Trying Out Another Sin-Project
29-30"What do you have against me,
running off to assert your 'independence'?"
God's Decree.
"I've wasted my time trying to train your children.
They've paid no attention to me, ignored my discipline.
And you've gotten rid of your God-messengers,
treating them like dirt and sweeping them away.
31-32"What a generation you turned out to be!
Didn't I tell you? Didn't I warn you?
Have I let you down, Israel?
Am I nothing but a dead-end street?
Why do my people say, 'Good riddance!
From now on we're on our own'?
Young women don't forget their jewelry, do they?
Brides don't show up without their veils, do they?
But my people forget me.
Day after day after day they never give me a thought.
33-35"What an impressive start you made
to get the most out of life.
You founded schools of sin,
taught graduate courses in evil!
And now you're sending out graduates, resplendent in cap and gown—
except the gowns are stained with the blood of your victims!
All that blood convicts you.
You cut and hurt a lot of people to get where you are.
And yet you have the gall to say, 'I've done nothing wrong.
God doesn't mind. He hasn't punished me, has he?'
Don't look now, but judgment's on the way,
aimed at you who say, 'I've done nothing wrong.'
36-37"You think it's just a small thing, don't you,
to try out another sin-project when the first one fails?
But Egypt will leave you in the lurch
the same way that Assyria did.
You're going to walk away from there
wringing your hands.
I, God, have blacklisted those you trusted.
You'll get not a lick of help from them."
“A minister told his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17."
The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the minister asked for a show of hands. He wanted to know how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. The minister smiled and said, "Mark has only sixteen chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying." (http://www.broadcaster.org.uk/section2/jokes/christianjokes.html )
Father Bob plays the fool with drive-through confession plan
A April 1st, 2011 story reports “As part of the plan sinful could repent on the run with the opening today of Australia's first drive-through confessional.
And we reported, The pray-as-you-go service was set to become slicker, with a sin-selection board to be installed by Easter and a smartphone app on the way.
South Melbourne Catholic priest Fr Bob Maguire said yesterday that the move brought the church up to speed with modern life.
"Everybody drives past this place but no one comes in," Fr Maguire said.
"Now they can stop at the window, open their window and confess their sins. Then I'll reassure them that they'll be right."
The 60-second car wash for the soul was supposedly to include a symbolically refreshing spray of rose water.
A flashing green light will signal when a driver's sins have been forgiven. "When you're driving out you'll be clean as a whistle," Fr Maguire said before his prank was revealed.
The seven cardinal sins - lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy and pride - will be numbered on a sign, Chinese menu-style.
From 6.30am, sinners will repent at a mobile unit dubbed the Hopemobile in the St Peter and Paul's church driveway, confessing, for instance, to three No.7s and a No.4.
Fr Maguire proposed the coded response was meant to maintain confidentiality.
A more permanent set-up should be in place by Easter and Fr Maguire is hoping for a sponsor to cover set-up costs.
He said some overseas churches had confessional sponsors. At least one had a bookmaker as the backer. "They called it O'Flaherty's sin bin or something," he said.”
It turns out Father Bob was playing an April Fools joke, but the Catholic Church wasn’t laughing. (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/your-sins-forgiven-on-the-run/story-fn7x8me2-1226031638372 )
“A Pastor got pulled over for a speeding ticket, and he told the approaching police officer “Blessed are the merciful”. The Policeman, after handing the Pastor the ticket said “Now go and sin no more!” (unknown, adapted)
I found it interesting this translation of Jeremiah was subtitled “Trying out another sin project”. The key discussion here is about sin. Listen again to the points God made:
• You asserted your independence
• You paid no attention to me
• You ignored my discipline
• You said “Were on our own”
• And not just approving of sin “founded schools of sin”. Taught other people, spread the destruction of sin.
Sin as we know is “separation from God”. I heard mark Krause say SIN is “Selfish Indulgence (in what we think we) Need”.
Back to the subtitle of this text, are two key words “Trying Out”. Trying another sin project. The definition of trying out is “1. make an effort to accomplish something; attempt; 2. To taste, sample, or otherwise test in order to determine strength, effect, worth, or desirability (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/try+out ) Our problem then with sin is we like to taste it, sample it, try it out, test it’s desirability, and the problem is, it hooks you!
If you have ever been able to watch a baited hook under the water, sometimes you will see the smaller fish, minnows and such just coming and nibbling at the bait. And even bigger fish, and then a fish takes the bait and away we go! Hooked! The same is true with sin.
Trying out another Sin Project! Now there is a word. Last word in this subtitle. Project; A project is defined as:
a plan
a scheme
an undertaking requiring concerted effort.
When taking a trip or deciding to work on a project, you don’t just start, but you make a plan. You search for hotels! Make travel arrangements. Plan a route, make sure you have enough money.
The trouble God points out with our sin is that we make it a project. We plan it; we scheme it; we go to great lengths to SIN.
Adultery usually involves scheming to meet; lying to cover lies; sometimes secret apartments or code words that spouses won’t pick up on.
When there is a school shooting, or something similar, the boys at Columbine didn’t just wake up that morning, they had a plan; a sin project that involved murder, and suicide and death!
Bank robbers scheme!
Embezzlers scheme and connive. The more recent case with Bernie Madoff, when it was discovered his two sons, one, son mark which later committed suicide from shame, but he and brother Andrew claim they did not know what the secret floor in their father’s office building was for! They probably didn’t, but doesn’t having a “secret floor” raise anybody’s eyebrows?
A sin project means it was planned!
One last word: Another! Trying out another sin project! Different from the last! Perhaps more of the same! Trying it again! God said through Jeremiah: 36-37"You think it's just a small thing, don't you, to try out another sin-project when the first one fails? I think sometimes we want to be close to God, but that also scares the beejeebers out of us! How could Go want to be near us? And so we sabotage our closeness by trying out another sin project!
People do it all the time in relationships! Looks like things are going great, just getting close to someone and they sabotage their happiness!
Some people do it with jobs! Just as they are about to rise up out of the heap and get to where they want to be, the sabotage it! Can’t deal with the success!
Here is what I want you to know from the story. You can try out another sin project! God gave you this independence (free will) that you use against Him. It’s your right, but that is not what God wants! God wants you! All of you!
And while you’re trying out another sin project, God’s trying out another project to get you back to Him! God has a project! God has a plan! It’s called Redemption!
That He gave you Jesus Christ to overcome the sin of the world! Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
In the story about the runaway bunny, the bunny wants his independence, and says to Mother Bunny things like well I will be a sailboat, and Mother Bunny says then I will be the wind that blows you where I want you to go. The mother pursues the bunny no matter what, and finally the young rabbits says “Aw shucks, I might as well stay home!”
That is the story of God, chasing you even when you plan, and scheme to separate yourself from Him! He wants you to simply come to Him, and decide to give up your sin project, and just stay home with Him!
Recently I was scanning some of my father’s old sermons, probably from the 1970’s and I came across a quote in a message. My dad said “God does not white wash, He washes white!” We don’t know much about white washing these days, but white washing covers over, whereas washing white removes the stain. God told us through Jeremiah, via our translation of The message that we have turned out college graduates, resplendent with cap and gown, but their robes have been stained by the blood of sin! Only one thing washes that away! Only one thing can remove the stain of our sin project, and that is to be washed white by the blood of Jesus!
