The Good the Bad and the
Average
Based on 1 Kings 21:1-21a,
2 Samuel 11:26-12:15, Luke 7:36-8:3, Galatians 2:15-21
Delivered on 6/12/2016
Delivered to UMC-Hudson,
WI
Luke 7:36-8:3
7:36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat
with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the
table.
7:37 And a woman in the city, who was a
sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an
alabaster jar of ointment.
7:38 She stood behind him at his feet,
weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her
hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.
7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him
saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have
known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him--that she is a
sinner."
7:40 Jesus spoke up and said to him,
"Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied,
"Speak."
7:41 "A certain creditor had two debtors;
one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled the
debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?"
7:43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one
for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You
have judged rightly."
7:44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to
Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water
for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her
hair.
7:45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I
came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.
7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but
she has anointed my feet with ointment.
7:47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which
were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to
whom little is forgiven, loves little."
7:48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are
forgiven."
7:49 But those who were at the table with him
began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
7:50 And he said to the woman, "Your
faith has saved you; go in peace."
8:1 Soon afterwards he went on through cities
and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The
twelve were with him,
8:2 as well as some women who had been cured
of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons
had gone out,
8:3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward
Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their
resources.
I chose the passage from
Luke to be read during the time for scripture, but we’re going to cover four
different passages this morning. I’ve
had them listed for you if you want to pull out a Bible, or bring one up on
your phone, to follow along. I’m going
to pull highlights of the lessons from 2 Samuel and 1 Kings but encourage you
to read them. Galatians I’ll add in
fully during our time together.
I hope to cover three
ideas with you this morning.
The Good, the Bad, and the
Average all sin
Sin has consequences
God’s grace is here for us
The lesson from 1 Kings
gives us a brief look into the life of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. King Ahab was a bad man. 1 Kings 16:30 tells us so; “Ahab son of Omri
did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.” I add in that earlier verse because by the
story it seems like the evil deed is all on Jezebel
King Ahab is visiting one
of his palaces and he decides he’d like a vegetable garden. He politely asked the owner of the vineyard
next door, Naboth, if he can buy it from him.
Naboth refuses because the land is part of his ancestral
inheritance. King Ahab is bummed about
it and his wife, Jezebel, basically calls him weak. “Do you now govern Israel?” She writes letters
using Ahab’s seal to have others bring up false charges against Naboth saying
“Naboth cursed God and the king”. This
was breaking the commandment from Exodus 22:28 “Do not blaspheme God or curse
the ruler of your people.” Poor Naboth is stoned to death based on the lie, and
King Ahab takes the vineyard.
God calls Elijah to let
King Ahab know that what he did in secret was known to God. Elijah is to deliver this message, “Thus says
the Lord: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also
lick up your blood. It isn’t included in
our passage today but down the road King Ahab and Jezebel both pay for their
actions with their life.
The lesson from 2 Samuel
gives us a brief look into the life of King David. King David was a good man. Acts 13:22b tells us, “After removing Saul,
he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son
of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'” Yet King David wasn’t without sin. Just before our lesson today is the telling
of King David hanging out in his palace while he sent his men to war. He takes a fancy to Bathsheba, who is Uriah’s
wife. He forces her into his bed and she
becomes pregnant. So to cover up his
indiscretion he has his commander put Uriah in the front lines of the battle
without support from his fellows to get him killed. Then he takes her as his own wife.
His cover-up may have
fooled the people, but God is not pleased.
God sends Nathan to David to tell him a little story.
"There were two men
in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.
12:2 The rich man had very many flocks and
herds;
12:3 but the poor man had nothing but one
little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him
and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his
cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.
12:4 Now there came a traveler to the rich
man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer
who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared that for the
guest who had come to him."
12:5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled
against the man. He said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has
done this deserves to die;
12:6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold,
because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."
12:7 Nathan said to David, "You are the
man!
David confesses his sin
and seeks forgiveness, and is told his life will be spared but the child born of
his adultery will die. And the child
does die.
You heard the passage from
Luke. The woman washing Jesus feet with
her tears had many sins, according to the host of the meal. She is neither very good or very bad. She is my “average”.
The Good, the Bad, and the
Average all sin.
King Ahab – very bad. King David – very good. The woman – neither bad nor good, just
average. The only thing they had in
common was falling short of God’s law.
When my kids were growing
up I remember parenting advise encouraging me to not call the child “bad” when
they had acted out, but instead focus on the “bad behavior”. “Bad” wasn’t who they were, it was a
description of what they had done. The
Old Testament lessons are a reminder of how true that is. You can be a very good person and still fall
out of relationship with God. You can
also be a very bad person but keep up good appearances for the public.
In each of the events the
separation from God is brought out. King
Ahab and King David both create an elaborate scenario to keep a good face to
the public. They are so focused on what
their peers will think that they don’t remember God already knows the true
story. Their cover-up only adds to their
list of wrongdoings. King Ahab could have
just taken the garden, but he would have looked bad. King David could have left Uriah alive and
maybe adopted the child, or not, but he would have looked bad.
To God…they both looked
worse after their creative plans played out.
Even the New Testament
lesson carries the idea of God being aware.
7:39 Now when the Pharisee
who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a
prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching
him--that she is a sinner."
God does know.
Not only does God see the
sin, he sees the heart. We need to
remember this as well. I’ve heard people
say of someone who has their bad behavior revealed, “I thought he was a good
person but I guess I was wrong.” I
disagree with that statement. Sin does
not mean the person has a bad heart. It
means they fell short. The good that
they did in other areas of their life can still be honored. It is the sin that needs to be confessed and
the relationship to God restored. The
Bible tells us ALL have fallen short.
That means the good, the bad, and the average all need to deal with sin.
Sin has consequences
Rom 6:23 For the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
King Ahab and Jezebel both
payed for their sin with their life. They
did not reconcile with God. They didn’t
turn from their evil ways. King David
did confess his sin and sought to be reconciled with God. His desire to renew his relationship was
honored and God spared his life. Yet his
first son with Bathsheba died instead.
I don’t know about you,
but such thoughts make me very uncomfortable.
Did God just kill an innocent child there? Or perhaps the child was born ill because of
the stress King David’s acts put on the mother.
The message is clear
though, that sin does cause innocent lives to be lost.
Jesus was the innocent
life that paid the cost for us. He faced
death in our place. The woman at his
feet had returned to focus on her relationship with God through Jesus and she
was reconciled.
7:47 Therefore, I tell
you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great
love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."
7:48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are
forgiven."
7:49 But those who were at the table with him
began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
7:50 And he said to the woman, "Your
faith has saved you; go in peace."
There are still
consequences as the results of our behavior.
I was told as a child, “when you pick up one end of a stick the other
end comes with it.” Your actions and
behavior have consequences.
I have heard it said, “You
aren’t punished for your sins; you’re punished by your sins.” A song by Steven Taylor called “Sin for a
Season” came to mind. In the lyric there
are two examples of falling short, as well as their result.
There's a sweaty hand
handling his cocktail napkin
"Come on up and see me", is
scribbled with a gold pen
But you'd better ring twice
Seven months after his
little indiscretion
He sits with his wife at a therapy session
For a little advice
If the healing happens as
the time goes by
Tell me why I still can't look her in the eye
God I'm only human, got no
other reason
Sin for a season
There's a shaky hand
shaking with the hand of her hostess
Drank a little much, but she'll drive herself
home
If she can make it to her car
She never saw the sign or
the boy with his daddy
Driving home late from their very first
ballgame
And they don't get far
Now the years run together
as her guilt goes wild
She still sees the body of an only child
God I'm only human, got no
other reason
Sin for a season, sin for a season
There is pain in sin. It brings a mental and emotional weight that
can bring us to the depths of despair.
Our scripture offers us another path.
God’s grace is here for
us.
Here is the passage from
Galatians 2:15-21
2:15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not
Gentile sinners;
2:16 yet we know that a person is justified
not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come
to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ,
and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the
works of the law.
2:17 But if, in our effort to be justified in
Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of
sin? Certainly not!
2:18 But if I build up again the very things
that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor.
2:19 For through the law I died to the law, so
that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;
2:20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is
Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if
justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
One definition for
justification is “the process of making the letters at the right or left edge
of a printed page form a straight line.”
To me that fits! Christ helps
straighten us out.
In sin we have lost our
relationship to the degree that we no longer even remember God is there. I believe the root cause of all sin is this
separation from God. My daughter was
married in a catholic church a couple weeks ago. After the rehearsal the priest said he would
be available for anyone who wanted “reconciliation”. In my youth that was called going to
confession, but I really appreciated the change in the name to
“reconciliation”. It gets to the
core. Reconciliation is defined as “the
restoration of friendly relations.” It
is by returning to relationship to God that we are healed.
It is by living in
relationship to Jesus Christ that we understand our relationship to God. The law couldn’t accomplish that. King Ahab and Jezebel even used the law as
part of their murder plot.
But we have this promise.
Romans 5:8 But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
Christ died to restore our
relationship with God. The law failed to
accomplish that.
So what do I hope to leave
you with this morning?
First, recognize sin comes
to us all – the good, the bad, and the average.
Sin does not indicate a bad heart.
It indicates separation from God.
We must remember that before we judge another because of their sin, and
remember it when we become aware of our own.
Second, remember that sin
has consequences. This is the cost of
our free will. We can choose to cause
pain and suffering to ourselves and others.
Jesus sacrifice on the cross assured us God’s love is there for us when
we return to him but our choices still have an impact on our life.
Third, when we become
aware we have fallen short we can return to God. Christ is there for us as he was for the
woman. His words for all who return are,
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Like Paul I pray we can pursue a life where
we can say, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me.”
Remember Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That “anything else”
includes our sin. It cannot separate us
from God’s love. We don’t have a
ceremony of “reconciliation” in the Methodist church, but we can each come to
God ourselves and acknowledge where we have fallen short and seek to restore
friendly relations. The love of God that
is in Christ Jesus is there to restore wholeness for all who turn back to Him. These are wonderful words of life.
God’s amazing grace
reaches out to heal and make us whole again.
We can use that free will of ours to return to him, to be reconciled,
and to be justified by our faith in Jesus Christ. Let that be our choice today.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment