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Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. 

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Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. 

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We're glad you're here and we hope you enjoy this message. 

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The day was coming to a close. 

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Finally, the work was actually done. 

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The dinner had been served, the homework was actually checked y'all, and the kitchen was 

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surprisingly clean. 

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And so the FAM and I made a decision that we were just going to relax on the couch, wind 

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down, and just enjoy the fact that the day was done. 

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And it was. 

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At this moment, I'm chilling and taking a deep breath in. 

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And Ash, she decides that we should actually ask our kids these questions. 

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That would be a way for us to kind of better connect with them. 

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So I'm like, sure, the day has been amazing. 

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Let's do this. 

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What can go wrong? 

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At this point, I'm feeling good about myself. 

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And so I call over my firstborn. 

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I'm like, Firstborn, come here, let me ask you this question. 

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And the question was this do you think I'm a good listener when you want to talk about 

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something important? 

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And so Eli started to take in that question. 

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He started to think about it, but then he started to think about it for too long. 

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Too long for my liking. 

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Because in my head, I'm like, this is easy, bro. 

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Scale one to five, five being terrific listener, one being terrible listener. 

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I'm at least a 4.33. 

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And so he proceeds to then share and talk about how when he actually wants to say 

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something important, I'm not very attentive to him. 

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And then he goes on to say, dad, you know what you could do to listen? 

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And I'm ahead of, oh, yeah, what I could do to listen? 

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Here's what you could do to listen. 

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But then he began to share. 

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Like, man, I'm actually not very attentive. 

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And the great day was then ruined. 

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As I'm about to erupt on the couch, what's going on here? 

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Internally, something was being revealed to me. 

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This conversation was beginning to open my eyes to what I had been oblivious to this whole 

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time. 

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And that's the kind of dad I was to my son. 

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And if there's one thing that became pretty clear to me in that moment, it was my pride 

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had blinded me from seeing things I needed to see. 

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And if there's anything in our world today that has fractured our relationships, if 

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there's anything in our world today that has fractured our system, the way we operate 

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today, it's very much our pride. 

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Why is the world broken? 

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Why does the world do what it does on a regular basis? 

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It's our pride. 

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In a word, it's our lack of humility. 

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And I think this is not just kind of a religious assessment. 

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This is, I think, just a general cultural assessment. 

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You think back a few years ago, kendrick Lamar released a song called Humble 2017. 

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Now, this song garnished him a number of accolades for Grammy nominations. 

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And whatever you might want to say about the album or this song in particular, I think it 

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was right in its ability to critique the rap industry and the music industry at large and 

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especially just our broader cultural moment in which society is obsessed with both 

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materialism and superficiality. 

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And he kind of noted this in interviews, but he went on to say, though, that the song is 

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about the ego. 

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And listen, now, our inability to see reality as it actually is, that's what he's after. 

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And so there is something humble, whether you're a Christian in here or not, there is 

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something beautiful about humility that I think we all can agree on because a humble 

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person is generally, like, just calm. 

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They're not anxious. 

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They're freed from the need to just have everything together. 

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They're freed from the need to kind of just prove that they know everything. 

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There's a freedom about humble people that we all can see and say, man, I would love to 

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have that, would love to experience that in my life. 

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There is something beautiful about humility. 

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But listen, the road to humility is not pretty. 

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I would say, though, I think it's the gateway virtue, meaning that if you can get this 

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virtue, every other virtue will fall into place. 

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But the problem is you never achieve it by going after it. 

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This is the paradox of humility. 

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As soon as you think you have it, you don't. 

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Like, when you think about the Christian life, there are things that we might say about 

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ourselves that we get applause from. 

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Like, for example, if I were to say, I feel like I'm becoming a more loving person, you 

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might say, well, that's great. 

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Look at God's. 

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Love is working through you, Fredo. 

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Like, first John, we love because he first loved us. 

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Or if I say, like, Man, I feel a bit more generous lately. 

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You might say, well, that's good. 

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God loves cheerful. 

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Givers. 

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That's great. 

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Your life is open. 

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You're sharing more. 

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You're giving more to people. 

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But then as soon as I say, Well, I'm feeling more humble lately, we start to have 

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questions. 

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Or if you feel like, man, humility is really flowing through me right now, we come to 

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different conclusions. 

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The moment you think you're humble is the moment the pride begins to creep back in. 

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This is the paradox of humility. 

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As soon as you think you have it, you don't. 

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And yet it's absolutely critical to the journey of Christianity, the journey of following 

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Jesus. 

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And so I think our passage today invites us to consider the ways that our pride has made 

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us oblivious to ourselves in particular and then offers us, I think, a way forward in 

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light of this message on humility. 

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And so we're going to read if you got a Bible with you today from Philippians, chapter 

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two. 

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Probably one of the most beautiful words written in the New Testament, of course, like, 

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well, you're a pastor. 

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It's all beautiful. 

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Yes, it is. 

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But this passage in particular is a profound picture of what a life looks like when it's 

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marked by humility. 

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So I'm going to ask if you are willing and able that you would stand with me for the 

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reading of God's Word. 

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And wherever you're watching this, if you would just take a moment and pause and just 

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breathe in, stop what you're doing and just allow the Spirit of God, who penned these 

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words years ago, to also now speak these words over our church today. 

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And this is what the text says. 

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Philippians two, starting in verse one therefore, if you have any encouragement from being 

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united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if 

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any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the 

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same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 

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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 

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Not looking I'm sorry. 

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Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but 

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each of you to the interest of the others in your relationships with one another, have the 

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same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality 

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with God something to be used to his own advantage. 

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Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human 

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likeness and being found in appearance as a man. 

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He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. 

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Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every 

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name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under 

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the earth. 

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And every tongue acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 

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Amen. 

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Amen. 

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This is God's word. 

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Let's pray together. 

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Spirit of God, we now ask that you would speak to us and that in speaking God, you would 

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give us ears to hear and eyes to see, so that we might become what we are not yet in 

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Jesus. 

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We pray these things now in his name. 

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Amen. 

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Amen. 

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Thank you so much. 

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You guys can be seated. 

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We are so glad that you are here as we continue our series called Oblivious. 

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This message is able to be shared with you today because of people who support the work 

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and ministry at Sandals Church. 

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I want to invite, if you would like to be a part of that work, to go to Donate SC. 

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You can give a gift today. 

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But for now, let's get back into the message with Pastor Fredo. 

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I had recently came across an interesting study on blind spot detection systems that many 

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of our cars use today. 

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Maybe you're familiar with this. 

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The rear view mirror has this little yellow light that will flicker and say that there is 

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now a car in your blind spot that you can't quite see. 

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And its design was there to help reduce the one in four fatal crashes that happen every 

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year due to lane shifting when it shouldn't happen. 

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Right? 

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And this research was done by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, and they were 

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making the case that if this technology had had been in every single car in 2015, that it 

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could have prevented 85,000 crashes and 55,000 personal injuries. 

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That's astounding now, that's so much to the point that they're actually now most 

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manufacturers, especially if you drive a new car today, you'll have that technology in 

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there where in your review you see that little flashing light. 

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But here's the tragic part of this study. 

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It said that many drivers they found will disable this system alert because they find the 

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notifications to be too annoying. 

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Think about that for a second. 

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If this is true when it comes to our vehicles, how much more true is that for our actual 

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lives? 

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How many of you are annoyed by the thought of a blind spot alerting you when it comes to 

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our blindness? 

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Listen to these words from Paul Tripp. 

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He says this spiritual blindness is not like physical blindness. 

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When you're physically blind, you know you're blind, so you compensate for this 

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significant physical deficit. 

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But spiritual blind people are not only blind, they are also blind to their own blindness. 

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They think they see well. 

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So the spiritually blind person walks around with the delusion that no one has a more 

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accurate view of himself than he does. 

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Let that sit with you. 

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How many of us right now are walking around with the delusion that we have the best view 

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of ourselves? 

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And so the invitation today is to consider how humility now gives you vocabulary to say 

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maybe for the first time, I don't see everything the way I think I do. 

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Maybe I don't see God the way I think I do. 

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Maybe I don't see the world the way I think I do. 

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Maybe I don't see myself, and therefore I need help. 

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You see, the Body of Christ is to be a place where our blind spots can come into the light 

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in a safe moment. 

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And so I want us to do this now. 

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I'm going to offer a set of questions. 

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You can kind of think of this as an inventory on maybe where you might have blind spots in 

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your life. 

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You ready for this. 

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Buckle up. 

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Question one when someone gives you feedback, do you close up on the inside? 

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Or would you say your soul is spacious? 

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You have room for words. 

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Question two how often do you consider the perspective of others? 

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Question three when was the last time you invited someone to teach you about a topic? 

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How are we doing so far? 

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Question four when was the last time you changed your mind on an important issue, like 

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maybe 2020 was a moment where you changed your mind on a lot of issues. 

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Like, for me, it was really clear the Lakers are a good team. 

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You all didn't know where I was going with that. 

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A lot of things happened in 2020, but they won the championship that year, and maybe you 

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came to the conclusion it's time to be cheering for them and praying for them. 

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Question five how willing are you to admit that you are wrong? 

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Lord help us with that. 

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And then, number six, how do you respond when you are corrected by someone else? 

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You see, now, at this moment, you can, like many of us, begin to cower with a little bit 

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of guilt, shame, maybe even just denial. 

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Or you can allow the revelation of these blind spots in your life to be invitations from 

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God. 

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What if the gaps in our lives, because we all have them, were actually invitations from 

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God? 

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You see, this is what I want us to notice first. 

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That humility enables me to see that I have blind spots and to receive God's grace. 

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You see, the story doesn't end, thankfully, by the grace of God. 

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It does not end with us seeing our blind spots, but us receiving grace for them. 

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That's the whole point. 

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Listen to James Four. 

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God opposes the proud. 

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In other words, he stands at distance. 

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He stands at arm's length from proud people, but he gives grace to the humble. 

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There's grace for you today. 

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The good news today is that there is grace for us in our blind spots. 

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There is grace for the gaps in our lives. 

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But even with that said, why is it hard for us to just acknowledge and confront the shadow 

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side of our lives? 

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Two things come to mind. 

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First, people oftentimes are not gentle. 

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Maybe you've just had experience with people who corrected you and they were not kind 

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about it. 

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But secondly, I think there is a lack of security. 

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Many of us operate out of a false version of who we are, and that false version of 

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ourselves can rarely take correction. 

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But when you're in a place, a humble place, there's space to receive words from people 

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both that you need to hear from and that you don't want to hear from. 

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And so just be open to the possibility right now that the exposure that's happened of 

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these blind spots is not to bring shame or despair or any kind of embarrassment, but it 

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actually is a pathway to God's grace for you. 

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Imagine your weaknesses being places that can be opened so that there's a special grace 

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for those things. 

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Consider for the moment just that there is a God who actually longs to address the areas 

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that you are scared to touch. 

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What a gift that can be. 

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And that's what I think is happening here in the Philippians Church. 

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We're getting a picture from our passage of what it looks like to have a blind spot 

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revealed. 

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We remember from this letter many people have referred to it as kind of the book on joy. 

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Right? 

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Joy is mentioned a handful of times in this letter, and we think it's because Paul was 

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writing this letter to the Church of Philippi from prison. 

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But this church actually supported Paul. 

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So they sent him money financially, they sent him people. 

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So he actually got presents. 

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Right. 

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He was blessed by this church. 

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And so he's joyful, I think, over their generosity. 

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He's joyful over their love, he's joyful over their faith. 

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But they still have some things to work on. 

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And I think that's a good word for us, that no matter how healthy a church is, god still 

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has work to do in them. 

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No matter how healthy sandals might get, god still has work to do in all of us. 

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And there were some challenges this congregation is facing. 

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Namely, it was, I think, around disunity and the division that was marking this church. 

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And the reason why I think that is because in Philippians two, in the first five verses, 

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six different times, paul uses the word or the phrase unity or be united. 

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Listen to these phrases united in Christ, share in spirit, like minded, same love, being 

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one in spirit, being of one mind. 

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Now, these repeated phrases, at least for me, give us insight, I think, into a potential 

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blind spot. 

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The church at Philippi was dealing with their division, and so his word to them, I think, 

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is a good word for us. 

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Be careful of the division that is out in the world and how it might creep into the 

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church. 

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Be mindful of that. 

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It's a potential blind spot. 

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It's a call for unity. 

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Now, when we say unity, though, we're not referring to uniformity. 

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There is a clear difference between those two things. 

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Uniformity is about everyone doing the same thing, believing the same thing, thinking the 

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same way. 

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That is not what we're called to. 

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I don't even agree with myself most days. 

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Unity is you and I, through our disagreements, still saying our eyes and our hearts are 

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fixed on Jesus and we want to be formed and shaped by his humble, sacrificial love. 

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And I love that. 

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Paul doesn't end there. 

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He continues notice how he framed the issue. 

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He says, do nothing out of selfish ambition and vain conceit. 

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These words are critical for us. 

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Selfish ambition. 

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He's not saying you can't have any ambition, but he's saying a selfish kind of ambition is 

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one in which the driving force of how you view your life and yourself is with you at the 

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very center of everything. 

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You at the center. 

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That's a selfish way to approach it and, I think somewhat silly illustration, but I think 

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a helpful one that reveals how all of us work through this in various kinds of ways is 

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when you think about taking photos with each other. 

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You take a selfie. 

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You take a photo, you go to look at the quality of the photo. 

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Where are you all looking? 

307
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First, you're looking at yourself, right? 

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You're looking you're looking at yourself. 

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And if you're good, you're good with a photo and it's time to keep it moving. 

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So all of us at some level have to confront the vanity of our lives and the ways in which 

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selfish ambition drives us. 

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And then he goes on to say, though we're not looking verse four, just to your own 

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interests, but to the interest of others. 

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This was the verse that became the theme verse for this entire series of Olivia's. 

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Now, let's be clear though. 

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What Paul is getting at here is not that Christians are not to have any interest or any 

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ambition. 

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That's a terrible way to view life. 

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Christians just be boring, but the glory of God be boring. 

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What he's saying, though, is that if you imagine yourself in a community of believers with 

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a group of other Christians in which everyone is saying, I'm going to let you go first, or 

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how can I help you? 

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Or how can I serve you? 

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In that kind of community, everybody's needs will be met. 

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Your interests will get dealt with, right? 

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This is a beautiful picture of what it's like to serve one another out of a kind of 

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humility. 

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So what he says in humility, he goes on then. 

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Now to say value others above yourselves. 

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So humility not only is revealing blind spots, but secondly, now, humility enables me to 

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value others above myself. 

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00:18:28,289 --> 00:18:44,579
Paul clarifies what he means by using this phrase have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, 

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which I think is a close way for Paul to restate what Jesus was saying when he gave us the 

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greatest commandment, which was to love God and then to love your neighbor as yourself. 

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In other words, for the Christian, there is a reprioritization of a value system so that 

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you value yourself and then you take that same value system and apply it to your neighbor. 

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Paul's restating that. 

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And I think over time this begins to break the grip of selfishness in all of our lives. 

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Because, in other words, Paul is getting at this. 

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00:19:05,056 --> 00:19:09,450
The way we ought to think of ourselves is the same way Jesus thought of himself. 

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The way you think about yourself should be the same way Jesus thought about himself. 

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Now think for a second. 

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How does Jesus think of himself? 

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What does Jesus think about himself? 

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Paul gives us a picture of that. 

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He's a humble servant. 

347
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:34,864
He's a humble servant. 

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00:19:34,991 --> 00:19:43,690
And so to value others above yourself is to say this that there is no thing and no one 

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beneath me. 

350
00:19:44,859 --> 00:19:48,023
There's not a thing, not a task that is beneath me. 

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There is not a person beneath me. 

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00:19:50,493 --> 00:19:51,644
Now, let's pause right now. 

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In your life, is there anything that's too small for you to do right now? 

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Is there any person in your life that's beneath you, that you're unwilling to serve? 

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00:20:05,039 --> 00:20:09,119
I remember a number of years ago when I had the privilege of pastoring at Palm Avenue. 

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00:20:09,619 --> 00:20:21,349
We were in the midst of kind of revitalizing the campus, getting it ready for an Easter 

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00:20:09,619 --> 00:20:21,349
launch, and a lot of the staff was there on site doing a lot of work, a lot of manual 

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labor work. 

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And I remember throughout the course of the day, we had a lot of things to get done, and I 

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kept walking by the same pile of trash, like, I'm not going to deal with that. 

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Got pastoral stuff to know. 

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00:20:35,660 --> 00:20:43,390
A few hours later, after a long, hard day, our executive pastor, Danza Bardi, was at that 

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00:20:35,660 --> 00:20:43,390
pile of trash, throwing it all away. 

364
00:20:44,319 --> 00:20:53,627
I hid, but I was moved by the boss not viewing any task beneath him. 

365
00:20:53,794 --> 00:20:54,076
Why? 

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Because he's a humble dude. 

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He's never shared that story with you. 

368
00:20:56,213 --> 00:20:56,336
Why? 

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Because he's a humble dude. 

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But there was no task beneath him. 

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00:21:01,460 --> 00:21:06,124
Jesus, I think, gives us this picture, which is what Paul is after there in verse six of 

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this passage. 

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It's often referred to as the Christ Him. 

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This kind of poetic thing, if you read in the text, it kind of is structured differently. 

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And the reason why that is is because many believe what Paul was writing there in 

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Philippians two, starting in verse six, was actually not original to him. 

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00:21:20,473 --> 00:21:23,640
It was a song that churches had been singing for a long time. 

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00:21:23,710 --> 00:21:24,615
There in Philippians Two. 

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Imagine this. 

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00:21:25,038 --> 00:21:29,779
We get one of the first worship songs the church was singing, and it's referred to as the 

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00:21:25,038 --> 00:21:29,779
Christ hymn. 

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00:21:29,859 --> 00:21:36,215
And oftentimes we read the translation as this although he was in the form of God, he 

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became a servant. 

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00:21:36,248 --> 00:21:43,592
Now, that's a fair way to read the passage, but I need you to just be a nerd with me for a 

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00:21:36,248 --> 00:21:43,592
second and let's do some homework. 

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00:21:43,736 --> 00:21:50,347
We know with words, words often come with a semantic range of meaning, which means there's 

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00:21:43,736 --> 00:21:50,347
various ways to read the passage. 

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00:21:50,443 --> 00:21:55,824
And so, though it's helpful to read it, although he was God, he became a servant, he 

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became a human. 

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00:21:55,942 --> 00:22:03,284
I think a better way to read it is to say, because he was God, he became a servant, a 

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human being. 

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00:22:03,402 --> 00:22:09,923
In other words, humility is not the opposite of divinity, but humility is the very 

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00:22:03,402 --> 00:22:09,923
expression of divinity. 

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00:22:10,051 --> 00:22:18,680
Because he's God, he's humble, which is to say that God is the most humble being in all 

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the universe. 

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Think about that for a second. 

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There was no one more humble than Yahweh. 

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And Jesus modeled this. 

399
00:22:26,738 --> 00:22:28,107
You want to know what God looks like? 

400
00:22:28,193 --> 00:22:29,415
Look at Jesus. 

401
00:22:29,607 --> 00:22:30,988
He's fully god. 

402
00:22:31,153 --> 00:22:34,711
And then he modeled this himself on his last night of life with his disciples. 

403
00:22:34,776 --> 00:22:37,490
We're told there in John 13, listen to these words. 

404
00:22:37,940 --> 00:22:42,210
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. 

405
00:22:42,740 --> 00:22:43,708
I love this phrase. 

406
00:22:43,723 --> 00:22:46,607
This is one of my favorite phrases in the Gospel of John. 

407
00:22:46,693 --> 00:22:48,372
That sounds strange, but here's why. 

408
00:22:48,425 --> 00:22:53,509
Because what would Fredo be doing if he knew all things were under his power? 

409
00:22:54,039 --> 00:22:58,243
Imagine right now, every little issue in your life you had complete control over. 

410
00:22:58,362 --> 00:22:59,750
What would you be doing? 

411
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:01,844
This is what Jesus was doing. 

412
00:23:01,961 --> 00:23:07,223
It said there he knew where he came from, and he had come from God, and he was returning 

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to God. 

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00:23:07,261 --> 00:23:12,167
So not only did he have all things under his power, he had a clear sense of who he was. 

415
00:23:12,253 --> 00:23:13,319
What a gift. 

416
00:23:14,140 --> 00:23:28,336
Then it says there that he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a 

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towel around his waist, and after that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his 

418
00:23:14,140 --> 00:23:28,336
disciples feet, drying them with a towel that was wrapped around him. 

419
00:23:28,357 --> 00:23:32,412
He used his own clothes to dry his disciples feet. 

420
00:23:32,556 --> 00:23:34,096
Now, here's what you got to understand is going on. 

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00:23:34,117 --> 00:23:41,844
In the ancient eris tradition, it would have been common practice that a servant in the 

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household was designated to wash every guest's feet as they came into the house. 

423
00:23:41,961 --> 00:23:46,789
You can read Luke eight around a time when that didn't happen, how Jesus responded to that 

424
00:23:41,961 --> 00:23:46,789
story. 

425
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:54,023
But if a family was not wealthy enough, the first person who got to the party was the 

426
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:54,023
designated servant, which you and I would understand. 

427
00:23:54,061 --> 00:23:58,311
Why it's even better to be fashionably late, because no one wants that job. 

428
00:23:58,445 --> 00:24:03,369
And coming where I come from, if the invitation says two, I'm not there to at least 240. 

429
00:24:03,740 --> 00:24:09,150
Because the show up on time to a Mexican event means that you're the first one to help 

430
00:24:03,740 --> 00:24:09,150
finish setting up everything. 

431
00:24:09,759 --> 00:24:11,579
So I'm fashionably late. 

432
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,170
But this is what we see Jesus doing. 

433
00:24:15,539 --> 00:24:16,604
He's in a household. 

434
00:24:16,652 --> 00:24:19,569
No one's there to be the designated servant, but he is. 

435
00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:27,440
He's washing John's feet, washing James'feet washing Peter's feet, bartholomew's feet, 

436
00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:27,440
Nathaniel's feet, Philip. 

437
00:24:27,519 --> 00:24:28,980
Then he gets to Judas. 

438
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:30,836
He's like, Nah, I know what you're about to do. 

439
00:24:30,857 --> 00:24:31,589
Go ahead. 

440
00:24:32,039 --> 00:24:33,920
No, he washes his feet. 

441
00:24:34,079 --> 00:24:36,768
He washes his betrayer's feet. 

442
00:24:36,943 --> 00:24:45,400
And the reason why I point that out is because in our own humble service, there's still 

443
00:24:36,943 --> 00:24:45,400
enough pride in all of us to decide who we want to serve and who we don't want to serve. 

444
00:24:45,900 --> 00:24:48,250
And oftentimes we're oblivious to that. 

445
00:24:48,859 --> 00:24:55,549
We love to serve people who love us, but it's difficult to serve those who we can't stand. 

446
00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:07,009
And what a gift for the Church to move forward in this world right now, to model humility, 

447
00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:07,009
to be marked by a kind of humility that serves people who we can't stand. 

448
00:25:08,019 --> 00:25:08,432
Why? 

449
00:25:08,486 --> 00:25:10,384
Because Jesus did this. 

450
00:25:10,582 --> 00:25:14,347
Jesus washed the feet of both the deserving and the undeserving. 

451
00:25:14,523 --> 00:25:21,104
That Jesus is so humble to his very core that he would choose to wash the feet of both 

452
00:25:14,523 --> 00:25:21,104
saint and sinner alike. 

453
00:25:21,231 --> 00:25:26,500
That's good news for us, because I don't know about you, but I know where I stand in the 

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00:25:21,231 --> 00:25:26,500
column of saint and sinner. 

455
00:25:27,319 --> 00:25:31,849
And I'm grateful that I have a king with all power under his control. 

456
00:25:32,299 --> 00:25:33,880
Washes my feet. 

457
00:25:34,380 --> 00:25:36,009
He's the servant of all. 

458
00:25:36,619 --> 00:25:43,819
And so I want us to begin to think about how can we become the kind of person then who is 

459
00:25:36,619 --> 00:25:43,819
marked by this humility? 

460
00:25:45,039 --> 00:25:46,203
How can we become this? 

461
00:25:46,241 --> 00:25:53,000
In other words, what are the practices that we might give ourselves to as we seek to 

462
00:25:46,241 --> 00:25:53,000
become humble in the way that Jesus was humble? 

463
00:25:53,079 --> 00:25:56,880
My first thought is this by lowering my defenses. 

464
00:25:57,220 --> 00:25:58,907
Lowering my defenses? 

465
00:25:59,084 --> 00:26:00,240
What do I mean by that? 

466
00:26:00,309 --> 00:26:03,836
Well, humility, I would say, has much more to do with lowering our defenses. 

467
00:26:03,867 --> 00:26:04,064
Right. 

468
00:26:04,102 --> 00:26:05,836
I said it's about doing the lowly task. 

469
00:26:05,867 --> 00:26:09,440
But also it has to do with lowering our defenses. 

470
00:26:09,599 --> 00:26:13,892
Because oftentimes humility can be confused with a lot of things first. 

471
00:26:13,945 --> 00:26:19,079
I think it's sometimes confused with people who just don't want to be center stage. 

472
00:26:19,660 --> 00:26:24,632
They'd rather just be behind the scenes right away in the corner doing something. 

473
00:26:24,766 --> 00:26:27,319
But you can be shy and very prideful. 

474
00:26:29,579 --> 00:26:31,549
You might even know people like this. 

475
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:43,307
Humility is also sometimes confused with self deprecation in which you and I try to 

476
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:43,307
distance ourselves or create distance between who we are and the gifts we have. 

477
00:26:43,473 --> 00:26:46,751
So we'll kind of make fun of ourselves light hearted ways. 

478
00:26:46,806 --> 00:26:47,183
Oh, yeah. 

479
00:26:47,221 --> 00:26:47,983
No, it's not me. 

480
00:26:48,021 --> 00:26:48,784
That's not really me. 

481
00:26:48,821 --> 00:26:49,728
Thank you, though. 

482
00:26:49,894 --> 00:26:51,355
Could be self deprecating. 

483
00:26:51,468 --> 00:26:54,556
That also, I think is a false kind of humility. 

484
00:26:54,748 --> 00:26:56,400
It takes me back to a story. 

485
00:26:56,549 --> 00:27:01,327
When I was in seminary, one of my favorite professors, his name was Russell Moore. 

486
00:27:01,503 --> 00:27:03,955
I had the privilege of being a student of his for a little bit of time. 

487
00:27:03,978 --> 00:27:06,644
He's now the editor in chief at Christianity Today. 

488
00:27:06,842 --> 00:27:14,440
And I remember one day in class he was given just some very raw, honest advice to Young 

489
00:27:06,842 --> 00:27:14,440
Prideful Seminary. 

490
00:27:14,940 --> 00:27:20,200
And one of the things he said was, listen, your first hundred sermons will all stink. 

491
00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:22,403
Like, oh, cool, that's great, thanks. 

492
00:27:22,461 --> 00:27:24,349
I'm on sermon like 42. 

493
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:27,996
But then he went on to say this. 

494
00:27:28,018 --> 00:27:35,480
He said, and when you give sermons, he said when people come up and give you compliments 

495
00:27:28,018 --> 00:27:35,480
or they say something kind about it, just say thank you, guys. 

496
00:27:35,650 --> 00:27:42,847
He's like, I don't know why this is, but sometimes pastors have this inclination to say, 

497
00:27:35,650 --> 00:27:42,847
oh, that was all God, none of me. 

498
00:27:43,013 --> 00:27:43,951
And I remember Dr. 

499
00:27:44,006 --> 00:27:48,470
Moore said, listen, if it was all God, it would have been a lot better than what we just 

500
00:27:44,006 --> 00:27:48,470
heard from you for 40 minutes. 

501
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:58,051
So clearly it's not all God because God would have wrapped it up in 15 but you kept it 

502
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:58,051
moving for too long. 

503
00:27:58,185 --> 00:28:01,288
So he said, just be honest and say thank you. 

504
00:28:01,374 --> 00:28:03,690
Maybe ask, what did you get out of it? 

505
00:28:04,299 --> 00:28:09,604
And so humility, I think, is not those two routes, but humility has more to do with 

506
00:28:04,299 --> 00:28:09,604
lowering our defenses. 

507
00:28:09,731 --> 00:28:10,036
Listen. 

508
00:28:10,077 --> 00:28:11,576
To the words of Proverbs 19. 

509
00:28:11,607 --> 00:28:18,779
It says, Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among 

510
00:28:11,607 --> 00:28:18,779
the wise. 

511
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:32,930
That's the invitation to lower our defenses so that we can have space in our lives to 

512
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:32,930
receive the feedback, to allow the blind spots to be addressed, to see the gaps in our 

513
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:32,930
lives for what they are. 

514
00:28:33,299 --> 00:28:38,771
Peace GAzero has this brilliant way in which he practices lowering his defenses with three 

515
00:28:33,299 --> 00:28:38,771
simple words. 

516
00:28:38,826 --> 00:28:41,109
He says this tell me more. 

517
00:28:41,559 --> 00:28:48,470
So that when someone's correcting him, someone's giving him feedback, he just says, Tell 

518
00:28:41,559 --> 00:28:48,470
me more about that. 

519
00:28:48,839 --> 00:28:49,844
Tell me more. 

520
00:28:49,961 --> 00:28:54,564
Imagine if you went to work next week and your boss walks up to you and says, hey, I want 

521
00:28:49,961 --> 00:28:54,564
to know how to be a better supervisor. 

522
00:28:54,692 --> 00:28:57,529
Can you tell me more about what I'm doing wrong? 

523
00:28:57,980 --> 00:29:04,708
You would think revival broke out at your work if you went home and you asked your spouse, 

524
00:28:57,980 --> 00:29:04,708
hey, how can I better serve you? 

525
00:29:04,733 --> 00:29:05,516
How can I better love you? 

526
00:29:05,538 --> 00:29:09,163
Can you tell me more about the issues I'm dealing with right now? 

527
00:29:09,362 --> 00:29:13,839
Or if your kids, if some of your kids walked up, hey, can you tell me more about how I 

528
00:29:09,362 --> 00:29:13,839
could be a better parent? 

529
00:29:13,910 --> 00:29:18,609
You would think the Spirit of God has broken out in your house, right? 

530
00:29:19,140 --> 00:29:25,089
What a practice, though, for lowering our defenses with those three simple words tell me 

531
00:29:19,140 --> 00:29:25,089
more. 

532
00:29:25,539 --> 00:29:31,109
I wish to God that that night on the couch with Eli, I would have just said, Eli, tell me 

533
00:29:25,539 --> 00:29:31,109
more. 

534
00:29:31,559 --> 00:29:33,203
I'm listening now. 

535
00:29:33,402 --> 00:29:34,869
I'm listening now. 

536
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:37,935
I think of the wise words from Brent Hansen. 

537
00:29:37,968 --> 00:29:41,384
He wrote a book recently called Unoffendable, and I think his words here ring true. 

538
00:29:41,422 --> 00:29:45,210
He says this few want to hear this, but it's true. 

539
00:29:45,980 --> 00:29:52,536
And it can be enormously helpful in life if you're constantly being hurt, offended, or 

540
00:29:45,980 --> 00:29:52,536
angered. 

541
00:29:52,647 --> 00:29:55,980
You should honestly evaluate your inflamed ego. 

542
00:29:58,079 --> 00:30:02,460
He put to words in a book what Kendrick was saying six years ago in a song. 

543
00:30:03,140 --> 00:30:04,031
Here's what it means. 

544
00:30:04,086 --> 00:30:08,960
I think it's this that the most humble people are often the least defensive. 

545
00:30:09,940 --> 00:30:19,955
And so if you're regularly bothered, offended, hurt, irritated dare I use the word 

546
00:30:09,940 --> 00:30:19,955
triggered by what someone says? 

547
00:30:20,057 --> 00:30:24,500
Could it be the case that your ego is swollen? 

548
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:32,839
And so to live a life marked by humility, I think means the daily practice of lowering our 

549
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:32,839
defenses. 

550
00:30:33,180 --> 00:30:34,263
Three little words. 

551
00:30:34,382 --> 00:30:35,450
Tell me more. 

552
00:30:36,220 --> 00:30:42,940
Secondly, I think it also looks like us releasing entitlement. 

553
00:30:43,519 --> 00:30:45,180
Release my entitlement. 

554
00:30:45,519 --> 00:30:53,976
Look at the words there from Philippians two passage where Paul says he did not consider 

555
00:30:45,519 --> 00:30:53,976
equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. 

556
00:30:54,008 --> 00:31:07,092
In other words, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, had a right 

557
00:30:54,008 --> 00:31:07,092
to be the Son, and yet he did not use it to his own advantage, but leveraged his position 

558
00:30:54,008 --> 00:31:07,092
for us. 

559
00:31:07,226 --> 00:31:10,950
He leveraged it for us by becoming one of us. 

560
00:31:11,319 --> 00:31:17,380
That is a beautiful picture of someone who is humble enough that they don't have anything 

561
00:31:11,319 --> 00:31:17,380
to possess. 

562
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:30,503
You see, someone who can lower the defenses is essentially someone who doesn't have 

563
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:30,503
anything to protect, but someone who's also willing and able to just release entitlement 

564
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:30,503
is someone that says, I got nothing to possess. 

565
00:31:30,551 --> 00:31:33,660
Here, let me leverage this for your sake. 

566
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:42,269
But oftentimes our pride can convince us that God owes us a better life and that I deserve 

567
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:42,269
more. 

568
00:31:43,519 --> 00:31:46,144
This is embarrassing in my own life, but very true. 

569
00:31:46,261 --> 00:31:55,349
I work right upstairs, and sometimes I'll come into the office, I'll sit at my desk and 

570
00:31:46,261 --> 00:31:55,349
I'll think to myself, how come I don't got an office? 

571
00:31:57,079 --> 00:32:01,910
I mean, I'm a pastor here, getting bothered all the time by people. 

572
00:32:03,559 --> 00:32:04,980
I say that gently. 

573
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:10,650
But then I think to myself, do I think I deserve a better life? 

574
00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:19,799
Can I not imagine my situation in which my role, my position is actually leveraged for the 

575
00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:19,799
good of others? 

576
00:32:19,950 --> 00:32:36,559
You see, someone who's releasing their entitlement is able to say that maybe the blessings 

577
00:32:19,950 --> 00:32:36,559
I enjoy in my life are not always about me, but about other people and what I can release, 

578
00:32:19,950 --> 00:32:36,559
as Jesus did, coming into the world with nothing to prove, nothing to possess. 

579
00:32:38,180 --> 00:32:41,372
Lastly, we can become the kind of people marked by humility. 

580
00:32:41,435 --> 00:32:47,332
Listen now, by making humility a daily practice here I go again. 

581
00:32:47,385 --> 00:32:49,059
My favorite word, practice. 

582
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,276
Listen to Paul's words from Philippians Two. 

583
00:32:52,377 --> 00:32:55,715
He made himself nothing by becoming what? 

584
00:32:55,897 --> 00:32:58,516
Obedient to death? 

585
00:32:58,627 --> 00:33:01,480
How often do you think Jesus was obedient? 

586
00:33:02,140 --> 00:33:03,463
All the time. 

587
00:33:03,662 --> 00:33:07,000
Lived life 33 years, we're told every day. 

588
00:33:07,150 --> 00:33:12,039
Made it a daily decision that he will make humility a practice. 

589
00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:16,728
He'll humble himself through the act of obedience. 

590
00:33:16,824 --> 00:33:20,455
So what I'm saying to you and I is that humility is not a one time kind of prayer request. 

591
00:33:20,488 --> 00:33:21,768
God, make me humble. 

592
00:33:21,943 --> 00:33:23,576
That's kind of a dangerous prayer. 

593
00:33:23,688 --> 00:33:26,236
But truth be told, I don't think there's one prayer that can make you humble. 

594
00:33:26,268 --> 00:33:28,523
I don't think there's 100 prayers that can make me humble. 

595
00:33:28,652 --> 00:33:34,160
But I do think there is a daily practice in which we become people marked by humility. 

596
00:33:34,579 --> 00:33:49,509
As it says there in Luke Nine, when Jesus invites people to follow Him, he said to them 

597
00:33:34,579 --> 00:33:49,509
all, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, what 

598
00:33:34,579 --> 00:33:49,509
daily, and follow me. 

599
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:51,811
He lived a life of obedience. 

600
00:33:51,875 --> 00:33:54,119
He modeled this for us. 

601
00:33:54,269 --> 00:33:55,415
Now, I'll be honest with you. 

602
00:33:55,438 --> 00:33:57,016
This is a painful process. 

603
00:33:57,117 --> 00:33:58,584
There is nothing pretty about this. 

604
00:33:58,622 --> 00:34:02,589
As I said, humility is beautiful, but the road to it is not pretty. 

605
00:34:03,519 --> 00:34:05,531
This is a costly thing. 

606
00:34:05,586 --> 00:34:13,831
And just to humanize and normalize all of our experiences, there was nothing enjoyable 

607
00:34:05,586 --> 00:34:13,831
about humble obedience on a regular basis. 

608
00:34:13,976 --> 00:34:16,143
But there is a promise that comes with it. 

609
00:34:16,262 --> 00:34:25,030
You think of the words of one Peter Five where it says, humble yourselves therefore under 

610
00:34:16,262 --> 00:34:25,030
God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. 

611
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:32,230
Humility is always listen now a painful death, but it always ends in new life. 

612
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:35,590
It always ends in new life. 

613
00:34:36,039 --> 00:34:42,039
As we close, I want us to think about the word above that Paul used twice in this passage. 

614
00:34:42,940 --> 00:34:46,248
First, he says to value others above yourself. 

615
00:34:46,333 --> 00:34:49,050
Jesus, I think, perfectly modeled this. 

616
00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:53,195
He valued our lives above his own to the degree that he was willing to die for us. 

617
00:34:53,217 --> 00:34:54,315
That's what he does. 

618
00:34:54,498 --> 00:34:58,204
But then it says that God raised him up and gave him the name. 

619
00:34:58,242 --> 00:35:00,750
That's what above every other name. 

620
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:12,523
Jesus, who said, you over me, then got the name above and over everybody else so that at 

621
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:12,523
his name every knee bows, every tongue confesses. 

622
00:35:12,652 --> 00:35:17,989
What a day that will be to see the most humble person getting the worship of everybody 

623
00:35:12,652 --> 00:35:17,989
else. 

624
00:35:18,519 --> 00:35:20,150
What a picture that is. 

625
00:35:20,599 --> 00:35:25,539
And that's what Peter's inviting us to consider under God's mighty hand. 

626
00:35:25,690 --> 00:35:30,170
Submit yourself and know that you're going to be lifted up. 

627
00:35:30,619 --> 00:35:32,307
You're going to be exalted. 

628
00:35:32,483 --> 00:35:34,664
There is an honor coming your way. 

629
00:35:34,782 --> 00:35:42,300
The other side of your humility today is honor, exaltation, new life and resurrection. 

630
00:35:43,119 --> 00:35:53,170
Imagine you confronting your spouse over things that you need to address, knowing that if 

631
00:35:43,119 --> 00:35:53,170
I just walk this road of humility today, honor is coming. 

632
00:35:53,860 --> 00:35:55,489
Exaltation is coming. 

633
00:35:56,659 --> 00:36:07,010
Imagine you for just a moment lowering your defenses with someone today, knowing, man, 

634
00:35:56,659 --> 00:36:07,010
that though I'm choosing the downward path, I'm on my way up. 

635
00:36:07,460 --> 00:36:08,960
Resurrection is coming. 

636
00:36:09,110 --> 00:36:10,132
New life is coming. 

637
00:36:10,186 --> 00:36:12,659
What a gift that is for us to see. 

638
00:36:12,730 --> 00:36:14,112
That's the good news of the gospel. 

639
00:36:14,175 --> 00:36:15,407
Nothing ends in death. 

640
00:36:15,503 --> 00:36:17,880
It always ends in new life and resurrection. 

641
00:36:18,300 --> 00:36:22,771
This is the upside down way that Jesus says his kingdom functions. 

642
00:36:22,916 --> 00:36:30,190
Blessed are the poor in spirit, he said, because they're getting everything. 

643
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:32,123
They're getting everything. 

644
00:36:32,322 --> 00:36:33,550
Let's pray together. 

645
00:36:39,679 --> 00:36:48,769
Jesus, what a gift it is to see you value us above yourself, only to get the name that is 

646
00:36:39,679 --> 00:36:48,769
above every name. 

647
00:36:49,219 --> 00:36:53,570
And so it's before you that we bow today, God, and we say, would you work in us? 

648
00:36:54,420 --> 00:36:57,599
Would you help us become people who are marked by humility? 

649
00:36:58,099 --> 00:37:06,610
And would you lead us to a place, God, where what is maybe blinding us, what has gripped 

650
00:36:58,099 --> 00:37:06,610
our lives we might be broken free of today? 

651
00:37:07,860 --> 00:37:09,576
We pray these things in Your name. 

652
00:37:09,677 --> 00:37:10,099
Amen.