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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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The Root of All Evil |
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Romans
12:16 Third
Sunday after Trinity January
24, 2010
Paul wrote to Timothy that the love of money is the root of all
evil. Why could he say that?
Simply because, in our culture, money is the primary means of
gratifying our desires and getting what we want.
Money is power. Money
is influence. Money is fame. Most of all, money is the ability to exalt yourself, and self
exaltation is just another way of describing the sin of pride.
So the love of money is just pride in disguise, and pride is the
root of all sin. It is the
essence of all sin. For what
is sin but the exaltation of our own selves and desires above the rights
of others and even above God Himself?
Obviously I am talking about the negative side of pride.
There is a good side of pride.
There is a good, even a godly kind of pride that leads us to do
well and to do good. There is
a pride that makes us want to do our best in our jobs, in our homes, and
in our church. This is a good
thing, but there is another kind of pride, which the Bible alludes to in
this morning's reading from Romans, which is thinking of yourself as
"wise in your own conceits."
This is the self-exaltation I was talking about a few moments ago.
To distinguish it from the good pride, let us call it arrogance,
selfishness, and conceit, for these words actually convey the meaning of
the Bible.
Pride has long been called one of the "Seven Deadly
Sins." That is not
really correct, for every sin is deadly. Every sin makes us worthy of the wrath of God.
But pride is the sin that leads to all other sin, so, in a sense,
it is the deadliest of all sins. The opposite of pride is humility. So, if pride is self-exaltation, humility is self-humbling.
Pride honours self; humility gives honour to others.
Pride says my wants and needs come first.
Humility is the willingness to serve the needs of others.
Primarily, pride exalts self-will above God; humility exalts God's
will above self.
I need to say here that humility is not making yourself lower than
you are. Humility does not
mean you cannot recognise your talents and abilities.
It does not require us to consider ourselves unworthy of the love
and respect of other people. We
can be humble, and, at the same time, be aware that we have been given
rights and freedoms no one else has the right to curtail or infringe upon.
Our own Declaration of Independence captures the essence of this
well when it says, "All men are created equal, and are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights."
The musical, "Oklahoma" expresses this same idea in a
more colloquial way when the character, "Aunt Ella" sings;
"I ain't saying I'm no better than anybody else,
But I'll be danged if I ain't just as good."
All people, including ourselves, are to be treated with respect and
compassion. This is one of
the most basic teachings of the Bible, and humility does not mean we are
somehow unworthy of this respect and compassion from other people.
It does mean we do not exalt ourselves above them, or above God.
Charles Simeon was an English clergyman and an influential leader
in the Evangelical Revival in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Simeon was a man of wealth, education, and culture.
He was also a gifted speaker and a natural leader. It would have been easy for him to become conceited.
On the other hand, it would have been easy for him to assume a
false modesty, denying his abilities and influence.
Instead he chose genuine humility which begins by recognising our
need of God's grace. A
biographer of Rev. Simeon wrote; "Self
humiliation for Simeon consisted not of belittling the gifts that God had
given him or pretending that he was a man of no account, or exaggerating
the sins of which he was very conscious.
He went about it by consciously bringing himself into the presence
of God, dwelling thoughtfully on His majesty and glory, magnifying the
mercy of His forgiveness and the wonder of his love.
These were the things that humbled him- not so much his own
sinfulness but God's incredible love."
At its most basic level, humility means to walk humbly with God.
"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God?" (Mic.6:8).
This means we will have an attitude of seeking God, and an attitude
of obedience to Him. This is simply a way of summarising the moral law of
the Old Testament. It is very similar to that given by Christ, who told us to
love the Lord our God with all our heart and mind, and strength, and our
neighbor as ourselves. Those
who walk humbly with God will also love their neighbors, do justly, and
love mercy.
It has been said the cure for pride is humility.
In reality the cure for pride is biblical faith, which calls us,
like Charles Simeon, to worship the wonderful love of God, who sent so
great a salvation to us. Humility
is not something we work up in ourselves.
It is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the
believer. When we kneel at the foot of the cross, knowing it was our
sins that made His sacrifice necessary.
We suddenly realise we are exactly the same predicament as everyone
else in the world. We are all
sinners, no better, no worse, just sinners in need of grace.
Such knowledge produces a natural affinity and humility.
That is the cure for pride.
Holy Father, allow us to see a glimpse of Thy beauty and glorious
love extended to us in Christ. And
let Thy love teach us to turn away from our own conceits, and love Thee
and our neighbours in true humility.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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