Whatever Happened to Sin?

Sermon by Pastor Ed Evans

June 27, 2010

Scripture: Gal. 5:1, 13-25
5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
5:17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
5:23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Our sermon today opens with the story about an old preacher visiting in a small country church. He was asked what he was going to preach on. He responded, "Sin!" And what, they asked, was he going to say about it" His answer, "I'm ag'in it!" That's what we're going to talk about this morning. But first, some news from this past week.

A New England school district in Massachusetts has approved providing free condoms to elementary school students and they have directed teachers not to comply with parental wishes not to have their children participate. And the policy was approved with no age limit, which means children of any age ask for, and receive, free condoms. Mother and Dad, in New England you don't have a right to prevent your 7-year-old from receiving free condoms. This was approved unanimously by the Provincetown School Committee.

In Milwaukee, children beginning at age 12 have been able to get four-packs of condoms and tubes of liquid lubrication since last December from city clinical and health sites, as well as "partnering" sites such as entertainment/music stores and venues, retail clothing and shoe stores, coffee shops, barber shops and beauty salons and body piercing/tattoo parlors. Just walk in and ask for them, and you get a multi-language set of instructions on how to use them. No consultation, no counseling, no letting their parents know what is going on.

This is the kind of thinking that says if you can't seem to stop burglaries in your neighborhood, just take your valuables and set them out by the street so people don't have to become burglars to take your belongings. But what we miss here is that the results are the same. With the children, we have poisoned the well. We have put them in adult situations they may be physically equipped for, but are emotionally ill-equipped for. The collateral damage is often devastating for a lifetime. As in the case of our burglary example, your precious possessions are still gone, and you won't get them back.

Instead of raising the moral bar, instead of attempting to share the kind of loving information regarding the facts that early sex is not a good idea, and that children are often preyed upon by adults; instead of setting the example of what true, pure love can be between adults, we try to take the sting out doing what is immoral, what is wrong, what is unhealthy. And we can't. So why do we go down that path?

One of the worst things about that period of our history we call the Middle Ages is that children were treated as adults. It was devastating. Why do adults do that? Perhaps because they have not grown up themselves, and they project upon innocent, emotionally immature children the distorted desires and hungers those immature adults feel. But do we not learn from history? What can be our excuse in this day and age?

I believe part of the problem is that we have taken the edge off of sin. We make excuses for doing and permitting activities that are immoral, wrong, and unhealthy. The line, that firm point of departure, between what is right and what is wrong has become blurred. We have allowed it to become blurred.

This past Wednesday on a prime time Australian TV show ABC Q&A panelist Peter Singer talked about the joys of bestiality and wondered aloud why society has taboos on such things. The amazing thing is that no one booed him off the stage.

Christianity Today writer Bill Muehlenberg reporting on this incident, and others, wrote, "We live in very dark times. Indeed, it can be rightly argued that we are descending into a new dark ages. The moral freefall that the West is in is as alarming as it is certain. Everywhere the moral train wreck that is Western culture is gathering pace and becoming more pronounced. The examples of this moral decline are legion......"

There are growing numbers of us who want to deny there is a God. That way we can make our own rules. Rule No. 1, there is no sin. After all, if there is no supreme being who created us, there can be no absolute moral rule, and we are free to do and act as we wish. If there is no God, who has the authority to say there is a moral order at work?

But the fact is -- observed through several thousand years of experience -- that we are alive on this earth for a relatively short period. Then it's over. Or is it? Will we be responsible, after our death, for what we have done during our lifetime? Is there an after life to be determined by our actions during life? Those who refuse to know God, refuse to admit that God is God, will say no. Those who know God will assure you there is. In the first case there is no hope, no future, no reason for life. For those who know God, hope abounds, the future awaits, and the reason for life is that it continues.

However, both those who admit to God and those who deny Him share a blindside about the issue of sin. And there, at the bottom of all our problems, lies either a tragic misunderstanding or a total denial of what sin is.

So, what is sin, really? The top two definitions of sin by any measurement are one, estrangement from God, and two, an act regarded as a transgression of God's will. You can find further elucidation in online and offline dictionaries, but those are the two with which I believe most people can agree. That is, if you believe sin exists.

If you think about it, refusing to be reconciled to the fact of sin, not recognizing it and therefore not dealing with it, produces all the disasters in life. They all come back to these two definitions.

Those who don't want to be fenced in by a moral God will point out all the lofty virtues of human nature, what they term the basic goodness of all human beings. But if you have lived on this earth to the age of responsibility, you must agree that there is a wickedness and selfishness, and something downright wrong and hateful in human beings; in some more than others. And if you don't agree that sin exists in human beings, if you make excuses and fool yourself, then when it attacks your life you will simply compromise with it and give in to it, believing there is no use to fight against it. And evil takes charge of your life.

As the old preacher said, once you allow Satan in the car, he's going to want to drive.

If in your relationships and friendships you don't include the reconciliation to the existence of sin, then at some point, perhaps just around the corner, you will find yourself trapped by sin, and for reasons of your own survival, you will compromise with it. One wrong deed needs another to cover it. One lie needs another lie to cover it. One blind eye to the sanctity of life requires another foul deed to cover it. And it becomes lie upon lie upon lie until we don't know how to get out, and the price of either getting out of it, or staying with it simply gets higher.

On the other hand, if you have recognized the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately. You will know the price, you will know the consequences.

Now be careful here, for many new Christians misunderstand their position in the recognition of sin at work. When you see it in the life of others, when it is offered to you, those involved are not the devil's spawn, they are not evil incarnate. Like you and I they have the opportunity to be sinners saved by grace. So recognition need not destroy the basis of the relationship, but there must be a respect for the fact that the basis of a sinful life is disastrous. It would be even better if that were a mutual respect.

Having a respect for the dangers of sin is important in our life, important in our relationships with others. For it is sin that separates us from a loving God. When sin rears it ugly but often seductive head, we need to identify it as such. It is not an alternative perspective, an interesting proposition, or even a mistake to be endured. It is sin, and it is deadly. The bright light of recognition should be shined on it. It should be called what it is, and those involved in it called to repentance, if we value them before God at all.

How did Jesus Christ deal with sin? He brought the Word of God against it. He spoke scripture against it. When Satan tempted Jesus to draw Him off course from what the Father had laid out for Him, Jesus responded with the Word of God, and Satan didn't argue. 1st Corinthians 10:13 tells us, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." Speak scripture to it, and walk away.

If we look at how Jesus dealt with human nature, we see that He never trusted it. He knew sin for what it was, and he knew how vulnerable was our human nature. Still, He was neither cynical nor suspicious because He knew what He could do for human nature. We, too, know what the acceptance of Jesus Christ can do with the sinful heart of human nature. And there we have the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Son of God is that bridge across the chasm of sin that allows us to reunite with a sinless God. The shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha clothes us in his righteousness, since we have none of our own. So when God looks at us, He sees not the sins for which we have been forgiven, but He sees the righteousness of the Son, and we are free. Sin is what it is, but we are free. Praise God, we are free. Amen.

Father's Day and the Lost Glory

Sermon by Pastor Ed Evans

Father's Day, June 20, 2010

June 20, 2010

Scripture: Psalm 42 and 43

42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.

42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?"43

42:4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help

42:6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

42:7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.

42:8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

42:9 I say to God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?"

42:10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?"

42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!

43:2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?

43:3 O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.

43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

You might be interested to know that this is the Centennial for Father's Day. The original idea of Father’s Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, to honor her father in 1910. She chose his birthday which was proclaimed as Father's Day on June 19, 1910, by Spokane’s mayor; the first Father’s Day.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved the idea of observing an annual Father's Day, in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day, and in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed the public law tht made it permanent. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, neckties have been the number one Father's Day gift ever since.

Stand up comics, late night show hosts and other comedians have great fun at the expense of fathers, and most fathers take the ribbing, and the recognition, good-naturedly.

Looking back at the 100 years that have elapsed since the first Father's Day, we know that the fathers of 1900 didn't have it nearly as good as the fathers of today; but they did have a few advantages. In 1900, fathers prayed their children would learn English. Today, fathers pray their children will speak English.

Comedian Bill Cosby says of fathers, "Fathers are the geniuses of the house because only a person as intelligent as we could fake such stupidity. Think about your father: He doesn't know where anything is. You ask him to do something, he messes it up and your mother sends you: "Go down and see what your father's doing before he blows up the house." He's a genius at work because he doesn't want to do it, and he knows someone will be coming soon to stop him."

It's been said some fathers are so inept at being fathers because there is no one expert book on how to be a father, and we're not trained for being a father before we find ourselves suddenly in it. It's almost true there is no one book on fatherhood, in that there are millions. Take your pick. I say "almost true" because in point of fact, there is one expert book. The book of Proverbs in the Bible carries excellent advice on fatherhood.

Our scripture today, Psalms 42 and 43 make it clear that we are what we are, as God has created us. We might long to be this or that, we might desire to be what we are not, in fact fleshly desires all too easily lead us away from what God expects of us, overwhelming us, getting between ourselves and the Living God. But as these two Psalms point out, He has already known and provided for our needs, and without Him, outside of Him, we cannot be what that for which He has designed us. Designed by God to be fathers, men find themselves adrift in a strange world outside of God.

Throughout the Bible we find advice for fathers and for men in general, such as in Colossians 3:21 , and similar advice in Ephesians 6:4 related to how we as fathers should deal with our children.

It is a sad fact that much of what is wrong in our communities today has to do with children raised in one parent families where there is no father. There is no male leadership in the family. This is something a caring, loving mother simply cannot do by herself, replace the father's influence on her children.

Basically, it is a matter of the leadership element lacking in that child's life. Whenever I conduct a wedding ceremony, I always reinforce the image of the father's leadership role in the marriage, explaining to those in attendance that the father walks his daughter down the aisle because he is coming to the end of his spiritual leadership and prepares to surrender that role to the man into whose hands he will place his daughter's hand. Also, that the groom says his vows first because at that moment, he becomes the spiritual head of this equal partnership for life.

And yet, today, even among families where there is both father and mother, I am sensing a reticence on the part of fathers to fulfill their leadership role. They seem to have a mistaken idea that there is no role for leadership in the Christian marriage. And yet women say that male leadership in a relationship is not only desired but necessary for the woman to assert her own role.

Pastor David Felts, leading the Appleton Christian Church in Johnstown, Ohio, writes, "As a Pastor I have had to address this very problem on more than one occasion. The simplest answer I can give is that with most of the men I talk to about this issue it is something which has been ingrained in them from childhood. In order for a man to have a relationship with Christ they will have to give up control of their life and submit to the spirit. This is not something men do easily or well. I think it is easier for women to submit to and be led by God's spirit. God's word tells men to be the leader of the household but when society teaches equality and blurs the role of men in the home it makes it more difficult for men to develop a spiritual mindset. Many churches fail to disciple men in their God-given role and responsibility due to a lack of Godly men to be the teacher and role model. This is a long term problem which will take a long term approach to resolve."

Many churches have established men's groups, and through these Christian associations men can hold one another responsible for their actions before God, discuss in private common problems and solutions within the family unit. And while our own association and willingness to approach and solve problems in creative Christian fashion is good, we must not count out God's influence and the factor of His presence in our lives as men and in our marriages as fathers.

As we observe the world around us, and being knowledgeable in the Word, I believe most will agree we are beginning to see the end of the time of grace approaching as the world moves further and further from recognition of the Living God, transferring the glory they gave God to the exploits and achievements of men. However, His Word tells us that God will not go from this age quietly, and the growing formation of men's groups within churches is testament to a move by God to get men back to doing those things He has created us to do, and being who He has created us to be. In all aspects of life, both men and women are finding themselves in situations where they must choose whether they will glorify God, or glorify the world; give recognition to the Creator, or the created.

Which side are you on? As Pastor Felts pointed out, it seems easier for women to submit to and be led by God's spirit. However, I believe we are going to see more and more men taking up a leadership role through belief in Jesus Christ. I believe God is preparing the fields of man to produce a great crop of new Christians. More and more men will be stepping up because of the calling that God is going to place in their lives.

For many years we have heard the scripture quoted from Matthew 9:37 where Jesus tells His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." But right behind it, in verse 38, Jesus tells them, "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Those who follow Christ have been doing that for many years, and I believe God has heard us. We are seeing just the beginning but as this crop matures and produces seed they in turn will sow that seed into the next harvest. For a long time that crop has not matured to the point where it produced seed. But as God says "Be still and know that I am God."

As I see the proliferation of sin in the life of our communities, as I see evil incarnate rising up to take control, I know by the Word of God Almighty that His will is going to be done, that He is still in control, that God is going to act. All around me I see men and women stepping forward to give God the glory, rather than to mankind; blessing others in the name of the glorified God; taking a stand against evil, against those who would glorify the adventures of mankind, to give God the glory.

In probably all of our lives there have been times we have all “exchanged” the glory of God in favor of the “glory of man.” But have you ever wondered, "What is the glory of God; what does that actually mean?"

S. Michael Houdmann, president and founder of GotQuestions.org writes of this issue of exchanging glory, "This is the mistake many people continue to make: trusting in earthly things, earthly relationships, their own powers or talents or beauty, or the goodness they see in others. But when these things fade and fail as they will inevitably do (being only temporary carriers of the greater glory), these people despair. What we all need to realize is that God’s glory is constant, and as we journey through life we will see it manifesting here and there, in this person or that forest or in a story of love or heroism, fiction or non-fiction, or our own personal lives. But it all goes back to God in the end. And the only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. We will find the very source of all beauty in Him, in heaven, if we are in Christ. Nothing will be lost to us. All those things that faded in life we will find again in Him."

Of God's glory, Houdmann adds, " The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is. James 1:10 calls on a rich man to “glory in his humiliation,” indicating a glory that does not mean riches or power or great aesthetic or material beauty. This glory can crown man or fill the earth. It is seen within man and in the earth, but it is not of them; it is of God. The glory of man is the beauty of man’s spirit, which is fallible and eventually passes away, and is therefore humiliating -- as the verse tells us. But the glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away. It is eternal."

For that matter, the very Word of God offers excellent information on the glory of God.
In Psalms 19:1-4 we read, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands; day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world.”

Isaiah 43:7 says that God created us for His glory. In context with the other verses, it can be said that man “glorifies” God because through man God’s glory can be seen in things such as love, music, heroism and so forth -- things belonging to God that we are carrying “in jars of clay” as 2nd Corinthians 4:7 puts it.

Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” It used to be common to hear Christians talk of death as being “received unto glory,” which is a phrase borrowed from this Psalm. When the Christian dies, he will be taken into God’s presence, and in His presence will be naturally surrounded by God’s glory. We will be taken to the place where God’s beauty literally resides -- the beauty of His Spirit will be there, because He will be there. Again, the beauty of His Spirit (or the essence of Who He Is) is His “glory.” In that place, His glory will not need to come through man or nature, rather it will be seen clearly, for as 1st Corinthians 13:12 tells us, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

What we know fully for now is that God intends there be fathers and mothers in the family unit, and that fathers are to take a leadership role in the equal partnership that is marriage.

As human beings and His creation, we glorify His purposes in our lives. We are to rest in Him and do the best we can do with what He has given us, to accomplish what He has set before us. But when our finite life here is over and our spirit returns to the infinite, that glory is not lost, but returns to God whose glory it is. Let us therefore on this Father's Day glorify the God-given role of fathers, living up to what He expects of us, that we might glorify God the Father in what we do, what we say, and who we are in Him, Happy Father's Day. Amen.