Sermon
for Pentecost 12, August 31, 2025
Grace to you and heavenly peace from God the
Father and Jesus Christ, our eternal King.
Amen.
Dear friends of the humble Savior,
Our readings this
morning were chosen around the theme of humility before God. Humility is a most rare thing in our world,
unless, of course, someone is trying to live a life of self-deprivation, as the
monks of the Middle Ages often did. Truthfully
though, even that is usually a false humility, because it seeks glory in
hardships. Likewise, in false humility,
certain people may try to one up each other in comparing their humbleness:
perhaps, by mocking their own looks, belittling their own abilities,
under-reporting their accomplishments, or trusting in their service to their
fellow man or their gifts of charity to the poor to appease a righteous God.
Humility is a tough subject for us.
We don’t come by it naturally, because our sinful human nature wants to
be honored and in authority—even over God.
Furthermore, this is an especially tough subject for Americans, because
our whole culture and nation is driven by ideas of self-promotion and personal
equality—even if that equality is a rarely achieved ideal. Child psychologists and schools emphasize
building self-esteem in each child, in an attempt to leave not even one child behind
his peers.
As a nation, we take pride in the idealistic presumption that no one is
better or more worthy than any other. Of
course, this opinion can also often be taken too far, for almost everyone from
a criminal to the highest government official, or an unemployed teenager to the
chief executive officer of a Fortune Five Hundred company expects to be
respected, whether they have earned the respect of others, or not.
To clarify what I mean about humility, when was the last time you bowed
down before one of our city officials, or a senator, or a representative of the
state or federal government? We just
don’t do that, do we? We would be
embarrassed to humble ourselves in that way.
In fact, I bet that many of those people would also be embarrassed if
any of us even tried to bow down before them.
A handshake among supposed equals is about as close as we get.
However, as much as we hate to be considered lowly, in God’s kingdom
humility is a good thing. So, our
readings this morning teach that rather than practice self-promotion, or to
expect a reward for works, salvation
comes only when Christ elevates
you to glory.
Our sermon text comes to us from the wisdom of King Solomon: [We read in
Jesus’ name,] Proverbs 25:6-7a “Do not honor yourself in a king’s
presence. Do not stand in a place
reserved for great people, because it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’
than for you to be humiliated before a ruler.” (EHV).
Solomon’s advice, here, is good advice for our earthly lives, of
course. For an example of a man who
didn’t follow it, read the book of Esther and see how Haman, who was a proud
second in command to the Persian king, confidently expected that the king
wanted to honor him but soon learned to his horror that the king was honoring
Haman’s mortal enemy, Mordecai. Haman’s
extreme pride was ended when he was hanged on the very high gallows he had
built to hang Mordecai, while the king elevated Mordecai to Haman’s previous
high position as the king’s right-hand man.
However, while living humbly is certainly good advice for our earthly
lives, it is especially critical for our spiritual lives. To exalt ourselves in the presence of the
King of heaven would lead to our eternal punishment in the depths of hell. The
Pharisees were very proud of their works and their heritage as descendants of
Abraham. They liked all the showy
positions at the feasts and festivals.
Their fancy clothes and pompous stride showed that they wanted everyone
to be looking at them, but they had very little time for the humble Son of God
walking in their midst. Thus, Jesus
warned the Pharisees, “Yes, everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11)
Dear friends, Solomon said, “Do not
stand in a place reserved for great people, because it is better to be told,
‘Come up here,’ than for you to be humiliated before a ruler.” If we want to brag before God about things we
do, or even about our humility, we make ourselves pretenders to the Christ whom
God sent to live holiness for us and has elevated to His right hand. Nothing less than perfect holiness will allow
anyone to enter God’s presence—no ordinary mortal man could ever measure
up. So, bragging about anything good in
us, or in our works, leaves us in the dangerous position of exalting ourselves
in the presence of the perfect Savior who now has authority to judge us for
eternity. On the other hand, when we
despair of any works we might have accomplished, or even any humility or
strength of faith, but trust wholeheartedly in Jesus, Christ elevates you to glory.
Who among us can honestly say we are
more humble than Jesus? Jesus, the very
Son of God, begotten of the Father from all eternity, left His throne of glory
in heaven behind to humble Himself on earth to serve His heavenly Father and save
you and me. St. Paul wrote, “Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Though he was
by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be
displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his
appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became
obedient to the point of death―even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8) Jesus possessed
all the power, prestige, glory, and honor of the eternal Creator God and Father
of all, yet the divine Son, united with human flesh, set aside glory and honor
to live for us in perfect lowliness and humility.
Now, can any of us honestly say we have submitted to God’s will like
Jesus? Jesus, the only begotten Son of
both God and Mary, lived in perfect submission to His Father’s will and to
every law that applied to man. Of Jesus,
the Bible says, “He had done no violence,
and no deceit was in his mouth.” (Isaiah
53:9) Not one of us could make
that claim. Yet, Jesus lived like that
for you and me.
Likewise, can any of us honestly say that we have loved the undeserving
as well as Jesus? Jesus, owner of all
creation by right of Sonship, gives to all people on earth their daily
bread. By right, He should be demanding
payment from us for even the least little thing He gives, yet He freely pours
out blessing upon blessing upon us, because that is His Father’s will. Jesus even gave His own precious blood in
full payment for the sins of the very world that has rebelled against Him. “Therefore
God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so
that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.” (Philippians
2:9-11)
Think back on Jesus’ earthly ministry.
What right did anyone have to expect Jesus to feed them when they came
out to the wilderness to hear Him teach?
He never promised that to anyone.
Yet, Jesus fed the multitudes when He saw that they were in need. Who could ever have expected Jesus to heal
the sick and lame and blind? Yet, Jesus
did that too, even among some who would have called Him an enemy. Then, rather than seek praise for His work, Jesus
declared, “The Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)
We will never outdo Jesus in either humility or
works, so we dare not try to stand before Him on our own merit at the
Judgment. For eternal salvation, we dare
not rely on our own efforts in any way, shape, or form, for we will always fall
short of the glory of God. However, we
have a Savior who willingly gave Himself to make us holy and pure before God. Therefore, we fall on our knees daily in
humble confession of our shortcomings and pride, while our Savior freely gives
us the forgiveness that none of us could have earned.
Though Jesus
is, and always has been, true God, He was not too proud to live as a servant in
order to save us. Likewise, He would
have us be servants to all so that the many lost souls might hear of Jesus’
love and faithfulness, believe in Him, and be saved. That’s why in our Gospel lesson Jesus told
the Pharisees to invite to their banquets those who couldn’t repay them instead
of their friends and relatives. It is
God’s good will that all people should repent of their arrogance and turn to
Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. It
is God’s will that we serve the wonderful bread of Jesus’ pure grace to the
wretched refuse of the world, but as we reach out to the sinners here and
everywhere, we do it not as self-righteous, arrogant heathens, but as unworthy
sinners whom Jesus has redeemed.
Concerning all this, what do we have to boast about? Works contaminated by sin, humility that
seeks its own honor, love that falters when others offend, faith that stumbles
at the first sign of trouble or temptation?
Let go of all those things! Repent of any self-boasting and cling to the
Savior, Jesus Christ, for His forgiveness, righteousness and salvation, for the
purity and holiness He put on you at your Baptism.
The LORD declared through the prophet Jeremiah, “The wise man should not
boast in his wisdom. The strong man
should not boast in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches. Instead, let those who boast boast about
this: that they have understanding, and that they know me. They know that I am the Lord, who shows
mercy, justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things,”
declares the Lord. (Jeremiah
9:23-24) St. Paul later wrote, “Far be it from me to boast, except in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to
me and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14)
Dear friends, as we do the things our
Lord Jesus commanded us to do, as we struggle to resist temptation and throw
off sin, as we strive to live more holy lives each day, and as we look for the
return of our Savior, Redeemer, and King, keep in mind that none of what we do
saves us—even as our faithful efforts work to save others through the power of
the Holy Spirit—which indeed they do. We
are commanded to live for Jesus, but in doing so let us always confess in true,
humble faith, “We are unworthy servants. We have only done what we were supposed to do.”
(Luke 17:10)
The Holy Spirit made us servants of
the Savior by God’s grace. Because of
His love for us, God sent His Son to redeem us from sin, death, and the
devil. We had no part in that decision;
it was God’s alone. The same is true of
our salvation; we were rescued from the clutches of Satan and the hell we
deserved by the one true God who loved us in spite of our sinful condition, not
because of any good in us, but for the sake of all the good in His Son. Jesus took your sins and gave you His perfect
holiness in exchange. When Jesus made
you His own through faith and the water and Word of Baptism, the Father likewise
welcomed you into His kingdom, granting you sonship and an inheritance in
heaven. Today, when believing in Jesus
as your Lord and Savior, God sees you as holy, righteous, and truly humble for
Jesus’ sake, because Christ elevates you to
glory. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was
in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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