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CONNIE: Does humility work in the real world? If you watch any “reality” television programs, you’ve probably noticed that being humble seldom wins a million dollars or gets anyone hired by Donald Trump.

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that America is being fed a constant diet of people all trying to prove they’re better than someone else. Whether they’re trying to be Donald Trump’s next apprentice, the biggest loser, the most amazing racer, an American Idol, or America’s next top model, it’s all about proving to people that YOU are the best. If you let your guard down just a little in the Trump board room and admit that maybe you made a mistake, you’re gone—make that YOU’RE FIRED! If you fail to leap to your own defense when an opponent attacks, it’s a sign of weakness. You’re not fit for the business world. Go take a taxi!

CONNIE: its true Lonnie, if you get your picture of the “real world” from what’s called reality television, you’d get the impression that the only way to really succeed in life is to push and shove your way to the top. No matter how many people you have to step on your way up. But that’s really not the biblical way of going at life, is it, Lonnie?

LONNIE: No, it sure isn’t. I like the way the Today’s English version of the Bible translates Proverbs 16:19: “It is better to be humble and stay poor than to be one of the arrogant and get a share of their loot.”

CONNIE: There was a story in the news recently about the man who won over $300,000,000.00 in the lottery a couple of years ago. It caught my eye because it said his wife wished he had never won it. Apparently the kinds of changes it made in their life weren’t all positive. I think the man had even ended up in trouble with the law, and the family was being sued for something he had done. I think the wife was thinking that things were actually better when they were poor.

LONNIE: That’s a good illustration of the text from Proverbs, isn’t it? But of course we know that having money doesn’t ruin everyone’s life. In fact it’s quite a handy thing to have around at times! Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have all the privileges and possessions that make your life comfortable taken away? You know, sometimes I think we look at the story of the rich young ruler in the gospels, and what Jesus told him to do—go sell all he had and give to the poor—and we think that was pretty extreme treatment to give to such a man. And it would be, if it weren’t for our realization of which it is that’s asking him to do that. It’s Jesus, who has done exactly that.

CONNIE: You mean by giving up everything He had in heaven and coming down to live on this earth.
Yes, one of my favorite passages in all of scripture is the description in Philippians 2 of how Jesus emptied Himself of all t
He glory and power He had in heaven and came to live as a tiny baby here on earth. In this passage the apostle Paul urges us to have the same attitude that Jesus did: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, NKJV).

CONNIE: That’s a tremendous testimony to the love of God for us—what he was willing to go through in order to bring us salvation.
And not only the love of God, but the humility of God— the depths were He willing to go to in order to make salvation available.

CONNIE: You know, I read something recently that really impressed me. And it reminded me of what Jesus did when He left heaven for our sake. It was actually written by a man who was trying to help Americans understand what it is like to live in other parts of the world. We like to have our comforts and our credit cards and our health insurance to give us a feeling of security.

LONNIE: But much of the world’s population has none of these things to fall back upon, and an economist by the name of Robert Heilbroner recently wrote a description of what it would be like for a typical American family to learn to live like people in much of the world have to live. When I read this, it gave me up bit of a sense of what it must have been like for Jesus to leave heaven and come to earth. Listen as I read it, and see if it doesn’t do the same for you:

CONNIE: We begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture.
Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television sets, and lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair. Along with the bureaus go the clothes. Each member of the family may keep in his "wardrobe" his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife or children.

CONNIE: We move to the kitchen. The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards. The box of matches may stay a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt. A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be rescued, for they will provide much of tonight's meal. We will leave a handful of onions and a dish of dried beans. All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crackers, and the candy.
Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next we take away the house. The family can move to the tool shed. Communications must go next. No more newspapers, magazines, books, not that they are missed, since we must take away our family's literacy as well. Instead, in our shantytown we will allow one radio.
Now government services must go next. No more postmen, no more firemen. There is a school, but it is three miles away and consists of two classrooms. There are, of course, no hospitals or doctors nearby. The nearest clinic is ten miles away and is tended by a midwife. It can be reached by bicycle, provided the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely.
Finally, money. We will allow our family a cash hoard of five dollars. This will prevent our breadwinner from experiencing the tragedy of an Iranian peasant who went blind because he could not raise the $3.94 which he mistakenly thought he needed to receive admission to a hospital where he could have been cured.

CONNIE: When you read that, can’t you just feel your security, your status, your comforts being stripped away one by one? Yet Jesus went through something very much like that voluntarily for us.

LONNIE: It’s a truly amazing thing, and it helps me understand why the Bible puts so much emphasis on the importance of humility. God wants to raise us up to be more like Him. Notice how the passage I read from Philippians ends:

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phillipians 2:9-11, NKJV).

LONNIE: That is so fantastic, isn’t it—the glory of God is His humility!

CONNIE: Amen!

CONNIE: Amen! And a big thank you to the musical group Ponder, Harp, and Jennings for that powerful rendition of a favorite hymn. If you enjoyed that music as much as I did, you may want to know where you can get ahold of the CD. And the way to find that out is to visit us on the Internet.

LONNIE: You’ll find us at VOP.COM. It is a webpage stocked with all kinds of good things. Not only information about our musicians, but also a Bible study guides, sermon transcripts, and streaming audio and video that allow you to go into our archives and enjoy our programs on your schedule. So if you’re hooked up to the Internet, visit us today at VOP.COM.

CONNIE: Our focus today is on Jesus, His humility, and His exaltation, and as part of our program, we’d like to offer you a brand new booklet called The Passion of the Messiah. To receive your free copy, just give us a call at 1-800-872-0055. Be sure to ask for The Passion of the Messiah. It’s our gift for you today. And we’ll be sharing our mailing address later in the program, if you’d prefer to write to us. But right now it’s time to listen to Pastor Lonnie’s message for today, “When Last Is Best.”

When Last Is Best

Say, have you ever been to the town of Wetumka, Oklahoma? I have to admit that I haven’t, but maybe some of our listeners on KREK-FM up in Bristow have paid a visit there. It’s a small town of about 1500 souls, about 70 miles east of Oklahoma City. If you stop by on the last Saturday in August, I’m told you’ll find the city in quite a festive mood. That’s the date of the annual Sucker Festival.

Now I’ve heard that there’s also a festival called the Sucker Festival over in Nixa, Missouri, but it’s quite a different thing. The Missouri festival is named after a fish. But the Oklahoma festival is a great testimony to how having a little humility can be a good thing—and even a bit of fun!

It all started back in 1950. The citizens of Wetumka got all excited when a fellow came to town saying that a circus was going to set up and do a performance for them. Wetumka’s not on any major highway, so that was pretty amazing news. The merchants stocked up on extra supplies and people from all over the county hurried to buy tickets to see the circus.

But it turns out that the circus promoter was about as reliable as “Professor Harold Hill,” played by Robert Preston in the classic movie The Music Man. Just a few days before the date on the tickets he’d sold, the promoter skipped town with the people’s money. And the day of the circus came and went without a single elephant or trained monkey in sight.

How embarrassing! The townsfolk could have just hung their heads in shame and vowed never to trust an outsider again. But someone came up with a better idea. Rather than bemoan their foolishness, why not celebrate it? Why not just admit that they had been suckered and make the best of it? After all, haven’t we all been fooled once or twice in life? It seems like its just part of living. And rather than lose our trust in our fellow man entirely, why not just admit that there are a few people out there who make their living by taking advantage of others, and get used to it, and not let them spoil our enjoyment of life? Learn from your mistakes, but don’t let them ruin you.

So, instead of hanging their heads in shame, the people of Wetumka started a tradition that continues to this day. They make being humble kind of—well, fun!

And I think we all can learn a lesson from that. There’s real value in being able to admit it when you’re wrong. Humble pie may not always taste good—but it’s pretty nutritious! And come to think of it, doesn’t the Bible suggest that we should be up front about our faults and mistakes? I like the way the Amplified Bible renders James 5:16: “Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored.”

Just be honest about it when you’ve made a mistake—admit that you’re not perfect. And get on with life. It’s far better than always trying to justify what you did.

And you know what? There’s an extra added bonus for ’fessing up. Here it is in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (NKJV).

The famous nineteenth century preacher Charles Spurgeon loved to tell a story about a well known duke who visited a prison. Going down into the cells, he engaged some of the prisoners in conversation. “For what crime are you in prison?” he asked each man.

One by one the men explained to him how they had come to be in prison unjustly. “It was a case of mistaken identity,” one man said. “The judge took a bribe,” another man said. “I had a dishonest lawyer,” was another popular excuse.

The duke listened with interest to each of the justifications that the men had for themselves. But then, finally, he came to another prisoner who simply hung his head and said, “I’m guilty. I stole some money. I deserve to be here.”

The duke was astonished. “Jailer!” he shouted in alarm. “Get this man out of here! He’s a criminal, and I don’t want him corrupting the morals of all these innocent men!”

And so the man who had admitted his fault and confessed his sin was set free.

Ah, the wonder if it! How much a little humility can accomplish!

So, why is it so hard for some of us to be humble? Maybe we figure that there are plenty of people out there who are wanting to “put us down,” so why should we help them? Or maybe we’ve bought into the old axiom that if you don’t toot your own horn, nobody will.

Now, don’t take me wrong. I know that not everybody has a problem with pride. In fact there are plenty of people out there who have been pushed down so often that they’ve lost their healthy sense of self esteem. Many of them would benefit from taking a bit more pride in which they are—not less. We need to find a proper balance somehow.

I think Psalm 8 can help us here. Notice the careful line the psalmist walks between pride and humility. There is reason for pride because of how God has made us, but there is also reason for humility, because we were created by a God who is infinitely greater than His creatures. Here’s how Today’s English Bible translates this great song:

O Lord, our Lord,
Your greatness is seen in the entire world!
Your praise reaches up to the heavens;
It is sung by children and babies.
You are safe and secure from all your enemies;
You stop anyone who opposes you.

When I look at the sky, which you have made,
At the moon and the stars, which you set in their places —
What is man that you think of him?
Mere man that you care for him?

Yet you made him inferior only to yourself;
You crowned him with glory and honor.
You appointed him ruler over everything you made;
You placed him over all creation:
Sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too;
The birds and the fish
And the creatures in the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
Your greatness is seen in the entire world!

There’s great balance there, isn’t there? There is awe of God, but also great reason for self-respect. As the psalmist puts it elsewhere, “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Psalm 139:14, NKJV).

There’s recognition here that yes—I am something wonderful! But the reason I am something wonderful is because that’s the way God made me.

Now, how does that translate into how I live my life? How does this recognition that God made me affect the way I live?

Let’s turn for a moment to the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. It’s an uncomfortable scene. The disciples and Jesus are gathered in the upper room for the Passover meal. But it seems that something has been forgotten. No servant has been provided to wash the men’s feet before the meal. Peter looks at John, and John looks at Bartholomew, who just kind of stares down at the floor.

Who will be humble enough to provide the needed service?

Have you ever watched people in a situation like that? It’s risky to take the role of a servant—people are liable to start treating you like a servant. And you’ll lose status.

But notice what Jesus did. He “got up from the table, took off His outer robe, and tied a towel around Himself. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around Him” (John 13:4, 5, NRSV).

Jesus took the role of a servant. He humbled Himself to serve His disciples. But that did not make Him lower than them. In fact it exalted Him in their eyes.

Do you see what’s happening here? Why is it that Jesus is able to humble Himself, but the disciples aren’t?

It’s because Jesus knows who He is, where He comes from, and where He’s going. It’s because He knows His heavenly Father. He has nothing to prove. The disciples, on the other hand, were jockeying for position—each one trying to make himself better than the others, to earn a higher position in the kingdom that they believed Jesus was about to set up.

If you view life as a fight and struggle to prove yourself better than others, it’s hard to be humble. But if you, like Jesus, know that you are a son or a daughter of God, what greater honor do you need?

If you watch reality TV shows, you may learn that the way to get to the top is to insult everyone else, push them down, and pull yourself up. That seems to be what Donald Trump and others are looking for. But Jesus says: “ ‘It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’ ” (Mark 10:43-45, NKJV).

Jesus says, look to me. Look to your Creator. Know that you are a son of God or a daughter of God. And then behave accordingly. Hold your head high, but bend your knees low to serve your brothers and sisters.

“Ivory Palaces”, Steve Peterson, from CD.