Godly or Gaudy?
Luke 1:26-56
In week two of our series I asked how we should adorn our life at Christmas – will we be godly or gaudy? I must tell you that even though I’m very familiar with the birth story of Jesus, I learned some important new things this week. For the first time I clearly saw the theme of humility in both Mary and Elizabeth. Humility is one of those familiar words that are difficult to live out. How do we know when we are being humble? Mary showed us three things about humility and I hope this week you will consider those as we prepare for Christmas.
During the message I quoted Thomas Merton. He was a 20th century Catholic writer who said, “Give me humility, in which alone is rest and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens.” What do you think of this quote? Have you ever experienced rest in humility? If so, what kind of experience was that? How was rest achieved by being humble? How about pride, do you see it as a heavy burden? How has pride been a burden in your life?
By the way it was brought to my attention that during the sermon I said that John the Baptist wrote the Gospel of John. I quoted John 3:30 when John the Baptist said, "He (Jesus) must increase and I (John the Baptist) must decrease." It is true that John the Baptist said that, but it was John the apostle (the son of Zebedee), not John the Baptist who wrote the Gospel of John. Thank you so much to the person who caught this misstatement.
It is true that John the Baptist said tha,t but
ReplyDeleteIn the sentence above on your web page, small, tiny, insignificant typo "tha,t" instead of "that," I'm an editor and I'm seeing more and more today these tiny overlooked blemishes on all web pages. Thank you for being a perfect example of being "humble" as you graciously accepted being corrected. You have been a true blessing. Much Love In-Christ sent your way.
Thanks, Ron!
ReplyDelete