WEBVTT - The Humility Gap (Lisa Harper) 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:07.840 I loved y'all so much. I usually love every church 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.080 I get to go to, small, big, stiff, Wiggley. I 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.000 just love the House of God. But some churches don't 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.239 like me so much. And I was in one of 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:19.439 those not too long ago. I won't tell you where 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.840 it is, just in case you have cousins there, but 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.200 rhymes with Pennsylvania. And I knew. I knew I wasn't 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.280 going to be warmly received because it was just it 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.440 was just more of a formal setting, and I'm not 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.000 very formal, and so when the women picked me up 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.479 from the airport, it was just it was crickets all 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.440 the way to the conference. And then we get to 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.600 the conference and they had what they called the fellowship time, 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:47.280 which means you usually eat carbs and cold coffee and 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.879 make small talk in the fellowship hall before you go 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.480 into the main part of the sanctuary. And I stood around. 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.080 I thought they need to re christen this the stiff 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.680 and Hateful Hall, because nobody's talking, like nobody's chatting, And 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:03.560 so I just kept kind of moving from group to 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.399 group trying to find somebody who would talk, and finally 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.480 somebody introduced me to the worship leader for that particular conference, 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:13.959 and she wasn't from that area, and she seemed friendly, 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.800 and I thought, cool, we can be aliens and strangers together. 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.920 And so I introduced myself to the worship leader. I'm 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.000 gonna call her Wanda. That's not her real name, but 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:23.960 I said, Wanda, I'm so glad you're here. You know, 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:25.640 I don't know anybody here, and she was like, I 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.319 don't either, and so an effort to connect further, I 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.360 started to tease. I don't know if y'all do that 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.240 when you first meet people, you kind of start teasing 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.240 with them, unk, you know. And I said, well, Wanda, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.600 you might want to watch me when you start playing 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.720 a real up tempost song, because I might just break 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:44.680 out into a worship dance. Now I was teasing. I know, 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.440 we've got a couple of dancers here, and it's a 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.920 biblical thing. It's a totally biblical thing. There's Preston's and scripture. 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.160 David even says we should. But I grew up half Baptist. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.320 My mom's Baptist to the bone. My dad was Pentecostal. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:03.160 So the Baptist in me long to dance. The Pentecostal 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.640 in me tries to dance, but the old pale woman 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.040 that I am can't dance, and so it's just it's 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:12.240 just a real juxtaposition for me. So I was just 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:13.919 teasing with Wanda, and I said, you may I want 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:15.840 to watch me because I'll break out into worship dance. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:17.680 And then you know, when you're teasing with somebody you 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.320 don't know, and you can tell by the way they're 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.160 listening to you, they think you're being serious. They don't 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.760 realize you're you're kid yet, and I thought, gosh, I 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:26.240 need to tell I was just playing because I don't 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.360 want to think I was being disrespectful because there is 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.000 liturgical dance in scripture, and so I thought, when we 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.359 have a second I'll qualify that so she knows I'm 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:38.040 not playing. Well. Then they separated us. Then the conference started. 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.320 It was real, very very serious, and so I thought 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:42.760 I'll talk to her at the end of conference, but 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.680 they took us our separate ways. So the next morning, 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:47.440 I was like, I've got to see Wanda for it 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.400 starts to tell her that I was just kidding about 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.880 the whole dancing thing, and so I'm starting to talk 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.000 to her. They lead us in. It wasn't a house 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.839 like elevation. It was a real it's just a real 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.440 serious church. They had like, you know, polished pews all 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.440 the way back and all the stained glass windows, pipe 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:06.880 organ and so they usher wanding up to the front. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.959 They had two little, short, diagonally opposed pews like big 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.679 enough for I don't know, two skinny keto girls or 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:16.560 tunky chick with a bible. So I was on one 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.040 little diagonal pew and one is on the other pew, 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.000 and so I lean over to tell her remember last 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.000 night when I said about it, well, why does start 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.800 and explain it to her? The lady who was hostessing 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:28.120 the event comes up. She's very very serious war hoos 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.079 and she was like one to you know, I need 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.680 you to start worship now. And so one is like, okay, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.720 hatn't got to explain it. Wanda stands up. She's a 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.320 real perky worship leader. Didn't fit the whole setting, but 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.840 she stands up and she goes exactly like this holly 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.600 to me. She goes and then she comes up and 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.600 I don't know how to explain what I felt to 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.120 that moment, but it's just this deep sense of foreboding. 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.400 I thought, just something about this didn't feel good to me. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.480 She walks up and Chris, they didn't have like a 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.680 cool keyboard. They didn't have one of those old upright pianos. 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.440 I remember those that as the high back. And so 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.160 one of goes plays a song on the piano, kind 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.920 of a hymn, and then she stops. There's about I 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.200 don't know, three hundred women on the pews, very lot 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:17.120 of match outfits, and she leans out from behind the 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.200 piano and she went, ladies, I have got such a 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:26.240 treat for you this morning. And then she gestures to 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.640 me and she goes, hey, lo just she goes, Lisa 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:34.359 is a worship dancer. And then she grabs this package. 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.880 I hadn't noticed until that point. Scrabs this package on 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.240 top of the piano. It's this long package, comes all 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.159 the way off the stage, comes down to grind sitting. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.120 I'm sitting where you are, Holly. She unwraps this package 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:49.400 and unfurls this massive, like five by seven foot purple 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:53.400 flag with the alpha and the omega and gold glitter 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.440 on the flag, and then she, you know, presents it 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.160 to me with a flourish like we've planned this. And 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:04.880 then a second she goes heads back up on stage. Now, y'all, 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.240 the women are stiff. Wanda isn't and is evidently a 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.800 little oblivious the women are stiff. She starts playing this 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.039 real up tempo probably an elevation song, a real uptempo song, 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.520 and then she goes like gestures to me like, now 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.440 it's time for your routine. And I'm holding this massive flag, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:24.800 and you know, nobody's even singing with her. They're just 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:28.520 and I'm holding this flag, and I thought this is 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.720 like a Saturday night life skip, like I don't I 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.000 don't know where to go from here. And then I 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.720 have just a smedge of prodigal in me, and I thought, 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:43.680 she's my only friend and these women probably need to 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.200 be just poked a little bit. And so I started 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.720 to dance, and the only thing I knew to do, 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:52.920 because the flag was heavy, was just to do kind 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.640 of this big squirl with a flag and women are 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.800 laying either way. Well, Wanda was charismatic. So the song, 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.800 I said, like seventeen minutes says one a song, And 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.400 so I thought I can't hold anymore, Like my what 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:07.880 hanging down part is starting to cramp. I was like, 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.479 I don't know what to do, and so I thought, well, 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.839 this is probably my last public dance, and so and 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.560 this is straight up truth. I'll tell you if I 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:17.680 was lying in church, I went all the way up 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.560 to the front of the of the church and I 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.520 kind of got to run and start because I've seen 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.520 people do this at Joyce Myer events and I've always 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.800 wanted to try it. And I started running. I'm going 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.159 to have to do this to show y'all what I did. 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:38.080 I started running and then I swept instead a grunt 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:43.279 to take with a flag, And y'all, what was hilarious. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.880 I probably should have worn a sports braw for that. 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.400 But but what it was hilarious is you could hear 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:54.800 this collective gas people like all the women swept. But 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.320 I didn't think God was disappointed. I felt like God 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:04.279 was leaning over going Jesus, you've got to see what 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:11.200 she's doing this morning. I am, y'all funny, y'all, it's funny. 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.000 I am so much more Laurel and hearty than I 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:21.400 am Shakira and j Lo. I do not have it altogether. 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.280 My life plays out more like a bloop of real 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.280 than a press release. But at fifty eight, what I'm learning. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.400 I keep saying sixty because sixty is just like a 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.920 little over a year away for me. So I keep 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:35.680 saying sixty so I get used to it. The thing 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:40.120 I love about this age isn't just the discounts at McDonald's. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:45.080 It's that I can look back over fifty years of 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.720 walking with Jesus and I can go, you know what, 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:52.000 It's really not about my capacity. It's about his compassion. 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.880 It's not about whether I have it all together. It's 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.440 about Jesus. What I'm learning, and I'm a slow learner, 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.680 but what I'm learning, y'all is if you really want 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.360 to access intimacy with God, if you really want to 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:11.559 commune with God, the key is humility. And Rick Warren 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.960 says it well. I usually attribute this to C. S. 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:16.440 Lewis because it sounds like something Sir Lewis would say. 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.920 It's actually Rick Warren, pastor in California. He says, humility 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.520 is not thinking less of ourselves. I think in American 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.600 Christian culture we tend to think humility is, oh no, 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.640 it's not about me. Well, that's actually just narcissism and 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.720 a nicer outfit. That's not humility. That's still drawing all 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.920 attention to yourself. Woe is me is not humility. Rick 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:42.400 Warren says, humility isn't thinking less of yourself. It's just 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:47.080 thinking of yourself less. It's just being so preoccupied with Jesus, 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.960 being so distracted, so discombobulated by his kindness, his goodness, 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.960 his accessibility, that we're just not very focused on ourselfs anymore. 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.880 I think humility is the key to intimacy see with God. 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:07.280 I think humility is necessary for worship. My posthumous pretend 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:13.040 theological boyfriend, aw Tosier says it like this. He says, 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:19.439 it takes humility to worship God acceptably. It takes humility 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.719 to worship God acceptably. So it's it's the it's the 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.800 the way that we commune with God. It's the way 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:32.080 we effectively adequately worship God. I also think it's a 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:37.480 harbinger for divine glory. It's kind of like this. You know, 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.680 the most common bread in almost all of the Southern 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.040 Hemisphere for the last I don't know, four or five centuries. 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.920 I read this is the lowly tortilla chip because of 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:53.640 or I should say tortilla, because of the relative cheapness 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.920 of corn and how how easily it's grown in hot, 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.880 humid areas. And so they've got tortillas. Totorya is a 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.760 no big deal. They're just they're just common. But but 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:09.559 if you cut a tortilla into triangles and you deep 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.520 fry it, and if you're a Christian, you deep fried 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:17.920 in lard, and then you you dip that triangle into 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:23.000 a that of case. So then well that that becomes 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:29.319 the conduit for a life changing culinary experience, y'all. That's humility. 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:34.720 Humility actually leads us to glory, the kind of divine 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.400 glory that we read about in the Old Testament, but 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.839 we so rarely experience in our culture. And I think 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.120 it's because we've gotten a little too proud. But we 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:47.080 wrap verses around our pride and call it humble. So 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.160 we're going to talk this morning, just for a minute 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:54.000 about true humility. If you'll turn to first Samuel, I'm 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:58.760 gonna show you the the proof of why I think 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.760 humility is to glory, what ships and q so are 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:08.240 to life change, First Samuel, and we're going to be 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:14.480 looking at chapter two, verses twelve to twenty six. Now, 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.880 the sons of Eli were worthless men, they did not 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.560 know the Lord. The custom of the priest with the 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.520 people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.200 servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.880 three pronged fork in his hand, and he would trust 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.360 it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron or pot. 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.439 All that the brought up the priest would take for himself. 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.640 This is what they did at Shiloh to all the 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.199 Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.520 the priest's servant would come and say to the man 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.480 who was sacrificing, give meat for the priest to roast, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.040 for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.720 only raw. And if the man said to him, let 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.400 them burn the fat first and then take as much 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.760 as you wish, he would say, no, you must give 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.320 it now, and if not, I take it by force. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.160 Thus the sin of the young men was very great 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:06.240 in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.679 the offering of the Lord with contempt. Samuel was ministering 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.280 before the Lord a boy clothed with a linen. Ephod 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.040 and his mother used to make for him a little 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.240 robe and take it to him each year when she 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.200 went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.959 Then Eli would bless el Caana, Samuel's daddy and his wife, 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:26.800 and say, may the Lord give you children by this 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.120 woman for the petition she asked of the Lord so 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.720 they would return home. Indeed, the Lord visited Hannah, and 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.200 she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters, and 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:39.679 the young man Samuel, grew in the presence of the Lord. 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:44.439 You probably remember Samuel's story. It's one of the favorite 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.679 stories I saw Flannel graft when I was growing up. 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:51.199 Babdocostel and Samuel was born to a woman who struggled 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:55.280 with infertility named Hannah. The reason I love Hannah is 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.839 not only that she was patient, which is something I've 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.240 been praying for for five decades. Y'all. Remember, she had 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.760 a sister wife that was back when polygamy was a norm, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.800 and she had to put up with his sister wife 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.960 named Panina, who had all these kids. She was fertile, 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.839 Myrtle and then Hannah short of them. Utilly didn't have 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:14.079 any kids, and Panina was a big braggart. And when 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:17.720 they drove to Costco, She's made Hannah's life miserable. And 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.439 so Hannah went to church. I'm taking the tiniest bit 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.200 of liberty with Hebrew, but this is what it would 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:26.000 play out like. Now. They go to church and Hannah 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.440 goes to the altar and is grieving with such drama 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:33.280 that the priest Eli who's mentioned here, thinks she's had 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.600 one too many mimosas before small group, and so the 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.840 priest chastises her, and she says, no, sir, I haven't 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.720 been drinking. I'm just travailing before the Lord because my 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.840 heart has been broken for so long and it has 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.960 just devastated me that I've never been able to curate children. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.280 And I know what that feels like because I didn't 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.079 become a mom until the age of fifty through the 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.160 miracle of adoption. So I know what it feels like 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.360 to travail, especially on Mother's Day or Christmas. You wish 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.960 there's more than yours and your dogs talking hanging on 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.840 the fireplace. Nothing wrong with dogs, but that's all I 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:11.880 had until the age of fifty. So identify with Hannah. 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.480 And then she gets pregnant because our Lord is so kind, 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.400 and she names her son Samuel, which means the Lord hears, 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:21.960 and after he's weaned. She takes him to the temple 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.760 and dedicates him and says, this is going to be 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.760 like his boarding school. And she says to the priest Eli, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.400 I want you to raise him up in the ways 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.200 of God. I want my boy to love God. I 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.640 want my boy to give his life for kingdom purposes. Well, 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:40.040 Eli already had two sons, so he effectively adopts Samuel. 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:43.200 But he's got two older sons, Hofney and Phineas. And 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.760 these boys are players. These boys were raised in the 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.160 house of God. They were fluent in the ways of God, 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.880 but they flouted the will of God because they were 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.000 more interested in satisfying their own appetites than they were 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.200 in honoring God or serving God or submitting to God's will. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.760 And so even though they were more than familiar with 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.120 Torah or people who are trying to be fancy and 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.800 pressure what dinner parties will say to Rah, but that's 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:08.920 just the Hebrew version of the first five books of 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.120 the Old Testament. They were familiar with that. And in 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:18.040 the Hebrew scriptures, God very specifically said here's the template 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.600 I want you to apply to sacrifice this and he said, 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:24.800 when people bring meat to church, to temples what they 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:26.840 called it back then, when they bring meat to church 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.320 as an offering, I want you all to use a 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.280 three pronged fork. I've studied this, I can't prove it. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.800 I'm almost sure that's where we get the vernacular pot 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.680 luck supper, because people would put meat in a pot 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:42.120 and then the priest had to poke a three pronged 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.280 fork into the pot, and whatever they brought up was 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:49.320 their protein for the day. And so Hafni and phineas 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:53.200 the sons of Eli, the priest whose lineage goes back 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:57.520 to Aaron, the first priest of Israel. So they had very, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:02.960 very impeccable blue blood when it comes to be in preased. 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.360 I mean, if these guys were living today, Mother Teresa 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.800 and Billy Graham and Spurgeon and maybe Stephen Ferdick although 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:11.600 he's not dead, would be on their twenty three ae 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:15.720 me Tree. I mean, they just incredible legacy with regards 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.440 to people who love God in their backstory. But they 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.480 just ignored all that because they decide, we don't want 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.680 pot luck, we want to know what we're getting. So 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.840 they set up a system in the parking lot of 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.320 the temple and they begin accosting worshipers, so before they 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:33.800 could even get to make their sacrifice, they'd be like, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:35.480 what you got in that yettie, Let me see give 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.040 me those places, give me, give me that Kobe. And 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.240 they set up a system where they took the meat 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.560 before it was sacrificed. They took the choicest cuts. They 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:47.120 had traggers set up in the parking lot. And that's 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.640 why God says they're worthless men. And he says, Eli, 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.640 you are not teaching your sons what it is to 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:59.840 bow their knees before me. He said, Samuel is base 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:04.960 an orphan, and Samuel Samuel and patting himself on the 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.680 back and dislocating his shoulder. Samuel is not impressed with himself. 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.080 Samuel's impressed with me. So God says, Samuel's growing up 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.480 while your boys are growing out. The word in Hebrew 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:22.360 for weight is cavode, is the same word for honor 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.480 and for chubby. And God tells Eli, your sons are 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:31.000 getting pretty thick, brother, because they're eating all that marbled me. 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:38.480 And he goes on to chastise Eli. In verse twenty 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.840 nine of chapter two, he says, why then do you 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:45.040 scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.720 honor your sons above me by fattening yourself on the 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.880 choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel. Therefore, 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.520 the Lord, the God of Israel, declares, I promised that 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.840 your house, in the house of your father, should go 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.320 in an out before me. But now the Lord declares, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.960 far be it from me. For those who honor me, 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.520 I will honor, and those who despise me shall be 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.800 lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.920 cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.359 so that there will not be an old man in 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.119 your house. Then, in distress, you will look with envious 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.399 eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.920 and there shall not be an old man in your 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.520 house forever. The only one of you whom I shall 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:29.600 not cut off from my altar shall be spared to 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:31.959 weep his eyes out to grieve his heart. And all 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.399 the descendants of your house shall die by the sword 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.560 of men. And this shall come upon your two sons, 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.080 Hoftni and Phineas shall be assigned to you. Both of 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.919 them shall die on the same day. We go on 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:49.400 to read the Hofti Infinius. Their destructive appetites led them 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.199 to the point they spiraled to the point that they 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.880 were actually getting jiggy with women who were coming into 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:58.200 volunteer at church. So they added sexual abuse to their gluttony. 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:02.080 And these these were bad guys. Y'all their sons of 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.840 one of the high priests of Israel. We tend to 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:09.680 think that legacy. We equate legacy with effective leadership. Legacy 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:17.040 without humility is destructive. Legacy without humility leads to entitlement, 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.160 which leads to lunacy. I love that Chris said, don't 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.639 always give your kids what they want when they want it. 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:25.800 I'm not going to talk about parenting. I've only been 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.720 a parent for ten years and Missy is now a teenager, 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:30.920 and so I can't say anything. I'm afraid I'll be 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.359 struck by lightning because we're just starting to have a 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.160 little emotion at our house, even though she's an amazing kid, 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:42.639 much easier parent than I am deserving. But I'm not 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.040 going to talk about parenting. I am going to talk 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:50.080 about our calling as christ followers. If you had the privilege, 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:55.320 the undeserved privilege of having Christian parents. Goodness gracious, that 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.560 does not mean that you're going to be a great leader. 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.600 It means that you should every single day go thank 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.520 you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.120 that I had legacy in my house, that I heard 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:13.560 these stories when I was a kid. Without humility, legacy 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.240 becomes entitlement. And that's what we're seeing all over culture. 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.720 I'm not going to name names, but how many businesses 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:27.119 have you seen absolutely fall apart when the sun takes 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.600 over and the dad led really, really well. The dad 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:32.480 built it from the ground up, and then the sun 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:37.199 takes over with his bentley and his whatever addiction, and 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.800 within ten years they're no longer traded. And when another 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:46.680 ten years they're belly of Now. That is sad when 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:48.840 you open up Wall Street and read about those kind 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:53.560 of businesses. Sadder still are churches when you see a 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.720 pasture who loves the Lord, and he's got a team 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.360 of men and women who love the Lord, and there's 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.960 honor and there's integrity in the house, and then you 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:06.800 see a young leader come in. And I'm not against youth. 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.760 Goodness gracious, I pray for a young man on ey harmony. 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:14.720 So I am not at all opposed to youth. But 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.959 if you see a youth begin to lead and they 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:21.119 get a platform before they have the scaffolding of humility, 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:26.080 they will topple because legacy does not equate to leadership. 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:32.080 Legacy and humility become leadership. We've got to be aware 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.080 that we've all got clay feet. We've got to be 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.160 aware that the hope doesn't rest on us, at rest 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:42.040 on Jesus. Hafi and Phineas completely forget that they fly 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.200 out the ways of God and the Paul Harvey part 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:50.159 of their story. The second half is heartbreakingly sad. Flip 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.760 over a page to chapter four. A man of Benjamin 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:56.560 ran from the battle line. This is verse Samuel fod 0:21:56.680 --> 0:22:01.000 verse twelve, with his clothes torn, dirt on his head. 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:04.240 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a seat by 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.280 the road, watching for his heart trembled for the ark 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:12.600 of God. Do you remember what the ark of God was? Young? Talkback, 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:15.840 I'm not your pastor Joe, remember what it was? Remember 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.760 Harrison fore chased it. Arc in Hebrew just means a box. 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:23.000 Fancy word. It just means a box. And the ark 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:24.679 of God or sometimes you call it the ark of 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.000 the Covenant. For the Israelites, these relights where God's chosen people. 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.280 That just means God set his favor on this motley 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:34.160 crew of people group, and he said, I'm gonna set 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.760 my favor on y'all, and for the rest of time, 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:40.080 people are gonna look at you as a symbol of 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:42.679