Pride
Matthew 23
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be 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 do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.11 The greatest among you will be your servant.12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
More Than Arrogance
- Trusting me more than God
- Humility
- Honesty
- God lense
Pride
- root of all sin
- see for ourselves
- self-serving
- correction resistant
- grace resistant
- self-sufficient (myth)
Humility
- not thinking less of one's self
- being honest about identity
- child of God
- loving who you are in Christ
Trinity
Divine Dance - Humility enacted
The Father claims us
The Son redeems us
The Spirit sanctifies us
Therefore we can...
stop performing
stop proving
stop pretending
accept the truth about who we are.
Humility Lived Out:
Gratitude - Say thanks, a bunch...
Confession - Be honest and Hear God's truth...
Pride says, "I'll decide what is true."
Humility says, "speak Lord, your servant is listening."
Vice & Virtue
The Seven Deadly Sins and The Virtues that Heal Them
A Litany for Vice & Virtue
Leader: God of truth and grace, You created all things good.
People: Yet we have twisted Your gifts and trusted our own understanding.
Leader: Where pride has distorted our sight,
People: Teach us humility and help us see as You see.
Leader: Where vice has broken communion with You, with others, and with creation,
People: Restore us through the life of Christ and the power of Your Spirit.
Leader: Take what is disordered within us and put it back into Your good order.
People: Redeem our desires, our thoughts, our habits, and our loves.
Leader: Where we have grasped for control,
People: Teach us trust.
Leader: Where we have withheld love,
People: Teach us virtue.
Leader: Form in us the character of Christ.
People: That Your grace may flow through us into the world.
Leader: Sanctify us wholly—spirit, soul, and body.
People: Until Your love is perfected in us. Amen.
Questions to Consider:
- Where are you insisting on being right?
- What are you trying to prove, and to whom?
- How might pride be creating distance between you and others?
- What would change if you rested in God's love instead of earning it?
- What is one humble step God is inviting you to take this week?
