Seven Deadly Sins
Pride
Jo has read to us from Luke 18v10-14, the time when Jesus saw the Pharisee justifying himself before God, while the tax collector humbled himself before God. At one time this passage was being read as a Sunday School lesson. At the end of the lesson the teacher says to the children “now then boys and girls, put your hands together and let’s all thank God that we’re not like that smug Pharisee!”
Oops.
Introducing the Seven Deadly Sins
As this is the first of our sermon series on the Seven Deadly Sins, it falls to me to give a brief description of what the ‘seven deadly sins’ are and where they came from.
They are not expressly recorded as a list in this form in the Bible, although each of them individually appear within the scriptures. The seven deadly sins as we know them today originated with the early Catholic church, laid down by Pope Gregory the Great (7th Century), although he was drawing on work by earlier church thinkers such as Evaagrius and Cassian.
There was a strong desire to educate the church members of that time about the spiritual dangers of these attitudes and actions; they wanted to make sure that people wouldn’t commit these sins without realising how serious they were, and make sure that the people would be able to confess their sins properly. This was particularly associated with the Fourth Lateran Council of the early 13th Century.
They were called ‘deadly sins’ because the church of that time believed that there were minor sins that wouldn’t land you in hell, and deadly sins which would lead to your condemnation. We believe that the scripture clearly teaches that all sins are, in fact, equally deadly.
Whatever we think of the background to the seven deadly sins, there is a real value in us thinking about them today. Because if someone asked about the worst sins we could commit, I’m sure that we would quickly catalogue a range of things from murder to sex crimes against children. But when we look at the New Testament, and see the things which Jesus condemns most harshly... it is often the so-called ‘softer’ sins of pride, hypocrisy, anger, greed and so forth which he targets. Not actions but attitudes.
Considering the seven deadly sins today reminds us to give our own lives a reality check. And with that in mind, I’d like to turn now to the first of the list. The item that is sometimes considered to be the root behind all the other sins in the list.
Pride.
Good Pride and Bad Pride
Right at the outset I want to distinguish between ‘good’ pride and ‘bad’ pride. You see, ‘pride’ is a word that has more than one shade of meaning (and there are several places in the New Testament were it is clearly used in a positive sense – Paul says “I take great pride in you” in 2 Cor 7, or “then he can take pride in himself” in Gal 6v4; James talks about “taking pride” in ones position.
So how do we square this with the idea of pride being a deadly sin?
I find it most helpful to consider what the opposite is. Good pride is the opposite of shame. Bad pride is the opposite of humility.
How good are you at DIY, I wonder? If we put up a shelf which is sturdy and level, we can legitimately take pride in our achievement. We wouldn’t be ashamed if anyone else came to look at our handiwork. However, if we become arrogant and vain about our achievement, and talk about it incessantly at every opportunity, considering that our ability makes us something special and hoping that people will praise us for it... then we have left humility far behind and are guilty of pride.
Annoyingly, the French have one up on us linguistically here – although they normally don’t have as many synonyms as us, they have two different words for pride – fierte (fee-airtay) and orgueil (or-goy). Fierte connotes a sense of respect for something outside the individual, taking pride in something. Orgueil conveys the attitudes of haughtiness, arrogance and conceit.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled
The most fundamental sin?
Adam and Eve
It could be argued that Pride is the root of the first sin that is recorded in the Bible. You are familiar with the record of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. How did the serpent tempt Eve? Having heard the woman say that she must not eat from a particular tree, It said “you will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”.
Why is this tempting to her? The serpent appealed to her pride – the possibility that she might become something special, that she could be “like God”.
Satan
The serpent, Satan, knows all about pride of course – because it was his downfall too. Isaiah is speaking prophetically of Satan in Is 14v12-14 when he says “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
And in Ezekiel 28v13-17 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth;”
Satan is a fallen archangel, who in his pride wanted to become equal with God. His position of glory and beauty and wisdom was not enough, he wanted more and he wanted to take it. Revelation 12 in the New Testament tells us of war in heaven, which Satan and all his angels ultimately lose.
Pride comes before a fall. We’ve all heard the proverb, but perhaps we rarely consider how great a fall it can be. The fall of Satan. The Fall of Adam and Eve which brought sin into this world.
Sodom and Gomorrah
And while we are thinking about disaster coming upon the heels of pride, who can forget Sodom and Gomorrah? Destroyed by a rain of burning sulphur for their grievous sins as we read in Genesis 19... yet their sins were not merely that of gross sexual immorality. The prophet Ezekiel records them in 16v49 “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.”
Puffed up with pride, not needing anything themselves, and ignoring the poor and needy around them. That was the root of the problems in Sodom, which eventually led to their judgement.
In the New Testament, the Pharisees often received the sharp edge of Jesus’ tongue and teaching for their pride and hypocrisy – and I think that they are a particularly useful warning for us today. Why? Because the Pharisees didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. They were the people who were dedicating themselves to following God! They had given up so much! They were saying prayers! They were fasting! ...they were taking inordinate pride in their relationship with God.
Pride is still a huge threat today because it is so easy for a legitimate desire to follow God to turn into pride about our position, as in my opening joke.
And yet... the opposite of pride – humility – can seem such a difficult attitude to maintain. It is the most self-effacing of attitudes.
A Jewish story hints at how elusive the ideal is. During the high holy days, a rabbi prostrated himself saying: "God, before you I am nothing." Then the local tycoon prostrated himself saying: "God, before you I am nothing." At that the town beggar prostrated himself. "God, before you I am nothing," he said. The rich man whispered to the rabbi: "Look who thinks he's nothing."
And he who humbles himself will be exalted
Perhaps you would like to turn with me to Phil 2v3ff “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
True humility, the opposite of pride, isn’t thinking lowly of yourself. In truth, it just isn’t really thinking about yourself at all. I’m sure you’ve occasionally come across people who think that considering themselves to be very lowly is humility – but that still puts the focus on yourself. True humility, like in this passage in Philippians, is focused outside yourself and on others.
George Whitefield had strong disagreements with John Wesley on some theological matters. On one occasion, someone presumably hoping to ingratiate himself with Whitefield asked him if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven. Whitefield’s reply initially shocked the listeners, “I fear not, ...for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”
Consider others better than yourself.
Look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Furthermore, we are given the ultimate example to follow. The Lord Jesus Christ. In stark contrast to Satan, who wished to acquire greater power and position for himself, Jesus ‘did not consider equality with God something to be grasped’. When Satan attempts to tempt Jesus in the wilderness his offers of power and pride come to nothing.
Jesus was so humble that he was fully prepared to leave the glories of heaven and be born as a helpless, incontinent baby; dependent upon his parents for his every need. As he grew, he was obedient to his parents and honoured them in accordance with the law, even though he was far wiser and more capable than them in every way.
And why did he do this? So that the enemies of God, those who hate and despise God, might be rescued. He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross. He did not look only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
The interests of you and I. What a wonderful example!
Finally: Jesus humbled himself, but God has exalted him now to the highest place.
It is Jesus’ purpose that all his people follow him in humility, and then he will exalt them. There are many that we’ve already remembered in prayer who will not see any glory in this world... but Christianity is not just about this world but also the next, and glory awaits all those who faithfully follow and serve Jesus, whatever the personal cost they pay now.
Do you know what the best news is? The church – this church – is full of people who are prepared to give up their time for others. Looking not only to their own interests, but freely and willingly giving their time to make sure that we are provided with coffee. That people get booked for speaking. That the church is clean. That the children are looked after and taught the scriptures. That maintenance happens. That chairs are put out and stacked away. That finances are properly handled.
In this coming week, let’s keep aware of the news about our world and be quick to pray about situations we hear – or possibly take other action too. And let’s keep aware of what is happening in the church too, and see how we may serve one another within here too. One of the best ways we can show Jesus how much we love him, is by demonstrating how much we love one another.
Let’s do it, eh?
Alex White
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