Focus:
Holiness as a part of our covenant with each other.
Function:
To encourage members (attendees) to live in such a way that we can
be proud of each other's commitment to Christ.
Form:
Bible Study
Intro:
My Daddy was saved in a
Nazarene Church. My twin brother and one of my elder brothers are
very active in leadership at the Nazarene Churches they attend. My 4
of my nieces, 2 of their husbands and 1 of my nephews attended a
Nazarene college. One of my nieces and her husband attended a
Nazarene seminary.
The lady that lead me
to Christ married a Nazarene evangelist. And if there is one thing
that is common in that denomination it is their motto: Holiness to
the Lord.
When you go to the town
where the college is, you may be hard pressed to find a wedding ring
on the finger of a married student or professor. You may be hard
pressed to find hair that is cut on one of the female students, or
even a pair of slacks.
They were the
culmination of the holiness movements that swept the nation at the
turn of the last century. I had a friend who told me a little bit of
the history. Apparently they would incorporate smaller holiness
movements and whatever item that the smaller movement used to prove
their holiness, the entire denomination adopted it.
So, when they
assimilated a group that didn't believe in wearing any jewelry, they
all stopped wearing jewelry.
They had a General
Secretary who was from North Carolina and being from the South, was
given over to the habit of smoking a pipe.
When they incorporated
a movement that denied the use of tobacco, they made it a rule that
no one could smoke. But the General Secretary, who also had a tobacco
farm kept his practice of smoking a pipe hidden.
Holiness was what it
was all about. Holiness is what this passage is about. Holiness means
to be different, to be set apart from the value system of the world
around us because we belong to God.
In that movement,
holiness was proven by what people didn't do. And this passage talks
a lot about forgoing sinful practices because we now belong to God.
Today we are going to do a sort of bible study and look at it.
But he starts out with
the importance of community in what may have been a shoking
reference, considering his audience.
Paul was the missionary
to the Gentiles. Gentiles, were everyone who was not born of Jewish
descent. Paul loved Gentile people.
But he starts out with
what might be taken as a prejudicial statement about them. I want to
unwrap that so we see the importance of our calling into the Church.
Gentiles. Gentiles,
because of the influence of the Bible, throughout history has always
meant all the people who are not born of Jewish descent. The root
word behind the word Gentile is genos. That is the same word that we
get genes from. It refers to “all the other families” of humanity
that, again, are not Jewish.
Does this passage mean
that everyone who is not Jewish is less? No. The primary audience
that Paul is writing to is composed of Gentile believers. Is he
insulting them? No.
Gentiles means “people
from the nations” or “people who are members of the earthly
kingdoms only.” He sets a pretty high standard for what it means to
be a follower of Christ.
By this standard, we,
as Christians should be known by our commitment to God's kingdom on
earth instead of the politics of human kingdoms.
We should be known by
how we reflect Jesus and His value system in our lives and not by the
way we reflect the value system of the world around us.
Holiness means that as
Christians, we are a different kind of people, with a different kind
of value system.
I read an article by a
man in California. He said this: “The unbelieving world is really
in love with the Jesus they read about in the New Testament. But they
are not sure about the Jesus they see reflected in the people who
claim to follow Him.”
We understand where
that comes from. When extremists picket the funerals of good people
with signs that say: God HATES fags, we cringe. We cringe that
extremists claim to speak for us and we want to shout: “No, it
isn't true.”
That kind of attitude
is unbiblical. It certainly isn't what Jesus taught us. Jesus never
said anything about hating gay men. As a matter of fact, the entire
bible says nothing about hating people who are caught in that
lifestyle.
The bible speaks
against sin. The bible declares that God created humanity to live in
monogamous relationships between a husband and a wife. The Bible
tells us that brokenness has come into the world and because of that
Jesus paid the price to restore us to God.
But Jesus' death and
resurrection makes it clear the God loves sinners. Sinners like me.
Sinners like you. When someone shouts out that God hates people like
that, they twist God's Word into something that it isn't meant to
say.
I am convinced that the
reason why the gay community is singled out is because it most often
is the sin of others, and therefore we can make ourselves look better
because we are not attracted in that fashion.
I will be clear. God
hates sin. And the Bible says that God despises wicked people. But is
very important to understand wicked people in God's eyes are the
violent, or the self-righteous who turn they eyes away from a poor
widow in distress and justify their own greed. Greed is evil whenever
we pursue it and thereby harm others. Business practices that take
advantage of others, practices that are not win-win are wicked. God
hates those actions and, the Bible says, he despises that kind of
behavior in anyone.
Evil exists. And we as
followers of Christ must turn away from it.
And this passage is
about what it means for us to live as followers of Christ in a pure
and holy way.
And the whole thing
starts out with this attitude that we, as Christians, are members of
the heavenly kingdom. That is what he is talking about when he talks
about the peoples from the nations. Every national system of
government, no matter how just it is, is designed to protect the
specific interests of its own people. And that is fine. It is
something that God has ordained.
But, we have to start
out, as Christians, with an attitude that says that the things that
accomplish God's purposes in the WORLD are the ones that we need to
be passionate about.
Last week we saw the
command to preach the good news in our local area, our state, our
nation and even unto the ends of the earth.
God cares about the
world entire. That is why Paul, who is the Jewish person whose
calling from God is to preach the gospel to the Gentile nations, uses
this language. He isn't criticizing people of other nations, he is
reminding them, and that includes us, that we are members of the
heavenly family first and foremost.
So, our behavior should
reflect that we are members of God's Kingdom here on earth.
Any action that
benefits ourselves and harms another is not a Christian action.
So, let me develop this
idea from our passage today.
In verse 18, we read of
the problem that people who are not members of God's kingdom live
alienated from the life of God because their hearts are hard.
Hardening your heart to
the suffering of others is the core behind a godless life.
Hard hearts meant then,
exactly what it means today. A hard hearted person is a person who
has the ability to turn their head away from someone who is suffering
and not care, or do anything to help.
1
John 3:16-17
(read
from bible)
tells us that if we are Christians, and we love one another, and we
see someone in need and do nothing to help them out, then we really
are not Christians.
I love something about
this passage. It delves into the psychology of why human nature can
be so corrupted.
There is a picture as
to what causes this kind of hard-hearted behavior. And the opposite
of this value is one of the core values of our Church, and it should
be one of the core values of every Christian denomination.
Sin, hardened-hearts
spring from selfish ambition.
Verse 19, (read
from bible)
When he says they have
lost their sensitivity -he means to others-,
When he says they are
licentious, he means that have given themselves over to acts designed
specifically for human pleasure,
It happens when
personal pleasure becomes our God.
We can look at that and
say: “well, that isn't us, certainly.”
And thankfully almost
all of you can say that.
But there is a warning
in this passage about Christians falling back into that kind of
behavior.
The door to it is
opened by greed and living for pleasure.
Well, what is wrong
with pleasure you may ask?
Nothing, unless it
becomes your god.
It is a tricky thing.
God created pleasure for our happiness. Pleasure is healthy. To enjoy
the beauty of this earth, and the gifts that God has given us is even
an act of worship.
Just like watching our
children enjoy their first birthday cake, it is an act of love
between the parent and the child.
Between an husband and
wife, pleasing each other makes the marriage vows special and
wonderful.
When the food tastes
just right, it satisfies a person's hunger.
When the iced tea is
cold and flavored just right, it quenches our thirst. The
satisfaction of those cravings is a gift and blessing from God.
But people who live for
pleasure, people who make pleasure their god leave love for others
behind.
I have heard people
say: “the man who dies with the most toys wins.” I know we don't
believe that.
We adhere to the
principle that there are no u-haul trailers following hearses.
We would say, the man
who dies with the most toys is still dead.
We know this. We
understand this.
But Brother Paul is
warning us just how easy it is for us to leave behind our Christian
calling, leave behind a soft and kind heart.
It all happens when we
place ourselves, our greed, our personal fulfillment, or happiness
above our commitment to Christ Jesus.
Brother James tells us
that the source of most of our sin comes from wanting something that
we cannot have, and placing pleasure above others.
Pleasure is good, but
never good when it harms others. The world system teaches us this:
“what is good for me is good.” But the Christian system is this,
“If what blesses me harms someone else, then it is not from God.”
Christians are
distinguished by seeking the welfare of everyone as well as their
own.
And Paul is telling
them the importance of holiness and living by that kind of standard.
So, in verse 21, he
reminds us to that this is exactly how we felt when we first became
Christians.
How contrary is that
system to the way that others live! Jesus said it this way: I love
you all, and I will prove my love by sacrificing myself for you!
Can we live sacrificial
lives as well?
Christian discipleship
needs to do this. Vs 21, “you were taught...”
And then he goes into a
kind of Value System Fashion show.
Cast off your former
way of life. Put on a new way of life, Clothe yourselves with a new
self.
And, he says that this
will be our new fashion statement. We will be righteous and holy.
The word righteous can
be translated in two different ways. Most often, almost always, it
means that we are just people. And a few times, especially in the
book of Romans, it means that we are people who have been forgiven by
God. But the word is like a coin. The head of the coin means “just.”
The tail of the coin means “forgiven by God.” It never means that
somehow we are more special, or favored by God. And, just like any
other coin, it cannot be cut apart. It loses its value if it is cut
and it no longer has an head or a tail. So, in this passage, when he
says righteous, he is talking about people who are just, who do the
right thing by others. We will be just people. We will be fair, we
will be forgiving, we will be merciful.
And holiness, in this
case means that we will be like Jesus. Jesus set Himself apart from
the world He lived in, in order to serve others. So will we.
It is sad that at times
Christianity is sold as the means to the personal success. Paul
reminds them that the nations look at success completely differently
than we do. Jesus, by the world's standards was poor, never had a
mansion, and was killed by both the government and the religious
leaders. By the standards of success in this world, He failed.
But, He was
soft-hearted. He healed everyone who came to Him. He loved the
religious hypocrites, the notorious sinners, and also the good,
decent and kind-hearted people of His day.
The first description
of sinners in this passage is people who are hard hearted.
Do we ever harden our
hearts? Do we every refuse to forgive? Do we ever refuse to treat
someone who disagrees with us with respect? Do we ever refuse to
ignore the pleas of someone who wants to reconcile with us? Do we
ever think about the poverty in 3rd
world countries and say to ourselves: “not my problem?” Do we
ever regard the poor here in our own nation and convince ourselves
that they are poor because they are lazy?
In all of these cases,
we harden our hearts. And this text tells us that we harden our
hearts because we place our own pleasure over the plight of others.
We are more concerned with accumulating more for ourselves than
loving a person in need. And all of that leads us away from following
Christ Jesus.
And finally, verse 25.
(read).
Be honest with one another. This isn't just a tag on to the previous
verses but a conclusion.
We are members of one
another. When those guys claim to be Christian and carry signs that
say God hates someone else, they cast a poor reflection on us.
When we sin, we cast a
poor reflection on the other attendees of this Church. We live for
Christ together. We need each other to keep ourselves focused on
loving others.
I am not talking about
judging each other. I am talking about the need to encourage each
other.
So, when he says “speak
the truth to our neighbors” he is telling us to be honest about our
failures and weaknesses.
When we are, we should
get encouragement from each other, not judgment.
We are members of each
other. We are members of each other in spite of our own weaknesses or
theirs.
None
of us can faithfully live this Christian life in a vacuum.
And that kind of brings
this passage around full-circle. It starts out with the knowledge
that they are part of a greater kingdom, with much more noble values
than the personal greed and selfish motivations of the word around
them. And it ends the the way that the community they have now joined
needs them to be faithful to this value system.
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