Humility drives works

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.“

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:16-22

The rich young man approached Jesus looking for a formula to earn his way to eternal life. He wanted to have a list, check the boxes, find security in the things that he had done. He wanted his works to save him. When given the commandments, he proudly exclaimed he had kept all those rules. Anything else, Jesus?

Notice how the man’s dependency on works drove his lack of humility. The rich man was so focused on his actions that he had a significant blind spot. He lacked the ability to see his shortcomings.

This is the thing about works. They make one proud, arrogant, demand respect.

Think about it. Our lives are built around works. We work hard to do well in school or make athletic teams. Our works help us climb the corporate ladder. Works are magnified in the public eye, as they should be. People are recognized for works. Naturally, the by-product of works is lack of humility.

And, humility is where it falls apart with faith. In order to approach Jesus, it requires deep humility. One can’t work their way to being humble toward God.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

Humility toward God comes from understanding the grace given to you, personally. A scene in Isaiah gives us a great picture of humility and grace. Isaiah comes face-to-face with a holy God. Notice the impact.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:5-8.

When seeing God, Isaiah immediately recognizes his shortfalls. He looks at the gap between his life and God, and cries “woe is me!” This is a picture of humility before God, an understanding that you can’t measure up. Nothing you can do, no work, can fill this gap.

Isaiah then has his guilt taken away. Suddenly, his “sin is atoned for.” All of the gaps, the wrongs, the things that separated him from a holy God were immediately gone. This recognition causes great humility toward God.

And the result. Works. Isaiah exclaims, “send me to do that job!” Notice the exclamation point.

The rich young ruler wanted his works to improve his position with God. He lacked humility.

Isaiah’s works were driven by the fact that God freely forgave him. His humility before God compelled him to do works.

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