Running to Win- Humility

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Running to Win- humility…

Theme: It takes humility to move forward. It takes a recognition that this is a problem.

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on, Sunday, October 13, 2024

I am in a sermon series on “Running to Win.” In other words, we are running through things, character traits, temptations, etc. One could be grief, depression, or something else.

People have some unique ways of trying to overcome their depression. There was a lady whose husband died. She found herself, of course, extremely lonely. She told herself that she needed to do something to overcome her depression. She took a trip to the pet store to look for something to comfort her in her loneliness.

The proprietor introduced her to a parakeet that talked. The widow thought the idea of a talking parakeet was wonderful, so she took the parakeet home. She started talking to the bird, but the parakeet wouldn’t talk back. The woman talked and talked. This went on for a week and, naturally, she was a little confused as to what was going on.

The widow made her way back to the pet store. “The parakeet is not talking.”

The proprietor said, “Oh, you forgot to get the mirror. The parakeet needs to see itself in the mirror, then it will be encouraged to talk.”

So she bought a mirror, took it back, and placed it in the cage. She made sure that the parakeet could see itself. For another week, she talked to the parakeet. The parakeet still would not talk.

The lady went back, yet again, to the pet store. “That parakeet is still not talking.”

“Oh,” he said, “you didn’t get the swing. The parakeet’s got to be on the swing and swinging and looking at itself in order for it to talk.”

So she bought the swing, put the parakeet on the swing, and started talking to the parakeet.

Another week went by and she made her way back to the pet store.

“This dumb parakeet is not working. It’s not doing what I hoped it would do.”

“Oh, I am sorry. There’s one more thing you forgot to get—the ladder. The parakeet has got to have the ladder to walk up and down on. That movement will allow it to talk.”

Begrudgingly, she bought the ladder. Another week went by. That parakeet didn’t say a word. However, at the end of the week, it fell over dead.

The widow was really mad now. She marched back to the store and sought out the store owner. She said, “That parakeet you sold me died. I bought the mirror, bought the swing, bought the ladder, and that bird didn’t say a mumbling word. It just fell over and died.”

The store owner said, “I cannot believe that it died. Did it say anything before it died?”

“Yeah, while it was falling over dead, it looked up with one eye open and said, ‘Don’t they serve any food at that pet store?’ ”

For four weeks, that bird hadn’t eaten. The woman kept buying all the wrong stuff. That’s what a lot of us look for—all the wrong stuff. The things we hope will solve our problems die on us. They don’t produce what we expect.[1]

Joni Eareckson Tada writes:

It bothers me when I hear people say that only the weak-minded struggle with severe depression. That’s cause I sometimes get hit hard with more than just downhearted feelings. There are times when I feel like disappearing—I don’t want to talk to anyone, and I don’t want to face the world.

I’m not the only one who has days like that. I think of them as “the day of evil” spoken about in Ephesians 6:13. When they come, I hang on for dear life to a couple of well-worn Scriptures that assure me joy will come in the morning.

And I take encouragement that the great hymn writer William Cowper suffered from depression. He constantly struggled against suicide. Once he even tried to hang himself. Another time he fell on a knife but the blade broke, and at one point he threw himself into a river, hoping to drown. He had a mental breakdown and was placed in an insane asylum for eighteen months. During his detention he read Romans 3:25, the part about the blood of Christ being so powerful as to atone for all past sins—even the guilt of suicidal thoughts.

After his conversion he became friends with John Newton, who wrote “Amazing Grace.” It was just the inspiration Cowper needed to write the beautiful hymn “There Is a Fountain.”

Throughout his life Cowper continued to be plagued by severe depression, and often he sought to end his life. His most powerful hymns were written after those times. We may become depressed on this side of eternity, but aren’t you glad that little by little, inch by inch, day by day, God renews our minds…all because there is a fountain filled with blood?[2]

Last week we began a sermon series on the idea of running to win. This is the idea of recognizing, running through, and, if possible, defeating the things we deal with. This could be depression, anxiety, anger, or something else. They can be actual sins, or they could be organic issues that may or may not lead to sin.

Today, my theme is:

We must humbly recognize these things and keep moving through them.

  1. Humility: Recognize these things and recognize they may be thorns in the side for life, but that does not mean “run in place.”
    1. This is a difficult and complicated point.
    2. First, notice that I said to recognize these “things.” I did not use the word sin. Sometimes they are sin, but sometimes they are not sin.
    3. Sometimes they lead to sin.
    4. This sermon series was birthed because I see things in family history that I do not want to emulate. Yet, I see family members copy the same behaviors and traits which they tried to avoid.
    5. Last week, I shared:
    6. When I was in my twenties, I realized there were traits in my family history that I did not want to emulate. I might have recognized that earlier than my twenties, but I definitely recognized that by my twenties. As an example, I remember being a young child, and every time my parents took me to a relative’s house, the husband and wife were always yelling at each other. Now, some forty years later, if we go to that relative’s adult son’s house, he is always arguing with his wife. They are now well over sixty years old, married a long time, but emulating his parents’ behavior. How do we run to win? How do we prevent emulating those things?
    7. There can be generational traps…
    8. These are things in which the enemy uses what is already there
    9. The enemy, the devil and his minions may think, “This is what did grandpa in… this is what did uncle in… I wonder if this will work on Steve.”
    10. Maybe all the males are extremely passive… it may not be something crazy, it could be alcoholism, but maybe not. It could be workaholism.
    11. The enemy sets traps for the next generation.
    12. Again, they may be sin, they may not be sin, they may lead to sin.
    13. A man who is a workaholic started with good intentions, but I think it would be sin because of other root issues.
    14. A man who avoids problems and does not talk things over with his wife or children is not wise. He is not following certain biblical instructions.
    15. Someone who is anxious may be in sin, but the cause could be organic or physiological. Still, it could lead to sin in that the individual is unwilling to accept help. That is the complicated part.
    16. Even if it is an organic thing, that does not mean we are to “run in place.” We should be willing to talk with a Christian counselor, a doctor, or your pastor.
    17. Much of this sermon series was birthed in physiological traits passed down from generation to generation. Some are from exposure, some from genetics, and maybe both. It is difficult to say. Someone may be very angry like their parents, but they cannot say, “That is just who I am.” No, it may be a thorn in the side, but try to get help and move forward.
    18. Plus, studies are clear that many of our treatments for anxiety are not working. Trust me, I have personal experience with anxiety, and so does my family. Check out the books: “The Body Keeps the Score,” “Bad Therapy,” or “The Anxious Generation” to read more.
    19. So, we must humbly accept that these things are problems and be willing to move forward with help. We may NOT get healing in this life, but we can get help.
    20. That leads to the first Scripture.
  2. Paul’s thorn.
    1. 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)
    2. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
    3. Dr. Witherington III from Asbury Seminary shares: Verse 7 makes it clear that there was something else that God allowed to happen to Paul with this heady experience. One scholar (Betz) may be right in saying that vv. 7-9 are a parody of a healing miracle story, in which a person prays for healing and God answers the prayer. Here the answer is no! God sent Paul a “thorn” or “stake” in the flesh, a “messenger from satan,” to prevent Paul from becoming too elated over such revelations [the heaven experience he had in the previous verses]. In other words, it brought him right back to earth.
    4. There is debate about whether his “thorn in the flesh” was physical ailment or a temptation, or opponents.
    5. Some say it could have to do with his opponents in Corinth.
    6. Some say sickness…
    7. Gal. 4:13: bodily ailment caused him to preach the Gospel to them.
    8. Gal. 6:11: he wrote with big letters. So his thorn could be eye problems.
    9. Either way, Paul, who had been used of God to heal many, was not healed.
    10. God does not always heal us.
    11. I believe this applies to physical things, but it could also apply to physiological things.
    12. We may have things we struggle with all of our life and we need to push through for the Kingdom of God.
  3. This takes being humble…
    1. Can our family or friends talk with you and say, “I think you should get help”? Or, can they say, “I think you should see a grief counselor”? Or, I love you brother, but your anger is out of control”?
    2. Or, can someone say to us, “Maybe you need to see a counselor and doctor for your anxiety”?
    3. Can someone approach us and say, “This isolation is not good, you are isolating too much and you need to be around people, you need purpose in your life”?
    4. Are we humble enough to have people in our lives who speak the truth?
    5. Then, when they do talk with us, can we honestly think and pray about what they say?
    6. During 2020, I heard people say, “I am fine being alone; I guess others cannot deal with themselves.” It turned out they were not fine being alone at all and went into serious depression.
    7. Some scripture:
    8. Proverbs 13:10 (ESV)By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.
    9. Proverbs 17:10 (ESV) A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
    10. Proverbs 19:20 (ESV)Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
    11. Proverbs 11:2 (ESV)When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
    12. It takes humility to listen to others and accept truth.
    13. It takes humility to realize, I don’t want to be this way.
    14. I tell people, you can choose to get help now, see your pastor, a counselor, a doctor, or someone may choose it for you in the future. Meaning, you don’t get help, but things get worse until you hit bottom.
    15. Or, the other alternative is to be miserable and make others miserable as well.
    16. Let’s get more specific with applications:
    17. Take a sheet of paper and prayerfully make two lists: your strengths and your weaknesses. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
    18. Then, evaluate your time management and purpose.
    19. Do you have daily time for reflection, contemplation, and prayer?
    20. I am not talking about simple daily devotions. I am not talking about reading a chapter of the Bible and being done. I am not talking about normal prayer. I am talking about true quiet time.
    21. Pete Scazzero writes:
    22. The term Daily Office (also called fixed-hour prayer, Divine Office, or liturgy of the hours) differs from what we label today as quiet time or devotions. When I listen carefully to most people describe their devotional life, the emphasis tends to be on “getting filled up for the day” or “interceding for the needs around me.” The root of the Daily Office is not so much a turning to God to get something but to be with Someone. The word Office comes from the Latin word opus, or “work.” For the early church, the Daily Office was always the “work of God.” Nothing was to to the Creator … prayers of praise offered as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and faith to God and as sweet-smelling incense … before the throne of God.”
    23. David practiced set times of prayer seven times a day (Psalm 119:164). Daniel prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10). Devout Jews in Jesus’ time prayed two to three times a day. Jesus himself probably followed the Jewish custom of praying at set times during the day. After Jesus’ resurrection, his disciples continued to pray at certain hours of the day (Acts 3:1 and 10:9ff).
    24. About AD 525, a good man named Benedict structured these prayer times around eight Daily Offices, including one in the middle of the night for monks. The Rule of St. Benedict became one of the most powerful documents in shaping Western civilization. At one point in his Rule, Benedict wrote: “On hearing the signal for an hour of the divine office, the monk will immediately set aside what he has in hand and go with utmost speed. … Indeed, nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God [that is, the Daily Office].”[1]
    25. The daily office includes stopping, centering, silence, and Scripture.
    26. This may be for 20 minutes a day, or maybe only a week at this point, but it is important.
    27. Scazzero shares: At each Office I give up control and trust God to run his world without me.[2]
    28. We center on God: Scripture commands us: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7).
    29. We practice silence: Dallas Willard called silence and solitude the two most radical disciplines of the Christian life. Solitude is the practice of being absent from people and things to attend to God. Silence is the practice of quieting every inner and outer voice to attend to God. Henri Nouwen said that “without solitude it is almost impossible to live a spiritual life.”[3]
    30. And of course we spend time in the Bible.
    31. The last challenge is really intentional:
    32. I exhort and encourage you: ask someone close to you to evaluate you. Ask three people to evaluate you. Ask people to evaluate you on three things:
        1. Approachability.
        2. The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23);
        3. Busyness: does it seem that you are too busy and need to slow down?

I believe we may or may not get total victory in this life, BUT we can get help. We can make progress.

In the Northeastern United States, codfish are not only delectable, they are a big commercial business. There’s a market for eastern cod all over, especially in sections farthest removed from the northeast coastline. But the public demand brought a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them elsewhere, but the freeze took away much of the flavor. So they experimented with shipping them alive, in tanks of seawater, but that proved even worse. Not only was it more expensive, but the cod still lost its flavor, and in addition, it became soft and mushy. The texture was seriously affected.

Finally, some creative soul solved the problem in a most innovative manner. The codfish were placed in the tank along with their natural enemy—the catfish. From the time the cod left the East Coast until it arrived in its westernmost destination, those ornery catfish chased the cod all over the tank! And you guessed it, when the cod arrived at the market, they were as fresh as when they were first caught. There was no loss of flavor nor was the texture affected. If anything, it was better than before.

—Charles R. Swindoll, Come Before Winter[3]

Prayer

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 76–77.

[2] Taken from More Precious than Silver; By Joni Eareckson Tada. Copyright © 1998

Published in Print by Zondervan, Grand Rapids

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version.

[3] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 34.

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