Intro.
I want to begin by saying how really sorry I am that you have to listen to me today. It will probably be pure agony for you. So this will probably not be a very interesting sermon. In fact it will probably not be worth listening to at all. I don't know what I would do if I had to sit there like you do and watch me for half an hour. I am just really, really sorry. But I just don't know what to do, so I guess we'd better just go on and get the agony over with.

The topic, by the way, is humility.

Now what you just heard from me was NOT true humility. But it is what we often think of when we think of humility. We think of grovelling, self-abasement. Humility has become a bad word for many of us -- we talk about eating humble pie -- we hate the thought of being humiliated. To be humble is to be a dishrag or a doormat.

So let's not begin by talking about humility at all -- let's begin with another word: Worth.

If I asked you the question, "so, how much are you worth?" how would you answer? What's the first thing you think of? Money of course! Your mind immediately goes to your bank account or to your wallet -- or to the stock market. (take out wallet) Well,if money is the measure of worth today I'm worth about two dollars -- better than some days.

Of course, not everyone sees their personal worth in terms of money. I've never thought much about money myself. No my sense of worth has been tied up with academic success. You see my athletic career hit the rocks in about 6th grade -- and my social life never recovered from a broken heart in 8th grade -- until I met Carol of course. But one thing I could do -- and that was get good grades. I knew how to play the academic game. I knew what teachers wanted -- and I wasn't an unabashed teacher's pet. Getting A's -- being the best in the class -- that was what made me feel like I was worth something.

Every one of us, every person here, has some hidden measure by which you guage your worth -- each of you has some area that deeply influences how you feel about yourself. You know what it is for most pastors -- sermons & attendance.

Many of you probably measure your worth by job performance -- got a good job, you feel like your worth a million bucks. Unemployed, you feel worthless.

Others measure your worth by relationships.

Our scripture today has something to say to us about our worth and how we should measure it -- It addresses the question: How should we think about ourselves.

Turn with me to Romans ch. 12 -- we'll read verses 1-8.

In this passage we get the clearest definition of true humility that I think you will find: Verse 3. "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."

True humility is accurately assessing your own worth and position.
It is not grovelling, it is not self-abasement -- not beating yourself -- it is taking a good, clear-eyed look in the mirror and understanding your true value. Humility begins with understanding your truth worth.


So how much are we worth, really -- how highly are we allowed to think about ourselves?
Well, let's think for a minute about how we measure value. What makes something valuable?

Does anyone remember Tickle Me Elmo Dolls. They were all the rage last Christmas, and they were going for enormous prices. As high as $600, I think. Why did they cost so much? Had nothing to do with how they were made -- nothing inherently valuable in them. It was simply that people wanted them -- and considered them valuable.

Let me give you a better example: See this blanket. How much do you think this blanket is worth. It looks worthless. But I know better. You see there is a precious member of our church for whom this blanket is a treasure -- almost priceless. I know because she left it at my home last Saturday evening and I had the awesome responsibility of getting it back to her unharmed.

So what gives this blanket value? Certainly not anything its made of. No qualities in this blanket itself make it worth keeping at all. No. It is valuable because it belongs to someone, because it is treasured by someone.

You and I ARE this blanket. We have no worth in ourselves. Think of it. You're just a bundle of molecules -- mostly water. Your body is worth maybe a few cents in chemicals -- maybe a bit more if you donate your organs. Sure you were made in the image of God, but don't make too much of that -- all of us have virtually destroyed the image of God in ourselves by our sin.

You have nothing in yourself to be proud of -- nothing by which you can impress God. Everything you have and are came from him. You owe God everything and He owes you nothing.

But here's the amazing paradox: even though you have no worth in yourself, like this blanket you are precious. Why? For the same reason that the blanket is precious. Because you belong to God. You are precious because you were chosen by God to be His child. You are "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God." I Corinthians 6:20 "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." You are a treasured possession.

This truth is the foundation of Christian humility. Humility is not grovelling in feelings of worthlessness -- On the contrary, it is simply recognizing that our real worth doesn't come from ourselves, but from God alone. Humility, in relation to God is simply acknowledging that everything we have and are belongs to him.

Humility is simply to offer ourselves back to him -- "to present our bodies as living sacrifices."

So whenever you see a child's treasured blanket, remember -- that is what you are like.

But what about in relation to each other? What does it mean "not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought" in connection with each other?

The blanket won't help us here -- We already have this amazing ability to make each other feel like rags -- precious to God, maybe, but rags nevertheless. I don't want to contribute -- So maybe we should get this out of the way and pull out another prop.

I'd like you to imagine that this was a real hand. Kind of a grizzly thought -- but maybe it will stick in your mind. Now what is the worth of hand separated from the rest of the body. Absolutely nothing. But a hand connected to the rest of the body is rather useful.
Can do all sorts of things with it.

You see the point? As members of the community of believers -- the body of Christ -- we have worth not in and of ourselves, but because we belong to each other. Our worth comes from belonging -- first to God, then to each other.

Verses 4 & 5 -- Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to the others.

Each member belongs to the others! That's pretty amazing and also scarry. You belong to the person sitting next to you in the same way that the parts of your body belong to each other.

Now the parts of my body are usually pretty cooperative. They each do their job without fussing too much. Take my hand, for instance. Usually stays out of the way until its needed. If someone comes up and says, wow, nice haircut, my hand doesn't usually jerk up and say, and what about me -- I'm looking pretty nice too. See just got a manicure.
No -- each part does what it is called on to do without any expectation of special honor.

And that is what humility the basis for humility within the body of Christ. Each part does its work. Each part serves the whole without calling attention to itself.

And you know what -- When each member of the body does its work with humility, you know what we have -- we have community.