I Once Was Blind but Now I See

 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3). 

 Kudos to the H.E.B. grocery store chain here in Texas for keeping food on the shelves during our recent week of winter blizzard. Power outages, busting water pipes, and delayed trucking were nothing compared to the obstacle of human pride.  

 H.E.B. shelf stock personnel recently placed bags of sugar, just in, back on the appropriate shelves in one location. An accompanying sign declared “2 bag limit per person.” Task accomplished a man eagerly pushed his cart up to get some sugar and with his right arm swept half of the just re-stacked bags of sugar into his cart. Stunned, the stocker personnel pointed to the sign humbly saying, “Ah, sir, we can’t let you take all that sugar.” Face fire hydrant red the man read the sign. “Well, this makes no sense at all! This is stupid,” he bitterly complained. “I even made sure I was here early - before all the hoarders got here.” 

Pride can be so myopic. I see the failings of everyone else but I am a new born baby mole to my own. Paul puts his finger on the root of the problem in Romans 12:3. Inflated views of our self are super dangerous. Now, in America we applaud the opposite, don’t we?  

Most of what taps into I, ME, MINE, or MYSELF sells. McDonalds had plastered on their billboards for the longest time the slogan: “Me, myself and my salad.” I-phones are not We-phones and we so easily can make them more about us than really connecting with others. The average youngster now posts a minimum of 14 selfies a day. Do you, like me, check your posts on Facebook a bit too frequently at times to just see how many likes you got? I feel like Sally Field winning her Oscar, “And, I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now. You like me!” 

Paul counters all this emphasis on self to prevent blindness to our sin with that which love inspires. Think about your most important relationship. Think Godward. Whatever you do, do not misinterpret yourself as the one who is bringing all or even any good to God on your own. His mercy made us who we are. His grace saved us. To God be the glory. 

This is why after the Spirit guides Paul to take eleven chapters to say that we sinners were “declared not guilty” only because of the redeeming work of Christ, Paul pens Romans 12:1 and 2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.  2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.   

Notice “in view of God’s mercy..!” Then Paul makes the first task of the renewed mind the obliteration of pride and the cultivation of humility. “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3). What’s new about the renewed mind that loves Jesus for all of his mercy? Pride is put to death; humility begins to grow. Now how? 

A. MAKE GOD-GIVEN FAITH THE MEASURE OF ONE’S SELF. A little street urchin pulled on a priest’s robe and said, “I believe in Jesus and I love him most.” Curious as to why, having never met this little guy, the priest asked, “Why do you believe in Jesus?” “Because I did my part and God did his part,” was the kid’s confident answer. Seeing the potential for some correction in his theology the priest pressed on, “Could you explain that to me young man?” “Yes, sir. My part was the sinning. God’s part was the saving. I did all the sinning; Jesus did all the saving. This I believe only because the Spirit has caused me to trust in Jesus as my Savior.” 

When you believe the same by faith you want to look away from yourself and to Christ as your true treasure. When faith like this stands in front of a mirror you are not looking at self. Rather this faith becomes a window and sees the glory of Jesus who died to save me, on the other side. Now I genuinely desire to be humble that he be great. And if Christ is more to you, you are actually more, right? And if Christ is less to you, you are actually less, right? So, Jesus, help me please, to know and live as though my God-given faith in you is the true measure of myself.  

B. DIFFERENT GIFTS IN DIFFERENT MEASURES FOR HUMBLE INTERDEPENDENCE. 

By his grace, I can do what you cannot do in the body of Christ. You can do what I cannot do. But together we can do what Jesus wants us to do for the glory of his name. What we need then is less me and more we. Honest recognition of this necessary diversity engenders humility. Hence Paul says, “… but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3).  

Nowhere in Scripture is saving faith spoken of in differing measures to different people. Saving faith saves. Period. One person is not more saved by having received more faith than another. In context, Paul rather is alluding to how we use the power or gifts given us by faith in Christ. So, Paul goes on to say in the next two verses. “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 - so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:4, 5).  

Charles Osgood told of a lady named Ruth who lived in a convalescent center. She was sent there after suffering a debilitating stork that left her right side incapacitated. Like many stroke victims she was having a hard time adjusting to her current condition. Making matters worse was her disappointment to play hymns on the piano, her great passion in life.  

But then one day the director introduced her to a fellow resident named Margaret. She was also a stroke victim who had been an accomplished pianist. At first Ruth thought the director had brought the two together to commiserate and console each other. You see, Margaret’s stroke had affected her let side, just the opposite of Ruth’s. So, he sat them down side by side at a piano, put an open hymnal in front of them, and encouraged them to play.  

It wasn’t easy. Hard on the ears in the beginning, but in time they got better. Before long they were making beautiful music together. As they continued to play together, the gospel was shared and friendship treasured. And remarkably, humbly, they learned to play better than they ever had on their own. And both learned this lesson - in order to make a melody partners must first learn to play in harmony. Friends, let’s be humble together. God-given faith is the measure of our true worth. Less me more we, for then we will see.