Deo Gloria
Sermon for October 3, 2021
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: James 4:7-12
Theme: Let Go of Your Ego!
- Submit yourself to God.
- Humbly repent of your sins.
“Let go my Eggo!” Remember that commercial: the Eggo Waffle commercial? An Eggo Waffle would pop up from the toaster and two people would grab it at the very same time. They would then proceed to argue about whose waffle it was; both making the case why they should get the waffle and why the other person should let go. The one I liked was the one with the older sister and the younger brother. I don’t remember exactly how it went, but it was something like this: “Let go my Eggo.”
“No, you let go.”
“Remember, Jimmy, I’m your favorite sister.”
“You’re my only sister.”
“I’m your big sister, Jimmy.”
“And I’m your little brother.”
“I’m your wonderful and kind and loving sister, and if you don’t let go, I’m gonna knock your block off. Now let go my Eggo! Thanks!” And off she walked with the waffle.
This morning in the verses of our text James advises us to let go of something, not an Eggo Waffle fresh from the toaster, but our ego, our sinful, selfish, human pride. Let go of your ego, first of all by submitting yourself to God, and secondly by humbly repenting of your sins.
Ego—it comes from the Greek word for “I.” It is used to refer to yourself, your self image, what you tend to think of yourself, your self-esteem. Now there certainly isn’t anything wrong with having a healthy self-esteem, having a positive image of yourself. The problem is that for many people their self-esteem is a bit too healthy. Their image of themselves is a bit too positive. They’re too full of themselves. In fact, that’s all they tend to think about: themselves. They could really care less about others. They could really care less about what others think or how others feel. The only thing that matters to them is what they think, what they want, how they feel. There’s only one song they like to sing and that’s their song: “Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me.”
Unfortunately an over-inflated ego is not only a problem for unbelievers. It’s a problem for Christians too. Christians too have a sinful nature, a nature that is very self-centered and selfish, a nature that only likes to think about itself, a nature that is proud and boastful, that likes to puff itself up and put others down. Yes, we too have an ego. And it can present a real problem in our relationship with God. In the 1st Commandment God makes it very clear that he is to be #1 in our lives. But our human ego says just the opposite. It says that we are #1 in our lives. And if we listen to our ego and follow what our ego says, we will end up becoming our own gods and become separated from the true God. And that’s the last thing we want to see happen, the last thing James wants to see happen. So rather than hang on to that sinful, selfish, human pride, he urges us to let go of it. Let go of your ego by submitting yourself to God.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God.” The word submit means “to place oneself under someone else.” As Christians we are to place ourselves under God. We are to recognize that he is God and we are not, that he is in charge and we are not, that he is the one who is calling the shots and running the show, and we are not. So we are to submit to him, to place ourselves under him, to surrender our will to his and to give ourselves completely and totally to God. It isn’t about me and what I want. It’s about God and what he wants, what he desires, what he says. That’s what really matters. “Submit yourselves to God.”
“But I don’t wanna.” That’s what our sinful ego says. God says in his Word, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only”(Mt 4:10). And our sinful ego says, “I don’t wanna.” God says to parents, “Bring up your children in the training and instruction of the Lord”(Eph. 6:4). And our sinful ego says, “I don’t wanna.” God says to children, “Honor your father and your mother”(Exodus 20:12). And our sinful ego says, “I don’t wanna.” Jesus says to those who confess his name, “Follow me.” And our sinful ego says, “I don’t wanna.” That’s the way our ego is. It is stubborn and selfish and rebellious. It doesn’t want to submit to God’s will and do what he says. As Christians you and I need to swallow our sinful pride. We need to deny ourselves and what we want and put God first. We need to put ourselves under God. That’s what it means to submit ourselves to God.
We also need to resist the devil. In saying that, James isn’t really saying anything different than what he said in the first half of the verse. He’s simply touching on the other side of the coin. To submit to God means to resist the devil. To submit to God and his will means to oppose the devil and his will. You see, the devil would love it if we didn’t. The devil would love it we did not submit to God. The devil would love it if we refused to acknowledge God as #1 in our lives and claimed that spot for ourselves. The devil would love it if we chose not obey God’s will and did what we wanted instead. In fact, isn’t that what he is forever tempting us to do: to ignore what God’s Word says, to ignore what God’s will is for our lives and do our own thing instead, to love other things instead of God, to put ourselves and our own desires ahead of God’s? Of course he is. And that’s what we have to resist. You and I have to constantly resist that temptation of his and put God first, obey God first, follow God first.
And with God’s help we can. You see, you and I are not helpless against the devil. You and I are not like a bunch of helpless chickens, trapped in the hen house with the fox standing by the door. We are not like Kermit the Frog taking on the Incredible Hulk in a wrestling match. On our own we wouldn’t stand a chance, but our Savior has not left us alone. He is with us to help us fight against the devil and his temptations. And he has given us his Word, his all-powerful Word, which we can use to drive the devil and his temptations away. So as James says, resist him. Take up the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit and resist the devil and his temptations; and he will flee. The devil will turn tail and run in the other direction. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”(v. 7).
“Come near to God, and he will come near to you”(v. 8). Back in James’ day it was very unusual for someone to be invited into the presence of the king—unless, of course, you were guilty of some crime. But to be invited to the palace, to have dinner with the king, to approach the king and spend time with him one on one was unheard of. Only the queen or the royal advisors had the privilege of doing things like that. The King of heaven and earth, the God who made the heavens and the earth, the God who made you and me, invites us to come to him, to draw near to him. He doesn’t want to keep us at a distance or merely wave to us from a balcony. He wants to have fellowship with us, to enjoy a close, personal relationship with us. He invites us to come near to him, and he will come near to us.
Have you ever noticed, though, that when you come near to something, you tend to see the flaws and imperfections? When you stand and look at a cabinet from a distance, for example, or a painting hanging on the wall, it looks beautiful. It looks wonderful. But when you get up close, when you examine that painting or that cabinet more closely with a discerning eye under a nice, bright light, you see flaws and scratches and marks and blemishes that you didn’t see before. In fact, sometimes they stick out like a sore thumb.
The same is true when you and I come near to God. As we draw near to the God of heaven, the holy and righteous God of heaven, one thing sticks out like a sore thumb: not God and his holiness, us and our sinfulness. “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom”(vv. 8+9). What James is saying in those words is what John the Baptist said, “Repent.” What James is saying is what his brother Jesus said, “Repent.” Our hands are stained with sin. We have used them to hurt other people. We have used them to acquire things for ourselves and build things for ourselves and have been less than generous in giving back to God. We have used them for evil instead of good. We need to wash our hands. We need to repent.
Likewise, our hearts are stained with sin. They have been filled with greed and envy and selfish ambition at times. They have been filled with lust and hatred and wicked thoughts. All too often they’ve been rather stubborn and rebellious. They haven’t always been faithful and loyal to God. They haven’t always loved God more than anything else. We need to purify our hearts. We need to repent.
And what about our mouths? Are they perhaps guilty of the very sin James talks about in the last two verses of our text: the sin of slander? Have we been critical and judgmental of others, of our neighbors, of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Have we been quick to condemn others for their sins while excusing our own? Have we said critical and mean and loveless things about other people behind their backs? Have we run others down in order to make ourselves look better, in order to puff up ourselves and inflate our own egos? Is it only our hands that we need to wash or our filthy mouths as well? We need to repent.
We need to grieve, mourn and wail. We need to change our laughter to mourning and our joy to gloom. Maybe that’s one of the problems these days: sin has become so acceptable, even laughable. People sit around and tell stories about their sins, about how they got wasted at the party the other night, about how they “made it” with their boyfriend or girlfriend, about the time they egged the neighbor’s house or vandalized the local school and got away with it, about the mean and nasty things they said or did to somebody else. They laugh and joke about it, as if it’s funny. Funny? Not in God’s sight. In God’s sight it is evil and wicked. In God’s sight it is sinful and wrong. We ought to be troubled by our sins. As James says, we ought to grieve, mourn and wail, because those sins of ours are no laughing matter. They will damn our souls to hell.
Yes, we do need to repent when we come into the presence of God, because we don’t deserve to be there. As we draw near to God, we come very humbly, aware of our sinfulness and our unworthiness, sorry for the sins we have committed, and seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness. We humble ourselves before the Lord, so that he may lift us up.
And he has. In his grace and mercy our Lord has lifted us up. He picked us up from the gutter of our sins. He has cleansed our guilty hearts and hands. He has washed away the dirt and filth of our sins in his own blood, his holy, precious blood. He has lifted us up and exalted us to a new and privileged status. He has made us members of his royal family, sons and daughters of the King, and heirs of his glorious kingdom. Our gracious Lord has lifted us up.
But he doesn’t lift up the proud and the arrogant. He doesn’t lift up those who brag about their sins or laugh about their sins and stubbornly refuse to repent. As James says in the verse right before our text, “God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble”(v. 6). So put aside your foolish pride. Let go of your ego. Humbly confess your sins to the Lord. Plead for his mercy and forgiveness. And he will lift you up.
Some people think that in order to have a healthy self-concept, a healthy self-esteem, you have to cater to yourself, you have to pamper yourself, you have to fulfill your desires and do the things that make you happy. When it comes to our relationship with God, just the opposite is true. Instead of catering to our sinful, selfish, human pride, we need to let go of it. We need to let go of our sinful pride and humbly submit ourselves to God. And that’s what James is urging us to do this morning. Let go of your ego. And God will lift you up. Amen.