No Alibis Needed
Like Him in Our Faithfulness
TCF Sermon
October 24, 2010
Most forms of unfaithfulness are not always newsworthy. It happens around us every day and most of the time we never hear about it unless it’s in a form that involves us personally.
But the more well-known a person is, the more his or her unfaithfulness makes headlines. We see politicians breaking their campaign promises. We see other public figures and celebrities of all kinds, sadly and all too often including high-profile ministers of the gospel, breaking their wedding vows, or getting into some sort of legal trouble.
We see people cheating or lying or breaking oaths. We see employees cheating their employers. Unfaithfulness is all around us, and despite the fact that many kinds of unfaithfulness still bring almost universal condemnation, even that is changing.
It’s amazing what I find sometimes in the course of my sermon preparation. I came across a company that actually capitalizes on the idea of unfaithfulness. It’s called the Alibi Network. On the front page of their website, you find that they’ll create excuses for some fairly innocuous things, such as helping you plan a surprise birthday party without letting the secret out, or buying a surprise gift, or other things that we wouldn’t classify as unfaithfulness.
But dig just a bit deeper, and you find that they also provide ways for you to be truly unfaithful and deceptive in a variety of contexts. For a price, of course.
Here’s a sales pitch from their website:
Married but looking for more? Well, you are not alone. The "married but looking" population is quite large. Or do you need to communicate certain things to your spouse to get your relationship back on track? Please call us at 1-877-ALIBI-ME or visit our contact page if you have any specific questions or concerns regarding our services. We will assign to you a Personal Alibi Specialist available 24 hours a day who will assist you throughout your case. Whether you are married but looking for a discreet affair or have a sensitive situation that you need to resolve, we have a solution for you!
Of course, none of these “solutions” are free. The custom alibis for affairs pricing “depends on individual circumstances.” The “virtual hotel service,” which gives you receipts from a different hotel than perhaps where you’re really staying, or even allows your unsuspecting spouse to call the hotel you’re supposedly staying at to show that you’re in Camden, NJ at a convention, rather than in Miami having an adulterous affair, starts at $175.
You want to be an unfaithful employee, and call in sick when you’re not? They have a solution for that, too.
Call In Sick Service provides clients with cast-iron sickness alibis. We would call a place of your work for you and pretend to be your doctor /dentist or a spouse, etc. and tell your boss that you can’t come in. So you will not have to fake it on the phone!
How about this handy alibi?
Do you need a new part-time or full-time job so you have a valid reason to be away from home? Are you embarrassed to be unemployed and want to create an impression that you have a job or even own a business? You can use the cover of being an employee of one of our many partner companies. We will provide you with all necessary infrastructure such as business cards, work phone number, email and personal secretary if needed.
Sir Walter Scott wrote:
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive”
How true this is. And how unlike a true follower of Christ. But, we don’t need alibis if we’re really following the Lord. Because God has shown us a better way – be faithful to Him, and be faithful to what He has commanded.
The Word of God proclaims God’s faithfulness to us. Again and again we see examples of God’s faithfulness in all of His dealings with us.
A few weeks ago, Andy Obrochta shared in our house church a testimony of the things that have happened in his life over the past six years. At the end of his talk, all I could think about was the faithfulness of God, and how God had proven Himself faithful in Andy and Dorothy’s lives through the most challenging time of their lives.
Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV) Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
I could quote dozens of Psalms that testify to God’s faithfulness. But I’ll just cite a few here now:
Psalms 33:4 (NASB95) For the word of the LORD is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.
Psalms 36:5 (NIV) Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Psalms 86:15 (NIV) But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Psalms 89:14 (NIV) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
These are but a few examples – I could cite many more that speak with absolute clarity one of the most encouraging and tremendous truths about our God. He is indeed faithful.
As we move further into today’s message, you’ll note how many times we quote from Psalms to speak of God’s faithfulness. But when contrasted with what we see around us, it begs the question. God is faithful. But how does this apply to me?
What does God expect of me in terms of faithfulness? For the follower of Christ, that answer is just as clear as Scripture’s proclamation of God’s faithfulness. We can be faithful. We can be like God. Not perfectly. Not completely. But if we believe what it says in
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
…if we believe this, then we can, indeed, be like God in His faithfulness.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB95) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. The fruit, the natural outgrowth, of that Holy Spirit power, working to change us, to transform us, into His likeness, includes these nine things we just read in Galatians. And one of those qualities is faithfulness.
The Spirit fights against sin not merely in defense but also in attack by producing in Christians the positive attributes of godly character, all of which are evident in Jesus in the Gospels ESV Study Bible
I think we have somewhat of an understanding of what God’s faithfulness means. We’ve seen it at work in our own lives and in the lives of others. We’ve heard it preached from this pulpit. But, even recognizing that we are to be faithful as we are transformed into His likeness, we also know we are not God, and cannot be perfect in faithfulness as He is.
We may be faithful in many things, but our faithfulness can never be as vast as God’s, which scripture says “reaches to the skies.” Our faithfulness isn’t perfect, as this scripture tells us God’s is:
Isaiah 25:1 (NIV) O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
Here’s where we have to step back and ask the question. How faithful do I have to be? How faithful can I be? Well, isn’t it interesting that God seems to be in the habit of giving us seemingly impossible standards to attain to.
How about:
Matthew 5:48 (NIV) Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Or how about this one?
1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."
So, though these admonitions seem rather unattainable and daunting to us, they must not be in God’s view, or Jesus wouldn’t have said what He said, nor would scripture contain these commands. Because, for example, faithfulness is clearly listed as a fruit of the Spirit, we also know that this is not something we can do on our own. It takes the energizing and transforming influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives to bring this fruit about.
We can’t just decide to be faithful – though that’s a start. But we can decide to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and choose to obey what God commands. With that in mind, let’s spend the next several minutes looking at the practical implications of what it means for us, as followers of Christ, to need no alibis, and to be like God in His faithfulness.
In the New Testament, the word faithful is derived from the root word from which we get the word faith. It means:
Worthy of belief, trust, or confidence.
In different verses, the word faithful means trustworthy, sure, true, believable, worthy of credit, of true fidelity, faithful in duty to oneself and to others. When the word is used about God, it means first and foremost, God keeps His promises. He’s absolutely and completely reliable.
When used of people, it’s often used in combination with the word servant or slave, and it means faithful in the performance of duty, or obedience.
In the Old Testament, the word faithful means:
literally firmness; but figuratively it means security; moral fidelity, stability, steady, truly, truth - ; figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, to trust or believe, assurance, believe, to be faithful (of long continuance, steadfast, sure, surely, trusty, verified)
In OT and NT, the words translated “faithful” or “faithfulness” are strongly associated with the word “truth.” Holman Bible Dictionary says this about the word faithful:
FAITHFUL Steadfast, dedicated, dependable, and worthy of trust. It is derived from the Hebrew root having the basic meaning “to trust (a person),” or “to believe (a statement).” This is the same root that gives us the word “amen.” The derived meaning is that the one so described is trustworthy, dependable, trusting, or loyal. The faithful God keeps His covenant, and the faithful people keep His commandments.
In the New Testament the adjective “faithful” is a derivative of the Greek noun meaning “faith.” Here we get the translation “faithful” as a natural derivative of faith. Once again the fundamental meaning is that the one so described is trustworthy and loyal. The root idea is that one has fidelity toward another person or toward God. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7:25 Paul commended himself to the Corinthians as one who is “faithful” (KJV) or “trustworthy” (NAS). In Revelation 2:10 the church in Smyrna and subsequent readers are commanded “be thou faithful unto death.” And, in Ephesians 1:1 Paul addressed the letter “to the faithful in Christ Jesus.” In other cases, however, “faithful” describes God’s mode of relation toward persons or toward God’s creation.
Many of these passages speak of God as faithful in order to comfort and encourage Christians. The faithful person is steadfast, unchanging, and thoroughly grounded in relation to the other. This sort of fidelity, or faithfulness, is used in both the Old Testament and the New Testament to describe God’s relation to the world and to describe the quality of relationship that Israel and Christians are called upon to have with God and with one another. Holman Bible Dictionary
So, faithfulness is a divine characteristic, a fruit of the Spirit. For us as Christians, it means consistently doing what we say will do. Faithful people are people you can count on through thick or thin. Faithful people are reliable and trustworthy – you trust them with your life. Disobedience or sin is unfaithfulness. Not following God is unfaithfulness. We see in scripture that God is faithful even when we are not:
Psalms 89:30-37 (NIV) "If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness-- and I will not lie to David-- that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky."
God’s faithfulness protects us:
Psalms 91:4 (NIV) He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
How can we be protective in our faithfulness? I think an easy analogy here is parental protection. Our faithfulness as parents can protect our young children. That can be difficult in our culture. That can be difficult anywhere, as the world can be a dangerous place, physically and spiritually.
The reverse can be true – our unfaithfulness as parents has the potential to put our children in harm’s way.
Beyond the parental analogy, I think of our nation, and our world. I think of the analogy of the finger in the dike. You know the old story about the Dutch boy who saved his country. It’s a small story within the story of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.
You may remember that much of the Netherlands is below sea level, and the nation relies on a system of dams and levees to hold back the sea and prevent a catastrophic flood.
This Dutch boy saves his country by putting his finger in a leaking dike. The boy stays there all night, in spite of the cold, until the adults of the village find him and make the necessary repairs.
In many ways, I wonder how much the faithfulness of Christians in this country, and in other parts of the world, faithfulness to pray, faithfulness to reveal the love of Christ in the way we live our lives, is kind of like the Dutch boy who held his finger in the dike, protecting, preserving, and holding back the tide of evil.
God’s faithfulness is praiseworthy.
Psalms 92:1-2 (NASB95) It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,
Psalms 115:1 (NIV) Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
Is our faithfulness praiseworthy? Clearly, not to the level of God’s faithfulness, but can someone looking at our life say – that person is faithful in this way, or in that activity, or in the way they love. I can think of people about whom I can say that. I can think of others about whom I’d not say that.
God’s faithfulness is everlasting – it doesn’t end with us, with our children, or our children’s children.
Psalms 100:5 (NASB95) For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalms 117:2 (NIV) For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.
How firm is our faithfulness. Does it last? Faithfulness that doesn’t last isn’t faithfulness.
Are we faithful for a while, and then give out? Grow weary in well-doing. I’m not saying that God never brings changes to our life circumstances, which means we have genuine, even Godly reasons, to stop doing specific things. I don’t want to scold anyone here this morning. I don’t want to make people feel guilty for seeking God, hearing from Him that a season of service in a certain arena is over, and freely moving on from there, in the middle of God’s will.
But we must always ask the question: have we really heard from God? Or are we simply exhibiting our human frailty of unfaithfulness?
Again, we’re recognizing that, empowered by the Holy Spirit as God’s gift to us, we can exhibit a God kind of faithfulness. With that understanding, it’s good to compare God’s faithfulness to our own, and ask for a measure of His faithfulness to be apparent in our lives.
God’s faithfulness doesn’t always mean “happy” things, because it’s tempered by His wisdom and love, and sometimes means affliction or pain.
Psalms 119:75 (NIV) I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
There may be times when, as we exhibit the spiritual fruit of faithfulness, we, too, will be compelled to “afflict” people in some way. In these cases, to do otherwise would be to act unfaithfully.
In our culture, happiness seems to be the highest goal. Scripture says it’s not. Holiness is a much higher goal than happiness, and while there’s nothing wrong with happiness per se, to seek that above holiness inevitably leads to sin.
So, when the Psalmist tells us that God’s laws are righteous, and we know that God’s laws sometimes restrict or restrain some things, we can understand how His faithfulness and ours could afflict someone.
A classic example might be an alcoholic, or a person plagued with some other kind of addiction, who cannot think beyond his or her next drink. Our faithfulness to them might be to “afflict” them in some way – deny them their addiction, their next drink, for their own benefit.
Faithfulness can never mean being there to help someone do something that’s physically or spiritually harmful to them.
God’s faithfulness is linked with His compassion. And His faithfulness is consistent.
Lamentations 3:22-24 (NASB95) The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."
When I think of faithfulness, I can’t help but think of consistency. I think of Spencer and Karl and Dave Troutman and Steve Sperber – consistently serving with the med van on Monday nights. I think of Ed and Nancy Harkins, and many more of you, here in church, consistently, almost every week. Let’s not underestimate our presence here on Sunday mornings as a mark of our faithfulness to God and to each other.
I think of Dave and Debbie Mason, consistently serving in the tape room. I think of Jody and Dawn and many others, consistently serving in Good News Club. I think of Charlene, consistently serving with Kids Hope. I think of the Norcoms, visiting Nette each and every week, and of Doris, talking to Nette on the phone almost every day.
I think of Hallett and the members of the worship team, giving consistently of their time and talent to minister to us and with us in that way.
Clearly, I could go on and on – so please don’t feel left out if I didn’t mention you. But the idea is that faithfulness means consistency, and in God’s design, it’s so often clearly connected with His compassion. For us, faithfulness also means, in terms of God’s gifts to us: Use it or lose it.
Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV) "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ’Master,’ he said, ’you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ "His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ "The man with the two talents also came. ’Master,’ he said, ’you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ "His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ "Then the man who had received the one talent came. ’Master,’ he said, ’I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ "His master replied, ’You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. "’Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This parable is not about money. It’s not about an investment strategy and how to make big bucks in the stock market. It’s about what God gives us and how we use it. It’s about stewardship. And Godly stewardship means faithfulness.
Whether we’re given great talents, gifts, or money, or small things, God expects us to be faithful to use well what He has given us. Note that the master gave the talents according to their abilities.
No one received more or less than he could handle. If he failed in his assignment, his excuse could not be that he was overwhelmed. Failure would indicate only laziness or hatred toward the master. The bags of silver represent any kind of resource we are given. God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us. The issue is not how much we have but how well we use what we have. Life Application Study Bible
God doesn’t require us to do the same things as those who may have greater gifts in one area or another. But this is not a reason why we should do nothing.
2 Corinthians 8:12 (NIV) For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
We also see the master chastising the last servant for being lazy. God will judge us not merely for doing wrong, but for not doing right. This servant didn’t make any use of his talent, and in this he showed he was lazy. Lazy is the opposite of faithful.
Money is like manure (so my Lord Bacon used to say,) good for nothing in the heap, but it must be spread; yet it is an evil which we have often seen under the sun, treasure heaped together, which does good to nobody; and so it is in spiritual gifts; many have them, and make no use of them for the end for which they were given them. Matthew Henry
So, this parable tells us these things about faithfulness:
1. The servants of God are not all endowed with equal gifts and talents.
2. All, whatever may be their ability, are bound to employ their talents in promoting his honor, and in a proper improvement of them.
3. By employing their talents in a proper manner, they improve and strengthen them.
4. They will be judged according to the improvements which they have made.
5. All sinners look on God as a hard master, and as unreasonable and tyrannical.
6. People will be judged not merely for "doing wrong, but for neglecting to do right." Barnes Notes
How well we use what we have is faithfulness. So, God’s faithfulness is illustrated in many ways, and because faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, it can be illustrated in our lives in many ways as well.
For us, faithfulness can mean:
1. keeping our promises - related to this is the idea of dependability, reliability.
2. doing what’s right, and righteous, being obedient to God, regardless of the outcome or consequences, and sometimes those can be challenging
3. letting our yes be yes and our no be no – keeping our commitments, to God and to each other
2 Corinthians 1:18-22 (NIV) But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
4. consistency
5. using the gifts and opportunities God gives us (parable of the Talents)
6. trustworthy
7. most often calls for endurance
Revelation 13:10 (NIV) If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
A minister named Fred Craddock spoke of this idea: "To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. "We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table-- ’Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’ But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ’Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at at time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul." Darryl Bell.
Little by little over the long haul – that’s faithfulness. It’s clear that faithfulness is demonstrated, not just spoken of:
Psalm 33:4 (NIV) For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
It’s also clear that we can grow in God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 37:3 (NASB95) Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
It’s interesting to note that faithfulness is one of the names of Jesus:
Revelation 3:14 (NIV) "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
Revelation 19:11 (NASB95) And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
In scripture, we see many examples of God’s lament of people’s lack of faithfulness:
Psalms 12:1 (NIV) Help , LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
Psalms 78:8 (NIV) They would not be like their forefathers-- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Isaiah 1:21 (NASB95) How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, But now murderers.
Hosea 4:1 (NIV) Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
Jonah 2:8 (NASB95) "Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness,
Proverbs 20:6 (NIV) Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?
True faithfulness among people is rare. But it should not be rare at all among those of us who are followers of Christ, because the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.
We don’t need no stinking alibis, because we have something better. We have faithfulness to live in, to walk in, to demonstrate to a lost and suffering world.
As Christians, there are no alibis needed, because we can be like our great God in His faithfulness.
Pray
