Sermon: Giving Birth to Death
Scripture: James 1: 14-15
Good morning!
First...this morning, I would like to start out with a little story.
Once upon a time there was a man who thought he was dead. His concerned wife and friends sent him to the friendly neighborhood psychiatrist. The psychiatrist determined to cure him by convincing him of at least one fact that contradicted his belief that he was dead. So the psychiatrist decided to use the simple truth that dead men do not bleed. He put his patient to work reading medical texts, observing autopsies, etc. And after weeks of effort, the patient finally said, “All right, all right! You’ve convinced me. Dead men do not bleed.” Whereupon the psychiatrist stuck him in the arm with a needle, and the blood began to flow. The man looked down with a contorted, ashen face and cried: “Doggies! Dead men do bleed after all!”
Well, this man would rather continue to believe that he was dead, than to realize the fact…that he was alive. He would rather follow his flawed belief, than accept the truth.
There are millions of people in this world who are in the same situation as our little man in this illustration. They would rather continue to believe in themselves or a dead-end system of beliefs, than to accept a better way...The Way of Christ.
You know as I read my Bible and start to comprehend each verse that I read, there are certain passages that seem to stand out...passages that are uncommon to my way of thinking. Last week, we talked about ridding our lives of sin and in the preparation of that sermon was the verse that talked about ‘giving birth to death’
In James 1: 14 – 15, he says,
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
I’ve always thought it kind of funny...but, my wife Sue cannot sit and watch someone on TV walk or swim into very narrow tunnels or caves. She has to cover her eyes or leave the room. She is quite claustrophobic. On the other hand, She can sit enamored for hours watching the Health Channel, as the doctors cut a woman from hip to hip and reach in and pull out a newborn baby. It doesn’t seem to bother her to see this happening, because she is not focusing the unpleasantness of it all, she is seeing the miracle of it all...the birth of a new life.
Giving birth to new life is a miracle and a God-given joy. It remains today a mystery to even the best of human minds.
But the birthing that I speak of today is, in its own way, mysterious, too. It’s the ability we all possess to give birth to sin. How does this happen then...how do we as human beings give birth to sin and which then can create a dark world around us...a world that becomes guilt ridden, unhappy, angry, bitter...and how does it happen that some people can create such a dark world around them that it becomes hopeless, without light, and that suicide seems the only answer to it all. Just this last week, another suicide claimed a life in Cowley County.
I looked up some statistics on suicide that really were amazing...the World Health Organization estimates that in the year 2000 approximately one million people died from suicide. The global mortality rate is 16 people per 100,000. In other words, that’s one death every 40 seconds.
The World Health Organization further reports that:
Ø In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 (both sexes).
Ø Suicide attempts are up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicides. That means there were 20 million attempts at suicide every year.
Why is this happening? What causes an individual to be so hopeless that they try to take their own life? Do these people become so lost within themselves and despondent that their worlds spiral into darkness...their spirits so crushed, that they cannot see any light in their lives...they cannot see any reason or purpose for living?
What is the answer for someone whose world is becoming darker and darker?
Christ said, ”Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Here is His promise to help...Here is Christ saying that His help is available to us, even in our darkest moments. He even announces that, ‘He is the light...’.
This morning, let’s take a look at our scripture and see how sin works its way into our lives and then we’ll confirm our belief that our Lord and Savior is with us always...to help us in our time of real need and also our darkest hour.
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Ø Our scripture today starts with the sentence...But each one is tempted
As we learned last week, temptation has been with us since Adam and Eve...from these two individuals, came the original birth of sin...the sin of disobedience...the sin of self righteousness...the sin of turning away from God.
It was with Jesus, too. Let’s look at the severe temptation that Jesus endured after He declared His allegiance to the Father at His Baptism.
Jesus was driven into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. After 40 days of fasting, he was very hungry. The devil came to Jesus to tempt him. He said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these rocks to become bread.”
Being “very hungry”, Jesus, I’m sure wanted to eat and I’m sure that he could have used his divine power to turn those stones into bread.
Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on a very high place of the Temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, jump down, because it is written in the Scriptures: He has put his angels in charge of you. They will catch you in their hands so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.”
Finally, the devil led Jesus to a very high mountain overlooking all the kingdoms of the earth, showing him all their splendor. The devil then said, “If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all these things.”
Looking a little closer at what the devil was doing...we can see that he had a very determined course of action...
1. Casting doubt
The devil’s favorite word is ‘If’. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God”...casting doubt of this fact that Jesus was God”s Son. He comes to us that way to...he says to us, “If you think you are a child of God...” He continually tries to make us doubt ourselves and our salvation.
2. Striking at our weaknesses
Just like he did to Jesus, asking him to turn the rocks into bread when he was hungry...he comes to us in our weaknesses, too. When we are hungry for satisfaction from our discontentment or in our covetousness...the devil is there to push us into sin.
3. Questioning our beliefs...the devil continually questions our beliefs, just as he did to Jesus, he said, go ahead and jump...you know that God will take care of you...let’s see you do it. The devil comes to us and questions our very basic beliefs through the unbelieving. They even question the very existence of God.
4. Promising immediate gratification...Have you ever noticed that sin always promises instant gratification...and our culture promotes this sin of instant everything...’Just Do It’...’Grab for all the gusto you can get’...’You deserve a break today’.
This way of living and thinking lead us right into the second part of our scripture today.
Ø Our scripture goes on to say...by his own evil desires...
Through the Lust of the flesh...through the Lust of the eyes...and also self-righteous Pride.
Our inner urges, our discontent creates the concept of sin. Our pride taking offense...our becoming angry, incensed, bitter…then there is the lust of our eyes… and finally the covetousness of our hearts…that is what begins it all…and that is what leads us down the road of beginning to put one sin on top of another…
Have you known a person who is a compulsive liar...a person who cannot seem to tell the truth? I’ve actually known two in my life. When you first meet them, they seem to be real and genuine, but as they begin to converse with you more and more...things just don’t seem to add up. One story after another becomes all the more unbelievable.
Soon you begin to realize that...one lie is being added to another and then to another...that’s the problem with being a compulsive liar...you have to remember all your lies in order for them all to be believable.
Ø Then the scripture says...he is dragged away and he gives birth to sin...
After continually putting one sin on top of another. Our conscious becomes dulled. Sinning doesn’t bother us any more...we don’t give it a second thought. We then act on our desires and finally, through our actions, give birth to real and tangible sin.
Those caught in the addiction of drugs...after their need becomes strong in them, they don’t think twice about stealing something of value in order to sell it and then go buy their next fix. The fact that stealing is a sin doesn’t matter...stealing only becomes a means of providing what they believe they need and it doesn’t bother them anymore.
The act of sin...without a conscious to warn us...without consequences to hurt us...sinning becomes easy...it becomes a way of life...part of the way you think and view the world around you.
Ø Then comes the scary part...when full-grown, sin gives birth to death.
Then comes the following after of sin. - if there comes no punishment that stops us, then the flagrant excesses of one sin leads into the even more extreme sins that follow. The only problem is that it takes more and more to satisfy us...and that satisfaction is fleeting...it must be repeated to be sustained and then to a higher level...a level that brings on that same feeling of fleeting satisfaction.
Temptations come to us daily and sometimes more often than that. In the case of the drug addict, temptation may be a constant companion. The temptation to shoot up one more time...or the temptation to take one more drink...the temptation to smoke one more cigarette…the temptation to gossip about a friend or neighbor…How do we stop our sinning
We, in our very nature, have a tendency to sin. And if this is so, then how do we break this cycle of Sin. Let me start with a little story of a man and his dog...
Story of the Dog and the Red Meat...
There was a man who wanted to teach his dog obedience. The way he decided to do this was to take a nice large bite of fresh, juicy, red meat...the kind that dogs love to eat He then laid that meat down in front of the dog at some distance and then told the dog, “NO! Of course, the first few times that this happened, the “NO” meant nothing to the dog. But each time he disobeyed the man, he was punished. As this training progressed, eventually, the dog would not move toward the meat and the man noticed that the dog was not looking at the meat, but at the man, himself. The dog was focusing on the man, not on the meat. If the dog looked at the meat, the temptation would probably be too great.
The title to this sermon is ‘Giving Birth to Death’. But this idea of ‘Giving Birth’ can be looked at in two ways. If we can ‘Give Birth to Death’, we also have the ability to ‘Give Birth to Righteousness’...we can, out of our darkness, decide to choose the light. We have the God-given gift of Free Will. Just like the training of the dog...we too can choose our focus in life.
We can choose...we can choose who our Master is going to be...instead of choosing drugs...instead of choosing alcohol...instead of choosing greed or lust or pride...we can choose Jesus as the master of our lives. The one and only man without sin.
He taught us...no he commanded us to ‘Give Birth to Righteousness’...to be an example of light in a dark world. By choosing Jesus as our Master, we choose life and life abundant...we choose to have a Master who understands our bent for temptation...because He Himself was tempted.
Hebrews tells us...(Hebrews 4: 15)
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Just like the training of the dog...we must keep our focus on Jesus...we must learn how to be obedient, so in turn we will understand the miracle of life...the miracle of life in Him.
Come and See, Go and Tell – coming to obedience
The angel at the tomb of Jesus said to Mary...’Come and See and Go and Tell.’...and that is what Jesus is telling us...come to me and see the Truth...know the Righteousness. And then go and tell...BE ALIVE and go and tell the world about the ‘Living Water’ to be found in Christ...BE ALIVE and go and tell the world about the one who can forgive your sins and bring light into your dark world...BE ALIVE and tell them of the love that makes them worthy... worthy of life eternal with the Father. BE ALIVE!
In Conclusion:
There were three friends from the local congregation who were asked "When you’re in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?" Artie said: "I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man."
Eugene commented: "I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people’s lives." And finally, Don said, "I’d like them to say, "Look, he’s moving!"
Are you ‘Dead or are you Alive”? Are you daring enough to make that leap...the leap from being dead within yourself to becoming ALIVE IN CHRIST...Are you brave enough to believe in the ‘things unseen’. Are you courageous enough to be persecuted for that belief?
Taking the journey from Sin to Salvation isn’t an easy way. God never promised a cushy ride, just a soft landing. Today...Are you courageous enough to choose who the Master of your Life is going to be...Then strong enough to bear the pain of ‘Giving Birth to Righteousness’?
Amen.
