PRAYER
Dear God,
in Your wisdom,
You have taught us that genuine humility
does not come from thinking poorly of ourselves
but instead from thinking less about ourselves
and focusing on the needs
and well-being of those around us.
Please guide us to embody this truth in our daily interactions,
knowing that by lifting others up,
we draw nearer to the divine love You desire for us to spread.
Amen.
SERMON
QUESTION: What is a well-lived life?
POINT: The goal of a well-lived life is not to suppress our desires but to transform them into something more like Christ.
“The first ministers were the twelve disciples. There is no evidence that Jesus chose them because they are brighter or nicer than other people. Their sole qualification seems to have been their initial willingness to rise to their feet when Jesus said, “Follow me.” —Frederick Buechner, from Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABCs of Faith
Mark 9:33-37 NRSV
Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way, they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
James 4:6 NRSV
But he gives all the more grace; therefore, it says,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Philippians 2:1-4 NRSV
If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.
POINT: Pride prioritizes the self above God and the community, ultimately excluding both.
Micah 6:8 (NRSV)
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
POINT: Humility is not self-hate.