The Blacklist

TITLE: THE BLACKLIST

SCRIPTURE: PROVERBS 6:16-19

I know this seems to be a strange passage to select on this MOTHER’S DAY. Usually we talk about –VIRTUOUS WOMAN – WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MOTHER – SELECT SOME TEXT SURROUNDING SOME OF THE GREAT WOMEN IN THE BIBLE. Can I tell you that preaching on Mother’s Day can be challenging because:

• All Women are not Mothers

• Some were raised by very Difficult Mothers

• Some Mother’s doing the very best they can and struggle every day

• Some shed tears on this day as they Miss their Mothers who have gone on to Glory

This morning I don’t want to preach about mothers, I want to preach about the Lord through this challenging text. When I reviewed this text and began to pray about how to fit the context into this day our nation has set aside to honor Mothers’ my mind, through the text, began to think about one of my FAVORITE TV SHOWS -- BLACKLIST.

It is the only TV show I really want to watch each week. I am always fascinated with the DEPTH OF DEPRAVITY and yet, a QUEST FOR SOME KIND OF VINDICATION being presented in every episode. There is a blunt acknowledgement of evil, a confession that is there, each TV Character seems unaware that there is GRACE.

• There is in each primary character – a questioning of the soul

• You see it in Liz, as she struggles with the evil of each case, and the questions about her husband

• You see it in Redding, as he tries to help Liz, but also as he has his moments of solitude

• You see it in the Writing and Directing of the Show each week

I can relate to this weekly TV series as there is an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF OUR SINFUL SELVES, and attempts made to justify ourselves by doing something good or noble or perfectly just. Except in the show they realize, as we do, that the harder we try, the more likely we fail. That’s perhaps what I like about the show – it strips us, not from the idea that we are not sinners, but from the idea we can justify ourselves. That we can explain away our OWN SHORTCOMINGS – OWN FAILURES – OWN TENDENCY TO SIN. But it needs to go beyond that.

This show THE BLACKLIST – Redding has done so much wrong in his life that he now feels if he can rid society of the most evil people who are found on his ‘Blacklist’ that maybe he can find some peace in his own life. He works with LIZ and her partners in the FBI to work through this BLACKLIST and remove those individuals, One by One. You don’t want to be found on that list. Some of you are wonder – OK, Pastor, all that is good, but where are you going with this?

In our text we find another type of List, a Blacklist if you will. Not designed by Hollywood, nor scripted by cleaver individuals, but a BLACKLIST penned by the hand of God.

• It’s not a Phone List

• It’s not a To Do List

• It’s not a Honey Do List

• It’s not a Shopping List

• It’s a Blacklist

Can I tell you this morning we don’t want to be found on this List that belongs to God. Most of us are not even aware of the fact that God has a blacklist, but He does. We are not aware of this list because we tend to focus so strongly on God as love.

• It is the premier attribute He has when it comes to His dealings with us

• It is the attribute that shields us from what we deserve

• It is the attribute that motivated the greatest gift that could be given - His Son

• God is love and we should be thankful for that

So with the intense focus on His love when we are then told that God ‘HATES’ something we should be inclined to sit up and take notice. There are SIX THINGS THE LORD HATES, SEVEN THAT ARE DETESTABLE TO HIM.

• God has gone on record that He hates these things

• God denies the thesis of liberal theology that He simply shuts His eyes to the sins of mankind and is tolerant of evil

• God says, “I love”

• But He also says, “I hate”

Solomon uses incredibly strong language here. He declares that there are six things that God hates and one more that is detestable – one in particular that just sets God over the edge.

• Contrast that with our concept of God is love

• It is imperative to make sure we know what God loves