Sin's Consequences:

Something To Think About Sin's Consequences:

A good bit of pastoral life involves hanging around--simply being with people.  I did that this morning.  In addition to the lovely people with whom I spent several hours, someone, or really something, else was with us. Nothing exciting was happening, in fact our time passed in much the same way it would have had we been watching paint dry--old oil-base, wet-for-hours paint.  As I thought about it, it seemed rather perverse that events of such great importance were unfolding as we waited, and yet our experience was so mundane.  The clear, yet unspoken reality that hung all around us, and was hanging-out with us, was that sin had been let loose, and the consequences of that sin--or those sins--could not be--indeed, should not be stopped.  We were there in quiet vigil waiting for the dreaded other shoe to drop, not knowing precisely how bad its fall would be. James talks about sin's life-cycle.   Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14–15, NLT)  Someone had already died, their life horribly ended because a temptation had become an all-consuming craving.  The decision had already been made that another life, young and full of promise would never again be lived outside a prison.  We were gathered in a place where we didn't quite feel welcome, but where we had an official right to be, to get what news we could about the beginnings of another phase of the unfolding of this evil.  Will sin, in particular this sin, claim yet another life?  All around us were those playing their part--a judge, lawyers, witnesses, advisers, clerks, bailiffs, guards, prospective jurors, reporters, even janitors--each summoned by some authority to come and fulfill their role.  Then there was the family of the victim, and members of the family of the man on trial--in a sense, victims as well.  Some of us were there because we thought it the right thing to do.  I sure there are more than a hundred of us.  We had received the summons.  In a sense it was a summons from evil.  God has so ordered his universe that evil is like gravity.  It has a force that appears to be all its own.  Once evil is set in motion it calls far and wide.  That summons cost me a morning of my life.  The sentence already handed down from sin's gruesome bench to some who are involved, is "Your life will never be the same.  You will bear this mark." Pandora's box, version one billion, seventeen has been opened, and the imps let loose on humanity, even what we consider to be innocent humanity, have yet to be counted, and their mischief is ongoing, and will continue, in some cases forever.  Like watching the clock I watched evil unfold this morning.  I couldn't actually see it move, but its results are plain, and undeniable.  It's not pretty. It's STTA. A great deal of the story of the Bible has to do with sin and it's consequences, but the story of God's word is bracketed by paradise lost because of sin, and paradise regained because of Christ's victory over sin.  On Easter of 2014, I shared God's Story In His Own Words all in one message.  Click the link to listen or watch. You will find information about stopping the consequences of sin in your life, here.

FREEDOM!

I still haven't watched the fireworks.
The local display was delayed because of threatening weather. I plan to watch tonight.

I did spend part of the American holiday celebrating freedom doing something I didn't want to do.
Wait. I thought I was free from that.
I do have liberty, but I can't absolve myself of having to deal with the consequences of my choices.

Yesterday morning, my lovely wife decided that it would be a good investment of part of our day off to clean the garage. Any of you who have a "box for cars (That's what a Russian guy with limited English called a horseless-carriage house.) know the routine. Garages seem to magically attract an eclectic accumulation of stuff--otherwise known as junk. In my case there were tools that haven't been put away, leftover construction and decorating materials--not to mention materials for projects yet to come--sporting goods, toys for the grandkids, and a few "what-in-the-world-is-that"s. To complete the picture sprinkle liberally with leaves and debri that blow in the door, a liberal helping of dust and dirt from refinishing projects, and you'll kinda-sorta get the picture. I figured both cars would still fit in, so what's the big deal? Kathy can explain the BIG-DEAL.

So, in the interest of domestic tranquility, I helped her clean the garage. (By the way, be watching, a yard sale is coming.) Though I admit I am pleased with the result, and I did find some stuff that I haven't been able to locate for months, at the time I didn't really want to spend my Fourth toting junk and pushing a broom.

My better half--and she is a blessedly better half--was operating from a superior understanding of freedom. I was thinking about what I have the freedom to do--or in this case not do. She was wisely considering what no amount of freedom can prevent--eventual suffocation by the accumulation of stuff. She is right. Freedom always brings responsibility.
Let me change the picture for a moment. Your metabolism might be different than mine, but concerning me: I have the freedom to eat sugar, french-fries, and ice-cream three times a day, but if I do, I am not free from the consequence of becoming so big that I can't fit into the newly cleaned garage.

When we cry "Freedom!" the inevitable echo says "responsibility and consequences." We can't have the first without the latter.

While Liberty is on our minds, it's STTA.

Waking up beside the bed, with fleas:

Folks who sleep with hound dogs are liable to wake up with fleas. Then there was the little girl with the perfectly logical explanation about why she fell out of bed. "I went to sleep to near to where I got in." It is not only the fact that Samson was sleeping when he met his ruin at the hands of Delilah that causes me to think of those two proverbs when I read his story. The strongman of the Book of Judges is a poster child for the Brotherhood of Poor Choices. He went where he shouldn't go, desired what he shouldn't have, demanded that which would lead to his ruin, and refused to turn back thinking he was immune to fleas, and secure on his perch on the edge of the bunk.
A thousand years before it was written down Samson lived the deception of thinking he could sow without reaping. (Galatians 6:7).

Though his death resulted in a serious blow to Israel's enemies, there is no doubt, Samson's life was a waste. Incredible potential, in spite of heroic exploits, limited production. Hound dogs. Way too comfortable way too close to sin.

You can read his story in Judges 13-16. We'll be looking at this Sunday at CBC.

It's STTA.