Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2003 : October 19, 2003
Deal With Your Serious Sin
Pentecost 19
A road construction worker many years ago told a story of a time he had been working on the road system in Pennsylvania. Every morning on his way to work, he would drive past a young boy fishing just off the road. Every morning he would say something nice to the boy, and the boy would say something nice in return. But one day as he drove past he asked how the fish were biting, and he got a strange reply: "The fish aren't bitin' today, but the worms sure are." He drove down the road trying to figure out what the boy meant. He went to a gas station to fill his tank, and he related the story to the gas station attendant. For a moment the man laughed, but then a look of horror crossed his face, and without another word he ran to his pickup, jumped in and sped away.
Later that day, the man on the construction crew found out that the gas station attendant had arrived too late to save the boy. The boy had mistaken a nest of baby rattlesnakes for earthworms and had been bitten to death. Baby rattlesnakes are born with their full venom. That's what sin is like. It might appear harmless, even pleasant, but every sin contains the full venom of Satan's poison that leads to eternal death if we let sin work its way into our lives.
This morning Jesus tells us how deadly sin is. He encourages you to Deal With Your Serious Sin. To deal with sin, first, we need to See that sin is serious, but secondly we need to See that grace is greater.
Jesus gives us the opportunity to see how serious sin is in the words before us. He had a child stand among the disciples and said, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." When most people think of Jesus' word, they think of him saying things like, "Come to me all who are weak and weary, and I will give you rest." That's a very comforting passage. But that makes this saying of Jesus stand out all the more. A large millstone was four to five feet in diameter and weighed many hundreds of pounds. It was pulled around on a pivot by a donkey to grind grain into flour. Jesus said it would be better to die than to lead a child, or anyone, into a sin. Why is Jesus so harsh? Simple -- because sin is so serious, and deadly and damning!
If you're a parent, these words hit you between the eyes, don't they? Are we guilty of leading our children into sin? Not purposely, but what about inadvertently? If you set a bad example for them by watching unwholesome things on TV, haven't you just led them to sin by making them think that stuff is OK? If you use every excuse in the book for not reading God's Word on a regular basis with your family, haven't you just led them to sin by making them think God's Word isn't all that important? Need I go on? If you've done those things, it would be better for you if you were dead. That's how serious Jesus says sin is.
Jesus gives another example to show how serious, deadly and damning sin is. "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out." And to reinforce his point, Jesus says the same thing about your foot or your eye causing you to sin. Cut it off, gouge it out or risk being thrown into hell, "where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' "
This time Jesus isn't speaking about us leading others to sin; now he's talking about allowing things in this life to lead us into sin. These are strong words! And yes, it's our loving Savior speaking them. No, he doesn't want us to go home and sharpen up our butcher knives. Jesus elsewhere says that sin begins in the heart, so Jesus can't be telling us to actually do these things because he'd be telling us to kill ourselves. But he is saying that sin is serious business. And if a Christian finds himself controlled by a sinful lifestyle, he's in danger of losing his eternal life. If that's you, take drastic action. If your foot was infected with gangrene, your doctor will tell you to make a decision. Either amputate your foot and live, or keep the foot, allow the infection to overcome your body, and die. It's as simple as that. Christ is telling us to take drastic action when it comes to sin. Sin is like gangrene of the soul. It can start out small, but allow it some room, and it will control your life, destroy your relationship with God and rob you of eternal life. Don't mess around with sin -- it's serious. It's deadly. If unrepented of, it's damning.
What sin is crouching in your life, ready to consume you? Has your hand stolen something not yours? You don't have to steal a car or a stereo to be a thief. Maybe you walked all over people to get to the top of the corporate ladder. If so you have stolen someone else's job. You are in danger of being thrown into hell. How do you sin with your foot? By walking into a party with drugs and abusive drinking. If you continue to do those things, you are in danger of losing your faith and being sent to hell. You certainly know how to sin with your eyes. Jesus said lust is the same as adultery, and the last time I checked, adultery is one of the ten "Thou-shalt-not's." You almost can't watch TV today without being tempted to lust. Don't miss Jesus' point. Sin is serious. Avoid it at all costs. It's deadly. It damns you. Hell forever. Undying torment. Being away from God and the possibility of forgiveness forever.
That's what Jesus means when he says, "Everyone will be salted with fire." Salt was used as a preservative in Jesus' day. If you wanted meat to stay somewhat unspoiled, you had to douse it with salt. When Jesus calls Christians "the salt of the earth," he is telling us that we should show our Christianity. But if we don't live as we are meant to live as Christians, we are playing with fire. We could lose our eternal inheritance. Then we will be salted with fire -- forever.
Did Jesus get your attention? Good. That's what he wants -- your undivided attention. Because he doesn't want you to go to hell. Peter says that "God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) Jesus wants you to see how serious sin is, but then to see that God's grace in Christ is greater.
How do we avoid the temptation to sin? Remember how Joseph avoided the temptation of a woman who wanted to have sex outside marriage with him. He literally ran away. If you're ever in Joseph's shoes, run away. If you know watching a certain program just might lead to sinful thoughts, don't turn it on. Temptations will come knocking, but we don't have to give in to them. God even promises that he won't let us be tempted beyond what we can bear.
How can we be like Joseph and avoid such temptations? See God's grace in Christ. The Old Testament people saw God's grace in the coming Christ every time they burned up a sacrifice on the altar. They were reminded that they wouldn't have to be burned in the fires of hell because one day there would come the ultimate sacrifice that would pour out his lifeblood to cover every person's every sin. God commanded in Leviticus (2:13) that all of the people's sacrifices should be sprinkled with salt. It was called "the salt of the covenant." That salt, a preservative, would remind the people of how they were preserved in the wilderness, how they were preserved from their enemies in the promised land. That salt would remind them that God promised to be their God, even when they failed to live as his people. Most importantly, that salt was meant to remind them that God had promised to preserve them from his own wrath against their sin.
And God kept that promise. He sent his own Son to be our Savior from sin. Did Jesus have to deal with temptation? Certainly. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus was tempted for forty days by Satan. If Jesus fell prey to any of those temptations, he would have failed. We never could have survived those temptations in Jesus' place. We would have failed. But that's why Jesus came, so he could undergo every temptation that we face in our place, and remain the sinless Son of God and Son of David. The book of Hebrews tells us: Jesus "was tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Where we failed, Jesus succeeded. Where we continue to fail, Jesus continues to plead our case before his heavenly Father. Because every time we fall prey to sin and come to our God with a repentant heart, Jesus reminds his heavenly Father what he did with his perfect life lived in our place. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5,6)
Brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I have failed miserably to live how God wants us to live. That's sin. It's serious; it's deadly; it's damning. But God's grace in Jesus, his undeserved love for us sinners, is greater than any sin. If your sins don't trouble you, remember the words of the great Lenten hymn:
If you think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great,
Here you see its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed; see who bears the awful load --
'Tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.
As often as you know that you have fallen into sin, you can go to the cross of Calvary. At Calvary you see how great God's grace is -- even greater than your great sins. God has washed your sins away in the blood of his Son. Whenever your sins trouble you, you can remember the perfect sacrifice Jesus made of himself. And it was for you. All your sins are forgiven!
Will that change how you live your life? Absolutely. That's why Jesus says: "Salt is good... Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." Salt reminds us, as it did the Old Testament believers, that God preserves us. God preserves us from the punishment of sin by having already punished sin in his own Son. So when Jesus is saying, "Have salt in yourselves," he is reminding us of what he did for us on the cross to take away our sins. He is reminding us of how much we owe God for saving us -- we owe him everything -- our entire lives, which would never be enough to pay him back for our forgiveness, for our assurance of heaven.
The next time you are tempted to sin, or tempted to lead someone else into sin, remember what Jesus did for you. Then walk away from that temptation, and live your life with that salt of the gospel always visible, so others will be led to ask, "Why is he so different?" Then you can tell them -- it's all because of Christ. That's how you deal with the seriousness of sin in your life -- realize that Jesus has dealt with it for you. Amen.
