The Blunder Effect Series

The Blunder Effect (part 1)

Psalms 3:1-4

Ill. What is the only thing in nature that travels uphill faster than it comes down? Fire! On July 3, 1994, fire broke out near the base of Storm King Mountain in a canyon near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Firefighters had been fighting the blaze for three days. On July 6th a group of smokejumpers thought they had the blaze well contained in the canyon below. Suddenly, the wind picked up and within moments the fire began racing up the mountain toward them. Unable to outrun the speeding inferno, twelve smokejumpers and two helitack crew were over taken by the inferno and perished.

Application:

There are some things that are so volatile and dangerous that, not matter how careful we think we're being, we dare not draw near. That is the nature of the danger posed to us by temptation.

Psa 3:1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;

* David deals with the consequences of his sins.

* Notice that David's temptation was lust.

* The sin did not end with gratifying lust and adultery.

* It grew quickly to lying, deceiving, and murder.

* The consequences grew as well.

* A son who lusted and got way too intimate with his sister.

* Another son who, in revenge, murdered the guilty brother.

* This second son, rebellious, arrogant, seeking David's throne.

* Absalom declaring war against his father David.

* It echos back to the sad words of Nathan the prophet when he confronted David with his sins.

2Sa 12:7a Nathan said to David, "You are the man! ...

2Sa 12:9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'

* Now, David seems overwhelmed by opposition.

* The great saying, “Sin always takes you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay and costs you more than you want to pay.”

* This is completely evident in this Psalm.

* “how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;”

1. Consequences of sins always affect relationships.

* Oh, how I wish that my sins, whether in attitude or in actions, did not affect my wife.

* Oh, how I wish my sins did not affect my son and daughter-in-law.

* How many times have I regretted that my undisciplined tongue had not affected my relationships with my deacons.

* How many times have I prayed that my anger in one situation would be limited to only those involved.

* The problem with sin—it is spiritual first.

* Therefore the ripples are unseen going out.

* It is shocking, awakening, when we realize how far our sins ripple spiritually and how many people we affect.

* I guarantee you, when David looked out over his roof onto Bathsheba's roof to get a better view of her bathing, it never crossed his mind who and how many people he would be hurting.

* Now, it seemed to him everybody was against him and his enemies outnumbered his friends.

Ill. In the 1960's Dr. Edward Lorenz, in trying to develop a systematic method for developing long range weather predictions, began focusing on Chaos Theory. Chaos theory basically is a study of how things that seem chaotic and random are actually more predictable from seemingly unrelated events.

Without getting too technical, he tried to describe the interrelationship between minor weather events in one part of the world with other major weather events a great distance away. He developed a theory called the “Butterfly Effect”.

The idea is that the ripple of minor wind disturbances caused by the wing of a butterfly in South America could create a hurricane in North America.

Though it sounds overly dramatic, it is not near as believable as the “Blunder Effect”.

* It looks like this; if a temptation of lust can turn into lying, deception, murder, and the consequences in a family can be the loss of one infant, the rape of a daughter, the murder of a son, the rebellion of another son, the loss of a kingdom and the death of the rebellious son in David's life....

* ...what will the result of yeilding to a small temptation do in your life?

* How will a small blunder in your life affect so many, so powerfully, and hurt so deeply?