The power of sin
Rumc 11/3/11
I’ve asked 9 people to help me this morning. Would you read your promises??
Ø "I'm going on a diet this Monday for sure!"(slide)
Ø "From now on, I am going to slow down and enjoy life more!" (slide)
Ø "This is my last drink! I swear!" (slide)
Ø "No matter how much he begs, I am going to say 'no' this time!" (slide)
Ø "Okay, I will help you one last time - but this is it for sure!" (slide)
Ø “This month I am not going to use the credit card. And I’m going to start paying down the balance.” (slide)
Ø “This is the last cigarette in the pack and I’m not buying another one, ever!!” (slide)
Ø “I will remain calm, I will not flip off the driver next to me, I will not flip off the driver next to me.” (slide)
Ø “I will not get angry-- I will not get angry- no matter what they say I will not get angry. “(slide)
Did we come pretty close? I’ll bet a lot of you have made one of those promises, or something very close. Most of us have.
(slide)And then what happens? Usually we find ourselves saying something like Paul in today’s scripture, “I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do; but what I hate, I do.” Isn’t that the truth? “I know better, but I’m no better”
That “know better” syndrome is exactly what Paul is talking about in today’s scripture.
Celebrating Independence Day this weekend we celebrate the American culture of the self made man. The pioneer who started with nothing, but pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become a millionaire. The self-made woman who could literally make a silk purse out of any old sow’s ear, and in her spare time run an orphanage for children no one else wanted. We celebrate a history that includes the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Rosa Parks. We celebrate those who did the impossible like Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark. We celebrate the self made, independent person with a “can do” attitude that says we can do anything. In carpentry, we used to say with enough time and money we can do anything. The 4th of July celebrates the attitude that with enough brains and brawn, and enough stick-to-it-iveness and courage we can do anything. That may be true in politics and settling the west and putting man on the moon and getting equal rights for all people. But when it comes to our own hearts, we fail miserably. When it comes to our own addictions, habits, compulsions, desires and needs we have as much backbone as a cooked noodle, and as much strength as a wet Kleenex.
This is a spiritual reality. We are not able. We are not good. We are not strong. We are not righteous. We are not moral. We are not upright. On our own, we are nothing. On our own, we have no power. On our own, we are stuck with 4 flat tires on “Know (no) better Avenue”
But we do know better!! So how do we make the connection between knowing what is right and doing what is right? You might try a visit to the magazine rack at the grocery store. It almost screams answers. "How to lose 100 pounds in three days!" "Have an athlete's body in six weeks!" “Earn $100,000 a month from home” “The new you… Sign up to win a complete makeover.” These magazines with their "fix your life in no time," articles sell like hot cakes. You can catch all the latest and most bizarre scandals of the day right alongside the magic secrets to overcome the "Know (no) Better Syndrome” for the price of just one magazine.
I’m sorry my friends. There is, in reality, no such thing as a quick fix program that will close the gap between knowing what is good and right and doing what is good and right. No magazine article, no workshop, no self-help book, no web-site has the answer to bringing our heads and hearts in line with our bodies and behavior.
That is the nature of sin.
· If it were as easy as knowing better, sin would not be a problem for most of us.
· If it were a matter of wanting something different, we would all be perfect.
· If it were a matter of wanting to be free from our addiction, there would be no alcoholics or nicotine or drug addicts.
· If it were a matter of the will, no one would be overweight and we would all have buff bods.
· If it were a matter of choice, all drivers would be polite, all clerks would be helpful, all neighbors would be neighborly, and every family would be loving.
Obviously, it is not that easy. Sin is powerful. Sin is seductive. Sin is tricky. Sin can even be downright enjoyable . . . until it isn’t. And eventually, the thrill will wear off. You will come down off the high. You will be alone friendless and afraid. Eventually you will have the opportunity to look at yourself and reflect on your life … and you will see the path of utter destruction that sin has left. Broken hearts, broken dreams, broken families, broken bodies, and broken relationship with those around you and a broken relationship with the one who created you. . .
Sin is powerful and we are in ourselves powerless to defeat it. For those who live in sin there is no independence day.
So is it hopeless to try and bring our knowing and doing together? Is there any way to develop a Christian lifestyle that will give us the ability to navigate the rough waters of the "Know (no) Better Syndrome?"
Let's pick it up with Paul's final question and his concluding affirmation. It is interesting that Paul asks who will set him free -- not what will set him free. It is not a program that will bring resolution, not an article that will bring a solution, not a self-help program that will pull him up, no amount of money or power or stick-to-it-iveness. But rather a person. Listen again:
(slide)Q: Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
A: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is only one solution to the power of sin. There is only one key to the prison of addiction, there is only one hope for those who are trapped in hurtful and destructive relationships, there is only one… only one--- Jesus Christ our Lord. Come to him.
(slide)Come to him in faith.
Come to him to be nourished.
Come to him to be rescued.
Come to him, not to celebrate independence, but your DEpendence. Dependence on the one who has the power to break the power of sin, to cancel judgment and to fill you with forgiveness and power.
Come to Jesus. Be filled with the only power great enough to cancel the power of sin. Be filled with the only love great enough to overcome the fear and hatred of sin. Be filled with the only one who died for you: gave his own body and blood that you might live for him.
Come.
AMEN
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