RECOGNIZING OUR SINS
Luke 18:9-14 - 10/31/04
Some of us drag our sins around with us and then they become a burden that wears us out. Are you dragging around a cartload of sins that you refuse to give up? Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my load and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart…my way is easy and light.” (Matt 11:28-30)
Some of us wouldn’t recognize a sin in ourselves even if it dropped in our laps! That’s because Satan, the ruler of this world, is very sneaky and disguises sin as all kinds of other things. And we judge our behavior against other people’s behavior and think we come out on the right side of good—the “but everybody else is doing it” kind of mentality.
Like the tax collector in the scripture Julie just read, we even find ourselves saying, “Thank you God, that I am not like those other people, those thieves, adulterers, scoundrels, politicians.” Instead, we should be on our knees with our faces looking upward toward heaven, crying, “God! Be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Before we can be sorry and repentant for our sins, first we have to recognize sin as SIN. I thought a refresher course in the “Big Ten” would be a good reminder. The Big Ten…Commandments, that is, not football teams.
Numbers One and Two are similar: You shall have no other gods before me; and You shall not make for yourself an idol. I think it is significant that God made these the first and second commandments, even above the ones about killing and adultery. Why is this so important to God, even today?
We’ve allowed way too many things to become “gods” to us, to become our “idols.” For instance, when we use our jobs to define our identity, who we are, then it becomes a god. Money, wanting to be noticed, the pursuit of winning or even pleasure can be sins when they become our security and our focus for our lives. None of us sets out with the intention of worshipping these things. In fact, if I asked you, “Do you worship your TV set?” you would scoff and say, “No! Of course not!”
But if you are devoting more time to television watching than you are to time spent with God, you have made the TV an idol and God doesn’t like it one bit. Exodus 20:5 reminds us of that, as God says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God…” What is it that is taking all your time and time away from God and His work on earth?
Number Three: “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.” How many of us have said, “My God!” or “By God!” Were we specifically talking to God when we said it? I doubt it. We tend to use God’s name frivolously and as a form of curse and it is so common today that we fail to realize how serious it truly is.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves: Christians who say, “My God!” as an emphasis added to how they feel about something. It hurts a deep part inside me when I hear someone using God’s name “in vane,” as the older Bible translations say. It hurts me that television programs bleep out the word, “damn” but leave “God” when the two are used together. The way we use God’s name says how we really feel about God. We need to be aware of our language and use God’s name respectfully and appropriately, never in curse or even jokingly. And we need to correct others who abuse or dishonor God’s name.
Number 4: “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” Jesus says it this way, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath…” (Mark 2:27) God commands this because humans need to spend unhurried time in worship and rest each week. (And by the way, it doesn’t specify in the Bible which day of the week is the official “Sabbath.”) I happen to feel that a god who is concerned enough about me to provide a whole day each week for me to rest is pretty wonderful. And to observe a regular time of rest and focus on God through worship in our fast-paced world demonstrates how important God is to us. Plus, it gives us the extra benefit of refreshing our spirits.
When is the last time you took a whole day to spend resting and thinking about God, worshipping him in the privacy and quiet of your restful day? God says it’s a SIN if we don’t!
Number 5: “Honor your father and mother.” For some of us, this might be easy. “Honor” means speaking well of your parent when talking about them to others. It means speaking to them with respect, even when your whining old mother is on your last nerve. It means having patience and allowing your grumpy old dad the courtesy of speaking his mind. Even those of us who find it very difficult to get along with a parent are commanded to honor them, allowing them dignity. It’s a SIN if we don’t.
Number 6: “You shall not murder.” That’s probably an easy one for us, taken literally. But when Jesus walked the earth, he saw people who felt and acted righteous because they had not murdered anyone in their lives. So Jesus warned, in Matthew 5:21-22: You have heard it said…’You shall not murder” … but I say to you that if you are angry…you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult someone…you will be liable…and if you say, ‘You fool’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” Oops. Jesus is saying that if you are angry enough in your heart to murder, then you’ve already committed murder in your heart.”
Anger is a great big sin, too, because it violates God’s command to love. I’m talking here about a seething, brooding bitter anger against someone, one that maybe even simmers there under the surface and threatens to leap out of control, leading to emotional hurt, mental stress and spiritual damage. You know, like outbursts of uncontrolled anger. Being argumentative because we always have to be right, having a critical spirit-- the sorry act of bringing others down in order to lift myself up. SIN. Have you ever been proud that you didn’t strike out and say what was really on your mind? Self-control is good, but Jesus wants us to practice thought-control, too. Jesus says we will be held accountable even for our attitudes.
Number 7: “You shall not commit adultery.” Like the “do not murder” one, Jesus took this one a step further to say that “everyone who looks at another with lust has already committed adultery in his or her heart.” Just the desire to have sexual relations with someone other than your spouse is a sin. The deliberate and repeated filling of one’s mind with fantasies that would be evil if acted upon means you’ve already sinned. Looking at pornography would fall under this sin, also. Be faithful to your spouse not only with your body, but also your mind.
Number 8: “You shall not steal.” I bet we’ve all broken this one way too many times. When we hear this, we may think of the time we first stole something from a store. For me, it was when I was 5 years old. Our grocery store had these little price tabs on the rim of the shelves and I took several of them. My mom says she knew that I knew it was wrong because I hid them. She marched me back down to the store and I had to confess and give them back to the store owner. Even as an adult, I felt too much shame to ever shop in that store again!
But there are more subtle forms of theft. For example, when a cashier gives you too much change, do you keep it? If you do, you’ve just stolen from that company. When you stretch your lunch hour, you steal time that belongs to your employer. When you choose to do something else on Sunday mornings besides coming to church to worship, you are stealing from God. (The exception would be in you spend another day of the week worshipping Him as you would if you came to church.) Sunday mornings have been set aside as the Lord’s, a time to worship Him with other believers.
Cheating falls under the sin of theft, also. When we cheat, we’re saying we’re so smart or so clever that we can’t get caught. We’re saying this behavior is ok because it serves our need at the time. What thefts have you committed that were so well disguised as something else that you didn’t consider them stealing?
Number 9: “You shall not bear false witness.” Lies. Deception. We “bear false witness” when we leave something out of a story, twist the facts, or out and out lying. Sometimes we lie (you may call it “stretching the truth”) because we want to look good. Sometimes lying is our defensive reaction to criticism and the inability to own up to our mistakes. Lying can also be when we take all the credit for our success, accomplishments or financial well-being instead of recognizing that only God’s grace puts you where you are. When we judge another person, we are lying. We cannot know all there is to know about another person and judging is the assumption of what we believe to be true. It may not be true at all, and then we are guilty of breaking one of the Ten Commandments, just by judging another. And breaking Number 9 is equal to breaking Number 6—murder! It’s a SIN, don’t do it.
Number 10: “You shall not covet.” You shall not covet. It means you shall not wish for the possessions of others and it goes beyond simply admiring someone else’s possessions or thinking, “Gee, I’d sure like to have one of those.” Coveting includes envy—resenting the fact that others have what you don’t. This can be wishing you could be as successful as So-and-So so that people would appreciate you as they do that person.
A year ago, upon the death of my stepmother, my siblings and I discovered that our dad’s entire estate, which he left to our stepmother, was now being divided between just two people: My stepmother’s 65 year old sister and her 87 year old mother. With one exception: my brother (the only male sibling) received a $30,000 annuity set up for him by our stepmother.
My sisters and I were all in pain, feeling betrayed and unloved. My brother didn’t offer to share; in fact he spent the bulk of the money he received on two large diamond rings and an $8,000 trip to DisneyWorld with his wife and kids.
I recognized that under my hurt and pain was the sin of greed—I wanted “my share.” I coveted what I did not get. One day I realized that it was the sin of coveting and greed that was causing me pain and grief and not the actions of my stepmom, her sister or mother, or even my brother. It wasn’t easy to let it go, to stop feeling resentful, but I had to let it go, to lay this sin at the feet of Jesus before it destroyed me.
What are you coveting? Where is greed appearing in your life?
We know in theory, at least, that our sins died with Christ. But we continue to struggle with sin every day, don’t we? Why is that? It’s because we’re human, we’re NOT God. There is a story of Prussian King Frederick the Great who was once touring a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence--except for one man, who remained silent. Frederick called to him, "Why are you here?" "Armed robbery, Your Majesty," was the reply.
"And are you guilty?" "Yes indeed, Your Majesty, I deserve my punishment." Frederick then summoned the jailer and ordered him, "Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it."
Everyone is always innocent, aren’t they? We would be much better off if we would stop using other words and phrases to excuse our behavior and begin using biblical terms. Sin loves to hide behind excuses. Here are some that come to mind:
· Instead of saying, “I stretched the truth,” it’s better to say, “I just sinned by lying to you.”
· Instead of saying, “I just have a bad temper,” it’s more accurate to say, “I just sinned against you with my words. Please forgive me.”
· Instead of saying, “I just want to share a prayer request with you,” it may be more truthful to say, “I want to pass along some gossip so I’ll feel better about myself, knowing I’m not as bad off as that.”
· Instead of saying, “I had an affair,” it’s more biblical to say, “I committed adultery.”
The smug soul that comes before God and says that sin is no big deal can never know the living God. Until we fear sin and its consequences more sharply, we will not prize our forgiveness very highly. This may sound blunt but hey, let’s call sin what it is. Sin is SIN. But there’s a solution for sin - it’s called forgiveness. Until we acknowledge that what we’ve done is sinful, we won’t experience freedom and restoration.
Confession is more than merely informing God that we’ve sinned. It also involves a turning away. It’s only when we stop being quiet about our specific sins, when we refuse to hide our transgressions and admit to God what we can barely admit to ourselves, that we will experience the fruit of forgiveness. Instead of just confessing our sins wholesale, it’s time to own up for the specifics. Here’s a helpful phrase to keep in mind: when you make a mess, confess! When you recognize your sin and reject it, God will remove it.
Colossians 1:13 assures us: “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We don’t have to beg God to forgive us because He wants to forgive more than we want to be forgiven. We don’t have to bargain with Him and we don’t have to bribe Him by promising to do a bunch of good things, and we don’t have to do penance for the bad things we’ve done.
Another pause is needed here so that we don’t rush past the beauty of having all of our sins forgiven. If there is an issue causing you sleepless nights, stress, pain, anger, disappointment, or frustration, perhaps you need to test your thoughts and actions against what I’ve shared with you this morning. Take some time right now to specifically confess any sins that you’ve been concealing. (PAUSE)
When we believe, an exchange takes place. We give Christ our sins because that is what He died for, He died for our sins. So we give him our sins and He gives us his goodness and forgiveness. Jesus “was handed over to death for our (sins)…” (Romans 4:25). You were forgiven long before you even committed that sin!
“For our sake (God) made (Jesus) to be sin…so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness (the goodness) of God. WE CAN BECOME THE GOODNESS THAT IS GOD!
We have Christ’s power, which is immeasurable. We must crucify our sins daily by denying ourselves the pleasures we think we need and want and are entitled to. We must crucify the grudges, the greed, the revenge and pretending to be a victim. “If any want to become by followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily…”(Luke 9:23) If you call yourself a follower of Christ, you must deny yourself and carry your own cross, crucifying those sins on it.
Are you ready to crucify this sin today? Can you give yourself permission to be forgiven? Be filled with the courage it takes to acknowledge that you have sinned by praying out loud right now. Receive the forgiveness God wants you to have so badly!
Hear God’s words saying, “You are forgiven, beloved child.”
BENEDICTION: God has washed us, whiter than snow, through the blood of Christ who forgave our sins before we even committed them. Open your lips and declare His praise! People, you are forgiven!
