positively, participating regularly in the life of the church allows us to experience the benefits of community, such as love, support, good teaching and fellowship.

Secondly, the discipline of church requires that you become a member. Membership means different things to different people, but in a church context it is a covenant relationship between you and your church. You agree to participate in the life of the church, and to support it through the good times and the bad. In the same way, the church commits to supporting you. It also means submitting to the leadership of the church and, if necessary, church discipline.

Thirdly, financial giving is an important part of the discipline of church. Your giving should be regular and systematic, and should take precedence over your parachurch commitments (missions, charities etc.). It is only by your support that the church can continue to minister in the name of Jesus – both to you and to others.

Finally, your church needs your participation. This is where you pour your time, talents, expertise and creativity into your church to the glory of God. This may mean joining a cleaning or mowing roster, helping out with one of the Sunday services, mentoring a child through the Kid’s Hope program or just about anything else. This has the twin benefits of being of service to others (both inside and outside our church community) and allowing you to grow.

This area of participation is probably one of the hardest parts of the discipline of church to get right, for it requires a balance. On the one hand we cannot simply give every available minute of the day to the church – to do so is to rob ourselves and our family. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul is counselling those considering marriage to think carefully before diving in, for it involves being concerned about how they can please their wives as well as please the Lord. In Paul’s eyes this is a necessary consequence of being married – it means having less time to serve the Lord. Having kids decreases the available time even further… or so I am told!

On the other hand we cannot go entirely the other way and not participate at all because we have family (or friends, or hobbies, or work, or…). If we do then we end up as a bunch of islands, and we might as well not have a church at all. We become consumers, infants who are totally dependent on others for their sustenance rather than adults who are able to find and fix their own food… and perhaps some for someone else!

I’m afraid I don’t have a nice, easy solution for you – the truth is I don’t have it figured out myself! It would be easy for me to stand up here and say, “You should give 10% of your time/talents/money etc. to the church” but to do so would be dishonest. The truth is that the amount you can and should give will vary from person to person. Some people will be better equipped for particular kinds of service. The amount you can commit to will vary even throughout the course of your life – immediately after you get married, for example, is probably not a good time to be signing on to a ministry that will have you out every weeknight and weekend – whereas this might have been a possibility when you were single. If this is an issue that you struggle with (as I do) I encourage you to discuss it further small groups after this talk. Even better, find someone who knows you well and discuss it with them. This could be your spouse, or a Christian friend. Ask them to hold you accountable to whatever you decide – and regularly reevaluate together as your life changes.

Hopefully you see from all this that the discipline of church is a necessary part of the Christian life. However it is not something we do for the sake of doing the right thing – it also brings tremendous benefits for us and for our whole church. Without discipline we all suffer; only with it may we become the kind of church that Paul describes in Colossians 3:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’

- Colossians 3:12-17

If this is the kind of church that you want, it is going to require a partnership between you and your church; you must develop the discipline of church.

- Tim Campbell (16/11/2008)

Questions

1. Why is the idea of church so unpopular today? Why aren’t more people interested in being a part of a good church?
2. What are the advantages of being committed to a (single) church? What are the disadvantages?
3. What are the minimum requirements for a church? Under what circumstances should you leave a church?
4. Read Colossians 3:12-17. What does Paul expect of a healthy church? Note particularly how concerned he is about the relationships between church members. How do you see these qualities working out in our church?
5. How should you be disciplined about church? You may wish to consider things like attendance, giving, participation and membership, as well as how you can contribute to the qualities identified out of Colossians 3:12-17 above.
6. How do you strike a balance between too much and too little in your commitment to your church?

References

Lewis, C. S. 1997, Mere Christianity, London: Fount.
Lewis, C. S. 2002, The Screwtape Letters, London: HarperCollins.
Hughes, R. K. 2001, Disciplines of a Godly Man, Wheaton: Crossway.

Endnotes

1. 1 Pet. 2:5
2. 1 Cor. 12:27
3. 1997, 157
4. 2002, 81
5. Eph. 4:12
6. 2001, 174
7. Heb. 10:25
8. Hughes 2001, 175

What essential qualities make a leader? Courage? Wisdom? Insight? Integrity? Yes, all of these things are necessary. But what about humility? In today’s culture, it seems, leadership and humility are mutually exclusive – you can have one or the other, but not both.

This is not the way the Bible portrays leadership, however.

Moses would have to take the prize for one of the greatest leaders of the Old Testament. Through his leadership, an entire nation (600,000 men¹ plus who knows how many women and children!) were released from slavery; he was the one to whom God first revealed his name; he met with God face to face; Moses received stone tablets detailing God’s commandments on the mountain at Sinai; and, if that weren’t enough, he wrote the first 5 books of the Bible! Quite a resumé, hey?

For all these remarkable achievements, however, the Bible describes him as, ‘very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth’ !²

But it was not always this way. Consider the story told of him in Exodus 2. Moses was an Israelite brought up as a prince of the land of Egypt, in Pharaoh’s own house. He ‘was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action’.³ One day, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He came across ‘an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.’⁴ Stephen, retelling the story in Acts 7, says that ‘Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.’⁵ Humility doesn’t even get a look in here! Look, then at the results of his ‘ministry': he has no credibility with his fellow Israelites, who reject him; Pharaoh attempts to kill Moses; and Moses is forced to flee Egypt for his life!⁶

Let’s face it: nobody wants to follow someone who believes that they are God’s gift to humanity; some will follow in hopes of securing their own ambitions and power by clinging to the egotist’s coat-tails, but nobody wants to follow such a person. Moses surely fit into this category based on the evidence we have seen. So what was it that transformed him into the leader of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people?

I believe that the answer may be found in the next chapter of Exodus. Whilst minding his father-in-law’s sheep, God appears to him in the form of a burning bush and instructs Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.

Moses asks God two very important questions in this passage: ‘Who am I?’ (v. 11); and ‘Who are you?’ (v. 13). In the answers to these two questions, Moses learned what was required to be a good leader. When he asks ‘Who am I?’, God’s response is not, ‘you are a learned man,’ nor is it, ‘you are a man strong in word and deed’. God says, ‘I will be with you.’ Moses asks, ‘Who are you?’ and is told ‘I am who I am’ (v. 14), and ‘the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’.

Humility comes in recognising that it is through God that we are who we are; trying to lead outside of this truth will result in failure, but humbling ourselves and acknowledging him as the one to whom all glory and honour is due frees us to be the leaders God calls us to be.

Perhaps some of you are wondering, ‘Does being humble mean denying our own God-given gifts, talents and abilities?’ Others might be thinking ‘Isn’t humility just another word for doormat?’ The answer is no, of course not. Evangelist Billy Graham puts it like this, “Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.’… Nowhere in Scripture does this word carry with it the idea of being spiritless and timid. It carries the idea of being tamed, like a wild horse that has been brought under control.”⁷ The picture is of a powerful creature who uses his strength according to his master’s will.

How does this look in practice? I can only apply these teachings to my own life. To do so and then talk about it I run the risk of being understood to say, ‘See, I have it all figured out’… which is both untrue and undermines the very message I am trying to get across. The story is told of the preacher whose congregation gave him a medal for being the most humble preacher ever… then took it away from him the next week when he wore it!⁸ Nevertheless I must take that risk, hoping that God might use my example to speak to you. I want to give you a few specific examples of how I apply this message of humility in the area of preaching.

I ask God the same two questions that Moses asked: who am I? and who are you? When I preach, I recognise that I am unable to change a life by my words, but that God is gracious and merciful, desiring that people should know him and love him – and his words are ‘power… for the salvation of everyone who believes’⁹. When I have that sorted out, I can preach confidently, knowing that it is God’s word that changes lives.

Before I preach, however, I must first apply God’s word in my own life. Tonight I am sharing a part of that process with you, but this is not always the case. Nevertheless it is important that I do it, otherwise I am saying this truth is good enough for others, but not good enough for me. The arrogant leader tells others to do what he himself is unwilling to do; we call this hypocrisy.

Another area where I must be humble is to listen to the instruction of others; I call this being teachable. I recognise that I am far from being a perfect preacher (or musician, or husband… or anything else, for that matter). For that reason I listen to those who have experience in these things – and I try and learn from whatever lessons they are willing and able to teach me.

Finally, I submit to those who have authority over me. I may not agree entirely with their decisions, and I may respectfully argue my case; but once a decision is made I ‘submit to their authority’ and ‘obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden’ since ultimately ‘they keep watch over [me] as men who must give an account’.

There are many other things I could say here, but I believe that it is more important that you take some time to consider what role humility will play in your life. To help you do this, I have listed some Bible passages and associated questions to act as a starting point.

Questions

Moses

Read Exodus 3 for yourself.

• What questions does Moses ask God? How and why are these significant?
• What are God’s replies?
• What changes do you see in Moses?

You may wish to consider the contrast between: Exodus 2 (Moses kills the Egyptian and flees Egypt); Acts 7:20-37 (Stephen’s retelling of Exodus 2-3); and Numbers 12:1-8 (Aaron & Miriam challenge Moses’ leadership).

John the Baptist

John the Baptist is a good example of humility in the New Testament. John baptised many people before Jesus showed up, and ministered to many hundreds if not thousands. Jesus said of him ‘Among those born of women, there hs not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist’ (Matthew 11:11; also Luke 7:28). Yet when his younger cousin (i.e. Jesus) shows up, the crowds flock to Jesus instead.

• How would this make you feel? How would you respond?

Read John 3:22-36 (John says of Jesus, ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’) for John’s response.

• What do you think made John so gracious? How would he have answered the questions, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who is Jesus?’
• In what ways are you like John? In what ways different? What are you going to do about it?

Jesus

As always when looking for a positive role model in the Bible, we find our best example in Jesus. If anyone had reason to think they were something, surely it would be Jesus! The Bible describes him as the Son of God, in whom God is well pleased (Matthew 3:17; see also Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22).

Read Philippians 2:5-11.

• What is Jesus’ attitude? How does he demonstrate humility?
• How is your attitude the same? How is it different? What are you going to do about it?

Take some time to pray through any insights and applications that God has brought to mind; ask that God will help you to have the attitude of Christ Jesus.

Endnotes

1. Exodus 12:36
2. Numbers 12:3
3. Acts 7:22
4. Exodus 2:11-12
5. Acts 7:25
6. Exodus 2:13-15
7. Quoted in Myra & Shelley 2005, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 197.
8. Swindoll, C. R. 1998, Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 278.
9. Romans 1:16

Psalm 95 is a wonderful psalm. For many years, Anglicans used to recite Psalm 95 every morning of every day. Here’s how it goes:

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

- Psalm 95:1-7

It starts out with a call to worship God, to sing for joy to the Lord. This is every Christian’s duty and privilege. But that is not the reason why Psalm 95 was incorporated into everyday prayers. The important bit comes at the end.

Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the desert,

9 where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.

10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.”

11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
“They shall never enter my rest.”

- Psalm 95:7-11

Sometimes when I read the Bible, my heart is hard; I do not want to hear, because hearing God’s word often means I should make some change in the way that I live my life, and that is too hard. Other times my heart is merely numb, or apathetic. Either way, I miss out on entering God’s rest, the peace and comfort that God is offering me… or perhaps I remain at peace and comfortable when God wants me to act!

I believe that the “Today” of verse 7 is important. It is easy to say to ourselves, “I will deal with this sin, or that injustice, tomorrow.” But God calls us to act today. The letter to the Hebrews makes this abundantly clear. After quoting Psalm 95, the writer goes on:

12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

- Hebrews 3:12-13

We must encourage one another daily in our walk with God – this is why Psalm 95 was included into the daily prayer for Anglicans of old.

My prayer for myself and for you is that today, when we hear God’s voice, we would be stirred into action, and that we would allow him to transform us. I want to be a man after God’s own heart, like David, rather than a man of hard heart like Pharaoh. And so, I pray, we will enter into God’s rest.