Fallenness
Wildwind Community Church
David Flowers
August 13, 2006
I want to talk to you this morning about Mel Gibson. I do not want to discuss my favorite movie, double Oscar-award-winning Braveheart, today. I do not want to discuss Mel’s The Passion of the Christ, or his upcoming movie Apocalypto. I do not want to discuss Mel’s money with you, or the fact that Mel was People Magazine’s first Sexiest Man Alive. I’m not interested in Mad Max, or the fact that Mel is from Australia, or his fairly mediocre attempt at comedy in the movie What Women Want (I realize most women will disagree with this assessment of the film), or the horrendous turn with Goldie Hawn in Bird on a Wire. I’m not even interested this morning in talking to you about Mel’s apparently not so alter-ego in the Lethal Weapon movies, the unstable but lovable Martin Riggs. I don’t want to talk to you today about Gibson’s voice work in Chicken Run, or his incredible role in The Patriot, or his performance in my favorite war movie, We Were Soldiers. I’m not interested in talking to you about any of his other film roles, such as his uncredited role as the bearded mechanic in 1980’s Chain Reaction, the title character in the 1979 film Tim, Gene Ryack in 1990’s Air America, Jerry Fletcher in Conspiracy Theory, Bret Maverick Jr. in 1994’s Maverick, Tom Garvey in 1984’s The River, Rev. Graham Hess in 2002’s Signs, Justin McLeod in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face, Captain Daniel McCormack in 1992’s Forever Young, or Tom Mullen in the 1996 film Ransom. I don’t want to talk about his AFI awards for Tim and Gallipoli. I don’t want to talk about his three Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Actor in Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, and The Patriot, or his Broadcast Film Critics Association and Golden Globe awards for best director for Braveheart, or his Grand Prix award for The Passion of the Christ or his Hollywood Film Festival award for producer of the year for The Passion of the Christ, or his MTV movie award for Best Action Sequence for Lethal Weapon 3.
I’m not going to talk to you about any of these things today, because at this moment, in regard to Mel Gibson, only one thing matters. He screwed up. All that matters, all that’s playing in the papers today about Mel Gibson is that he got drunk, drove way too fast, and made some awful remarks to his arresting officer. Mel’s auspicious career in Hollywood is of little consequence right now. When we’re on the bottom, it doesn’t matter how much time we’ve spent at the top.
I have been thinking a lot about Mel Gibson, as Mel was arrested on July 28 – my birthday. I’m fascinated with the story because – well, because I think Mel Gibson is a lot like me. I think he’s a lot like you. And you know what? I think he’s a lot like most of those people who are threatening to boycott all his future projects and calling him names and passing judgment on him. (Incidentally, many who are doing this love to characterize the church as the ultimate place of condemnation and judgmentalism.) Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to defend what Mel did or said in any way. Mel hasn’t defended his words and actions, and I’m certainly not about to. It’s not about defending him, it’s about seeing ourselves in the fallenness, in the brokenness, of other people.
Mel Gibson has a long history in Hollywood with some stellar – and some not-so-stellar – accomplishments under his belt. He hasn’t always hit every ball out of the park, have you? He has succeeded and failed in his life, haven’t you? He has struggled with his demons and has been successful at times and unsuccessful at other times. Haven’t you? He finds that despite his best efforts, he has some demons that continue to lurk around the edges of his life – demons that, if he allows them, will steal his soul and maybe even take his life if he’s not diligent. Do you have that in your life? Do you have things in your life that, if you aren’t careful, will devour you? Things that will dissolve your marriage, or land you in prison, or destroy your reputation, or steal your joy, or hurt your children, or pollute your mind, or end your career, or maybe even take your life? Do you find that life sometimes seems to be a balancing act between all that is glorious and good in you, and all that is wretched and wrong? Have you found, like Mel Gibson, that your greatest successes have unfortunately not erected an impenetrable barrier in your life against your greatest failures? Have you discovered the most basic truth of your life, which is that you can never get too far from your own fallenness?
My friends, after the fairly intense last few weeks we have had – follow Jesus, follow Jesus, follow Jesus (and indeed that message must continue to go out), I want to talk to you this morning about a God who loves fallen, broken people like Mel Gibson, like you, and like me. I want to talk to you about the struggle with your own fallenness. And unlike some sermons that build toward the conclusion, I want to tell you the conclusion right now and then spend the rest of the message making sure you get it.
God’s love for you, God’s acceptance of you, does not depend on your dealing with your fallenness. Let me say it in another way. You do not have to pick up the broken pieces of your life before God will accept you. How about this way. You cannot accomplish in your own power what God could only accomplish with the death of his Son. Or maybe this is most clear. You do not have to get your act together in order for God to love you. And you shouldn’t have to get your act together in order for people in the church to love you either, because the more we understand grace – that God loves us with our acts NOT together, that God’s acceptance of us does not depend on our dealing with our fallenness, that we do not have to pick up the broken pieces of our lives before God will accept us, the more we learn to grant that same grace to other people. So this is a message about grace today. We can never hear enough about grace. We can never be reminded enough of God’s unconditional love for us. We can never understand well enough how true it is that God’s love is all-encompassing, and expansive, and available to everyone willing to live in that love.
Matthew 5:3 (NASB77)
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3 (GW)
3 “Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Matthew 5:3 (MSG)
3 "You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
Matthew 5:3 (AMP)
3 Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!
This is one verse – one small thing Jesus said. Yet we can live by it. We can live in the assurance that true, real, spiritual happiness (in other words blessing) is available to us precisely at the moments when we are aware of our poverty of spirit, in other words, when we realize we are spiritually helpless, at the end of our rope, are humbled (or humiliated!) and understand our insignificance. We desire to make it to the top and then stay there. We don’t want to find ourselves back in the valley of humiliation or suffering. We don’t want to be subjected once again to the pain of doubt, the burden of regret, the cross of guilt. We try to avoid these moments at all costs, and that’s not a bad idea! But I’m here to remind you this morning that blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who have fallen and can’t get up and they know it. Blessed are those, in the words of Brennan Manning, who cannot keep their cheese on their cracker. Spiritually prosperous, to be envied, are those who can’t keep it all together, who have come to the end of themselves, and know that God is their only hope.
There is only one reason it is a blessing to be in this position folks, and that’s because God really IS our only hope! And if it’s true that God is our only hope, then it’s tragic if we live as if that were not true.
Think back over this past week or two. Have you had moments where you have not felt good enough for God? Have you had times where you have felt like you need to pull this or that together so that God can love you? Christians here today, I want you to realize something. If you have had those moments this week, you have not been thinking Biblically in those moments! We think it’s spiritual to beat ourselves up for our flaws and weaknesses. Jesus said that spiritual poverty in us places us in a position to experience true spiritual joy and enviable happiness. You don’t have to have it all together! Seekers, non-believers here today, if what I’m saying is true – if God loves you just the way you are at this moment – if you don’t have to clean up your act to approach God – if you don’t have to impress him, or the pastor, or anyone else here – then what would stop you from committing your heart and life to him today? You don’t have to stop smoking to come to God. Just give your life to Jesus and pray that God will help you stop smoking in his timing. You don’t have to stop swearing, just give your life to Jesus and pray that God will grow you past your foul mouth. You don’t have to fix your marriage problems, your money problems, your attitude problems. I’d encourage you to commit your life to Jesus, get on the journey, and allow God to begin taking you to the place where you WANT to do some of these things in ways you just might not really WANT to right now.
I want to take you now to the words of a Biblical writer who discovered that no matter how hard he tried to be good, he had a bad side just waiting to overtake him. This man’s name was Paul. Paul was a pretty holy guy – he wrote 1/3 of the books in the New Testament and really fleshed out the full meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Probably none of us will ever be as close to God, as holy, as Paul was. So check out what this holy guy had to say:
Romans 7:15-25 (NCV)
15 I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate.
16 And if I do not want to do the hated things I do, that means I agree that the law is good.
17 But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them.
18 Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me--I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them.
19 I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do.
20 So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.
21 So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me.
22 In my mind, I am happy with God’s law.
23 But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner.
24 What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death?
25 I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So in my mind I am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful self I am a slave to the law of sin.
Fallenness. Brokenness. You and I are fallen, broken creatures. Paul was a fallen, broken creature. Paul explains to us here the Christian experience. I know that nothing good lives in me--I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them.
19 I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do.
This reminds me of something Mel might say. This reminds me of something I might say. Does it remind you of something you might say? Can you relate to Paul’s struggle with his fallenness? Have you experienced this seeming contradiction that you want to live and act in certain ways, but you continually find yourself falling back into old patterns and habits of behavior? I’ll bet Mel would say, “You know, in my mind I want to be a good person. I want to do the right things. I try hard, and I go for months at a time doing what I should be doing. And then, suddenly, just like that, I do these dumb things that I don’t understand.” That’s the pattern that his friends say they keep seeing in him. Been there? I have.
I want to explain to you this morning where this comes from, why this happens, and what the solution is to it. I’m going to do all of this pretty quickly, so hang on.
Paul is writing about a struggle that rages on inside of him, and there are two parties in that struggle. First there is his mind. It is in his mind that he knows what he should and should not do, and it is in his mind that he desires to do what he should do.
Romans 7:22
22 In my mind, I am happy with God’s law.
The other party involved in the struggle is Paul’s body.
Romans 7:23
23 But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner.
So Paul knows what’s right in his mind, and he is happy with the idea of living the way God would have him live. But what he finds is that there seems to be one standard of behavior in his mind, but a totally different standard embraced by his body. In other words, Paul’s mind and Paul’s body want different things. You could say that his will is divided. By way of example, Paul would know in his mind that lust is wrong, but his eyes might not always get on board. He might know that speaking badly of others is wrong, but then find that his lips and tongue don’t get on board. He might know that greed is wrong, but still find himself grubbing for more money. St. Augustine experienced this struggle within himself and prayed, “Lord, help me to will one thing.” Help me to will one thing. Don’t you wish you could will one, and only one, thing?
So this battle with our fallenness comes from the fact that being a Christian begins to set your mind straight before it sets your body straight. Accepting Christ can sometimes bring about a change in perspective that is nearly instant. It can change the way you think about a lot of things. Because you find yourself thinking differently, you automatically expect your body to follow suit and get on board. Sometimes it does. Often it does not! Your will is divided. Your mind knows what is right, in your mind you may desire to follow Christ, but your body is used to getting what it wants when it wants it – doing its own thing. Before you become a Christian, your mind and your body work together as a team. Your mind becomes aware of a desire and your body goes after it. After you become a Christian, your mind starts playing for a different team – it no longer wants what your body wants. We’re not talking weird stuff here, folks, we’re just talking about conditioning, about the habits you develop as you live your life to satisfy your desires.
Romans 6:12-13 (NCV)
12 So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do.
13 Do not offer the parts of your body to serve sin, as things to be used in doing evil. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used in doing good.
What is the solution, then? If we are going to deal with our fallenness, our brokenness, our tendency to continue sinning and screwing up, we must be aware of the mind/body problem. We must understand that simply wanting to do what’s right will not assure that we actually do it! We must put practices into our lives that help our bodies (and yes – our minds too, as they definitely do not become perfect when we first accept Christ) to break old habits and come into line with the good we want to do. We have talked about spiritual practices the last few weeks so I don’t want to get into that again in any detail, but this is the reason we continue to struggle with our fallenness. Our minds often know the right thing to do, but our bodies are not on board, and we must teach our bodies to get in line. This process takes a lifetime, and that’s why you do not have to get your act together in order for God to love you. Which is connected directly to my last point this morning.
You will find that it’s impossible to really begin getting your act together until you allow God to love you. Everyone struggles with their fallenness, including the writer of 1/3 of the New Testament. If Paul struggled with this, you can count on struggling with it too.
Romans 7:24-25 (NIV)
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
When Paul refers here to a “body of death” there are two images he’s probably alluding to. The first is his own body that continually draws him to commit sins that cut him off from God. The second image Paul probably wants to bring to mind stems from a practice of punishing criminals that was common in his day. A man who committed murder would actually have the corpse of the person he murdered chained to him so that it would go with him everywhere he went for weeks and weeks as it decayed. Paul wants to evoke the image of our old sinful selves being like dead and rotting corpses that we are still tied to even after we become Christ-followers.
But what is the answer to Paul’s question? Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! And I’ll allow this to lead us into our conclusion this morning. Who will deliver you from your body of death? Who has the answer to your fallenness? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Are you a fallen person, a broken person? Yes you are, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Will you struggle with your brokenness, have your highs and lows, ups and downs? Yes you will, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Like Mel, will you experience your share of success and shame, highs and humiliation? Yes you will, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. God, through Christ, is the only one who can help you deal with your brokenness. Because God, through Christ, has already loved you, already died for you, already paid the price for your fallenness and sin and humiliation and shame. That’s why you don’t have to deal with your brokenness before God will love you. God knows your brokenness, and has loved you all along.
Christians this morning, God understands your fallenness. If you’re beating yourself up for your brokenness today, will you stop the beatings and say, along with Paul, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ my Lord.” Let your shame and frustration give way to thanksgiving! Non-Christians here this morning, what are you waiting for? Not only do you not have to deal with your fallenness before you can come to God, but God is the only one who can deal with your fallenness. You can’t do on your own what it cost God the death of his Son to do for you. Will you all pray with me this morning?
Father, thank you for understanding and having patience with our fallenness. Thank you that at this very moment you are rescuing us from bodies of death through Christ. I pray for any non-believers here today who might say this prayer in their hearts – “God, I need you. I don’t want to wait around to pull my life together before I get you involved, because I need you to rescue me from this body of death – habits and patterns that are taking me nowhere. Will you forgive my sin because of the death of your Son, Jesus, and will you be the leader of my life starting now? Please show me how to live for you from now on – Amen.”
