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Ministries
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This morning I have a message of hope and good news. I apologize if it doesn't apply to everyone here. It only applies to those who have ever been tempted, to those who have ever felt as if they have fallen short, or to those who have felt that they have failed. My guess is that one or two of us here probably fall into one those categories. I have a confession: I love to read murder mysteries to relax. Pretty pathetic, huh? Someone had to die for me to unwind! But actually a good murder mystery presents a problem, dangles clues and insights as to "who done it" and at the end, springs on the reader a surprise that puts all the pieces of the puzzle together. Well, instead of building slowly to a grand climax, and dangling clues in front of us, I want to skip ahead to the last chapter for the surprise ending. Here it is, and Russell just read it to us, right from Psalm 32. "Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." In Jesus, God has offered each of us the ability to have forgiveness. Isn't that amazing?! Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can experience the love of God and can live in freedom. Amen? I would love it if we could all live at that part of the book, wouldn't you? I'd love it if we could all live right in the middle of the heart and the love of God. Then we could focus on the positive, setting goals by learning and applying Biblical principles in our daily life. But our lives are a bit messier than that. Now I've heard some folks talk as if the Christian life is one long, uninterrupted series of victories and blessings as we progressively become less and less sinful and more and more holy. No setbacks. No reversals. No stumbles, no falls. In this idealized view, once we overcome a problem, it never again causes us any difficulty. Once we gain victory over a sin, it never tempts us again. Once we learn a lesson, we never have to repeat it. Once we attain a certain "level" of spiritual maturity, we never again are subject to the mistakes and struggles and sins that we had to deal with before. The problem is: that's all bunk. There are no such "levels" in the Christian life. There IS such a thing as Christian maturity; there IS such a thing as spiritual growth. But the road of our spiritual journey isn't a freeway where you just sail along at 65 miles an hour. Just before Christmas I drove down Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu. It was a major construction zone with detours. There were barriers in the middle of the road, big holes and metal plates, heavy equipment digging up asphalt. And this was Christmas time, with what was already some pretty heavy traffic. Sometimes you'd have to backtrack to change lanes. And if you're not paying close attention there's the possibility of a major accident. It reminded me of what our lives often look like. There are twists and turns for each of us. And if you're not paying attention, bang - either an accident or a flat tire is just waiting to happen. But even in the middle of a traffic nightmare, we can be happy, we can be blessed because the real problems in our lives are not the minutes we are delayed in traffic or the detours we have to take. Our deeper problems come from deeper struggles. Often the trip frustrates us when our real challenges are at our destination. It is at home where we often struggle the most with our families. It is at our jobs where we get frustrated and worried. It is at the market where we find out our checking accounts don't have enough to pay our bills and buy what we want. The good news is that Jesus came to help us with the trip and also with the final destination. O.K. Now that we have most of the ending down, we can concentrate of the rest of the story. I want to talk about how Jesus dealt with the traffic and the bumps in His road. This is about how Jesus went on from the highs and lows in His life. One day Jesus was walking near the Jordan River. He heard his cousin John speak. He went forward to be baptized. As Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened - the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus and God's voice boomed from heaven, "This is my Beloved Son." Wow! That sounds like a good day. Who wouldn't want to hear God's voice calling out that He is pleased with you? It must have been thrilling, and exciting and fulfilling all at the same time! After all, everyone there heard the voice. John saw the Spirit descending. And then what? Well what happened next may surprise you. The Bible doesn't tell us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus to a stadium where He won the Most Valuable Player award. And the Bible doesn't say that Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, stood up and spoke to the crowd that was gathered there. And I can't find it in the Bible that suddenly Jesus' life was filled with the fruit of the Spirit. What I read is that the Holy Spirit actually was the One who led Jesus to the desert where He was tempted. That seems unfair to me. You might relate to that. Sometimes we feel that right in the middle of a great day, or in the middle of a great time of life, that we get slammed, out of nowhere, by things out of our control. It's easy to get angry at the bumps and barriers. It's easy to want to give in to temptation. But that's not what Jesus did. You see Jesus knew the end of the story. He wasn't distracted by the lack of parking or the barriers. He knew that His final destination was more important than the temporary bumps in the road. But He also didn't minimize the bumps. And again I want to remind you, the Word of God is clear, temptation is not sin. Jesus did not sin, but He WAS tempted. When we are tempted, we are not being evil. Jesus was hungry. He was at the end of a 40-day fast. The Bible says He was famished. So how did the Tempter first try to attack Jesus? Physically, at His point of weakness. And that is where he often attacks us first. If we have a physical weakness, be assured that Satan will try and attack you there. He loves to exploit our appetites, whether it is for food, or physical touch, or comfort, or whatever. He tries to pervert the gift that God has given us. Whatever hungers we have, he will try and exploit them for evil. Notice I haven't tried to explain WHY Jesus was tempted. I've read many commentaries with varying explanations. Some say that Satan wasn't going to let Jesus come onto the earth without a fight. Others speak of this preparing Jesus for His ministry. Some speak about the ultimate battle between good and evil. But what I DO know is that every child of God will face temptation on this earth. And I know that how we overcome temptation really determines whether we live in freedom or as slaves to sin. I also know that how we deal with it when we fail or fall short will determine whether we live as though we believe that Psalm 32 promise, "Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." I don't always understand what's happening when there is roadwork. I see the big rolls of cables near One Alii Park and don't have a clue as to exactly what they are doing. But I do know that I can get so worked up by waiting in traffic that it can ruin how I respond at my final destination. Isn't that true with all temptation? Sometimes, even if we don't give in, we can get so frustrated that it interferes with our lives when we finally get home or to work. Many times we will overcome the physical temptations. But we are not out of the woods yet. The Tempter has another angle. He will try to get us to test God. He will try to subtly tell us that either God is not up to the challenge of being trusted with our lives or else that we are not worthy of God's attention. Even if He could why would Almighty God answer your prayers? A recent worship song is called, "I am a friend of God." It starts out, "Who am I that You are mindful of me? That you hear me when I call… It's amazing." The truth is that God does listen. And yes it is amazing that God would hear us when we call out to Him. But the evil one doesn't want us to know that. He will even use scripture to convince us that it's OK to doubt God. And if we do waver, watch out. He will attack us with the guilt-trip of the century. He will try and convince us that even if we WERE worthy of God's love and attention, He couldn't possibly trust us now that we have failed. So, many times we have been able to resist the physical aspect of temptation and we have been able to trust that God is worthy of our trust. We know that we can rest secure in His love for us. We may find that our lives are beginning to be filled with victories and successes, especially if we have successfully navigated the bigger obstacles. But watch out -that's often when we are at our weakest. That's when we believe that it is through our own goodness that we are successful. That's when we start to believe that we DESERVE the blessings we receive - we are being blessed because of what we have done. That's when we look down at those less fortunate, at those who are suffering, and criticize them for being stuck in the bumps and barriers. And that's when we take the bait from the tempter and take the credit for our lives instead of giving all the thanks and glory to God. That's when we end up worshiping the temples of our own creation instead of worshiping the Lord who has given us everything. When we are successful, when we are living well, and when things are sailing along smoothly and our guards are down: those are the times that we often have to be the most careful of the traps set by Satan. I have just laid a map out to help us weave through the barriers of temptation. But as much as we've tried, each of us has failed and given in to different temptations many times. So I really want to focus again on the end of the story, this time from the book of 1st John. He wrote these words, "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world." One of my favorite scriptures says it this way "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words." (Romans 8:26) When we have no words, when we don't know how to pray, especially after we've blown it, God Himself is praying for us, every time we sigh. The Apostle Paul says it this way, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death." No condemnation. We are free. The Spirit of death has been replace by the Spirit of life. The tempter, who knows hate, has been beaten by the power of love. And that is the best news that we can ever hear… AMEN
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