CWC- Pentecost 15 (proper 17)- Old Testament Lesson - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Proverbs 25:6,7
.6 “Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; 7 it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.”
What is something worth?
Why is something worth what it is worth?
WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?
On your own?
In Christ?
What are you worth? How do people determine what they are worth? Sometimes on the basis of what is going on in life right now. I get good grades in school. Whom am I worth a lot to? People who need help with their schoolwork. I work very hard at my job. Whom am I worth a lot to? My company. I have a job. Whom am I worth a lot to? My family.
What are you worth? Sometimes people answer that question on the basis of their skills. I can pass a football better than anybody else in my high school. Whom am I worth a lot to? The team. I can play the organ. Whom am I worth a lot to? The congregation. I can hit over .300 in the major leagues. Whom am I worth a lot to? I am worth several million a year to myself.
What are you worth? Sometimes people answer that question on the basis of their involvement. I volunteer at the soup kitchen. Whom am I worth a lot to? Needy people. I coach basketball on the grade school level. Whom am I worth a lot to? The players. I handle easily all my household chores. Whom am I worth a lot to? My parents. I help my friends say “No” to godlessness. Whom am I worth a lot to? My friends.
King Solomon warns us about taking our self worth from any of the above. Why? Because comparisons are always relative. You are doing well at school. Comparison? There is probably somebody doing better. I started at quarterback as a senior. Comparison? The starter the next year was better. I volunteer two hours a week. Comparison? Somebody else volunteers three.
Then what happens? .6 “Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; 7 it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.” Somebody evaluates your worth differently from how you evaluate it. You are humiliated.
What are you worth? There is a more important question than, “What are you worth to yourself?” Or “What are you worth to others?” What are you worth to God? God has given us a standard to measure ourselves with to determine what we are worth to Him. What is that standard called? God’s law. It says, {Lev 19:2}“Be holy because I the LORD your God am holy.” If we are going to be worth anything in God’s sight, we have to be able to keep the Law.
There is a problem. None of us perfectly keeps God first in our lives. None of us makes use of every opportunity to talk about Jesus with others. None of us always gladly goes to Bible class. None of us always verbally respects our teachers. None of us perfectly takes care of his or her body. All of us would like to have sex with that attractive person in our life who is not our marriage partner. None of us joyfully pays our taxes. All of us verbally trash our rotten neighbors. All of us want something God says we can’t have. On the basis of God’s Law we are worth nothing to God. On our own we have no worth.
When the LORD leads me to acknowledge that, it makes me truly humble. Humility is the first step in repentance. Humility says, “In spite of what I think of myself, and in spite of what others might think of me, on my own I am not worth anything to God. Because of my sins, I am in a terrible mess. I need help.
If we don’t have any worth to God on our own, what should be our attitude about ourselves? Hinduism and Buddhism teach that the correct way to think of oneself is to try to forget about one’s individuality and press on toward the ultimate goal of Moksha or Nirvana where the individual is absorbed into the supreme universal reality.
The Bible, however, does not teach that the opposite of self-worth is no individuality at all. The Bible teaches us that we as individuals are very valuable. God values each of us. It tells us that our uniqueness as individuals will never be lost. Jesus didn’t just die for the world. He went seeking the one lost sheep. God isn’t just the caretaker of the universe. He cares for each of us individually.
B1 How does God’s care for us as individuals show itself? He thought we were so valuable to Him, that He didn’t want us to be cut off from Him now and forever. He wanted us to be a part of His family now and forever. He committed Himself to do whatever was necessary to accomplish our rescue from the punishment of death and hell that we deserve.
2 How much are we worth? To God we are worth enough that He had Jesus take our guilt on Himself. If God had not removed our guilt from us and put it on Jesus, God would have had to punish us. Instead, Jesus our Substitute was punished. He suffered the death and hell we deserve because of our sin, so that we might escape from that. If we weren’t worth anything to God, He wouldn’t have had Jesus do all that for us.
3 How much are we worth? To God we are worth enough that He had Jesus live an entire life cycle for us here on this earth. If Jesus hadn’t lived as our Substitute and never sinned, there would be no source of holiness for us. Holiness is demanded by God if we are going to be part of God’s family forever. If we weren’t worth anything to God, He wouldn’t have had Jesus do all that for us.
4 What are we worth? Because of Jesus we are worth a lot to God. We are holy, acceptable to Him. His people. Members of His family. His servants who do His will. If that is God’s view of us, shouldn’t it be our view of ourselves? In Jesus Christ, valuable. Functional. Worth a lot. Because of Jesus we are going to be able to hold our heads high on Judgment Day. Because of Jesus I can hold my head nigh now while I am waiting for Jesus. Because of Jesus I am a child of God.
C1 That doesn’t sound very humble. But it’s OK. Listen to Jeremiah. (9:24) “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth.” Listen to St Paul: (2 Cor 12:9) “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power my rest on me.” Or in 1 Cor 1:31: “Let him who boasts, boast in the LORD.”
2 You are worth something because of Jesus. Life is worth something because of Jesus. Your skills are valuable because they are gifts from Jesus. Your tasks are valuable because Jesus wants you to accomplish something. Your relationships are valuable because through them you can bring Jesus to people. Your words are important because they tell others about Jesus.
Conc: Human beings on our own
worthless.
Human beings in Christ
- priceless.