Sin Gets A Name

It's hard to watch some stories on television or read about them in the paper.  My wife likes to watch Law and Order: SVU but I can't take it, too much senseless violence, especially against children.  Stories of terror or destruction can be very difficult to see or hear.  A friend of mine told me the other day of a relative that was just diagnosed with stage III cancer who has three little girls.  Heart-breaking.  But knowing of someone who is hurting is not nearly as bad as knowing someone who is hurting.  When that illness or hurt or problem has a name that we know it changes everything.

I think that same can be said for sin.  I know that there is sin all around me.  Marriages falling apart, infidelity, stubbornness, adultery.  I run into people using course or foul language  nearly every day, in the grocery store or on the street.  Addictions run rampant in our lives and there seems no end to the lengths people will go to in order to plunge headlong into sin and destructive lifestyles.  But it's different when I don't know the person.  When a friend or a church partner's marriage is falling apart it's a whole new level of hurt.  When partners at Real Life are struggling with addictions, sexual immorality or other sinful lifestyles then it gets personal.  Then that sin has a name that I know.

In Mark 14:21,22 Jesus said, "In one sense, it turns out that the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures - no surprises here.  In another sense, the man who turns Him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man - better never to have been born than do this!" (MSG).

The way that Jesus was going to be betrayed had been well documented in the Old Testament Scriptures, it was going to be someone who was close to Him, from His own number someone would rise up to betray.  This had been known for many years.  But now that sin of betrayal has a name, Judas.  It's more difficult when it's someone you know.

We know that Satan is behind every sin.  He's the father of lies.  His desire is to steal, kill and destroy.  So in a sense every sin already has a name, Satan.  But that's just generic.  It doesn't mean much to us.  Saying sin is from Satan is like watching the starving children in third-world countries on TV.  We know it's there, we feel bad about it, but for most it doesn't inspire or require anything of us.  We're not personally involved.  But when Satan capitalizes on the thoughts of someone close to you so that they act on their sinful desire, now that sin has a name that means something to us.

We sin when we are dragged away by our own evil desires and enticed (James 1:14).  When I sin it starts with me, not Satan.  My sin has a name, it's Corey.  We each give sin a name, ours, when we give in to desire and give birth to sin.  Then it's personal.  Then it means something.  Adultery is not just adultery, it's John.  Or Mark. Or Tonya.  Gossip is now, James.  Betty.  Samantha.

Jesus said the sin is going to come, but woe to the person through whom it comes.  Sin always manifests itself through a PERSON and gets a name.

Genesis 4:7 - Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.

Help me walk in Your ways

As Christians we talk about walking with God, about following Christ and most of us have a much more difficult time doing it then we would like.  Honestly, our desire to follow is constantly challenged by our desire for so many other things.  We pray to follow God more closely, to walk this life with Jesus but life gets in the way, bills, children, family, careers.  A few verses from Psalm 25 may help us on our walk with Jesus.

David gives four statements that will progressively help us in our walk.

1.  Show me how You work.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The God of David is the same God today and His plan is the same plan.  When we see how God works we begin to trust Him more and the more we trust the closer we can follow.  The more you trust your father, the higher you will climb before you jump.  As you see how God works in your life the more you will trust, the more you trust the higher you are willing to go, the more you are willing to suffer.  God show me how you work so that I might trust you even when I don't understand what you are doing.

2.  School me in Your ways.  David was a student of God, a learner.  I want to go to God's school, to learn from Him what He requires of my life.  A life of faith is easy to start but hard to maintain.  Only by constant instruction can we learn what to watch out for and what God requires.  Teachers have already learned what they are teaching but God knows it all, every mystery and every secret and He is willing to teach anyone who is disciplined enough to be his student.  Take me to God school and teach me your ways.

3.  Take me by the hand.  God is not asking you to go where He is unwilling to go.  He will not ask you to do what He is unwilling to do.  He doesn't ask that you go on your own or take the first step.  Instead He will go with you wherever He asks you to go.  God will take you by the hand and take the journey with you.  I will go anywhere You will go with me.  David didn't want to follow behind and miss the works of God and he certainly didn't want to go ahead and fail on his own.  God will take you by the hand and walk through this life with you.

4.  Lead me down the path of Truth.  There are many roads to travel in this life, I want the one that leads to Truth.  I don't want to be sidetracked.  I want to know the Truth that will set me free.  Jesus said, I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.  I want to know the Truth, the path that  leads to life eternal.  I don't want to waste my time going in a direction that doesn't get me where I truly want to be.

Show me how You work, School me in Your ways, take me by the hand and lead me down the path of Truth.

Cultivating Fertile Soil (from parking lot to parking your seat)

I was reading in Mark 4 the other day and was thinking about the parable (story with a point/message) Jesus told about the different soils.  Jesus said a farmer was scattering seed by hand and observed that some of the seed fell on rocky soil, some on hard packed soil, some fell among soil that had not been worked (weeds) and some on the good cultivated soil.

The seed is the message of hope and help in Jesus Christ, we call it the Gospel (it means Good News).  And the different soils represent different life points.  Some people are like the rocky soil - there is something for the seed to grab onto but the roots soon have no place to grow and the seedling dies.  Some are like the hard packed soil - never even letting the seed in so that it can germinate.  Some are like the soil with weeds that had not been cultivated - the seedling took hold but the weeds soon choked out the light, nutrients and available soil.  But some people are the cultivated, weeded and tended soil - the seed not only takes hold but has all that it needs to grow and produce a crop greater than the single seed that was sown.

Here's what is going through my mind today (among other things...haha)

Everybody is in a different place in their life.  Some people have so much baggage that while they hear and get excited about Jesus there is just not enough room for Him and they quickly fizzle in their young faith.  Some people have been so beat down by the world, abuse, their own sin, addictions, hurts, failures, etc., that when they hear about hope, joy, peace and real life through Jesus, it just bounces off, it can't soak in and take hold.  They walk away wondering what the big deal was - they just don't get it.  Some people are quick to jump on the Jesus wagon but their own lives, schedules, plans, obligations, civic or religious duties, bills, jobs or kids soon crowd Jesus out.  But some people are at a point in their lives where they are ready to hear, ready to respond and ready to produce a crop for Jesus that far exceeds their own life.

 So, in order for the Gospel to take hold and grow strong, to produce a crop in someone's life, the soil must be cultivated and taken care of.  Here's my questions:

1. How do we intentionally prepare the soil of a person's life so that when they hear the message of hope and help in Jesus, forgiveness and freedom through His sacrifice, they respond and hold on tight?  
2. Are there ways in which we can do that from a person parking their car on Sunday morning to parking their seat in a chair as the service starts?  
3. How can we prepare them to receive the message with joy BEFORE it is delivered?  

If you have any insight I'd love to hear from you!  Especially if you are NOT a regular church attender, I want to know!  Comment and share this post I want to know how we can be more effective!

A First Century Intervention

In Mark chapter two Jesus heals a man who is paralyzed after some friends lower him through the roof of the house Jesus had been speaking in.  It was quite a scene as the thatched roof began to be removed and certainly the people underneath were a bit concerned about what was coming down on top of their heads.  But the craziness of the moment is quickly forgotten as Jesus begins to intervene in this man's life.

The first thing Jesus notices is the faith of the paralyzed man's friends.  It was strange for someone with a disability in that culture to have friends that were not also disabled  (see note below).  But the length that these able-bodied men go to on behalf of their friend inspires Jesus and He intervenes in this man's life to an incredible end.  He notices their great desire for their friend to be restored, perhaps both physically and emotionally, but also (because He's Jesus) wants to take advantage of the opportunity that is provided to teach about who He is - God in the flesh.

So Jesus first order of business is to forgive the sins of the paralyzed man.  This spiritual healing had no immediate physical effect but was a paradigm shift where eternity is concerned.  Jesus just made this man pure, blameless, forgiven.  That's huge!  Remember when Jesus said, if your eye causes you to sin, cut it out and throw it away - it is better to enter eternity with one eye then go to hell with both.  Jesus is much more concerned about the man's spiritual standing then him being able to stand physically.

But before much else is done the religious leaders begin to complain because, only God can forgive sins.  So Jesus, knowing their thoughts, poses this question.  Is it easier to say, "your sins are forgiven," which can't be  proven or argued with this side of heaven.  Or is it easier to say, "get up, take your mat and leave"?  Which would really put you on the spot ('cause if he didn't get up you'd be proven a fraud).  So Jesus turns to the man and says, "get up, take your mat and go home."

Well, the man gets up, rolls up his mat and leaves.  Incredible!  A miracle right there in front of everyone!  Wow!

Have you ever thought about the man's mat?  What it represents?  What it was used for?  This man would have lived on that mat.  From the point of the accident or illness that caused his paralysis this mat was probably the man's only personal possession.  It probably wasn't in great shape.  It probably smelled.  He spend the entire day on that mat - every day.  It wasn't changed out by a nurse and he didn't get a new one every few days or when it got dirty.  He just laid on it.  He also slept on it.  He ate on it, when he ate.  It was with him all the time.  He was never without it.

Do you have anything in your life like his mat?  Perhaps an addiction that you carry around with you.  A "vice" you might call it, but it's really an addiction.  Something you go back to for comfort.  Something that makes you feel secure.  Something that you might really want to get rid of, but aren't willing to let go of.  That mat was both his comfort and his curse.  It never left him.  All day, all night it was right there with him.  Do you have something like that?  It's always with you.  You can't get rid of it.

Jesus offers not only forgiveness but freedom.  Jesus healed the man spiritually first.  But he was still on the mat.  Still addicted.  Still stuck.  Still in the same situation.  But then Jesus says, "get up."  He frees him from his mat!  He doesn't have to rely on it to keep him out of the dirt any longer.  Jesus has become His his mat, the one to rely on and trust and go everywhere with.  But notice Jesus also says, "take up your mat and go home."  You may be free from your addiction, your past, your sin, your vice.  You may not have to rely on it any longer but you will carry the reminder of where you once were forever.

What's your mat?  Are you ready to get up?  Are you tired of relying on your crutch?  Are you ready to rely on Jesus?  Ask Him to forgive your sin, to free you from your addiction, your baggage, your past, get up from your stinky, rotten, self-pitied life and start over in His strength and with Him as your crutch.  He will never let you down.  You will never forget where you once were but you never have to go back.  You can be free both spiritually and physically.  Forgiven and Freed.


NOTE:    People with disabilities in the first century were often outcasts.  Other than family no one really wanted anything to do with them.  Their only friends were others with disabilities.  For this man to have four friends may indicate that he had not been paralyzed for very long.  Perhaps a fall or an accident of some kind put him in this condition and maybe even his friends were with him when it happened, maybe even felt responsible.  That could account for their involvement in this mans life.  Typically you would expect these friends to be out working to support themselves and their families.  Had this man been paralyzed from birth he may not have had any friends at all since at a young age his family would have put him to work begging to earn his keep. Just my opinion - I could be wrong.

Get Moving

Been moving since the first of February.  It's a pain to move.  Incredible to me how much stuff I crammed into a hole and forgot about.  I once heard that every five years you should rent a U-Haul truck - one truck - and load everything up like you're going to move.  Whatever doesn't fit in the truck gets hauled off or sold.  Then you clean and unpack back into your same house.  Probably some good advice.

Packing is kind of fun, at least at first.  We were doing an excellent job starting out.  All the boxes were organized, marked and the contents were specific to the space/room they were going to.  But near the end of the process stuff just got thrown in, didn't matter where it came from or where it was going, just get it in a box so it can be moved.  Now we have stacks of things that have to be sorted through before they can be put away.

And once we got the majority of the "stuff" out of the house, furniture and trinkets that take up so much space, we realized how incredibly dirty things had gotten.  You don't notice it when there is life going on and stuff in the way, but when everything is gone and the house is bare the dust, cobwebs and dog hair really stand out.

Seems to me that life is a lot like the moving process.  It's sure easy to get comfortable in your situation, no matter how bad it is, it's still home.  You know where stuff is, the creaks and slants.  Which window to go through if you lock yourself out.  You know where to hide and where to find.  Life may be full of pain, slavery to addictions, abuse, even self-inflicted - but you're comfortable with it, it's home.

It's even kind of fun to make changes, or talk about making changes.  New Year's resolutions, get you motivated for a few weeks.  You pack up all the stuff you want to get rid of and all the stuff you want to keep and mark it plainly.  But if you keep digging, keep packing, to get your whole life cleaned up there's a point where it gets messy.  You even reach a point where you have to decide if it's worth it.  Packing your old hangups and hurts and pains into a new place isn't gonna help you at all.

You get down to it and you quickly realize that your life was a lot messier then you thought it was.  With all the other stuff out of the way the dirt really stands out.  We have a way of focusing on kids, spouse, job, honey-do lists, cars, sports events, television, friends.  We fill our lives with so much that it gets easy to look over the junk, the dirt, the sin.  We can even begin to blame our hangups on the "other stuff" in our lives.  If only the kids were older.  If only my spouse was nicer or did more to help.  If only my job paid more... then I wouldn't need to (fill in the blank).

What needs to move in your life?  What have you been hiding that needs to come out in the open?  Moving is painful at times but if you stay where you are you'll continue in the same patterns, same sins, same problems.  You need to clean your life out and move on.  Pack up the stuff, clean out the junk, sweep and make a new start.

Ephesians 4:30-32
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.