Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

We’re kicking off a brand new series today called Umbrellas. The umbrella was invented over 4,000 years ago. There is evidence of umbrellas in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China.

The umbrella has gone through a lot of design changes throughout the centuries. The modern-day umbrella design was invented by Samuel Fox in 1852.

Aren’t you glad you came to church today? The next time the subject of umbrella trivia comes up, you are going to be stacked. You’re going to be so glad you were here today.

Seriously, what’s the point of all this? Umbrellas have been around for thousands of years because people have always wanted to shield themselves from the elements. The purpose of an umbrella is very simple: Open it up and hold it over your head, and it will keep the rain off of you. Your clothes stay dry, your hair stays fixed, your make-up stays on. In other words, the rain has no apparent effect on you. You have shielded yourself from it. You have cut yourself off from it. It can’t touch you.

For thousands of years, people have used these things to block the rain. With that in mind, listen to what the Bible says in the book of Ezekiel. “I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.” (Ezekiel 34:26b, NIV)

God promises to send rain on His people. He calls it showers of blessing. But a lot of the time, when those showers of blessing come, we don’t experience them because we’re under an umbrella.

God is good, kind, and generous. He rains down blessing on our lives...but many times we don't fully experience those blessings because we're under an umbrella. Just like a physical umbrella shields us from the rain, there are thoughts and attitudes in our lives that block God's blessings. The purpose and the plans that God has for us simply can’t penetrate these umbrellas

In this series, we’re going to talk about four different umbrellas in our lives. Four different attitudes and actions that effectively block God’s blessing on our lives.

The first umbrella we’re going to explore in this series is pride. Pride is a huge umbrella, and it’s strong. It’s not like those cheapo umbrellas that get turned inside out by the wind. This baby is strong. This umbrella can withstand a hurricane of blessing. God can rain down His blessing in an absolute downpour, but if you have this umbrella in your life, you’re not going to feel a drop of it.

There’s a story in the Old Testament that shows us just how big of an umbrella pride can be. It’s a story about a king named Uzziah.

Here’s what the Bible says about Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26. “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.” (2 Chronicles 26:16a, NIV)

Now, let’s get a little back story to flesh this out. Uzziah became king of Judah at age 16. Any of you who are parents of teenagers, can you imagine your 16 year old being a king or a queen? That’s a frightening thought, isn’t it? But that’s what happened. Uzziah got his driver’s license and a crown, all in the same year.

But even though he was young, he started out as an amazing king. In fact, here’s what the Bible says about him in 2 Chronicles 26, starting in verse 4. “[Uzziah] did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5, NIV)

Uzziah is a young guy with a huge responsibility. He has been crowned king of God’s people. That’s an amazing burden for someone so young, but Uzziah experienced incredible success. And the Bible tells us why.

Uzziah had a mentor. His mentor’s name was Zechariah. The Bible says that Zechariah instructed him in the fear of God. Zechariah was there speaking truth into Uzziah’s life, and Uzziah listened. And that set him up for success.

The Bible says that as long as Uzziah sought the LORD, God gave him success. He was young. He was powerful. He had incredible wealth and influence. He had everything a young person needs to royally crash and burn. If Uzziah was like a lot of other people his age, his reign as king would have lasted about as long as a Kardashian marriage. But Uzziah decided from the outset that he wasn’t going to follow the example of others in his generation. He was going a different way. He was going to surround himself with people who were speaking the Word of God into his life. He was going to allow himself to be led and taught and mentored. He was going to seek God in everything he did.

And I see that everywhere I look today. I want to talk specifically to all the teenagers. Everyone here who is 20 years old and younger, listen to me.

I don’t buy the lie that our culture is selling about you. I just don’t buy it. I believe greater things about you than our world does. I see so much potential in your generation. I’ll be honest…I absolutely believe you’re going to change the world. I really do. I absolutely believe that you are going to have a more radical impact for the gospel than my generation or the generations that came before me.

Now, there are a ton of pitfalls that you have to navigate. Following Jesus in your generation is a lot more difficult than it was even when I was your age. When I was a teenager, I couldn’t make a naked woman appear on my computer screen with a click of a mouse. We didn’t even have a computer in our house. I couldn’t scroll through porn on my smart phone. Our phone was attached to the wall of our house. But today, you’ve got to navigate that minefield.

When I was a teen, I didn’t face the kinds of pressure that you do today. And ya’ll, I’m not that old. But that’s just how fast things are changing.

Following Jesus in your generation is not going to be easy. That’s why I’m calling you out. I love you. I believe in you. And as your pastor, I’m holding this Scripture up as an example to you.

You’ve got to be a Uzziah. Uzziah was a 16 year old king, but he experienced incredible success because he was willing to be taught and mentored.

Who is speaking the truth of God into your life? Do you have a mom and dad who love you and love Jesus? Are you listening to them? Are you living in obedience to them?

In Colossians 3, the Bible says, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20, NIV)

Are you living in obedience to your mom and dad? Notice I didn’t ask you if you always agree with your mom and dad. I said are you living in obedience to your mom and dad?

God is pleased with obedience. You don’t have to understand them. You don’t have to agree with them. But if you want God to bless your life, you will obey them.

And following Uzziah’s lead, do you have other people who are speaking the truth into your life? Are you allowing the volunteers in our student ministry to teach you? Are you listening to other people of God, besides your mom and dad, who love you and love Jesus?

Uzziah succeeded because, as a young man, he placed himself under the authority of a mentor. But even more importantly than that, he was constantly pursuing God.

Go back and read what the Bible says about him again in 2 Chronicles 26. “[Uzziah] did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5, NIV)

As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success. Guys, and I’m still talking to the 20 and under crowd, you can pursue anything you want. You know what I’m talking about.

You can study yourself crazy to pursue an academic scholarship. You can work like crazy for an athletic scholarship. You can pursue that.

You can pursue art. You can pursue music.

You can pursue things that are incredibly destructive. You can pursue acceptance…give up anything to be accepted. You can pursue sex. You can pursue drugs. You can pursue…fill in the blank.

You can pursue anything you want. But here’s what I want to tell you right here, right now. If you’re not pursuing God above everything else, you’re in for some really, really rough times.

Facebook has really revolutionized our culture, hasn’t it? And I’m not convinced that it’s been a change for the better. Facebook gives us a glimpse into peoples’ lives that we probably shouldn’t have sometimes.

Like I said before, I’m not that old. I know if you’re 13 or 14, it looks like I’m ancient. But I’m really not that old. And guys, I’m seeing the lives of some of the people I went to high school with on Facebook…and it’s sad. It’s really sad.

I’m seeing these people, who really are still young, living lives of pain and hurt and just total devastation. When we were in high school, they never thought their lives would turn out this way. But they did. And they did because they’ve spent their lives pursuing things other than God. And it didn’t take long for them to crash and burn.

I know it’s tempting to write me off. It’s tempting to think, “You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t know how hard it is. What you’re saying might work in church, but it doesn’t work in the real world.”

Can I tell you something? That’s pride talking. Your pride is not letting you hear me. And what I’m saying is you’ve got to drop your stupid pride and listen. Pride took Uzziah down. We’re going to see that in a minute. And if you allow pride to dominate you, it will take you down, too. Pride is an umbrella that can block God’s blessing. Pride can stop everything that God wants to do in your life.

Listen…you guys have so much potential. I believe in you with all my heart. I really do think you’re going to change the world. But I’m telling you now, you’ve got to keep your eyes on Jesus. You’ve got to pursue Him. Even when it’s hard. Even when other people reject you because of Him. Even when it feels like you’re standing alone. You’ve got to pursue Jesus.

Now, let’s get back to Uzziah. Things started out incredible for him. He’s a young king. He’s learning from his mentor. He’s pursuing God. And God is blessing him. But now, things start to change.

In verse 8, the Bible says, “The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.” (2 Chronicles 26:8, NIV)

Uzziah is experiencing huge military victories. His territory is expanding. People in other nations are recognizing that this dude is for real. And so they start to bring him gifts. They start to honor him. They recognize his fame and his power.

Now, let’s compare and contrast these two verses. In verse 5, the Bible says, “As long as [Uzziah] sought the LORD, God gave him success.” (2 Chronicles 26:5b, NIV)

Contrast that with verse 15. “His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.” (2 Chronicles 26:15b, NIV)

As long as Uzziah was pursuing God, God blessed him. But that stopped when Uzziah became powerful. The Bible says that God greatly helped Uzziah UNTIL he became powerful. When he became powerful, another force besides God took over. Pride.

In verse 16, the Bible says, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.” (2 Chronicles 26:16a, NIV)

That goes hand-in-hand with what the Bible teaches in Proverbs 16. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18, NIV)

Pride always precedes a fall. ALWAYS. If someone has fallen away from God, you can bet the farm that it started with pride. If someone has wrecked their life, you can guarantee that it started with pride.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked with people who have sabotaged their own family, their own job, their own marriage, and their own life. And every single time, you can trace it back to pride.

Pride wouldn’t let them listen to anyone who warned them. Pride wouldn’t let them believe that they were wrong. Pride wouldn’t let them see where things would end up. Pride made them believe that they were immune to consequences. “It might have happened to other people, but it won’t happen to me.” And then one day, it does.

Here’s how it turned out for Uzziah. Go to the next verse in 2 Chronicles 26. “He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” (2 Chronicles 26:16b-18, NIV)

Uzziah had become powerful and he had become prideful. And the Bible says that he stopped pursuing God and instead became unfaithful to God.

So Uzziah went into the temple to burn incense. This broke a direct command of God in the Old Testament Law. The priests that were descendants of Aaron were the only ones allowed to burn incense. Pride had taken Uzziah to a point where he thought he was above God’s commands.

Why did he do that? Because apparently being king wasn’t enough for Uzziah. He wanted more. He wanted to be king AND high priest. And so he just assumes the role.

But the Bible says that Azariah and 80 other courageous priests followed him into the temple. They had to be courageous because they were about to call the king out. That wasn’t something that most kings would tolerate. They could have been killed for this kind of insolence. But they went in with courage because they knew they were following the will of God.

They march in and they warn Uzziah. They tell him he is breaking a command of God. They tell him to leave.

Now, notice that Uzziah was warned. He hadn’t faced any consequences yet. He was warned. He had a chance to repent. He had a chance to humble himself. Instead, he allowed his pride to dominate him.

And because of that, look at what happened starting in verse 19. “Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.

King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 26:19-21a, NIV)

God showed Uzziah grace. He sent his priests to warn him about the consequences. If Uzziah had humbled himself and obeyed, this wouldn’t have happened. He would have been forgiven and restored. But when pride takes over and you constantly ignore the commands of God, there will be consequences.

Something to notice in this story…Uzziah did what was right in his youth, but allowed pride to dominate him in his later years.

I spoke earlier to the younger generation. Now let me take a minute and speak to our older generations. Uzziah stands as a great example to young people, and a stern warning to older people. He was faithful as a youth, but he allowed his pride to grow as he aged. Uzziah started well but did not finish well.

And I can’t tell you how many people I see today who aren’t finishing well. To our older people, as your pastor, I’m calling you to finish well.

Just like I believe in our younger generation, I also believe in you. I believe you can lead the rest of us in the ways of God. You can be shining examples in your marriages. You can lead your children and grandchildren in the knowledge of the Lord.

You can show us how to be humble. You can show us how to be generous. As you grow older and you experience health struggles, you can show us how to deal with adversity. You can show us what it means to live a life of prayer. You can show us what it means to not just know the Bible, but to live out God’s Word everyday of our lives.

But when I look around, I see so many people who get into their 50s, 60s, and beyond, and they aren’t finishing well. Instead of being examples, they become warnings.

And really, that’s the choice that you have. You can live your life as an example or a warning. Finish well.

Uzziah did not finish well. He started well, but he did not finish well. The older he grew and the more powerful he became, the more pride dominated his life.

He assumed the role of high priest, and the real priests called him out on it. They warned him. He had a chance to repent. But instead, he lashed out in anger at them. And because of his pride, God punished him.

Leprosy immediately appeared on his forehead. Leprosy was a dreaded skin disease in the ancient world. It was incurable, and it was highly contagious. Anyone who contracted leprosy was forced to live outside the city. Anytime someone approached, the leper had to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn everyone to stay away.

And this is where Uzziah ended up. He went from the throne room to a leper colony. But there was a disease that came long before leprosy in Uzziah’s life. Pride. Leprosy was just the visible symptom. Pride was the real disease.

Uzziah was being blessed by God in amazing ways. As long as he kept seeking God and pursuing God, God blessed him. But pride crept in and became an umbrella in his life. The blessings of God were blocked. They wouldn’t reach him anymore because they couldn’t penetrate his pride.

And because of his pride, his life that began with a roar ended with a whimper.

It’s really significant that the leprosy appeared on Uzziah’s forehead. Uzziah was trying to assume the role of high priest. The high priest wore a turban with a gold pendant over the forehead. On that pendant were the words, “Holy to the Lord.”

The leprosy appeared on Uzziah’s forehead. That leprosy symbolically said, “Punished by the Lord.”

In Proverbs 16, the Bible says, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5, NIV)

Pride not only blocks God’s blessing, but it invites God’s wrath. And someone in this room needs to hear this word from the Lord today.

You’ve been warned. Over and over again. Uzziah was warned about his sin. You’ve been warned about your sin. But just like Uzziah, you’ve convinced yourself that it won’t happen to you. You’re immune to the consequences. You’ll be just fine.

You can keep being a lazy, loser husband or a nagging, critical wife. There won’t be any consequences.

You can keep ignoring your kids’ spiritual needs. You can keep communicating to them that church is cool when there’s nothing else to do that day. It will all work out fine.

You can keep feeding your porn addiction. There won’t be any consequences as you fill your mind and your heart with this garbage. Everything will be fine.

You go right on spending way more than you make. Keep racking up debt. Run it into the tens of thousands. You deserve nice stuff, so keep buying stuff you can’t afford. It will never catch up to you.

Keep right on betraying the people in your life. Just keep running over them again and again. No worries. It will never come back on you.

Just keep running away from God. Completely ignore Jesus. Don’t listen when the Holy Spirit convicts you. Definitely don’t give your life to Christ. You’re doing fine on your own. You don’t need Him.

Read these words again. “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5, NIV)

You can run from God, but you can’t outrun God. In your pride, you can ignore all his warnings. You can ignore His Word. You can ignore me. You can ignore the other people that God has placed in your life. But if you keep shutting out the truth because of your pride, it will catch up to you.

God said, “Make no mistake about it. I detest the proud of heart. And I will punish them. Mark my word.”

It’s hard for us to hear that God detests someone. We like to only focus on His love and His grace. But His judgment and wrath are just as real. And pride is a sure fire way to invite that wrath and judgment on ourselves.

Here’s what I’m praying for you…I’m praying that the Word of God penetrates your prideful heart. I don’t want to see you crash and burn. I don’t want to see your life fall apart. I don’t want to see God’s judgment fall on you. So just like the priests warned Uzziah, I’m warning you.

There is someone in this room who is sitting there thinking, “How did he know? He’s talking right to me. How did he know?”

That’s the Holy Spirit, bro. That’s the Holy Spirit, sis. God is speaking through me to get to you. He’s desperately trying to get your attention. He’s trying to break through that pride umbrella in your life. He wants to bring you back to Himself before it’s too late.

If you choose to remain in your pride, God can’t bless you. God can’t save you. He can’t save you because salvation requires submission. It requires us to submit to Jesus, not only as our Savior, but also our Lord. Lord means that Jesus is our boss. He calls the shots. It’s His way, not our way. We submit ourselves in obedience to Him.

A proud person can’t do that. That’s why, in James 4, the Bible says, “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [Pride makes God oppose you and work against you. Humility invites His grace and forgiveness.]

Submit yourselves, then, to God. [There’s that submission thing again.] Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. 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. [In other words, be broken over your sin. Drop your pride and own up to your guilt.] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:6-10, NIV 1984)

Today, we’re inviting you to do just that. We’re inviting you to humble yourself before the Lord so that He can give you grace. So He can forgive you and restore you and lift you up.

Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for all of our sin. Including our stubborn, stupid, destructive pride. Your sin nailed Him to that cross. My sin nailed Him to that cross. He died to forgive our sin.

The question is are you willing to submit to Him?

You can ignore me. You can get mad at me. That’s what Uzziah did when the priests called him out. He flew into a fit of rage. Someone here is so mad they can’t see straight. You’re grinding your teeth because you’re so angry. You can ignore me. You can get mad at me. Or you can listen to me.

Are you willing to drop your pride and come to Him? Are you willing to drop your pride and stop making excuses for your sin and instead come to Christ and repent of your sin?

You have an opportunity to respond today. You can let pride tell you to stay in your seat. Or you can listen to the Holy Spirit saying, “Get out of your seat and respond to the gospel.”

Mike Edmisten

Tags: 2 Chronicles 26, humility, pride, Umbrellas, Uzziah