Synonyms: humiliation, mortification, chagrin, ignominy, loss of face, shamefacedness, embarrassment, indignity, abashment, discomfort, discomfiture, discomposure, guilt, remorse, contrition, compunction, disgrace, dishonour, discredit, degradation, disrepute, ill-repute, infamy, scandal, odium, opprobrium, obloquy, condemnation, contempt, pity, misfortune, crying shame, cause for regret, source of regret, sad thing, unfortunate thing, discredit to, disgrace to, stain on, blemish on, blot on, blot on the escutcheon of, slur on, reproach to, bad reflection on, bring into disrepute, degrade, debase, defame, stigmatize, taint, sully, tarnish, besmirch, stain, blacken, drag through the mud/mire, give a bad name to, put in a bad light, humiliate, mortify, make someone feel ashamed, embarrass, abash, chasten, humble, put someone in their place, take down a peg or two, cut down to size, show up
Antonyms: honor, pride, respect, glory, praise, dignity, honor, esteem, glorification, laud, compliment, regard, credit, elevate, acclaim, pleasure, favor, kudos, recognition, flatter, admiration, greatness, happiness, self-confidence, reverence
Showing 1 to 25 of 1228 results
Sermon
James W. Moore
... come from the lips of your spouse. Your Goliath may be called cancer or heart failure or alcohol. It may be called divorce or grief or disappointment or rejection or betrayal or temptation or sin or tragedy. It may be loss of mate, loss of job, loss of health, loss of face, or loss of security… but one way or another, one thing is sure… each one of us at some time or another will have to face a fearsome giant… we will have to do battle with our own personal Goliath. Now, with that in mind, let me ask ...
2. The Secret Man
Mark 8:27-38
Sermon
Frank Ramirez
... Jesus came to minister, and which we are called to minister to as well. I think the crucial thing about the cross is that Jesus did not deserve it. Jesus was not guilty of a crime. Jesus was not exposed to public humiliation and a complete loss of face. Jesus was covered with shame for something he had not done, but he accepted it. Certainly we don’t deserve the physical and emotional suffering we experience either. But I wonder if we only truly pick up our cross and follow Jesus when we stand up for ...
3. “Unless You Repent . . .”
Luke 13:10-17, Luke 13:1-9
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... a chord with ordinary people. The religious leaders, even if they themselves remained opposed to Jesus’s “radicalism,” could not afford to be cast as enemies of the people, and so they had to concede the argument, resulting in serious loss of face. Theological Insights Luke 13:1–5, together with John 9:2–3, takes an important stand against the common assumption (well exemplified by the arguments of Job’s friends, and still commonly heard) that physical and material misfortune is “earned” by ...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
... world either repulsive or attractive. It isn’t a matter that Christians are perfect and will not have conflicts. There will always be quarrels, differences of opinion on how and who, disappointments with preachers and councils, hurt feelings, bent pride, loss of face, and lots of mistakes. It’s the idea that Christians can resolve these conflicts as no other fellowship can, that Jesus puts before us today. Comus, a Duke of Florence, had a saying that indicated the limitations of his religion: "You ...
5. Table Talk
Luke 14:1-14
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... with other people on a social level. 14:8–10  When someone invites you to a wedding feast. This whole scenario could be read simply as prudential advice for social climbers: it is better to aim low and hope for promotion than to aim too high and risk loss of face (cf. Prov. 25:6–7). But human society does not usually work like that: in the real world it tends to be the assertive who are noticed and honored, whereas those who do not push themselves forward are more likely to be ignored. It is only in ...
6. The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-35, Luke 14:15-24
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... was thus a social commitment. A slave was then sent out on the day to tell the guests when the feast was ready (cf. Esther 5:8; 6:14). To back out at that stage would expose the host to serious embarrassment and loss of face. The banquet in the parable clearly represents the messianic banquet (see “Historical and Cultural Background” on 13:18–35), a traditional way of envisaging ultimate salvation. For the challenge to accepted convention in Jesus’s demand that his disciples put following him before ...
7. Scandal
Luke 22:14-23:56
Sermon
Wayne Brouwer
... up on a cross in despicable shame. Only when the dastardly deed was done, it was not he but we who were suddenly cut to the heart. We heard his words from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” and we were embarrassed beyond loss of face. We saw in his reflection what we had become, and came to know the ugliness of ourselves for the first time. His morality pierced our immorality and we must turn away. Like the dirty old man in one of O. Henry’s stories, the one who saw by ...
8. Proper 24
Jeremiah 30:1--31:40, 2 Timothy 3:10--4:8, Luke 18:1-8, Psalm 119:1-176
Bulletin Aid
William E. Keeney
... not actually what she would do. It is doubtful that a widow would attack a judge with such violence. Probably it is a figurative way of saying that she would give him a headache. It also would shame him, which in that culture would be a loss of face. His reputation would be damaged and that would be worse than the physical damage she might do by slapping him. 8. "Delay Long." (v. 7) The word in Greek, as noted above, suggests the patience and long-suffering of God. He does not bring judgment and punishment ...
Understanding Series
Leslie C. Allen
... This time the enemy reaction to the news was an overwhelming sense of defeat. It was their turn to be “intimidated” (NJPS for afraid), after attempting to intimidate the Judean workers and Nehemiah (vv. 9, 13–14). It was also their turn to experience the loss of face they had tried to inflict on Judah (4:14–15). Here was the happy experience of Psalm 126:2 all over again: “Then it was said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’” How could anyone deny divine enabling in ...
Understanding Series
Leslie C. Allen
... This time the enemy reaction to the news was an overwhelming sense of defeat. It was their turn to be “intimidated” (NJPS for afraid), after attempting to intimidate the Judean workers and Nehemiah (vv. 9, 13–14). It was also their turn to experience the loss of face they had tried to inflict on Judah (4:14–15). Here was the happy experience of Psalm 126:2 all over again: “Then it was said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’” How could anyone deny divine enabling in ...
11. Bad or Good?
Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... . The child's birth would be indubitable evidence of her apparent immorality and betrayal. Although Joseph intended that she escape the legally sanctioned death by stoning, Mary was about to become permanently scarred by scandal. Joseph himself faced humiliation and a loss of face within the community for allowing himself to be so badly fooled by a young, insignificant woman/child. This is good? But this hands-on God wasn't finished messing about in this couple's lives. Through the appearance of an angelic ...
Understanding Series
Leslie C. Allen
... ? although he opted for prayer rather than sacrifice. The prayer is in the style of a communal lament, like those found in the Psalms (e.g. Ps. 79), which combine lamenting and praying. Israel objected to the ridicule and consequent loss of face. The lament typically appeals to God to providentially intervene with merited punishment, to prove beyond all doubt that right lay on the side of those who were praying. The prayer Nehemiah prayed as representative of the covenant community took the Samarian ...
The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face.
Sydney J. Harris
Sermon
James Merritt
At McGill University the engineering and medical faculties had an intramural basketball game. The score was 33 to 34. With about a minute left, the engineers stole the ball, and then froze it with excellent passing and ball handling until the clock ran out. Only when the final whistle had blown did they learn that they were the ones behind. They were so wrapped up in freezing the ball, they had lost track of the score. I am afraid the church looks at buildings, budgets, and baptisms, and has frozen the ...
Sermon
Robert Allen
It was a beautiful spring afternoon in Eastern Oklahoma when my secretary told me that Oleatha was on the phone. Oleatha was 67 years old and she had been having problems. She often became confused. She had a tendency to forget. Once, she had gotten lost going from church out to her home on a bluff that overlooked the lake. At the insistence of her family, she had gone through a battery of medical tests. The reports were in and Oleatha wanted me to come by and visit her. When I drove into her driveway, I ...
Sermon
Charles Curley
David loved Jonathan and, from the day they met, David was loved in return, with a love which has virtually defined the meaning of friendship down through the generations. "The soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." - 1 Samuel 18:1 The difficulty was that Jonathan was Saul's son and heir. Jonathan was to be the next king of Israel, following his father, King Saul. God had disinherited Jonathan, dethroned Saul, and sent Samuel to anoint David King of Israel ...
17. Putting A Face On Jesus
Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14
Sermon
King Duncan
There is a new book out called THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ELVIS. I understand this book is full of little known facts about the superstar. For example, did you know Elvis was disappointed when he received a guitar on his eleventh birthday? He would have preferred a bicycle. You couldn't have learned that if you had stayed in bed this morning. Did you know that all three of Elvis' Grammy Awards were for religious songs? Do you care? I was interested in one fact: When Elvis died, he was reading a book on the ...
18. The Face Of God
Isaiah 55:1-13
Sermon
Steve Burt
Here we're dealing with the story of Jacob at the Jabbok River Crossing, an incident in which he wrestles all night and secures a blessing. It's a strange incident, isn't it? We've got something which occurred a thousand or more years before Jesus' time, something reminiscent of superstitions and primitive religions: a man wrestling for a blessing with a creature that must escape before the light of day, like a vampire or a werewolf. This is a strange portion of the Bible to have to deal with. Maybe it ...
Sermon
King Duncan
In The Winter's Tale, Act 1, Scene 2, the King of Bohemia is told that his suspicious host is plotting against him. He believes it because he recalls the look of enmity on his host's face. The king puts it like this: "I saw his heart in his face." Gilbert Stuart took one look at Talleyrand, the French ambassador, and said, "If that man isn't a scoundrel, God doesn't write a legible hand." A selfish prince once had a magician create a mask that would make him look kind so that he might win the heart of the ...
Sermon
Johnny Dean
In the late 1960’s a new genre (which is just a fancy word for "type" or "style") of music appeared on the American cultural scene. It was called "protest music," because that’s exactly what it was about. The songwriters and performing artists wanted to express their displeasure or discontent with a variety of social or political issues of the day: the war in Viet Nam; the rules and regulations parents place upon children; the style of clothing or length of hair you had to have in order to be considered " ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
For Christians around the world, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It was the practice among early Roman Christians for penitents to begin their period of public penance on the first day of Lent. They were sprinkled with ashes, dressed in sackcloth, and obliged to remain away from fellowship with other people until they reconciled with fellow Christians on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday and three days before Easter, the day of resurrection. Ash Wednesday is ultimately about one of the ...
22. About Face!
Matthew 25:14-30
Sermon
King Duncan
I’d like to take a quick poll this morning. If you could choose to visit a famous site around the world, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Colosseum in Rome or the Giza Pyramids in Egypt or any other place of your choice, which would you choose to see? That’s not an easy question to answer. There are so many beautiful places in the world to visit. British photographer Oliver Curtis has created a very successful career in films, television and fashion photography. His success revolves around capturing ...
23. Faces at a Funeral
John 18:1-19:42
Sermon
Wayne Brouwer
During the nineteenth century, all Oxford graduates were required to translate a portion of the Greek New Testament aloud. Oscar Wilde was assigned this passage from the passion story of Jesus. His translation was fluent and accurate. Satisfied with his skill, the examiners told him he could stop. But he ignored them and continued to translate. Several times more they tried to call a halt to his reading. Finally he looked up and said, “Oh, do let me go on! I want to see how it ends!” We need to read this ...
Sermon
King Duncan
This morning we want to deal with a theme that applies to all of us. Temptation. None of us is too old or too young, too sophisticated or too naive, to escape the tempter. Temptation can lead us into all kinds of problems. For example, the newspapers recently carried a story about an Alabama man who planned to profit from a simple burglary. He entered a house and began clearing out the valuables. He came across a .44 Magnum and accidentally shot himself in the calf with it. However, despite the fact that a ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Joan trembled as she put on her lipstick. She never dreamed she would be caught in this predicament. Forty years old, active in her church, with a fifteen year old daughter and a loving husband and she was considering having an affair ” with her boss, Jim. "Jim's such an attractive man," she thought to herself as she checked her lipstick in the mirror. "He's everything Bob is not. He takes care of himself, wears great clothes, and he's fun. And he's a visionary. The company's broken every record since he ...
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