Tag Archives: Sin

Into the Night

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I tell folks when they read the Bible to read it slowly. Don’t rush through. It’s not a race.

Read slowly.  Listen.  Pay attention.  See what God may be saying to you through the words you are reading.  Something will jump out to you. Something will grab you. Something will say – look there!  That’s important!

I was reading this morning in John on this Wednesday of Holy Week went something jumped out to me.  I was reading the text where Judas left to betray, when I saw something I’d never really noticed before. Listen to John’s Gospel:

Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

Lots of stuff there, but what got me was that last sentence – “Judas left at once, going into the night.”

In John’s Gospel, light and darkness are big deals.  Jesus is the light.  He is the light of the world.  He is called light over and over and over again.  He is the light that has come forth into the world to shine God’s goodness and mercy and salvation.

And, likewise, where there is no light, there is darkness. And darkness is where we don’t want to be.  Darkness is apart from Jesus.  Darkness is sin and evil and destruction. Listen to what John says in chapter 3:19, “And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”

Light has come.  But people loved the dark more than the light. They loved their sin more than His life. They loved their way more than His way.

So, today, what did Judas do – He left Jesus and went into the night.  Into the darkness.  To betray.

Today, you will have choices to make. Will you leave Jesus and go into the darkness?  Into the darkness of sin?  Of lust?  Hate?  Pride?  Greed?  Anger?  Judgement?  Rage?  Will you leave the side of your savior and walk into the night?

We are called to be the children of light, not of darkness.  May we not go chasing after the dark places.  May we stick by Jesus’ side. May we not wander into the night.

Back to Basics – Our Need for God Podcast

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The sermon podcast for March 13, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. It’s the first  in our series “Back to Basics.” It’s entitled “Our Need for God” and the text is Genesis 3: 1-17.  You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

Linger

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This morning as we start the new year together, I was struggling with what to read through in my devotional readings.  My daily reflections are just an outgrowth of what I do each morning in my own personal devotional life.

And today, I was stumped.  I didn’t really have a leading as to where the Lord is leading me in scripture for the coming weeks. So, I sat and prayed and listened.

Nothing.

I look through the index of the Bible, hoping that something would jump out to me.

Nothing.

As I sat in my chair praying, I though that the backbone of my devotional life has always been the Psalms. So, until I felt a leading from God to read something else, I’d work through the Psalms for a bit.

So, I started with Psalm 1. And listen to what the Psalmist writes in the beginning of this Psalm:

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the LORD, *
and they meditate on his law day and night.

As I read over this passage, the thing that stood out to be was the second phrase in verse one.  – “nor lingered in the way of sinners.”

That really convicted and spoke to me.  In our lives each day, we will face temptation.

In our work, in our family, among our classmates, among our colleagues, we will encounter sin and temptation.

We will be tempted and tried.  We will face the pull of what is wrong.

What will we do when temptation comes? Will we dismiss it as Jesus taught us in Matthew 4? Will we tell the Tempter that will not buy into his lies and deceit?

Or will we linger? Will we hang around temptation? Will we dip our toes in the water?

Happy are those that linger upon the Word of God.  They will know life.

To linger upon temptation is allow it have a hold upon us – and that leads us down a path we don’t want to go down.

Where will we linger today? Where will our minds be today?  What will choose today?

Today, may we not linger in ways of sin, but may our minds return to the ways of God.  May we linger on the grace and mercy of God.

Equality

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There was a phrase from seminary that’s always stuck with me.

It was something that Dr. Barry Bryant, my professor of United Methodist Studies shared with us in one my classes.  I don’t remember the class, and I don’t remember what brought the statement about.

He was talking about John Wesley. And he said Wesley believed that everyone was equal.  But, their equality was not based on their “worth” but on their sin.

The logic flowed like this.  Everyone is equally sinful. Everyone is equally in need of a savior. Christ died for everyone’s sin.  So, we are called to love everyone the same.

Because God did.

We are all the same, because we all need a savior. We are all the same because we are all equally in need. Each of us. There are no “better thans” in God’s family. We are all equal, for we are all equal in sin and in our need for salvation.

We need to remember that, so that we never become like the Pharisees:

30The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ 31Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

They thought they were better than the tax collectors. They thought they were better than those sinners. They though they were not as needy as they were.

They didn’t see their sin. So, they needed see their need. They didn’t see they were just as needy for a savior as those they regarded as sinners.

Today, let’s not forgot our need for Christ. Let’s forgot our need for a savior. Let’s not forget that we are each in need of forgiveness and salvation.

You are.  I am.  We each are.

Even those folks that we think that we are better than. We are not better than. There are no better thans in God’s kingdom. We are all equal in sin.  We are all equal in our need for salvation.

And God loves each of us.  May we love each other just the same.

Out to Get Me?

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I’ve told my folks before that when I was a kid, my image of God was that He was a really angry old man up in heaven ready to get me when I messed up.

He had a long white beard, He had long white hair. And He was mad.

I tell folks in my mind, God looked like a really angry Col. Sanders. And He was angry at me.

He knew how many mistakes I’d made, how much I’d done wrong, all way’s I’d messed up and He was going to get me.

He had His lightening bolt in His hand, ready to strike me.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve always liked this passage today in John:

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ 3Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.

In Jesus day, if something was wrong in your life, people through that it was because God was punishing you for something.  If you were blind, then it simply must because you had done something wrong or your family had done something wrong.

The could be no other answer.

That’s what the people thought.  So, they asked Jesus, who sinned?

And Jesus said – no one. No one sinned to make this happen.  It just happened, but God is going to use it for His glory.  God was not out to get this man born blind.  But, God was going to use his blindness for God’s glory.

Today, God is not out to get you.  He’s not out to trick you. He’s not out to destroy you.  He’s not waiting for you to mess up so He can punish you.

He’s not an angry Col. Sanders.

He loves you.  He’s pulling for you.  He’s on your side.  He wants to know you.   He loves you.

He is not out to get you.  He’s not.

He will used whatever is going on in your life for His glory.

He loves you.

Never forget.

Thanks be to God!

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In Scripture, there are just certain passages that you read and you go – that’s it!  That’s how I feel!  That’s what I’m feeling, that’s what I’m experiencing

For me, Paul’s words in Romans 7 are that.  When I read the end of Romans 7, I say, yep, that’s the story of my life, that summarizes my feelings.  Today, as I read through it, a couple of things from this chapter just leapt out to me.

Paul writes:

I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Hello?  Man, oh man, I’ve been there.  I know what’s right.  I know what’s wrong.  I know what I should do, I know what I shouldn’t do!

I know it.  It’s not guess-work.  I know the answer.  I know how I should live, serve, give, who I should be.  It’s a plain as the nose on my face.

And what do I do? What’s wrong. What I shouldn’t do. The very thing I don’t want to do. The very thing I despise.

The good I should do I don’t do, the evil I shouldn’t do, I do.

In other words, that thing that we struggle with.  That we know we shouldn’t do. That day after day after day we know we should not do – that very thing we do!

UGH.  It drive me crazy.  I don’t want to do it!  I want to be different.  I want to live apart from these sins.  Yet, I keep falling into it.

What am I to do?

The reason why I love this passage is because Paul gives an answer:

25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

The answer is not my will power.  It’s not in my being good enough, smart enough, strong enough.

I can’t. I’ve already proved that.

It’s not in what I can do.  It’s in what He can do.

I can do nothing.  He can do all things.  I am weak, He is strong. I choose what is wrong.  He is what is right.

Through ourselves, our own devices, our own choosing, we get ourselves in trouble.

Through Jesus, we find life.

Thanks be to God!

Today, trust in Him. Rely upon Him. Cast your cares on Him.  He is life.  He is strength.  He is hope.  Lean not on yourself, but on Him.  Trust.  Live.  With Him.

Thanks be to God!  For in Him, all things are possible.

Pride

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The suggested Old Testament readings the past few days have been from Proverbs. I’ve always loved Proverbs and Psalms.  Dr. Frank Pollard, one of the best preachers I’ve ever known, used to always tell folks to read three Psalms and a chapter of Proverbs a day, it would really make a difference. And I believe that to be true.

As I praying today, I started thinking about pride, and the famous passage we know from Proverbs popped in my mind Proverbs 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

It hit me this morning one of the ways that pride brings forth destruction in my life. It looks like this.

I need to be a better person. I need to be more faithful.  I need to do more.  I need to change.  I need to be different. I need to. . . whatever.

How is that prideful? Those look like good, Christian statements.  How is that pride?

It’s pride in that I’ve mistakenly though I can do it. I just need to bow up.  I just need to do more. I can do it.  I just haven’t.  But I can.

No, I can’t.  Pride fools us in to thinking we are stronger than we really are. Pride fools us into thinking we are smarter than we really are. Pride makes us think that if we just want it enough, we can do it!

That’s not what the Bible teaches.  The Bible reminds us that through God, all things are possible.  Yes, we can change. We can be different. We can do better. We can be new. We can be a new creation. We can experience all these things.

But, not through our strength and will. But through God’s grace.

Pride makes us think we can do it.

And, as long as we think we can do it, we will never be able to do it.

Only through His grace can we do any of it. Only through His grace can we be new and different. Only through His grace can we change. Only through His grace can we live.

The pride goes before the fall. May we not be prideful today. May we remember that our true strength comes not from ourselves.

But from God.

There is Hope

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Today as I was reading and praying, I read these words from Matthew:

40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41 The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders and telling them that they must repent. They are asking Him for a sign earlier in the passage, but He says none will be given, for they have among the greatest sign – Himself.

And He gives reference to those in the Old Testament that have repented and received new life.  He says that those that turn receive new life, but they must be willing to turn and live.

There is no one beyond God’s grace. I believe that with every fiber of my being.  There is no one that can’t start again, today.  There is no one that can’t know God’s forgiveness.  No one is beyond the pale, if they are willing to turn back.

I’ve seen recently in some ways and in some lives the power of sin to destroy what is good.  Sin is a destructive force that seeks to take away all that is good.

And one of the things that sin takes away is hope. The hope that it can be different.  The hope that it can change.  The hope that life can begin again. The hope that today is a new day.

Sin beats us down.  It breaks us apart.  It robs us.

It wants us to think that change can’t happen. That there is no hope for things getting better.

That is not. Where there is repentance, there is forgiveness. Where there is grace, there is new life.

Where there is God, there is hope.

Today, no matter what sin and the devil whisper in your ear, there is hope.

This is a new day. Things can change.  You can be different.

God and goodness will win.  Sin will not.

Today, there is hope.  You can change.  You can life.

Through God’s grace. Today, there is hope.

Get Back Up!

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One of my mentors said something in class once which has always stuck with me – Bible Characters weren’t always Bible Characters.  They were real folks, like me and you. And, somehow along the way, we’ve forgotten that. What do I mean by that?

Each of them, they each made terrible, terrible mistakes. They were human as we are. That means they were not perfect. They did dumb things, just like we do dumb things. They fell down, as well fall down. They were imperfect, and God loved them anyway. Just like He loves us.

Paul reminds us today in 1 Timothy:

12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the foremost. 16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

Paul, this great man of faith, this man that started church after church, this man, led by the Holy Spirit, this man that wrote over half of the New Testament, says that he was unworthy of doing what God had called him to do.

He had fallen down, he had made mistakes.  He had done things he should haven’t done.

But, while he was unworthy, God had judged him worthy.   He didn’t deserve the grace God gave him.  No one does. That’s why it’s called grace.  It’s undeserved, it’s freely given.  No matter what we’ve done, we are loved. And forgiven.  And treasured by God.  No matter what.

You are loved.

Yes, your past is your past.  Yes, you (and I) have fallen down.  So, what do do we?  We get back up!  We fall down, we get up. We fall down, we get up!  Because God’s grace is bigger than any mistake we could make. God’s grace is bigger.

Remember, you are loved today.  God used someone even like Paul.  He can use us too. When we fall down, by His grace, may we get back up!