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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 CONFERENCE HELD FOR ALL THE MAJOR RELIGIOUS GROUPS, WHEN RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE SESSIONS, SOMEONE RUSHES IN AND SHOUTS… THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE! THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE! IMMEDIATELY THE DIFFERENT GROUPS RESPOND:
TODAY IS A STRANGE DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH… A DAY WHERE WE AS EPISCOPALIANS HAVE A MOST AMAZING PALM SUNDAY PROCESSION, FILLED WITH THE JOY OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD… WALKING WTH JESUS INTO JERUSALEM TO THE SHOUTS OF HOSANNA’S… BUT LIKE A KEY CHANGE IN A HYMN.. A SUDDEN THUNDERSTORM IN THE MIDST OF SUNSHINE.. THE MOOD CHANGES… YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY FROM THE GOSPEL WE JUST READ… THIS IS WHY WE’VE DIVIDED THIS SERVICE INTO TWO PARTS. THE JOY OF THE PEOPLE FOLLOWED JUST ONE WEEK LATER, BY THESE SAME PEOPLE ENRAGED AT JESUS. A WORSHIP SERVICE UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, IT IS HERE WE EXPERIENCE THE SCHIZOPHRENIC MOOD THAT BEGINS WITH JOY AND ENDS WITH THE CRUCIFIXION. ON TOP OF ALL THAT, TODAY IS A DAY WHERE WE CONTINUE OUR 7 WEEK SERIES WE ARE CALLING …. MIND THE GAP…(TSHIRT). MINDING THE GAP, AN OFTEN REPEATED ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE LONDON TUBE SYSTEM, WARNING PASSENGERS TO STEP OVER THE GAP BETWEEN THE TRAIN AND THE PLATFORM. TODAY, IN THE CONTEXT OF PALM SUNDAY, WE LOOK AT SLOTH.. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS DEADLY SIN IS CONNECTED TO PALM SUNDAY IN A WAY I WILL EXPLAIN IN A MINUTE… BUT BEFORE I DO, WHAT IS SLOTH? SLOTH DEFINED, IN ONE WORD…IS LAZINESS. DOROTHY SAYERS FURTHER DEFINES SLOTH AS THE SIN WHICH
I THINK OF PROVERBS 6… GO TO THE ANT YOU LAZYBONES, CONSIDER ITS WAYS AND BE WISE… HOW LONG WILL YOU LIE THERE O LAZY BONES? NOW, I KNOW WHO I’M PREACHING. HERE AT ALL SAINTS, IN THIS COMMUNITY OF WASHINGTON, I KNOW MOST OF YOU HAVE TYPE ‘A’ PERSONALITIES… MOST OF YOU ARE PATHOLOGICALLY BUSY, SOME OF YOU ARE HERE IN WASHINGTON BECAUSE YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD… HECK, OUR DANGER IS THAT WE KILL TIME BY WORKING IT TO DEATH! YOU’RE SAYING TO YOURSELF, FINALLY, ONE OF THE DEADLY SINS I’M NOT GUILTY OF, I’M ON EASY STREET, I CAN THINK OF WHAT I’M GOING TO BE DOING THIS AFTERNOON! I HATE TO BURST THAT BUBBLE, AS AUTHOR FREDERICK BUECHNER THROWS US FOR A LOOP… HE WRITES, SLOTH IS MORE THAN JUST ABOUT LAZINESS… SLOTHFUL PEOPLE MAY BE VERY BUSY PEOPLE! PEOPLE GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS, FLYING ON AUTO-PILOT… LIKE SOMEONE WITH A BAD HEAD COLD, THEY HAVE LOST THEIR SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL, THEY KNOW SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH THEM BUT NOT WRONG ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT. OTHER PEOPLE COME AND GO, BUT THROUGH GLAZED EYES, THEY ARE LETTING THINGS RUN THEIR COURSE, THEY ARE JUST GETTING THROUGH LIFE. HAVE YOU HAD SUCH MOMENTS MY FRIENDS? NOW, JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT SLOTH IS, LET ME TELL YOU WHAT IT IS NOT.
IN OUR VERY TYPE A WORLD, INACTIVITY CAN BE OUR MOST NEEDED SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY…
COMING BACK FROM DISNEY WORLD THIS PAST TUESDAY WITH CHRISTIAN, THE HEADLINE IN THE US-AIRWAYS MAGAZINE WAS… "TAKING NAPS TO GET AHEAD…" NAPS ARE NOT SLOTHFUL… SO LET’S GO DEEPER IN SLOTH, AND LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT 3 ESSENTIAL FORMS IT CAN TAKE IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES AUTHOR AND SCHOLAR MAXIE DUNNAM OUTLINES THESE 3 IN HIS BOOK ON THE ‘7’ DEADLY SINS… THE FIRST IS MENTAL SLOTH… A MENTAL LAZINESS, TAKING SUCH FORM AS BEING TOO LAZY TO THINK ON OUR OWN, TAKING OUR OPINIONS FROM CULTURE, NEWSPAPERS AND TALK SHOWS… NOT DOING THE MENTAL WORK WE NEED TO DO TO PROCESS ISSUES THAT COME OUR WAY. BUT MENTAL SLOTH IS ALSO A FIGHT AGAINST OUR OWN WILL.. LAZINESS IS A SIN BECAUSE IT POISONS THE WILL, AND FOR THAT REASON CAN KEEP US FROM LOVING. THE MOST COMMON FORM OF MENTAL SLOTH, COMES IN MARRIAGES! MOST OF US THINK THAT LOVE IS SOMETHING WE FEEL RATHER THAN SOMETHING WE DO… FALLING IN LOVE, FALLING OUT OF LOVE! WHAT OFTEN CAUSES US TO FALL OUT OF LOVE IS A DECISION TO LET OUR FEELINGS OVERTAKE OUR WILLS! LOVE REQUIRES A DECISION OF THE MIND, IT IS A MATTER OF THE WILL. WE DECIDE TO LOVE… WE WILL TO LOVE, IF LOVE WERE A FEELING, WE COULD NOT BE COMMANDED TO LOVE! THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST FACTORS IN MARRIAGE BREAK-UPS! ONE OR BOTH PERSONS IN THE MARRIAGE LOSE THE DESIRE TO LOVE, TOO LAZY TO CONTINUE THE COMMITMENT AND SPEND THE ENERGY REQUIRED FOR LOVING. COUPLES HEADED TO DIVORCE COURTS ADMITTING, I JUST DON’T HAVE THE ENERGY, I JUST DON’T THINK IT’S WORTH THE EFFORT. DR. SCOTT PECK A CHRISTIAN PSYCHIATRIST SAYS THIS LAZINESS, IS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF EVIL AND A PRIMARY PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLNESS. HE SEES LAZINESS AS THE MAIN REASON WE AMERICANS ARE FAILING AT HUMAN RELATIONS, BECAUSE IT TAKES SO MUCH EFFORT TO ENTER INTO AND MAINTAIN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS. IT’S MUCH EASIER WHEN SOMEONE HURTS YOU TO SAY…‘WHATEVER…’ MENTAL SLOTH. TAKE THIS ONE SIMPLE TEST… WHEN YOU COME HOME AT NIGHT, HOW DO YOU AS MARRIEDS, GREET EACH OTHER? BY SAYING: HONEY WHERE’S DINNER… DID YOU GET THE CAR FIXED TODAY, OR IS IT, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I BROUGHT THIS UP AT OUR STAFF BIBLE STUDY THIS WEEK, AND ONE PERSON SAID, THAT HUSBAND AND WIVES NEED TO BE MORE LIKE DOGS… THEY SPEND THE ENERGY TO BOUND UP FROM THE FLOOR AND JUST LICK YOU TO DEATH! OKAY, THAT MIGHT BE PUSHING IT A BIT..BUT DO YOU HEAR WHAT I’M SAYING? IT REQUIRES WILL, IT REQUIRES US TO FOREGO THE LAZINESS AND BOUND UP IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS! 1. I ASK YOU THIS MORNING, LOOK AT YOUR LIFE, 2. HAS THERE BEEN A RELATIONSHIP SERIOUSLY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED BECAUSE OF YOUR OR THE OTHER PERSON’S UNWILLINGNESS TO LOVE AS AN ACT OF THE WILL? AS A COMMITMENT TO CARING? 3. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO HAS HURT YOU SEVERELY, YET YOU SAY WHATEVER, NOT WORTH DEALING WITH? THAT’S TERMINAL SLOTH THAT WILL DESTROY YOUR ABILITY TO LOVE! THE SECOND IS MORAL SLOTH… THIS COMES IN THE FORM OF COMPLAINING AND COMPLAINING ABOUT THE EVIL IN CULTURE, RACISM COMPLANING WITH NO ACTION…. A MORAL LAZINESS WHERE WE ARE TOO LAZY TO PUT OUR LIVES ON THE LINE TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE FUTURE… REMEMBER JESUS IN MATTHEW SAYING… I WAS HUNGRY, THIRSTY NAKED, YOU GAVE ME NO CLOTHING… HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THE HOMELESS ON THE STREETS OF WASHINGTON? REMEMBER, THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE ISN’T HATE. THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE IS APATHY. REMINDS ME OF ONE OF MY FAVORITES… A UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR NOTICES A STUDENT DRIFTING OFF TO SLEEP IN HIS CLASS… THE TEACHER ASKS THE STUDENT….WHAT IS THE GREATEST PROBLEM IN OUR SOCIETY, IGNORANCE OR APATHY? THE STUDENT REPLIES…I DON’T KNOW AND I DON’T CARE! 1. MY FRIENDS, WHAT IS THE MOST PAINFUL EXPERIENCE OF INDIFFERENCE YOU HAVE KNOWN? 2. DO YOU HARBOR RESENTMENT? 3. WHAT IS THE MOST PAINFUL EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE INFLICTED UPON ANOTHER BY YOUR INDIFFERENCE? 4.WHAT DID YOU DO, WHAT DID YOU FAIL TO DO? 5. DO YOU NEED TO REPENT, DO YOU NEED TO FORGIVE SOMEONE? ANOTHER TEST, 1. HAVE YOU IGNORED WHAT YOU KNOW TO BE TRUE ONLY TO ACCEPT AN EASY LIE? MORAL SLOTH… BUT THERE IS ALSO SPIRITUAL SLOTH, AND THIS IS WHERE THE 7 DEADLIES HIT PALM SUNDAY HEAD TO HEAD. THIS IS A REAL KILLER FOR SEEKERS AND CHRISTIANS ALIKE… SPIRITUAL SLOTH IS WHEN WE SAY THINGS LIKE… WHY BOTHER? THE SPIRITUAL QUEST IS TOO DEMANDING, NOTHING I DO MAKES ANY DIFFERENCE, I’M NO USE TO ANYONE SPIRITUALLY. HAVE YOU HAVE SAID THAT, THOUGHT THAT? I CERTAINLY HAVE, AND EVEN SOMETIMES DAILY. BUT LET’S GO DEEPER. AUTHOR HENRY FAIRLE DESCRIBES SPIRITUAL SLOTH AS REJECTING ALL THINGS SPIRITUAL THAT REQUIRE EFFORT. NEGLECTING THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OF PRAYER, WORSHIP, AND BIBLE STUDY. MY FATHER IS A PSYCHOLOGIST AS WELL AS A PRIEST, AND HAS ALWAYS DONE A GREAT DEAL OF COUNSELING WITH ALCOHOLIC PRIESTS AND NUNS, THOSE IN MINISTRY WHO ARE BURNED OUT AND SHRIVELED UP… YES THEY DO EXIST. HE TELLS ME THE FIRST QUESTION HE ALWAYS ASKS IS THIS… HOW IS YOUR DAILY PRAYER LIFE? INVARIABLY, AS OUR PRAYER LIFE GOES, SO DOES OUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH. BUT IT TAKES DISCIPLINE, IT TAKES A DAILY DECISION TO WILL YOUR PRAYER LIFE INTO EXISTENCE. DONALD SHELBY, IN HIS WORK, WANTING IT ENOUGH, WRITES THAT: WE WANT CHRIST, BUT ONLY MODERATELY… WE LOVE JESUS, BUT ONLY MODERATELY… WE WILL FOLLOW JESUS, BUT ONLY SO FAR.. HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT WE CAN FALL INTO THE TRAP OF CLAIMING TO BE A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT WANTING CHRIST MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE! SENSING JESUS WANTED MORE OF US THAN WE COULD GIVE? REJECTING ALL THINGS SPIRITUAL THAT REQUIRE EFFORT. THIS IS WHAT THE PALM SUNDAY CROWD DOES ON THAT DAY IN JERUSALEM. YES, THE CROWD IS INFLUENCED BY THE DISCIPLES, AND BEGIN TO CHANT WITH THEM, A TENTATIVE HOSANNAH HERE AND THERE, THE POPULAR MASSES, THEN AS NOW, ALWAYS GOING BACK AND FORTH IN THEIR DEDICATION TO CHRIST. DO YOU SEE THEREFORE HOW THIS SAME CROWD OF THE MASSES CAN, AFTER SHOUTING HOSANNAH, WHICH MEANS SAVE NOW… JUST ONE WEEK LATER SHOUT CRUCIFY HIM? IN BETWEEN THE PALM SUNDAY PARADE AND THE CRUCIFIXION, JESUS WOULD TEST THE STRENGTH OF THEIR WILL FOR HIM… JESUS WOULD
AS WELL AS TELL THEM TO PAY TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR’S…
DURING EACH EPISODE… EACH STORY, EVERY WORD THAT CAME OUT OF HIS MOUTH, HEARTS HEATED TO ANGER… PEOPLE BEGIN REJECTING ONE AFTER THE OTHER, ALL THINGS REQUIRING THE ENTIRE EFFORT OF THEIR MINDS.. FOLLOWING JESUS WAS NOW JUST TOO DEMANDING, IT WAS MORE THAN MOST COULD BEAR… MORE THAN THEIR WILLS COULD TAKE… AND THEIR LIKENESS, THEIR APPRECIATION, THEIR LOVE FOR JESUS TURNED TO HATE. HE DEMANDED MORE THAN THEIR WILLS COULD HANDLE. HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU MY FRIENDS? JESUS WAS ASKING SOMETHING OF YOU THAT WAS JUST TOO DEMANDING THAT YOU PUSHED HIM AWAY? IN FACT, A TIME WHEN YOU WERE SO ANGRY AT THE CHURCH, ANGRY AT GOD, YES YOU KNEW IT WAS TRUTH, BUT A TRUTH YOU WERE NOT PREPARED TO LIVE BY? REJECTING ALL THINGS SPIRITUAL THAT REQUIRE EFFORT. MY FRIENDS, TAKE HEART IN THIS… IN THE LAST VERSES OF OUR GOSPEL FOR TODAY, JESUS COMES DOWN FROM THE MT. OF OLIVES, AND THERE SEES A MAGNIFICENT VIEW OF JERUSALEM… HE COMES TO THAT TURN IN THE ROAD, STOPS AND WEEPS OVER THE CITY.. HE KNEW THEIR RAGE WOULD BE TOO MUCH… HE WEEPS FOR THEM, HE WEEPS FOR US BECAUSE HE JUST WANTS HIS PEOPLE TO NEED HIM, TO LEAN ON HIM.. DO YOU SEE? JESUS WEEPS WHEN WE FALL BACK IN SPIRITUAL SLOTH… WHEN WE THINK WE ARE IN CONTROL, WHEN WE LOSE OUR DISCIPLINE, AND BACKSLIDE INTO LIVING AS THE WORLD LIVES… JESUS KNOWS AND JUST WEEPS… IN MANY WAYS AREN’T WE LIKE THAT PALM SUNDAY CROWD? 1. YES ON PALM SUNDAY WE’LL BE WITH YOU JESUS, EASTER YES! 2. BUT WHERE WILL HE FIND YOU ON GOOD FRIDAY? 3. WHEN JESUS ASKS YOU TO DIE TO SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE YOU KNOW TO BE WRONG, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO LET THAT PART OF YOU DIE? THIS MORNING, 2 CHALLENGES TO YOU… 2 WAYS OF DEFEATING THE SPIRITUAL SLOTH THAT INVADES OUR LIVES EVERY SINGLE DAY… THE FIRST WAY IS TO ASK JESUS FOR HELP…. LORD, IN THE DEMANDS YOU MAKE ON MY LIFE, HELP ME TO LOVE YOU WITH MY WILL, NOT JUST HELPLESS FEELINGS. HELP ME TO BELIEVE SO THAT I MAY UNDERSTAND… WE DON’T UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO BELIEVE, UNDERSTANDING ONY TAKES HOLD AFTER WE MAKE A DECISION OF THE WILL TO BELIEVE! AS PART OF THAT PRAYER, LORD, GIVE ME A RULE OF LIFE… I’VE PUT THAT IN YOUR WORKSHEET… LORD, TODAY I WANT TO BE DELIVERED FROM RUNNING WITH THE CROWDS AND BEGIN A RULE OF LIFE, AS A MATTER OF THE WILL, I WANT TO NOW BEGIN A LIFE OF
CAN YOU MAKE A WILLFULL COMMITMENT THROUGH JESUS TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE? SECONDLY… SO MANY OF US NEVER ENGAGE THE MOST POWERFUL JOURNEY OF THE YEAR… THE HOLY WEEK JOURNEY… APATHY SETS IN AND WE GO FROM PALM SUNDAY TO EASTER, MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN BETWEEN! LET’S BE THE FEW IN THAT PALM SUNDAY CROWD WHO EMBRACED ALL THINGS SPIRITUAL THAT REQUIRE EFFORT. I URGE YOU TO DROP WHAT YOU’RE DOING THIS WEEK… PUT IT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND JOIN US IN JERUSALEM ON AND WASH THE FEET OF OTHERS OUT OF OBEDIENCE TO JESUS’S WORD TO CARE FOR THE OTHER… GOOD FRIDAY, THE LITURGY OF THE NAILS AND TAKING THAT LAST WALK THAT JESUS TOOK, 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS IN THE OUTDOORS AROUND CHEVY CHASE CIRCLE… THE EASTER VIGIL WHICH IS THAT TRANSITION FROM GOOD FRIDAY TO EASTER SUNDAY.. AND THEN OUR EASTER MORNING EARLY SUNRISE SERVICE, 6AM ON CHEVY CHASE CIRCLE… YOU WILL FIND THAT BY THE TIME EASTER SUNDAY ROLLS AROUND, YOUR WILL WILL BE SO DIFFERENT! BUILT ON THE ROCK OF JESUS CHRIST, LET US EMBRACE THAT JOURNEY TOGETHER. DO TAKE ON A DISCIPLINE, AND LET THIS WEEK BE THE MOST POWERFUL JOURNEY OF YOUR LIFE. AMEN. |
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