August 8, 2004 Galatians 5:23
I have recently been reading a book by Tim Russert called “Big Russ and Me.” It’s a very interesting insight into middle America about forty years ago or so. With great admiration he talks about the great work ethic of his father, who worked two to three jobs and also served in World War II. When Tim went to college, he was able to work the same job his father had as a garbage collector. It was then that he realized what a difficult job it was to hoist these huge garbage cans up over his head and throw them into a truck - often with the danger of rats which were living in the garbage cans as well. Tim marveled that his father did this day in and day out. Often times he would come home for about an hour, eat, sleep and then go to his second job. Yet Tim never heard his father complain about it. I couldn’t help but also be more impressed with the work ethic of his mother, who managed to spend life basically at home alone raising their children. Tim then also mentioned that as a kid he and his siblings automatically did their homework without being told to do it. They took pride in their grades. They looked out for each other. It was interesting for me to see what a different generation it was. What really impressed me was that they knew how to work and work hard.
Today’s topic - the final fruit of the Spirit - is called self-control. With a simple device called a “v-chip” we can control what kind of television our children watch. With Caller I.D. we can control who we talk to on the phone. Men have managed to control tigers and elephants. But controlling the self - that is no easy task. It takes work - hard work - to try and control your self. Whether it’s hard or not, Paul says today that -
The Fruit of the Spirit is Self Control
Would any of you question the fact that we live in a society that has lost almost every aspect of self-control? You can look at almost every facet of life and see how we no longer understand what it means to have control of practically anything when it comes to our selves.
• Look at our schools. One teacher used to be able to handle fifty children in a classroom - this is a fact. I’ve seen pictures of old gradeschools - without ONE assistant. The kids would sit on hard wooden desks and LISTEN to their teacher lecture. There were no visual aids. Now one teacher has a very hard time controlling fifteen to twenty children without the assistance of teachers’ aids and what not. We’re losing control of our children.
• Look at our crime rate. It used to be that you could leave your house unlocked, your keys in your car, and your children could walk to school. This is a thing of the past. Our society has become so out of control with the crime rate that houses and cars are regularly broken into.
• Look at our justice system. It is out of control. Lawyers are getting rich on ridiculous lawsuits - blaming doctors and restaurants and companies for what are often simple mistakes or even acts of nature.
• Look at our sexual sins. A greater majority of children are born out of wedlock than are born within marriage. AIDS and other sexual diseases are still running rampant even after all of the drugs that are being administered.
• Look at our bodies. Americans are so out of control with what they eat and drink that we have an overweight “epidemic” in our country. Alcoholism is running rampant. More and more people are becoming addicted to methamphetamines.
I could go on. But the simple and plain fact is that we don’t know how to control ourselves. This isn’t the governments fault. It isn’t because we’re born that way. It’s because we aren’t working at controlling our selves - and it’s effecting our country. Things are like a runaway train getting out of control.
Now, there’s an argument out there that goes like this - “yes, the train is running out of control. It would be nice if it were under control - if people would use the brakes - but they’re not. So we realize some damage is going to be done - but if people are going to drive without brakes - let’s just steer the train down the path that can do as little damage as possible.” That’s the way our society is dealing with this lack of self control. If you can’t learn how to keep your clothes on and not have sex with just your spouse, then wear some protection at least. If you can’t stop from doing drugs, let’s at least make them legal so it will be “safer” and people can use “clean needles.” If you can’t stop yourself from eating a Big Mac - then let’s at least make McDonald’s pay for our health problems. If you can’t control your spending, then let’s make the credit card companies and banks pay for it through bankruptcy. The attitude is that since we can’t control ourselves - lets just make the consequences a little less harsh. It’s this same attitude that’s going on in the Christian Church even. If we can’t get parents to keep their kids still through a service, let’s just have the kids sit downstairs with a separate service for them. If the people aren’t disciplined enough to get up on time for worship on a Sunday morning, let’s just have worship on another night too.
The question is - where does the appeasement ever end? When you start thinking in terms of - “what do I want” - “what makes me happy” - or - “how can we make life easier” then we’re already losing the battle. The whole concept of what Paul is talking about here - “self-control” is absolutely foreign to our society. There is only self indulgence. When you start indulging your sinful nature - it’s never satisfied. A new car becomes a new BMW. A new house becomes a new mansion. A new wardrobe becomes a new image. It never ends. That is not the way to deal with the SELF. You cannot appease it - any more than you can appease a terrorist. Once it gets fed, it wants more and more and more.
The answer in God’s word is not to appease the self - but to control the self. Look at the way that Jesus dealt with sin. He didn’t try to excuse some behavior - as if to appease evil. Listen to a portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and his exposition on what was thought of as “adultery” -
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, 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 right 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 go into hell. (Mt 5:27-30)
Instead of trying to appease the flesh, Jesus recommended to cut it off. This is the only way that God deals with the sinful self. God says to it, “I will not feed you. I will not appease you. I will put you to death!” If you can’t control what you are watching, then turn get rid of your cable. If you can’t keep from visiting evil web sights, then get rid of the Internet. If you can’t control your spending and keep going in debt, then get rid of your credit cards. But Jesus took it even farther than that - He said if your eye causes you to sin it all, you should cut it off. If you can’t stop complaining about your spouse, then cut your tongue off. That seems harsh, doesn’t it? But that shows how God serious is about self-control. He doesn’t take any sin lightly - He would rather cut it off than feed it one ounce of sin.
If we were to hand out knives in today’s service, what would you start chopping off? Your eyes? Ears? Private parts? Or would you have to dig deeper - to your mind and your heart? The fact is that not one ounce of our bodies would be left in our attempts to control our selves. But God had a different plan - didn’t He. Instead of having us practice self mutilation by chopping our arms, legs, eyes, and hearts out with a knife - He practiced Self mutilation with a hammer and some nails. Instead of chopping you apart, He took your sinful nature and nailed it to a cross. At that cross He pounded that ever hungry flesh to death. He did this through the crucifixion of His Son - Jesus Christ - as your substitute. Isaiah 53:5 says that he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. The only way God could “control” your self was by crucifying it and putting it to death. He did that on the cross. He did that in your baptism. For Paul asks in Romans 6:3-4, Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. In the very next verse of Galatians Paul says that, Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (5:24) In God’s eyes - your sinful nature has already been put to death.
What is more - is that God gave you a new nature - a new Spirit - the Holy Spirit - who now has control of your body. So when God talks about “self-control” it is somewhat of a contradiction in terms. You can’t control your self. But there is hope! For God says that self control is a fruit of the Spirit. If you remember - you HAVE the Holy Spirit. When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit moved in to take the place of Satan and your sinful nature. This was no minor thing, like when you put a hat on or wear some shoes. When the Holy Spirit enters - He doesn’t just possess a corner of your brain. The Holy Spirit enters your heart and your soul, your mind, your mouth, your hands, and your feet. He permeates every bit of your body and soul. He gives you new desires, passions, and goals. So when God calls for “self-control” - He is calling on you - the Holy Spirit possessed you - to start using your mind, tongue, hands, etc., to the glory of GOD - instead of self. He does not rule by force. You don’t have to do what God wants. As a Christian you could decide to become self centered again. But the Holy Spirit in you has better plans for you. He wants you to have self control.
Paul talked about self-control this way. He said -
• I will not be mastered by anything. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (1 Co 6:12-14)
• Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
Maybe you’ve heard some of the hype about Michael Phelps. He’s been naturally gifted with double joints, short legs, and big feet. Yet he realized that he couldn’t just win it on natural talents without practicing. So he beat his body by swimming 43 miles per week for over 200 weeks. He didn’t do this because he had to, but because he wanted to. In a similar way, in view of God’s mercy He had for Him in Christ, Paul treated his body like a slave that needed to be beaten - like an athlete beats his own body in training - so that he would not be disqualified for the prize of heaven. That meant not letting anything master his body or his stomach - not sex - not food - not anything. It wasn’t so that he could EARN the prize - but so that he wouldn’t disqualify himself from the prize. It was more preventative - so that he wouldn’t ruin what God had accomplished in him.
What Paul realized about himself was that he had a miserable creature inside of him that wanted desperately to come back to life and regain control over his body. He could not allow that to happen. But if he started listening to that sinful nature - if he began feeding that nature - trying to appease it - he could very easily be led back into hell itself. That is the same danger that you and I have daily as Christians. Our sinful nature - the Old Adam - has been crucified and drowned at your baptism - but like Luther said - the little rascal can swim. He keeps on telling you, “you need to think for yourself! You need to live in luxury! You need to feed your sexual desires! You need to drown your sorrows! You need to revolve your life around how much money you have to retire on!” He wants to have control! All of those temptations - those desires - need to be drowned. They need to be told “no!” Like Luther said, “you can’t keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair!”
But how? How can you master those desires? How can you beat your body? By not giving into it - by not revolving your life around what IT wants - but instead what the Holy Spirit wants. Paul told the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Paul tells us to put on faith and love as a breastplate, and Paul says that faith comes from hearing the message. (Romans 10:17) The more you hear the Word of God - the more your faith grows - and the stronger hold the Holy Spirit gains in your life. The Word of God directs you into what pleases the Lord and fights against the flesh. The Gospel in Word and sacrament keeps your eyes focused on what is really important in this world. The more we stay connected to the Gospel - the more control the Holy Spirit will have on your thoughts, words and actions.
Unfortunately, we as Christians have used God’s grace as an excuse all too often. Since we know we’re forgiven, we then are tempted to use our own sinful weakness as an excuse to keep on sinning. Remember, you have the Holy Spirit. You were baptized. Instead of saying, “I can’t help but keep watching perverted TV shows,” crucify it. Instead of saying, “I wouldn’t fly off the handle, but my kids make me so mad,” crucify that lack of control. Instead of giving into your anger, crucify it. Instead of letting your tongue say whatever it wants, cut it off with the sword of God’s Word. There is no excuse for us as Christians to continually do things we know are wrong and then excuse our behavior just because we have a sinful nature. That sinful nature’s been crucified! Now is the time for us - as Christians - with the gift of the Holy Spirit - to get to work - to make honest efforts to get our tongues, our tempers, our TV, or whatever it is that’s dragging us down, under control. Our sinful nature is dead. It doesn’t have the power. We have the Spirit - the ability to say NO to these lusts. This is a fruit of the Spirit. With the Holy Spirit within, it’s time that we stopped acting like the world, and started more self control.
When Michael Jordan started out in the NBA, he used to score fifty to sixty points regularly - make amazing moves - and draw crowds by the thousands. The only problem was that his team would usually lose in the playoffs to the Celtics or the Lakers. Why was that? Even though these teams had superstars such as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson - these stars also were able to use the rest of the team - and won as a result. It was a team effort. When the rest of the team got involved - they won.
When the Holy Spirit enters us - He is the Superstar. He deserves all the credit not only for giving us saving faith in Christ - but also for any fruits of faith that we have - any victories that are achieved in this world. Salvation in Christ is a completely passive gift where we do nothing for it, yet God doesn’t expect us just to sit on the bench. He expects us to train for battle - to get involved in the fight - and to use our talents in a contest that is much more than a game. Eternal consequences are at stake - heaven and hell. Do not think that you are just a spectator in this arena. God wants to involve you - to train you - to beat your body and get control of it. Even though the battle was won, you can lose - there’s no doubt about it. You can disqualify yourself for the prize by your own laziness and lack of self control. But God willing, with the gift of faith and the Holy Spirit who gives you the fruit of self control - you won’t. You will keep yourself from the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for you - as hard as it may be - by keeping your eyes focused on Christ. Amen.
