This week's sermon: "Greatness, Humility, Servanthood"

Astounding humility marked Jesus' life. Yet even as the most humble man who has ever lived, he was accused of arrogance and put to death for truthfully and lovingly disclosing his divinity.

We who follow Jesus should long to be marked by humility as well. And with Jesus as our guide, our aim should not be to avoid the accusation of arrogance (That's out of our control.) but to avoid the reality of arrogance in our own lives.

Let's look at several key texts to get a sense of what humility is and does.

  1. Humility is glad that God gets all the credit for choosing us so that we boast only in him and not man. (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
  2. Humility happily admits that everything we have is a free gift from God, so that we can't boast in it. (1 Corinthians 4:6-7)
  3. Humility is glad to affirm that God sovereignly governs our heartbeats and safe arrivals, or non-arrivals. (James 4:13-17)
  4. Humility is rooted in the good news that Jesus died for our sins. That's how sinful we were. That's how dependent we are. (Colossians 3:12 -3)
  5. Humility gives itself away in serving everyone rather than seeking to be served. (Philippians 2:5-8)
  6. And humility is glad to affirm that this service is true greatness. (Mark 10:42-45)

The effects of humility are pervasive in the Christian life. Faith, worship, obedience, and love all grow in the soil of humility.

And despite the world's objections, those who are humble in the gospel of Jesus are freed to be the most joyful, courageous, and industrious people imaginable.

David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Twin Cities, and works as executive pastoral assistant to John Piper. He and his wife Megan have twin sons (Carson and Coleman) and live in Minneapolis. David is co-editor (with John Piper) of Thinking, Loving, Doing, most recently, and Finish the Mission, forthcoming. Yep, he plays rec softball and went yard in his last game.