John Rowan Claypool once shared the following story in his sermon entitled “The Future and Forgetting:’ “Two Buddhist monks were walking in a drenching thunderstorm. They came to a stream, and it was swollen out of its banks.
A beautiful young Japanese woman in a kimono stood there wanting to get to the other side but was afraid of the currents. In characteristic Buddhist compassion, one of the monks said, ‘Can I help you?’ “The woman said, ‘I need to cross this stream.’” The monk picked her up, put her on his shoulder, carried her through the water, and put her down on the other side.
He and his companion went on to the monastery. That night his companion said to him, ‘I have a bone to pick with you. As Buddhist monks, we have taken vows not to look on a woman, much less touch her body. Back there by the river you did both.’
“The first monk said, ‘My brother, I put that woman down on the other side of the river. You’re still carrying her in your mind.’”
Michael Thomas shares that in his book “The Great Divorce,” C.S. Lewis gives an allegorical story about a ghost of a man consumed by lust. And in this story lust is depicted as a red lizard that sits on his shoulder and whispers seductively in his ear.
When the man is bothered by this lizard on his shoulder, an angel volunteers to destroy it for him. But the man is conflicted because he wants to hold on to his lust but also wants the lizard gone. What he is afraid of is that the death of his lust will be the death of him. He offers all these excuses to the angel because he wants to keep the lizard (even though he doesn’t want it).
After much discussion the man finally lets the angel kill the lizard. The angel grabs the lizard, breaks its neck and hurls it to the ground. Now that the spell of lust is broken the man who was once ghostly is wonderfully remade into a real and solid person. And what’s so cool is that instead of dying, the lizard is changed into a spectacular stallion. With great tears of joy and appreciation the man gets on the horse and rides off into the heavens.
(Slide 1) Lust. What comes to mind when you hear the word lust?
Most often we think of the sexual aspects of the word and this aspect is a very important one to consider and the Bible speaks to it throughout the Old and New Testaments. Jesus’ words that are located in Matthew 5:27-30, however, are probably the most pointed words about lust in all of scripture:
“You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even if it is your good eye causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand—even if it is your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.’
Over 25 years ago, Leadership Journal, a publication for pastors, took the bold step of publishing a story of a pastor who did battle with lust and how he began to take the long journey back to purity and really sanity. I subscribed to the publication back then and I remember the firestorm of controversy that it generated as many felt that it was not right for such a thing to be published and that such a person should not even be in ministry. Five years later, the journal asked the man to update his story of freedom and deliverance, which he graciously did. And we all know that nothing generates negative and skeptical press faster than when a prominent minister is discovered to have committed sexual sin.
It is easy to focus exclusively on the sexual aspect of lust, and it is probably the most prominent type of lust. But, there is more to lust than just the sexual issue. In 1 John 2:15-17 we read, ‘Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. (Slide 2) For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.’
The three phrases of this verse provide us with a very important broader view of lust than just sexual.
(Slide 3) The first phrase is ‘the lust for physical pleasure.’ This certainly includes sexual lust but it can also mean eating and drinking too much. Addiction, to anything, is rooted in our lust, our consuming desire, for physical pleasure.
In Philippians 3:18 and 19 Paul, with great emotion makes this important point, ‘For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth.’
‘Their god is their appetite… a very pointed and profound thing to say. By the statements that follow this one we get a sense that what Paul refers to is more than just our normal and healthy appetite for food but our appetite for anything that provides some type of physical pleasure. By deifying our appetites we worship them, they become our god(s).
This is an issue which Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians… twice, when he says, (10:23) ‘You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is helpful. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.’
We have the freedom to live how we want and do what we want. But, there are consequences to our choices, some right away and some pop up years later. And if we are followers of Christ the Bible makes very clear that certain things, such as lust and sexual sin, are wrong, and we are called to live a life of purity – which we will examine a moment.
(Slide 4) The next phrase is, ’the lust for everything we see.’ Again there are sexual connotations in this phrase but I think that we can also call this kind of lust, ‘greed.’
And I would suggest that we go no farther than the final commandment about coveting (which is envy based) to understand this aspect of lust. In fact, one dictionary definition of lust is ‘covetousness.’
Lust is, according to the same dictionary entry, a yearning, a desire, an itch, a hunger, and a thirst for something. As I think about this definition of lust, I recall hearing many times over the years that addiction is not about a substance or even a behavior but about the lack of something in our lives and about covering the pain that lack of something creates. As I think about this it makes me ask, ‘Is what we are after really what we are looking for?’
(Slide 5) The final phrase is ‘pride in our possessions.’
We addressed pride at the beginning of this series and the key verse for that sermon was Proverbs 11:2, ‘Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.’
Now, how might pride and lust be tied together? Well, there is a proper sense of pride that I think we all should have in a job well done. And there is an appropriate sense of pride that we have in the accomplishments of kids, family, and friends.
But it takes very little for us to cross a boundary which causes pride to become a self-centered attitude that turns to bragging and worse instead of an appropriate self-satisfaction (and humility as well). Lust operates here because gross pride has ‘an itch’ for greater accomplishment and recognition that becomes increasingly hard to satisfy.
When we have this kind of pride in our possessions, such as the Rich Young Ruler who walked away from Jesus’ invitation to ‘sell all your possessions and give to the poor, then come and follow me,’ when they begin to define who we are and what we have to have more and more and more.
Lust is a problem in our time and age. It always has been. But with the advent of the Internet, we have ability to anonymously feed all of our lusts in the comfort of our own homes.
To get the red lizard off our shoulder and become true human beings again, God has to build into us and, to continue the analogy of our sermon series, help us to stand on, the stepping stone and foundational block of purity. (Slide 6)
In Psalm 86:11 we read, ‘
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
that I may honor you.’
We have heard much about impurities in our food, drugs, water, and home in recent times. Impurities place our health at risk and even our very life in danger.
But we are also very much aware of our social impurities these days as well. The result is our social and spiritual health is at risk as well as being in danger of death. Broken homes, abuse, addiction, and sexually transmitted diseases are all evidence of the lack of purity these days.
Purity is laughed at these days. I recently read an article on the internet about the recent reports and views expressed before a key Congressional Committee on abstinence only programs and their perceived failures.
Some who testified thought they should be done away with while others thought that both abstinence and safe-sex practices should be taught together. Then others said, ‘no so fast, there are abstinence only programs that do work.’
We are justifiably concerned about our environmental purity and its effects on our food, air, and water. But we must be more concerned about the moral and emotional purity of our day as well.
How do we stand on purity these days and allow the Lord to build into our lives this vital foundational value? The Psalmist gives us two vital suggestions:
(Slide 7)
Teach me your ways, O Lord
The first way to allow the Lord to build this vital building block into our lives is to allow Him ‘to teach us his ways.’
Now, I have taught in the church and community settings long enough to realize that not everyone that you have in an educational setting wants to be there! Receptivity is a key factor in learning. If you don’t want to learn, you won’t!
If we want then, purity to be a part of our life, then we must be open and receptive to God’s work in our lives. We must be open and receptive to God’s teaching His ways to us!
In the teaching of His ways, God uses His word, the Bible, circumstances, the Holy Spirit, prayer, and others to help us learn His ways. Some of the ‘teachers’ teach us the value of God’s ways; some of the ‘teachers’ teach us the cost of not learning God’s ways.
And in learning God’s ways, we learn what pleases and honors Him and what does not please and honor Him. But, teaching and learning His ways are vital to the development of these stepping stones we are currently examining.
The second way that Psalmist suggests purity becomes a part of our lives is to request it!
(Slide 7a) Grant me purity of heart…
To grant something it has to be asked for first. We are familiar with the fairy tales that speak of wishes and the granting of them. I don’t recall any fairy tales in which the one granting just goes ahead and grants a wish with out first asking for one to be made.
I am finding these days that ‘intentionality’ is very, very important in living for the Lord. If I want to live for Him and be a growing and going disciple (and I do) then I have to ask Him to grant me those things that I need to have to become that disciple. How often do we read in scripture to ‘ask?’ Just as there has to be intentionality in allowing God to teach us then has to be intentionality in asking God to grant us purity of heart.
As I ponder this I am reminded of a lesson that has been a very important and powerful one for me. It came last fall in Pastor’s meeting that I attended and to which I have referred in the past.
It was the lesson of ‘what do you say ‘yes’ to God to so that you can learn to say ‘no’ to the things that you want (and need) to.’ This is a lesson that I think applies in this context this morning.
For if we want God to grant us purity of heart, it something that we must request from God to grant and it must be something that we keep pursuing even when we have trouble with the stumbling block of lust.
Furthermore, our resolve to ask and practice and live pure is strengthened as we continue to practice the first half of this verse – being taught by God. As we continue to learn from Him, it helps us continue to say ‘yes’ to him and ‘no’ to what we truly need to say ‘no’ to.
As we move toward communion this morning, I conclude again with some thoughts from Max Lucado out of his book ‘When God Whispers Your Name.’ ‘I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.’
Jesus was faithful even though He had the power and ability to turn on His critics and His captors. He said ‘yes’ to God and ‘no’ to a personal agenda. He said ‘yes’ to purity and ‘no’ to lust.
Never forget the truth of two key passages when you battle lust and strive for purity in your life and the lives of those you love.
(Slide 8) But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
I Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)
(Slide 9) This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT)
Because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, these two passages of scripture tell of what is possible as we seek to avoid the stepping stones of lust, envy, greed, gluttony, and pride and built, with God’s power and help, the foundational blocks of humility, love, self-control, kindness, and purity.
(Slide 10) As we come to communion let us take time to pray and both confess and give thanks to God for what He has done for us and what He wants to continue to do for us as well. Amen.
Sources: Reynolds’ illustration is from sermoncentral.com and contains the following source note as well: [SOURCE: --John Rowan Claypool, “The Future and Forgetting,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 109.]
CS Lewis passage is found at sermoncentral.com
Congressional committee report is found at religionandsocialpolicy.org under the title, ‘Congress Debates No-Sex Education For Teens’
Lucado quote was found at sermoncentral.com
