Even The Best Offer Excuses

EVEN THE BEST OFFER EXCUSES…

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

This is a series on “EXCUSES”. Part one was “The veneer of excuses.” Part two “Even the best offer excuses.”

If you do all of this second part it will probably take two parts.

Text: Luke 14:18 (a) And they all with one consent began to make excuse.

3 classes of excuses: 1. Materialism 2. Business/Pleasure 3. Relationship/ Schedule.

EXCUSE: to attempt to deny responsibility for an action or a lack of action. To refuse to accept.

To try to make a defense of some offensive behavior or failure to keep an obligation or a promise.

To deny or try to remove blame or guilt. To seek to be free from obligations. To defend one’s self.

We also suggested that MAKING EXCUSES is: 1. Habitual, 2. Addictive, 3. Contagious.

Now let us address the word: PALLIATE: to make light of, to reduce nature of wrong, to cover up with excuses and apologies, to moderate the intensity, ease.

We often try to palliate lying by making the claim: WELL, EVERYBODY ELSE LIES?

WHERE IN HISTORY DOES THE MAKING OF EXCUSES BEGIN?

We do not have to look far from the beginning of time to find our first examples of DENIAL, PALLIATION AND THE OFFERING OF EXCUSES… The first couple ADAM and EVE learned the BLAME GAME soon after the fall into sin.

Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

1. THE ENEMY CAUGHT EVE IN A POSITION OF ISOLATION.

EVE CLAIMED THE FLIP WILSON STATEMENT: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT?

There was denial and excuses to the severity of EVE spending time near the tree and looking how pleasant the fruit was to her eyes. There was also an ISSUE OF THE HEART…

2. ADAM blamed Eve and excused his behavior by BLAMING EVE. Then ADAM BLAMED GOD. God you gave me that woman.

Because Adam and Eve PALLIATED AND EXCUSED THEIR BEHAVIOR there is no RECORD OF CONFESSION OR REPENTANCE. Their bad behavior and bad attitudes were never corrected. How sad?

LET US SEE THE NON-CORRECTED CONTAGIOUS ATTITUDES OF MAKING OFFERINGS OF EXCUSES PASS FROM THE PARENTS TO THE SON, CAIN. THERE WAS AN OFFERING ISSUE. ABEL GAVE OF HIS FIRST FRUIT, CAIN GAVE OF THE FRUIT --- LEFTOVERS… CAIN NEVER ADMITTED NOR CORRECTED HIS BEHAVIOR, HE EXCUSED HIS ANGER.

Genesis 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

The excused behavior leads to his anger bringing the first death and the first grave. CAIN IS A LIAR that murders his brother.

Genesis 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Cain says his punishment is greater than he can bear. Why? Cain denied, palliated and excused his behavior. There is no record of confession and repentance.

MOSES WAS A MAN OF GOD… BUT MOSES LEARNED THE HE COULD EXCUSE HIMSELF…

Moses thought he was hot stuff in the palace his first 40 years. Moses second 40 years in the desert Moses thought he was a nobody. But Moses’ last 40 years Moses learned that God was everything!

Exodus 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

EXCUSES? Moses was good at explaining to God why he was the wrong man for the job. EXCUSES?

Exodus 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

MOSES WAS GOOD AT OFFERING EXCUSES… BUT OFFERING EXCUSES WAS A FAMILY THING… AARON WAS MOSES’ OLDER BROTHER… MOSES WAS UP ON THE MOUNTAIN BEFORE GOD… AARON WAS LEFT IN CHARGE.

AARON took premeditated and deliberate action to build a gold idol to worship.

Exodus 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.