Sermon Text: Philippians 2:1-11 (The Message)
Sermon Excerpt
One day a lion, proud of his mastery of the animal kingdom decided to make sure all the other animals knew he was king of the jungle. He was so confident that he bypassed the smaller animals and went straight for the bear.
“Who is the king of the jungle?” the lion asked. The bear replied, “Why, you are, of course.” The lion gave a mighty roar of approval.
Then he asked the tiger, “Who is the king of the jungle?” The tiger quickly responded. “Everyone knows that you are, O mighty lion.”
Next on the list was the elephant. The lion faced the elephant and addressed his question: “Who is the king of the jungle?” The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times, and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under water in a nearby lake, and finally threw him on the shore.
The lion – beaten, bruised, and battered – struggled to his feet. He looked at the elephant through sad and bloody eyes and said, “Look, just because you don’t know the answer is no reason to be mean about it.”
We can laugh at this story because it is about animals and the way their kingdom seems to work, but when we apply the same concept to our world the result is anything but laughable. Our culture teaches us that we must
- pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps,
- climb the corporate ladder, and
- leap any obstacles life puts in our way.
Our goal is to be the best version of ourselves; we are
- to stand up for ourselves,
- to be a self-made man or woman, and
- to be all that we can be.
And, of course, we are to deny any data and ignore any accusations that suggest someone is better than we are.
In our professional pursuits we . . . (read manuscript or watch video)
So What?
Humility should be second nature to those who follow the Way of Jesus. Because our culture promotes self-interest so heavily we must constantly see our pride for what it is and address it accordingly.
We need regular reminders that Jesus taught that the last will be first and that those who want to be first must be a servant of all. We need to remember that getting along is more important than getting ahead and that being united is more important than being independent.
- How do you define humility?
- What do you find to be the hardest part of living out humility?
- Share an example of someone who follows the Way of Jesus who you think of as a humble person.