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The '7' Deadly Sins HELP US LORD TO BE SO CONNECTED TO YOU THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE SERVANTS OF OTHERS. THE STORY IS TOLD OF A MAN DRESSED IN A DEVIL COSTUME, WALKING TO A HALOWEEN COSTUME PARTY…WHEN IT BEGINS TO POUR… THE MAN RUNS FOR COVER IN THE FIRST PLACE HE CAN FIND… IT HAPPENS TO BE A CHURCH… WHERE A WORSHIP SERVICE IS GOING ON… THE MAN RUNS IN OUT OF THE RAIN, RUNS DIRECTLY INTO THE SANCTUARY TO THE SHOCK OF ALL IN ATTENDANCE… THE CONGREGATION PANICKS…ALL CLEAR THE ROOM… EXCEPT FOR ONE UNFORTUNATE WOMAN TRAPPED BENEATH THE FEET OF THIS NOW VERY CONFUSED MAN DRESSED AS SATAN. WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING… THE WOMAN WHISPERS TO THE MAN..AND PLEADS… YOU KNOW, I’VE BEEN ON YOUR SIDE ALL ALONG…! OHH LENT IS HERE! THAT TIME WE COME FACE TO FACE WITH OUR OWN MORTALITY… OUR OWN HUMAN NATURE… OUR OWN THORNS AND ISSUES. LENT, THAT 40 DAY SEASON OF PURGING, A SEASON OF SELF-EXAMINATION.. IN 399 BC, SOCRATES MADE THAT FAMOUS CLAIM THAT: THE UNEXAMINED LIFE, IS THE LIFE NOT WORTH LIVING. LENT , ASKING OURSELVES WHAT NEEDS TO DIE IN HERE, SO I MIGHT LIVE MORE FULLY IN CHRIST. IF WE COMPARE OURSELVES CONTINUALLY TO SIMPLY THOSE AROUND US, WE WON’T GET A RIGHT READING OF OUR OWN SELF EXAMINATION. LAST YEAR IN OUR TIME OF SELF EXAMINATION, WE TURNED TO THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, WE DID A 5 PART PREACHING SERIES, EXAMINING OUR LIVES… ASKING OURSELVES TOUGH QUESTIONS…
THIS YEAR, AS WE STARE DOWN THE PATHWAY TO EASTER, THESE 40 DAYS AND NIGHTS… I WANT TO TAKE YOU INTO THE LONDON SUBWAY SYSTEM, IN A SERIES I’M CALLING…MIND THE GAP. LIBBY AND I WERE IN LONDON TWO WEEKS AGO, AND WERE REMINDED THAT THE LONDON TUBE SYSTEM IS REPEATEDLY INSISTENT THAT THERE IS POTENTIAL DANGER BETWEEN THE STATION PLATFORM AND THE TRAIN ITSELF, THERE IS A PERILOUS GAP, WHERE IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL, YOU GET YOUR FOOT IN THERE AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU’RE STUCK IN A PLACE YOU DON’T WANT TO BE. AND SO EVERY MINUTE YOU HEAR A VERY INSISTENT VOICE OVER THE INTERCOM… MIND THE GAP…MIND THE GAP… MIND THOSE THINGS THAT IF IGNORED, WILL KILL US. GAPS THAT CAN ALL BE CATEGORIZED IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, INTO THE 7 CARDINAL, CAPITAL, OR DEADLY SINS. MINDING THE GAP OF THE 7 DEADLY SINS.. WHAT ARE THEY? CAN YOU NAME THEM WITHOUT LOOKING? THEY ARE: PRIDE, THEY ARE ACTUALLY IN THAT ORDER FOR A REASON. EACH DEADLY SIN GENERATES THE ONE THAT FOLLOWS… HOWEVER, BECAUSE THIS IS A 7 WEEK SERIES, AND WE ARE GOING INTO HOLY WEEK, WE ARE MATCHING THE SINS WITH THEIR APPROPRIATE DAY… I-E…PALM SUNDAY SLOTH…MAUNDY THURSDAY PRIDE… AND TO HELP YOU REMEMBER THESE 7 DEADLIES… AND BECAUSE YOU KNOW I LOVE ACRONYMNS… THINK OF THE SLIGHTLY MISPELLED WORD… PLAAGES..YES THEY ARE OUT OF ORDER, BUT IT WORKS.. BUT P.L.A.A.G.E.S.….LIKE THE FACT SHEET BELOW INDICATES… PRIDE, LUST, ANGER, AVARICE, GREED, ENVY AND SLOTH… AND YOU KNOW THAT I’VE SAID BEFORE, THERE IS NO HIEARCHY OF SINS, WE SIMPLY CALL THESE 7 DEADLY FOR TWO REASONS… ALL UNREPENTANT SIN IS DEADLY… WE REMEMBER PAUL’S WORDS, THE WAGE OF ANY SIN IS DEATH… ANY SIN GONE UN-REPENTED OF, ENDS IN JUDGEMENT AND DEATH. SECONDLY, AS I SAID, ALL SINS CAN SOMEHOW COME UNDER ONE OF THESE 7 CATEGORIES. NOW, BEFORE WE BEGIN WITH OUR FIRST SIN CHOSEN FOR TODAY, THAT BEING ENVY… LET ME SAY A WORD ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF SIN AND SELF-EXAMINATION. FIRST, AS CHRISTIANS, WE BELIEVE THAT SIN IS REAL… THAT MAGNIFICENT PRINCE OF PARADOX, 20TH CENTURY WRITER OF OVER 80 BOOKS G-K CHESTERTON… WROTE THAT THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN IS THE ONLY PHILOSOPHY EMPIRICALLY PROVEN BY 35 HUNDRED YEARS OF HUMAN HISTORY. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO IMPROVE EVERYTHING IN THE 20TH CENTURY EXCEPT THE CONDITION OF THE HUMAN HEART AND MAN’S INHUMANITY TO MAN. HIS AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY, H-RICHARD NIEBUHR SAID IT A DIFFERENT WAY…
THE ONLY REASON JESUS DIED, THE ONLY REASON HE EXISTED WAS TO TAKE THAT NATURE OF SIN IN HERE, TAKE IT TO THE CROSS SO WE CAN LIVE AGAIN! YET OUR CULTURE TELLS US OVER AND OVER THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SIN… IT MIGHT BE RE-TERMED OUR HUMAN NATURE, OR THAT’S JUST THE WAY WE ARE.. IF WE JUST
THEN PEOPLE WILL BE SAVED, HAPPY AND FULFILLED… AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD WILL BE SOLVED. MY FRIENDS, THAT IS AN OUTRAGEOUS LIE! THINK ABOUT IT… WITH THE DISCOVERIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY, IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.. WE STILL HAD THE HOLOCAUST… 6 MILLION JEWS DEAD.. WE THINK OF THE SAME IN RUSSIA, UNDER THE GOD-LESS VISION OF STALIN AND LENIN… 15 MILLION PEOPLE DIED… HEAR ME ON THIS MY FRIENDS… IT ISN’T FATAL TO BE A SINNER, IT IS ONLY FATAL DENYING WE ARE SINNERS, DENYING THAT THERE IS A GAP! THE ONLY REASON JESUS DIED, THE ONLY REASON HE EXISTED WAS TO TAKE THAT NATURE OF SIN IN HERE, TAKE IT TO THE CROSS SO WE CAN LIVE AGAIN! THIS IS LENT, TO SHINE THE LIGHT ON OUR INSIDES, SO WE CAN MORE FULLY LIVE IN DEPENDANCE ON JESUS. MIND THE GAP…. CASE IN POINT… OUR FIRST DEADLY SIN… ENVY.. AT FIRST GLANCE IT LOOKS SO BENIGN, CERTAINLY I LOOK FROM TIME TO TIME TO SEE WHAT MY NEIGHBOR IS DRIVING, OR THE KIND OF MOUNTAIN BIKE HE HAS… THAT ISN’T WRONG IS IT? AS WE BEGIN OUR SELF-EXAMINATION, WE REALIZE THAT ENVY DEFINED COMES FROM THE LATIN INVIDIA MEANING… TO LOOK MALICOUSLY UPON…TO HAVE AN EVIL EYE….WHICH IS ALWAYS SAYING… WHAT’S YOURS SHOULD BE MINE… IT GOES INTO A PARTY AND THE FIRST THING IT ALWAYS SEES? WHATEVER IT DOESN’T ALREADY HAVE… AND THE REASON THIS GAP IS SO DANGEROUS IS THAT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MORE TO SEE THAN TO POSSESS! DEFINED ANOTHER WAY, ENVY IS THE CONSUMING DESIRE TO HAVE EVERYBODY ELSE AS UNSUCCESSFUL AS YOU ARE. ANGRY AT ANOTHER’S WEALTH, EDUCATION, YOU FILL IN THE BLANK. THINK HOW ENVY HAS BEEN PROTRAYED IN ART… THE ARTIST GIOTTO DI CONDONE PAINTED ENVY AS A MAN WITH LARGE EARS, LISTNING FOR ANY HINT OF RUMOR OR SCANDAL.. PROVERBS 14 SAYS IT BEST… A SOUND HEART IS LIFE TO THE BODY, BUT ENVY IS ROTTENNESS TO THE BONES. AUTHOR MAXIE DUNNAM, IN HIS BOOK, THE ‘7’ DEADLY SINS WRITES THAT ENVY IS THE
WHY? THOSE WHO ARE SERIOUSLY INFECTED WITH ENVY ARE NEVER HAPPY WITH WHAT THEY HAVE, WHICH THEN HAS THE DOMINO AFFECT… THIS UNHAPPINES TURNS INTO
TARNISHING ANOTHER’S GOOD NAME…WHATEVER IT TAKES! HERE IS THE UNDERBELLY… THE GAP OF ENVY IS DEADLY NOT JUST BECAUSE IT CAN LITERALLY DESTROY US,
THINK FOR A MINUTE AFTER ALL, OF ALL THE WARS STARTED BY ENVY… THE ENVY AND RESENTMENT FELT BY POORER NATIONS TOWARD’S WEALTHIER ONES… THIS WAS ONE REASON IRAQ INVADED KUWAIT IN 1990… SADAM HUSSEIN CAPITALIZING ON THIS ENVY AND HATRED… TRANSFORMING IT INTO VIOLENT STREET PROTESTS BY IMPOVERISHED ARAB MASSES AGAINST THE OIL RICH GULF STATES AND PROSPEROUS AMERICA. THIINK FOR MINUTE OF THE POETRY WRITTEN ABOUT ENVY.. THINK DANTE’ IN THE DIVINE COMEDY…… SHAKESPEAR’S OTHELLO, MILTON’S PARADISE LOST, BUT MOST CHALLENGINGLY, WE FIND IT ALL OVER SCRIPTURE… DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ENVY THAT CAUSED THE FALL OF HUMANITY? YOU SEE, SATAN BEFORE HE WAS WHO HE IS… WAS A GODLY ANGEL, DID YOU KNOW THAT? OUT OF ENVY TO BE GOD, THE ANGEL LEADS A REBELLION AGAINST GOD IN THE HEAVENLIES… AS PUNISHMENT FOR THAT REBELLION, THE ANGEL IS CAST FROM HEAVEN TO HELL, AND RENAMED SATAN.. THE WORD SATAN MEANS ONE WHO PLOTS AGAINST ANOTHER… SATAN UNDER HIS NEW TITLE, YOU KNOW WHAT HE DOES? HE EXPRESSES THAT LASTING ENVY AND HATRED OF GOD BY TEMPTING ADAM AND EVE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO SIN AGAINST GOD… AND YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY. THIS LED MY DAUGHTER WIMBERLY ONE DAY TO SAY DADDY, ADAM AND EVE REALLY MESSED THINGS UP FOR US DIDN’T THEY…. YES WIMBERLY IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU KNOW! ADAM AND EVE HAVE TWO SONS… CAIN AND ABEL… THE ENVY GENE TAKES HOLD THERE, AND PRODUCES THE FIRST MURDER IN ALL OF HUMANITY..… IT ONLY TAKES 4 CHAPTERS IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE FOR THE FIRST HOMICIDE. GENESIS 4, CAIN AND ABEL, GO AHEAD, JUMP INTO SCRIPTURE WITH ME, GENESIS 4, VERSE 3, CAIN BROUGHT SOME OF THE FRUITS OF THE SOIL AS AN OFFERING TO THE LORD, AHH, BUT ABEL BROUGHT FAT PORTIONS FROM SOME OF THE FIRSTBORN OF HIS FLOCK!… CAIN’S RESPONSE? ENVY, ANGER… NOT 4 SHORT VERSES LATER, OUT OF THAT ENVY, KILLS HIS BROTHER ABEL… THE SIN OF THE EVIL EYE…. HIGHLIGHTING SCRIPTURE, LOOK AT GENESIS 37: 17.. JOSEPH’S COAT OF MANY COLORS… ENVY LEAD TO WHAT WE READ AS A CONSPIRACY TO KILL JOSEPH… ANOTHER GLARING EXAMPLE OF THIS ENVY IS THE STORY OF COURSE, OF SAUL AND DAVID… REMEMBER WHEN ALL THE WOMEN BEGIN DANCING IN THE STREETS, 1 SAMUEL 18… THE SIN OF THE EVIL EYE…LEADS TO COUNTLESS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS! WE LOOK AT THE BOOK OF ESTHER, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU READ ESTHER? LOOK AT ESTHER CHAPTER 3, GO AHEAD, OPEN THOSE BIBLES AGAIN… THE MOST INCREDIBLE STORY OF ENVY, FEATURING HAMAN AND MORDECAI… LONG STORY SHORT, HAMAN’S ENVY OF MORDECAI BECOMES SUCH A BURNING PASSION, THAT HE BEGINS A PLOT TO ASSASSINATE ALL JEWS INCLUDING MORDECAI… NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ENDING TO THAT STORY, BUT IN CHAPTER 7, WE FIND THAT HAMAN ENDS UP DYING ON THE GALLOWS OF ENVY THAT HE HAD PREPARED FOR ANOTHER… OUR ENVY CAN BE THE GALLOWS ON WHICH WE HANG BECAUSE ENVY IS DESTRUCTIVE… ENVY IS AT THE BOTTOM OF TODAY’S GOSPEL… JESUS TAKEN OUT INTO THE WILDNERNESS TO BE TEMPTED BY SATAN, WHY? BECAUSE SATAN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS STILL WANTS TO BE GOD.. HE WANTS WHAT JESUS HAS… SATAN WANTS THE ANNOINTMENT OF GOD AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET IT… FROM SCRIPTURE INTO YOUR PEW, NOT ONE OF US HERE THIS MORNING IS A STRANGER TO ENVY. IT BEGAN WHEN YOU WERE BORN.. LITTLE ALLISON, ISN’T SHE CUTE, AT 6.1 POUNDS, SHE’S IN THE 60TH PERCENCTILE! MEANING 60 PERCENT ARE SMALLER THAN YOU… ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, YOU ARE READING IS IN THE 40% PERCENTILE, AND AS PARENTS WE FLY INTO AN ENVIOUS RAGE, NEVER LET IT SHOWING OF COURSE… ENVY, LURKING, MARCHING, EATING AWAY AT US… AND IT GROWS AS WE GROW IN LIFE… FROM THE MEASUREMENT OF YOUR HEAD, LEGS, INTELLECT, AND SOON WE ALL FIND OURSELVES SAYING…
I MUST HAVE WHAT THAT PERSON HAS… ENVY ALWAYS CAUSES MORE PAIN TO THE ENVIER THAN TO THE ENVIED… WHICH IS WHY THERE IS A WHOLE OTHER SIDE OF ENVY YOU MAY NOT YET HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT… THOSE WHO DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO BEING THE ENVY OF OTHERS! AUTHOR TONY CAMPOLO TELLS ABOUT THAT BRILLIANT ECONOMIST THORSTEIN VEBLEN, WHO SAYS THAT OUR SPENDING HABITS ARE INFLUENCED BY THE PSYCHIC ENJOYMENT WHICH COMES FROM BEING ENVIED! YOU’VE DONE THAT… BUYING EXPENSIVE THINGS, NOT BECAUSE YOU NEED THEM, OR THAT THEY ARE EVEN QUALITY, BUT TO BE ENVIED… AND HERE IN WASHINGTON, ENVY ESPECIALLY SPREADS BECAUSE IT EATS OFF AMBITION. IT WAS ARISTOTLE WHO SAID THAT WE TEND TO BE ENVIOUS OF THOSE SIMILAR TO US AND WITH WHOM WE ARE COMPETING… THE POWER PLAYS IN THIS CULTURE… I THINK OF LEE ATWATER, KNOWN FOR HIS AMAZING AMBITION.. WAS REFLECTING ON HIS LIFE AS HE FACED DEATH FROM A BRAIN TUMOR AT THE AGE OF 41… HE SAYS THE 80’S WERE ABOUT ACQUIRING, MORE AND MORE, WEALTH, PRESTIGE, THINGS… BUT YOU CAN ACQUIRE ALL YOU WANT AND STILL FEEL EMPTY.. WHAT POWER I WOULDN’T TRADE FOR ONE MORE DAY WITH MY FAMILY… MY FRIENDS, THE PURPOSE OF BOTH THIS PREACHING SERIES, AND LENT ISN’T TO DEPRESS YOU… NO, ONLY WHEN WE CAN MEASURE OURSELVES AGAINST THOSE GAPS CAN WE THEN SEE OUR NEED FOR JESUS… THE LAW, THESE SINS ONLY TELL US THE TRUTH ABOUT OURSELVES, THEY IN THEMSELVES CAN’T CHANGE US… ONLY JESUS CAN CHANGE US. AND THAT’S GRACE. IF WE CHEAT OURSELVES ON THE LAW, IF WE TRY TO FORGET SIN EXISTS, THEN WE CHEAT OURSELVES ON GRACE! A HIGH VIEW OF GRACE, REQUIRES A HIGH VIEW OF THE LAW, SO, HOW CAN WE BE DELIVERED FROM THE MALICE OF ENVY? FIRST, IS TO IDENTIFY IT WHEN IT HITS YOUR LIFE, TO KNOW IT IS THERE! THEN, UTTER THE NAME JESUS, ALLOW HIM INTO THAT TURMOILED TEMPTATION… OPEN YOUR HEART TO SAY HELP ME LOOK AT THIS SITUATION DIFFERENTLY. IS NOT WHAT WE ENVY IN ANOTHER PERSON, ACTUALLY GOD’S GIFTS TO HIM OR HER?
WHAT OTHERS MIGHT FIND ENVIOUS ABOUT YOU IS ALSO GOD’S GIFTING! IN OTHER WORDS, CAN YOU TOMORROW MORNING AT YOUR OFFICE, AS YOU SEE AN INTERN DOING A FAR BETTER JOB AT A PROJECT THAN YOU COULD EVER DO… CAN YOU TURN THAT ENVY INTO… LORD, THANK YOU FOR THIS PERSON’S GIFTS, I REJOICE IN IT… THE POWER OF JESUS IN YOUR HEART, THAT RESPONSE WILL REJECT THAT ENVY EVERY TIME… ALONG WITH ONE MORE THING… THAT ENVY ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON, PLACE OR THING, MIGHT BE SO LODGED IN YOUR HEART, THAT FIRST YOU NEED TO SAY JESUS, BEFORE I CAN GET HEALTHY, I NEED TO ASK YOUR FORGIVENESS FOR THE BITTERNESS IN MY HEART CONCERNING THIS PERSON. REMOVE THAT, SO I CAN BE FREE TO REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE AND WEEP WITH THOSE WHO WEEP. IT ISN’T DEADLY TO A BE A SINNER, IT’S ONLY DEADLY TO DENY WE ARE SINNERS. FINALLY TODAY, I SHARE A STORY WITH YOU ABOUT A MEMBER OF OUR OWN STAFF… YOUTH DIRECTOR JOY STARNES PREACHED IN THIS PULPIT NOT LONG AGO, AND AS THE WONDERFUL PUBLIC SPEAKER SHE IS, ONE PERSON COMMENTED TO MARCIA, YOU BETTER WATCH OUT FOR HER, SHE’S COMING UP THE RANKS.. AND MARCIA’S RESPONSE, WAS BRILLIANT… WE WANT HER TO SUCCEED! WE WANT HER TO BE FRUITFUL! DO YOU SEE THE POWER OF RECOGNIZING GOD WORKING IN THE PERSON OF ANOTHER! THROUGH JESUS MODEL THIS AT HOME, MODEL IT IN YOUR WORKPLACE TOMORROW AS TOGETHER WE BOTH MIND AND DEFEAT THE GAP OF ENVY. AMEN. |
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