“Luxury”
‘Seven Deadly Sins…and what to do about them’ series
Good morning church. We’ve been looking at some deadly sins—not because they’re worse than other sins necessarily. All sin separates us from God, right? But the sins we are talking about in this series go to our moral character. They are the kinds of sins that easily trip us up and are so subtle sometimes—its hard to always recognize when we are slipping toward one of these.
We’ve looked at Pride—often called the daddy of them all, and some feel that all the other sins flow from pride. And last week we looked at greed and the problems it causes. You don’t have to be wealthy to be greedy. In fact, many a poor person deals with greed. Today, I want to take a departure from the traditional 7 deadly sins, to address a sin of our culture which I’ll call Luxury.
Now, I am not talking mansions, Bentleys, private jets and expensive jewelry—although the running after these kinds of things can be contrary to God’s purpose for you and his calling on your life. No, I am defining luxury in this way: comfort, ease, plenty and blaming God when our demands and expectations are not met.
I venture to say, that if you’ve walked with God long enough, you’ve encountered a moment like this. Where you’ve been righteous and you’ve prayed, and you were just sure God was going to come through—and then he didn’t—or at least not in the way you thought. And at first, you were confused, then a bit disillusioned, and then sometimes even angry with God. Why didn’t he come through?!
Why wasn’t my dad’s cancer healed? Why can’t I find a job that actually pays the bills? Why can’t I find a faithful loving mate? Why am I always having money problems? I’ve prayed! I’ve been faithful—I DESERVE TO BE HAPPY. See, that’s the root of it isn’t it? This deadly sin is an offshoot to pride, but it’s a feeling of entitlement. And when we don’t get what we think we DESERVE from God, we can have one or more of these responses:
1. We feel that God is not powerful enough to provide what we need / what we expect
2. We feel that God is not good…that he’s unwilling to meet our expectations
3. We believe we have sinned and God is withholding his blessing (always good to check on this one) or…
4. We can respond in faith, believing God for what he promised, trusting him even when he doesn’t meet my expectations.
It’s about right-sizing our expectations isn’t it. Many of you have seen the 80’s film, Christmas Vacation. Poor Clark W. Griswold gets his expectations way ahead of what can actually happen, and he’s always disappointed isn’t he? Because that’s the issue isn’t it?
What we expect: We expect smooth sailing. We expect that God is going to snow plow the roads of life of any obstacle or hardship. We have bought into the lie of satan that says, if God REALLY loved me, he’d fix all this stuff in my life. Yeah, we know this life has trivial problems and challenges, but as a believer, we think somehow that we should get a hall pass in the school of hard knocks. That’s what many Christians expect. And the reality is,
What we deserve: We deserve death, punishment and separation from God. Romans 3:23 declares that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 tells us that that the wages (or natural results) of sin are death—spiritual death.
In our Oasis Bible study this week, I was reminded of the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told. This son asks for his inheritance before the father was ever dead—shocking--, went off and blew it all on wild partying and the like. And when his friends all deserted him, he had to get a job feeding pigs—also shocking to Jesus audience since these were not clean kosher animals. And then the realization hits him. I have sinned away my rights as a son. I am starving—literally. I will return to my father’s house and ask to be a servant. Really and truly, on our best days, we should only expect to be God’s servants. We don’t deserve anything else. But the reality is, we get…
What we get: We get adopted! We get received back into the arms of the father! He forgives. He restores. He wont even let us get out that we would like to be his servant, because he’s putting his robe on our backs, and his ring on our finger. He’s directing the servants to kill the fatted calf because the one who was lost is now found. The one separated from the Father has now returned. Forgiven, clean and free.
In adoption, we get a new name, a new Father, a new home, new privileges and new family. We get pardon—we are released from the penalty of our sins—the penalty we really do deserve. Jesus took that penalty on the cross. We are cleansed. And even more, we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives. We get the assurance of our faith—that the Holy Spirit will witness to OUR spirit that we belong to him.
So, what do we do when the foundations crumble? What do you do when your expectations don’t match the reality of God’s provision? How do you reconcile that God is indeed loving and kind, completely righteous and merciful, and yet bad things are happening in your life?
When I thought about those questions, I was reminded of Job and his troubles. Though he was righteous, he went through hell on earth. I was reminded of the Babylonian exiles in the Old Testament, who, though righteous themselves, were feeling the effects of God’s heavy hand of long-awaited punishment. I was reminded of the story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by jealous brothers, served faithfully as a servant only to be then accused of sexual assault—which he did not commit, and spent 3 years in prison unjustly. You want to say, God—what are you doing here? You don’t seem to be acting right?! If you act right, you should be rewarded correct? If you follow God, you should have peace and prosperity. God what are you doing here?
What do you do when the foundation of our expectations crumble?
1. You wait on God. Job had to wait. While he grieved the loss of his children, his weath, his health, the respect of those in his town. Joseph had to wait…three years in prison. Faith means believing even when we can’t see. Sometimes all you can do it wait. Psalm 130 says, I pray to God--my life a prayer--and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning waiting and watching till morning. O Israel, wait and watch for God--with God's arrival comes love, with God's arrival comes generous redemption.
I love what Exodus 14:14 says, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” That’s waiting on God in faith. When God doesn’t seem good, wait on him. Wait patiently in faith believing that he’s got your best in mind.
That’s what he did for Job. That’s what he did for Joseph. He has come through time and again. And if you think back to those biblical accounts, it often got worse before it got better! Some of us give up far too quickly. So, we need to wait on God—in faith, &
2. We lean on the family of God. We need to lean on our family of faith. We were not made to do this journey alone. A lot of men and women I know would rather die than appear weak. People, that pride thing rears up his ugly head once again. When our foundation crumbles, when what we thought about God seems uncertain, we need those who love God around us. That’s why testimonies are so important. We need to hear the stories of God. We need to hear what he’s done in your life and how he answered prayer. I am always amazed at the story of Job.
His children had all be killed in a freak storm. His friends came to comfort and grieve with him. It says in Job 2:12, “When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.” What a gift. What an amazing blessing and gift his friends gave him. The comfort of presence, and not advice. And then when they opened their mouths, they got it all wrong. But I want you to notice what a gift and blessing their presence must have been for Job—at least at first.
(( Pastoral concern…when tragedy strikes, people always say, “I don’t know what to say” to their friends or loved ones. The reality is, the best gift is your presence, a hug, a prayer and your support. Most of the time, words won’t make anything better. Your presence however, will. )) So, when the foundations crumble, we wait on God and we lean on the family of God. We also…
3. Turn to God’s Word. Seriously. Usually it’s the last thing we do. I mean, how do you deal with stress and disappointment? In our culture we run to drugs, alcohol, overeating, porn or even just escape through TV and movies. But when our foundations crumble, we need to turn to his Word. Remind yourself of God’s promises. Remind yourself of God’s answers to prayer. Remind yourself that prayers prayed in faith—believing, are the one’s that God hears.
James 1:2-5 says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
There is so much comfort from God’s word. Read through the psalms. Read the stories of those who’ve put their faith in God—and watch how they waited---sometimes for very long times—until just the RIGHT time, and then God answered! So, wait on God, lean on the family of God, turn to God’s Word and last…
4. Ask God for a better dream. What do you mean pastor? My life’s coming apart at the seams. Doesn’t God care? Why wont he fix this broken mess? And while I cannot answer that question directly, here’s what I am confident in: when you have faith in God when the wheels come off your cart of life, a new dream is birthed in place of the old.
The old dream is dead, long live the dream, the new life of faith. The way we used to think our life would go is altered. It will never be what we thought. But when we put our faith in God, he begins to birth a new vision, a new dream, a new life direction. And here’s the thing: It’s a better vision than the original. Don’t get me wrong: it may be harder; it may be more uphill; it may have more challenges to be sure, but when we are at the center of God’s will, it’s the safest place to be. Ask God for HIS dream for you, not the one you planned.
Proverbs 3:5-6 declares, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.”
And let me remind you of that awesome verse from Habakkuk 3:17, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
And Habakkuk can say that with confidence. He’s put his faith in God—no matter what. Don’t be a Kardashian Christian. Don’t be surprised by trials, problems, temptations and tragedies. These don’t come because God is vengeful. Although at times we do feel the natural effects of our own sinful choices. No, they come because God has a new plan for us. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
CLOSING SONG: EVEN IF by MercyMe
PRAYER
