Introduction
The Jewish people of the New Testament were commanded by God to be honest.  The 9^th of the 10 commandments says, “Do not false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16) And throughout the Scriptures, God instructs people to be honest.  Just as God does not lie, we should not lie. 

And yet, how could Jews live under the oppression of the all Romans, and not lie?  Think about it.  Suppose you were in their shoes and some Romans soldiers came to arrest and execute your brother, who was hiding in your basement.  And they demanded, “Where is your brother?”  And you say, “I don’t know!  He isn’t here.”  Your lie may save his life.  And yet, in lying, you broke God’s command not to lie.

The Romans weren’t stupid.  They knew the Jews would lie for each other; who wouldn't in that situation?  But they also knew the Jews were religious and they feared God who told them not to lie.  So they might make the Jews swear a vow.  “Swear to God you don’t know where your brother is?”

An oath or vow like this was a very serious business to ancient people—especially the Jews.  Jews believed more than any other people that God was real and all powerful and all knowing.  Lying to God was a serious offense and He would punish you.  The Jews believed that wholeheartedly.

Now that’s a problem if you live in occupied territory.  What were the Jews supposed to do?  Well, Jewish religious leaders came up with some work arounds so Jews could lie to the Romans and not offend God.  We can deduce some of these from Matthew 23:16-22.  They could make a vow “by God’s Temple” as long as they didn’t make the vow on the “gold of the Temple”.  Or they could make a vow “by heaven” as long as it was not “by God in heaven”.  So these were ways Jews could use a vow to sound honest but actually lie. 

That’s convenient.  If we found ourselves in their shoes, we could probably all appreciate the practicality of being able to lie to the enemy like that.  Kids who live in abusive households often learn to lie for very similar reasons.  In order to avoid abuse and unfair punishment, they learn really quick it’s easier to lie and cover up than to be beaten.  It’s a coping mechanism and it often works.

The problem for many kids who learned to lie because they're abused is they grow into adults who are habitual liars.  Even though they are no longer in an abusive situation, they are still in the habit of lying because it’s more convenient.  Sometimes it’s just easier to lie than explain the truth.

The unfortunate Jews who lived under Roman occupation learned to be good liars.  They even learned to feel good about lying by using vows to cover it up with religious language.  But what was to stop them from using religious language to now lying to each other?  Nothing.

And into this world of lies and deception, Jesus speaks the Truth in His Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:33-37
³³ “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. ³⁵ And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. ³⁷ Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

On Earth as it is in Heaven
Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.  His preaching often started with words like Matthew 3:2, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”  Now the people to who He preached (just like us) lived in the real world.  The real world is a place where people lie and cheat and steal.  The real world is a place where we must look at all the bad options available and pick the least evil one. Right?  You know what I mean.  We live in the real world, not some fantasy.

It’s ironic that we call the broken world we live in “The Real World”.  It’s real to us, because it’s all we’ve ever known. But Jesus came to show us this isn’t the way the world is supposes to be.  He met our broken world head on and challenged all its broken people and broken systems.  And Jesus refused to bow down to the way things work in our broken world.  It may be one of the main things that annoyed the religious and political leaders most about Jesus—that He refused to get with the program about the way things work in the “real world”.  And so, when Jesus refused to cave in and play along by the rules of the “real world”, they arrested and executed Him.  They said, see, this is what happens to people who don’t play by our rules, you die in shame and agony on a cross.

But then an amazing thing happened.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day because He is Lord!  You see, in the “real world” honesty and integrity may get you rejected and killed.  But in the Kingdom of Heaven, those who follow Jesus rise to new life—eternal life.  And we all have to decide which is really the “real world”.  Is it this broken world of lies or is it the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus preached?

Jesus challenged all His followers, “Pray like this:  Our Father in Heaven… Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…”  (Matthew 6:8-10)  Jesus came to overthrow our broken world and He calls all His believers to have faith to live as though His Kingdom is the true reality and this so called “real world” which we believe is reality is really a corruption and a lie that is passing away.  God’s Kingdom is coming, and we are called to live by the Kingdom’s principles.

And in God’s Kingdom, there’s no reason to lie.  There is no sin or abuse.  There is no Enemy.  We are called to live with honesty and integrity.  We’ve got to let go of our habits of lying.  We should be such honest people we no longer need vows to prove we’re telling the truth.  So the person who says, “Yes” is just as believable to as the person who says, “I swear to God, yes!”  In fact, the person who says yes may be more believable than the person who makes a vow.  Because why would you even need to say, “I swear to God…”?  If you have to swear to prove you’re telling the truth then it almost implies the possibility that you may have lied at other times when you didn’t swear to God.  In the Kingdom of Heaven, where Jesus is King, people are always honest.  Yes means yes and no means no.

Can Christians Make Vows or Swear Oaths?
Some Christian denominations interpret Jesus words about vows to mean Christians should not make vows or take oaths of any kind.  For instance, Quakers, Mennonites, and the Amish interpret Jesus’ words in Scripture to mean they should not make vows or swear oaths of any kind.  In fact, George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement (officially called the Religious Society of Friends), was put in prison because he refused to swear on the Bible to tell the truth.  Ironically, Fox was a deeply religious man and argued the very Bible he was being compelled to swear upon required him not to swear an oath.

Was George Fox right?  Does the Bible forbid Christians from making vows or swearing oaths?  No.  I don’t believe it does.  That’s not the point of what Jesus is saying.  Besides, Jesus was involved in a trial where an oath were used.  When Jesus was on trial before the Jerusalem High Council (Matthew 26:63-64), the high priest said, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”  Jesus replied, “You have said it.”  That’s not much different than when the judge asks you in court, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” and you respond “I do.”

Other Christian denomination may see it differently, but Methodists (and the vast majority of Christian denominations throughout history) have allowed and even encouraged Christians to make vows in certain situations—like when you get married and say, “I do” or when you become a Christian and join a church and are asked, “Do you confess Jesus Christ as Savior, put their whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as their Lord?” and you respond, “I do.”  So the point is not to prohibit vows.  The point is to uphold the high value of honesty and integrity in God’s people in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Conclusion
Jesus reveals once again that the demands of holiness in the Kingdom of Heaven are beyond the reach of our sinful hands.  We fall so far short of God’s glorious standards. We’re so accustomed to living in a broken and sinful world, we don’t even realize how much we sin.  Jesus points out our sin—not to shame us, but—to wake us up to our desperate need of salvation.

Do you struggle with honesty?  Are you a liar?  Before you deny it, reflect honestly and deeply.  Some of you learned to lie when you were in an abusive situation—maybe an abusive relationship or marriage, maybe even as a child who could not be honest with your parents and still survive.  Now you are free of that abuse, but you still cling to your habit of lying.  Maybe it’s just easier to lie than tell the truth.  Isn’t it time to ask God to heal you so you can start to value honesty as Jesus does?

Some of you think you are honest.  You may even be proud of how honest you are.  But think about it. 
Did you ever laugh at someone’s joke when everyone else laughed even though it wasn’t funny?  That was dishonest.  Why did you lie?  Were you trying not to look foolish?  We’re you just being polite?

Have you every smiled and pretended understand someone when you couldn’t really hear or understand them?  Have you ever covered up your physical flaws to make yourself look better than you really do?  Maybe put on a little makeup or dye in your hair or wore clothing that covered up your flaws.  Isn’t that in some sense dishonest?

Friends, we’ve all lied.  If we’re honest about it, we can all see it and admit it. It may be a small thing to us, but we’re talking about the absolutely perfect and holy standards of God.  You see?  We can’t fulfill it.  And when we’re proud of our honesty, we can see even our pride is misplaced and sinful.  We’ve nothing to be proud of.  Even our so-called righteousness is but filthy rags.

But with Jesus there is mercy and grace and forgiveness.  With Jesus, there is salvation.  We must lay down our false righteousness and throw ourselves upon the mercy of Christ.  Repent and turn to Him today and seek to live by the principles of His Kingdom.

For we all must decided what is real.  Is this world we see around us, with all its corrupt rules and customs, the “real world”?  Or is the real world the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus taught about and showed us with His life?  You must decide.  Make your choice today, right now, this very moment.

Did Jesus Really Mean We Should Pluck Out Our Eyes?

Introduction
In the 10 commandments, God said, “Do not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14).  Adultery is a serious crime against God and humanity.  It wrecks marriages, tears apart families, and fills people with hurt, anger, and resentment.  Adultery is a sin of betrayal that destroys the peace and harmony of communities.  It compromises our integrity, corrupts our character, and mars the sacred image of God within us.

That is why God takes adultery seriously.  In the civil law for Israel in the Old Testament, the punishment for adultery was death.  Deuteronomy 22:22 – “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.”

That may seem to be too harsh of a penalty to us who live in the modern era. But if you’ve ever been betrayed by an adulterous spouse, you may wish the OT penalty was still in effect.  Adultery is evil and destructive, not just to the spouse.  It harms families and society.

While infidelity may have become more common in civilian life, the military continues to enforce strict prohibitions against adultery.  It is still illegal for married military personnel to engage in adultery.  It is a military crime that can be prosecuted, because the military understands adultery is a distraction that leads to the loss of trust and morale, and a decline in fighting efficiency.  If convicted of adultery, a soldier can face up to a year of jailtime, dishonorable discharge, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

Hopefully, you have never cheated on your spouse.  However, statistics indicate that there are some here who probably have.  I’ve read research that says anywhere from 10-20% of married couples cheat.  If that’s true, there’s probably several people reading this today who have cheated on their spouse.  But for those of who haven’t, we need not be too proud of ourselves.  Jesus has a few words to say about adultery in the sermon on the mount.  His words challenge all of us.

Matthew 5:27-30
²⁷ “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Heart Lust
The holiness God demands of His people is tremendous.  Those tremendous demands are spelled out in the Old Testament Law by the extreme penalties for adultery.  Those who committed adultery were to be put to death.  But Jesus points out that the demands of God’s Holy Law go even deeper than what happens outwardly.  Jesus says it goes all the way down into a person’s heart.  So, if you even desire sensual intimacy with someone other than your spouse, you have committed adultery in your heart.

A study of the University of California[i] interviewed 676 men and women, whose average age was 25, on the intensity and frequency with which they experienced sexual desire.  Almost all those interviewed—97.3%—reported having experienced lustful feelings, with men only slightly more likely to feel sexual desire (98.8%) than women (95.9%).

These statistics may or may not be representative of the wider population.  But I know we live in an over-sexualized society.  People today in Dalton, GA are certainly more infatuated with sex than the socially conservative people to whom Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount 2,000 years ago.  Their culture required modest clothing whereas our culture prefers to accentuate and advertise the desirability of a human body.  The conversations of 1^st century Jews carefully avoided sexually provocative language while in our time we crave sexually explicit lyrics in songs and readily portray nudity and sensuality on TV while exploiting sexuality to sell products in commercials.

There is no doubt we are more obsessed with sex than the people who first heard Jesus words:  “anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  The point:  We are all guilty.

Jesus said, “So, if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away.”  One might wonder why we aren’t all walking around like pirates with an eye patch.

It’s important here to point out Jesus was using hyperbole.  There’s a fancy word:  Hyperbole.
Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.  We might say, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!” even thought we really wouldn't ea a horse.  And we may say, “My feet are killing me!” even though our feet aren't literally killing us; they just hurt.

So, Jesus wasn’t actually instructing His followers to pluck out their eyes to keep from lusting.  Blind men lust too.  Nor did Jesus want His disciples to actually cut off their hands to keep them from stealing.  These were exaggerations Jesus used to make some serious points.

First of all, don’t be self-righteous just because you never cheated on your spouse.  Romans 3:23 spells it out clearly, “For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  Don’t judge someone else because they sin differently than you.  James 2:10 tells us, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”  That puts us all on equal footing, at least in terms of God's perfect and righteous judgment.

Second, Jesus points out God’s incredible standard of holiness.  It goes way beyond just our physical actions.  God even cares about the motives of our hearts.  And since our hearts are corrupt, we have a serious problem.  We need a new heart. 

Third, Jesus shows our utter helplessness in regard to sin and holiness.  Romans 6:23 puts it this way, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  So the consequences of our sin is death—not just our sinful actions, but even the inner motives of our sinful heart.  So we are all guilty and deserving of death.  That’s why Jesus came; to free us from the curse of sin.  He paid the penalty for our sin and He also offers us a remedy for our sinful hearts.  Through Jesus, we can have a new and perfect heart--one the Holy Spirit can shape and form to be godly, Christ centered, and full of love.

Jesus satisfied the demands of the Law.  He paid the penalty for our sins.  And Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies about God’s New Covenant with His people, such as Ezekiel 36:26, which says, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”  And Hebrews 10:16 says, "This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

So now, we can make a fresh start with God. When we repent of our sins, Jesus begins to change our hearts so that we actually want to live the way God wants us to live.  Not just because we are following the rules, but because we love God and we love our neighbor and want to do the right thing for the right reasons.

Fourth, Jesus calls His followers to live holy lives.  Jesus exaggerated statements about plucking out eyes and cutting off hands—though symbolic—also have practical meanings.  If your eye causes you to sin, then don’t look.  Act as though you had plucked out your eyes and were blind.  What I mean is, be extremely careful what you look at.  Guard your eyes so they don't lead your into temptation that causes you to sin.

And when Jesus says, “Cut off your hand”, take his advice and don’t put your hands near things that cause you to sin.  With a little thoughtful prayer, we can recognize the kinds of things that tempt us.  We can learn ways to steer clear of them.  The practical ways this plays out may be different for different people.  If you are an alcoholic, don’t hang out at a bar.  In fact, you would do well to avoid being around alcohol altogether.  That doesn’t mean alcohol is bad for all people (even Jesus drank wine with His disciples).  But use some common sense.  Avoid being around those things that lead you into temptation and cause you to sin.

Conclusion
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you today?  Which of these 4 points hits you right where you are?
Maybe today, you need to repent of your sin, turn to Jesus to save you, and start living the holy life He calls and enables His followers to live.  Maybe today, you need to consider practical ways you can avoid looking at or handling things that lead you to sin.  What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

---

[i] https://www.forbes.com/2005/06/02/cx_0602health.html?sh=23141d7a2cc6

The Year of Jubilee - Freedom in Christ

Introduction
This is our last message in a series about the ancient Israelite Year of Jubilee.  Every 50th year on the Day of Atonement the ancient Israelites would blow a ram’s horn.  We get the name "Jubilee" from the Hebrew word for ram's horn, which is jubel or yobel.  Different kinds if horns can be used for the sacred Jewish trumpet (AKA shofar).  The prefered horn is a curved ram.  Next in line would be a curved from a sheep, followed by a curved horn from any other animal--like a

kudu, which have visually striking spiral horns.  The least preferred horns for a shofar would be a straight horn or a horn from a non-kosher animal.  Cow horns were not supposed to be used.

On the Year of Jubilee, slaves were freed, all debts were forgiven, land that had been sold was restored to the original owner.  There was also no agricultural work during the Year of Jubilee.

The Jubilee was every 50th year, but Israelites also got a year off every seventh year.  

Leviticus 25:18-22
¹⁸ “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. ²⁰ But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ ²¹ Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. ²² When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year. 

Israel was God’s Kingdom on Earth
Most people don’t understand how special was ancient Israel.  They were a very, very special people.  They had the opportunity to be God’s chosen nation on earth.  They were to be God’s royal priesthood who represent God to the whole world.  As such, they would enjoy many special benefits that other nations didn’t have that allowed the Israelites the freedom to concentrate on showing God to the whole world. 

One special blessing was a year off of work every seventh year.  This was huge—especially living in and agricultural economy.  Lev. 25:18-22 answers the obvious question: how can people who live by subsistence farming survive without farming for a year?

Verses 18-22 explain the Israelites would have normal harvests for five years. Then they would God would send a super abundant harvest in the sixth year.  They would eat what they wanted in the sixth year and store away all the surplus.  When the farmers took the seventh year off, they would eat some of their stores from the sixth year.  In the eighth year, they would plant they next crop, but they would have to wait until that crop matured and was harvested.  So they would still be eating the food they stored away on the sixth year and those stores would last all the way to the beginning of year ninth year when were back on track with the regular planting and harvesting cycle.  This was the blessing God promised the Israelites if they would be faithful.

God’s People Live By Faith
How could the Israelites live this way? They could only do it by trusting in their Lord.  The whole concept of Israel was based on faith in Yahweh, their God.  

Yahweh is the God who called Abraham to leave his homeland in Ur and go to a “Promised Land”.

Yahweh is the God who delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt—the most powerful empire in the world at the time.  Only God could defeat Egypt and win the Hebrew's freedom.

Yahweh is the God who provided mana from Heaven and water of life as the Hebrews wandered in the dessert for forty years.  There was no farming going on for those forty, but could provided.  If God can provide for forty year of wandering in the dessert, He can provide one or two years of food for the Israelite's sabbatical years.

Yahweh is the God who conquered the Canaanites for the Israelites. God did the fighting.  Take the battle of Jericho for instance.  Tha battle plan was ludicrous and designed to show everyone that it was only God who won the battle.  The Israelites marched around the city for seven days and then on the seventh day they blew trumpets.  They didn't use catapults of siege works. They blew ram's and the walls cam crumbling down!

What was required of the Israelites for all this to happen? Faith.  They had to trust God and obey.  Faith and obedience was what God required as they took possession and lived in the Promised Land.  They had to trust God to provide enough food for living—even if they took one day off per week, one year off every seven, and celebrated a Jubilee every 50th year.  This was the requirement and the blessing reserved specifically for God's people, Israel.

Unfortunately, Biblical scholars and historians say most evidence shows the ancient Israelites never fully followed the Sabbath cycle.  One of the main sins of which Biblical prophets accused Israelites is not observing the Sabbath.  They only occasionally took the seventh year off and there is little evidence that they every really fulfilled the stipulations of the Jubilee year.  They always found loopholes so they didn’t take the Jubilee year off from work.  They found ways to work around the law so they didn’t have to set all their slaves free, they didn't forgive debts, and they didn’t give land back to the original owners.  

Some religious scholars point out the seventy years the Jewish captives spent in Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem were to make up for all the Sabbath years the Israelites skipped. According to 2 Chronicles 36:20-21, “The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.”  Even though the Israelites disobeyed, God made sue the land had its rest.  God cares about the land, even if people don't.

That’s what people do. We don’t fully trust God.  We're disobedient.  When we don’t fully trust God, we try to work things out ourselves. We do it our own way.  We try to justify our disobedience and do what seems right in our own eyes.  

At first glance, this seems like normal behavior. It seems like we’re being prudent, like we’re only doing what makes sense.  Sin often seems to make sense when we look at it from a merely human perspective.  It’s what happened at the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden.

God made the Garden and told Adam and Eve they could eat any fruit in the whole Garden, only don't eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  If they ate it, God said they would die.  Satan told Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:4-5, 4 “You won’t die! …God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

And it says in verses 6-7, “6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.”

Thus, sin entered the world and we’ve been trying to do it all our own way ever since.  Look where it’s gotten us: a broken creation, a broken humanity, and we are stressed and a mess and slaves to our own sin.

You would think God had given up on us, but he hasn’t. God still loves us. John 3:16 says – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And so Christ came to save us.  He left the glory of Heaven to come to our broken world.  He didn’t come in glory as he deserved. Instead, he was born as a humble child to poor parents.  He lived as one of us—ordinary people. He was like us in every way—accept without sin, for He trust God and obeyed perfectly. Jesus fulfilled God’s law perfectly.  Jesus calls us to repent of our sin, to turn to God, to trust Him and obey.  

Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin. If we trust Him, we are no longer guilty.
We have eternal life in Him and we are called to be His people.

1 Peter 2:9 says, “…for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

Christians who trust in Jesus as Lord are now Israel.  We are God’s chosen people.  We are the captive Hebrew slaves who have been set free, but our freedom isn't just from Egyptian slave masters (or some other earthly power).  Our freedom is a freedom from the dark power of sin enforced by Satan.

Galatians 5:1 says,  “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

You have to choose freedom over slavery every day.  You see, whenever you choose to trust your own way more than God’s way, you are choosing slavery to sin.  

Think over your life. Think about how it was when you’re rejected God’s way and chosen your own path.  It may have felt good initially, but then it led to trouble, to stress and weariness and pain.  Soon you were enslaved, and it felt awful.   And the only way out is to repent and seek forgiveness.

Confession of Sin (adapted from UMH 893)
So now, let us repent and confess our sins to the Lord and receive His forgiveness.  Here is a prayer you can use.  Read this prayer of confession as your words to God today.  Adapted it and add to it according to your need.

Lord, I confess my day to day failure to be truly human.  I confess I often fail to love with all I have and am, often because I do not fully understand what loving means, often because I am afraid of the risk.  Lord, we confess to You.  I have cut myself off from others and erected barriers of division.  I confess that by silence and ill-considered word I have built up walls of prejudice.  Lord, I confess that by selfishness and lack of sympathy I have stifled generosity and left little time for others.  

Holy Spirit speak to me. Help me listen to Your word of forgiveness, for I am very deaf. Come, fill this moment and free me from my sin. Amen.

Forgiveness
My friend, with the authority God gives me, I say to you:  In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.  Amen.

5 Steps to Remove Obstacles to Growth In Christ

The following blog is an adaptation of a a talk I gave at a Chrysalis Youth Retreat.  Chrysalis is a ministry of the Upper Room and this blog/sermon was adapted from Talk #10, "God Sustains Us".

Introduction
As a child I was fascinated with flying.  I loved to watch birds soaring through the air.  I also liked to build models of airplanes and jets.  Sometimes my mom would give me those little Styrofoam trays that come with ground beef in the groceries stores after she washed them out.  I would build little Styrofoam toy airplanes that would fly across the room.  

Part of my fascination with flying was probably due to the rough conditions of my family life.  There was a lot of shouting and sometimes violence.  They idea of birds who could just spread their wings and fly away anytime they wanted was very appealing to me.  

So when I was only about 7 years old, I thought if I can build a model stryrofoam plane that can fly, surely I can build some actual wings fly myself.  I mean, I could see how birds were built and how their wings were shaped.  Why couldn't I fly too?  

So I got som sticks and big sheet of plastic and I build some wings.  And I ran through my house as fast as I could out the front door and jumped off the front porch, which was about 2 feet off the ground.  And... I fell flat on my face, because people can't fly--not even 7-year-old scrawny kids with an great imagination!

People have been fascinated with the idea of flight for thousands of years.  But there were many obstacles to flight.  Even in the early modern ages, when humans started building other amazing gadgets like telephones and light bulbs and automobiles, they still could not fly.  Their flying machines were imaginative, but unsuccessful.  Building materials and engines were too weak and too heavy.  And people didn't really understand the science behind flying.

However, eventually, with time and sacrifice and even many people getting hurt or dying, people worked together sharing their collective knowledge until the Wright Brothers were able to officially get off the ground.  Today, hundreds of thousands of people fly everyday to every corner of the globe.

I want to talk with you today about some of the spiritual obstacles that keep us from being all God wants us to be and how God’s grace can help us overcome them.

Romans 3:23-24
²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

The world is missing the mark. 
Just as God designed butterflies and birds to fly, God designed people to live together in harmony.  We can do so much more together than we can alone.  Unfortunately, society fails to live up to its potential.  We miss the mark.  Though created for love, society is full of hate, hostility, and fear.  

Society misses the mark because we, as individuals, miss the mark.  Though created in the image of God, Romans 3:23 says we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Like a shattered mirror, we reflect God only as a broken and distorted image.  Even Christian leaders in the Bible often failed to live up to God’s perfect standard.

After Jesus was arrested, all the disciples ran away and hid.  They failed Jesus.  Even Peter, who boldly proclaimed he was willing to die for Jesus, denied knowing Him (Mt. 26:34, 74).  The Apostle Paul, who wrote mst of the books of the New Testament, said he often did bad things even though he didn’t want to do. His sinful nature haunted him. (Rom. 7:15, 19-20).

In subtle ways, we all ignore or deny the most important relationship in our life, the root of all other relationships—our relationship with God.  The Greek word for sin, hamartia, is an archery term meaning "to miss the target."  Sin is whatever causes us to miss the target God has given our lives; it is any obstacle that separates us from the love of God and neighbor.

Sin sets up obstacles between us and God, that limit our ability to love, that hinder our growth in the likeness and love of Jesus Christ.  I want to name three specific Obstacles to Grace that keep us from being more like Christ, who reflected God’s love perfectly—three ways we miss the mark.

One obstacle is Not believing in God.  To believe in God is more than believing God exists; even the Devil acknowledges God's existence.  To believe in God is to "live by" God, to trust what God says and who God is.  You know, you can say, “I believe this airplane is safe to fly in.”  But you don’t really believe unless you are willing to personally get in the plane and go for a ride!

Sometimes, we don’t really believe God actually loves us like He says He does.  This is the most common form of unbelief.  We don't like who we are and so we try to hide from God and others.  We're like Adam and Eve who tried to hide from God when they ate the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3:7. 

Sometimes, we don’t really believe God forgives our past.  We condemn ourselves. We let our faults, failures, and bad feelings tell us who we are instead of listening to God’s love.  Whenever your feelings condemn you, remember that God's love is greater than your feelings (1 John 3:19). 

Another obstacle is Idols—believing in false gods.  Idolatry is not necessarily worshipping a statue.  I don’t know anybody who does that in the town where I live, but people still worship idols all the time.  We can make money, drugs, power, or people into idols.  The most dangerous things we turn into idols are not necessarily even bad things.  Sometimes they are good things.  But they become bad for us because we expect them to deliver something that only God can give.

We can turn our family into an idol.  We can turn our dreams into an idol.  We can turn our spouse, our friends, our job into idols.  When we seek the fulfilment from anything (even good things) that only God can give, they will always let us down, because idols are not capable of satisfying the deepest hunger inside.  Only the One, True God can do that. 

The true God is a God of grace and hope, forgiving our faults, redeeming our mistakes, offering a chance to start afresh.   

One more obstacle is Self-centeredness.  When we are self-centered, we try to be God.  We trust ourselves more than God.  We focus our life on our own selfish desires, making God in our own image.  We only see ourselves, our needs, our feelings.  We don’t see other people, their needs and feelings.  We may even feel jealous when others receive affirmation or are rewarded.  This is self-centered behavior.

Everyone is born self-centered, but we shouldn’t stay that way.  We need to grow up!  We must learn that other people have feelings and worth that are just as important as ours.  We are not the center of the universe.

Self-centeredness is when grown people act like big babies.  There is a baby in all of us who never grows up, who tries to make the world revolve around us. The Big Baby comes out in us occasionally in these ways:

Self-pity: When we always think, "Woe is me."  We feel and act like it's never our fault.  Someone or something else is always to blame.  We feel like the victim and take no responsibility.

Self-importance:  We think we’re better or more important or more valuable than everyone else.

Self-righteousness: We think we’re already perfect, like there’s no need for God’s grace.  

Following Jesus involves exchanging a self-centered world for a Christ-centered world.  When we do, we see people with new eyes.  We identify with others’ feelings.  We care about them the same as we care for ourselves.  Our goal is not to be right all the time but to be in right relationship with God and people.  

Not believing in God, Idolatry, and Self-centeredness get in the way of our relationship with God.  The first letter of each obstacle spells N-I-S.  Turn it around and you have SIN.

Sin is putting life together in a way that doesn't work, that stops real growth.  It is a major obstacle to God’s grace.  It misses the mark of what God wants for your life.

Thankfully, there is hope.  God gives us GRACE.

 

GRACE
The good news is God sustains us despite our sin. The grace in God is greater than the sin in us. God enables our daily dying with Christ (to unbelief, idolatry, self-centeredness) and daily rising with Christ (to faith, hope, love, life in grace).

Step 1:  Go to God.  
Let go of pride that keeps you from turning to God.  Let go of "I am unworthy" speeches.  Ask God for the help you need. Be honest with God about the obstacles in the way of your relationship with Him.  Admit the ways sin and selfishness take form in you.  God is full of grace to accept, forgive, and heal.

 

Step 2:  Remember who you really are.
Let go of everybody else's ideas of who you ought to be.  Remember, you are not who others say you are. You are more than your mistakes or successes. You are free of all that. You are who God made you.   Remember, you belong to God. You are God's child.  Let what God already thinks about you guide you.

 

Step 3:  Accept your acceptance.
Let go of feeling like you are not good enough, that you must prove yourself to somebody, or that you have to find a way to be important.  Accept God's unconditional acceptance of you, not as you think you ought to be but as you are.  Accept God's word to Jesus in Mark 1:11 as God’s word to you.  When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin, John, and he came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended on his like a dove.  And a voice from Heaven said, "You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased."  Well, if you put your faith in Jesus, then Jesus lives in you.  And when God looks at you, He sees Jesus.  And God says, You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.  Accept God's view of you. 

Step 4:  Connect with Christian community.
Let go of friendships that reinforce the wrong things in you.  Seek friends who share your faith and want to stay centered in God.  Connect with Christ by connecting with church.  Find a community of support, acceptance, and encouragement to grow in Christ.

 

Step 5:  Embrace the life God is giving you.
Let go of images of yourself that are less than God's plans for you.  Embrace your life as you are, as God made you with your strengths and weaknesses.  Embrace God's beautiful goal for your life in Jesus Christ.  When you fail God, yourself, or others, get up with God's help and press on.  Progress involves falling down and getting back up, dying with Christ to sin and rising with Christ to new life in God, again and again.  Decide your next step. How will you start to do what you need to do?

GRACE
The first letter of each step spells GRACE.

Go to God.
Remember who you are.
Accept your acceptance.
Connect with Christian Community.
Embrace the life God is Giving you.

Grace overcomes sin and removes the wall of obstacles between you and God. 

Conclusion
SIN and GRACE things we don't like to talk about, but they are two realities with which you must come to grips.  Sin breaks life apart.  Grace gives us life again.  Grace reunites us with God and one another.  With grace through Christ, we can overcome the obstacles of sin.

I want you to understand this:  There is always more grace in God than there is sin in us.  Therefore, no obstacle can separate us from the love of God we fund through in Jesus Christ.  So, what steps do you need to talk today to start allowing God's grace to overcome the sin obstacles in your life today?