Recovering From Sin Series

Several years ago, Alice Pike tried to use a fake $1 million dollar bill to shop at Walmart. She went to the register with $1,675 worth of stuff and expected change. Pike told police she got it from her estranged husband, who is a coin collector. They arrested her anyway on first degree forgery charges (The Associated Press, “Woman Says She Thought $1 Million Bill Was Real,” NBC News, 3-9-04; www.PreachingToday.com).

Two things gave her away. 1st, the U.S. Treasury does not print $1 million dollar bills; and 2nd, she asked for change. What was she thinking? Did she expect the cashier to hand over $998,325 in change? And did she even bring a vehicle big enough to handle all that change?

What she did was stupid, but not anymore stupid than any other sin. People lie and expect good results. People overindulge in food or alcohol or entertainment and expect to feel better. People take what isn't theirs and expect satisfaction. People act selfishly and expect stronger relationships. People ignore repentance and expect forgiveness. People hand over a fake and expect change.

So what do you do when you do something really stupid? What do you do when you sin to get back on the road to recovery? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 32, Exodus 32, where Moses deals with a nation that did something really stupid.

Exodus 32:15-20 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it (ESV).

While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving God’s Law, the people of Israel in the valley were involved in a drunken orgy before a golden calf that Aaron, the high priest, had fashioned. They were breaking the first two commandments: you shall have no other gods before me; and you shall not make for yourself a carved image (Exodus 20:3-4).

Reflecting God’s anger (vs.10), Moses’ anger burned hot (vs.19). The word for “anger” is literally the nose, so picture his nose flared out as that anger burns within him.

As a result, Moses broke the two tablets of stone, containing the 10 commandments, because they had broken God’s law. Then Moses ground the golden calf into powder, threw the powder in a nearby stream, and forced the children of Israel to drink it.

By doing this, Moses showed them how worthless their god was, which would become excrement as it passed through their bodies. Moses also forced them to accept responsibility for their own sin, as they ingested the idol into their own systems. It was an important first step in dealing with their gross, stupid sin.

And that’s what you must do when you sin. Accept responsibility for your actions. Ingest the sin, so to speak.

CONSUME YOUR SIN, owning it as your own.

During the 2002 Soccer World Cup, Adidas introduced their Fevernova soccer ball. It featured a new design that was supposed to make the ball follow a more predicable flight pattern than the previous generation of soccer balls. However, while the Fevernova accomplished this goal, many players complained that it was too light, making it fly unpredictably.

So for the 2006 World Cup, Adidas attempted to fix those problems with their new Teamgeist ball. This ball had 14 (rather than 32) curved panels that were bonded together rather than stitched. This goal was to make the ball uniformly round and completely waterproof. Yet for all of Adidas' efforts in solving the water problem, some players felt that the ball flew too fast. It was too easy to score goals they said, and it made goalies look slow and ineffective.

Adidas again made further improvements for the 2010 World Cup ball called the Jabulani. They further reduced the number of panels from 14 down to eight, but they also added textured grooves to the panels intended to make the ball have the same kind of aerodynamics as a traditional stitched ball. But once again, some players complained that the new grooves made the ball fly unpredictably (John Dyer, From the Garden to the City, Kregel, 2011, pages 132-133; www.PreachingToday.com).