2025-11-05
Brooke Strong
Sermon Text...
I really like how Eugene Peterson reinterprets this bible passage in “The Message.” Noting that Paul wrote these words to the early church while in prison, he says, “I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. Don’t sit around on your hands… Do this with humility and discipline… pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.”
Those are interesting words for our times, aren’t they? We live in a culture that prizes competition — who’s right, who’s smartest, who’s winning the argument, who gets the last word. Sometimes we even carry that spirit into our families, our workplaces, and even our churches. But Paul reminds us that Christians aren’t in a race against each other — we are called to walk with one another, led by the Spirit and grounded in humility and love.
Humility is a bit of an illusive term, isn’t it? So far in this series, we’ve talked about kindness, compassion and respect. Those are all concrete concepts we understand well. But humility is a bit more nebulous. Humility doesn’t come easily. There’s something deep inside us — something one psychologist called the “competitive reflex.” We all have it. It’s not malicious; it’s just human. It’s the need to one-up, to be right, to outshine.
Have you ever caught yourself offering advice that wasn’t asked for? Or felt the urge to “top” someone’s story — maybe with a better joke or a grander tale? When we do these things, they are moments when our egos try to take the wheel.
Humility is what happens when we let go of that need to prove ourselves. It’s the freedom to not have to be the smartest person in the room, or the most impressive, or the loudest voice. It’s being able to laugh at ourselves and to listen deeply to others.
But humility isn’t just about how we relate to other people. It starts with how we relate to God when we acknowledge that God is God and we are not. True humility isn’t forced or fake; it’s the natural response to standing in the presence of something greater than ourselves. When we sense the true greatness of God’s love, we realize that we don’t have to inflate ourselves to matter. We are already deeply loved, already chosen, already enough. Humility is the posture of someone who knows they are held in the hands of a loving God.
Humility is the glue that holds community together. Calling us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Paul notes that we are meant to travel together on the same road and in the same direction. When we are humble, we can listen, learn and mend fences. We can see the value in someone else’s experience even when it differs from our own.
Given the state of our world, we need humility now more than ever. A recent survey found that over two-thirds of Americans say they’re “exhausted by the state of politics.” We’re tired of the anger, the division, the shouting. In a world literally full of people building walls to separate us from one another, we are desperate for bridge builders, for people willing to listen, to show respect, to see the humanity in one another.
That’s what humility looks like in action. Imagine if instead of debating every issue in an effort to win, we shared our stories — our fears, our hopes, what motivates us. Imagine conversations where people were less concerned with being right and more interested in understanding. That’s humility. That’s what it looks like to “walk the road together.”
Too often we think that being humble means shrinking back or playing small, but the reality is that we can be both humble and confident at the same time. Jesus was both. He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, not a warhorse, but he did it with courage and purpose.
Humility doesn’t whisper, “I’m worthless.” It says, “I know who I am.” It is the confidence that comes from knowing we are beloved children of God, uniquely gifted and called and because of this, we don’t need to prove our worth; we already have it. That kind of humble confidence gives us courage to lead, to serve, to speak truth with love. It gives us strength to ask for help when we need it and enables us to receive both criticism and compliments without losing our balance. It frees us to live with an openness to new ideas, to correction and to God’s ongoing work in us.
Humble confidence isn’t just personal; it is social and even political. George W. Bush made this point in a debate in the 2000 election cycle when he said, “If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome and respect us.” This truth applies not only to nations, but to individuals. Arrogance repels. Humility draws people in. What if we looked for humility instead of arrogance in our leaders? What if we honored people not for how loudly they speak, but for how well they listen, how ready they are to admit mistakes, how willing they are to grow?
Humility is a fundamental part of the life of the disciple. When we live our lives in obedience to God, it enables grace to flow into our lives and leads to the fulfilment of our God-given dreams. Humility is an act of worship, an admission of God’s incomparable power. And this is not an act of fear, but one of peace because the One whom we worship is not capricious but offers unending love. When we recognize that, humility becomes joy.
Perhaps humility is the key to repairing the difficulties of our lives today, not just individually, but collectively. Imagine a world where humility spread like a contagion, where we were slower to judge, quicker to forgive, eager to serve and willing to laugh at ourselves. Paul says that we are called to travel the same road in the same direction. Friends, that road is love and humility is what keeps us walking it together. May it be so. Amen.