The Doctrine of Sin: The Vandalism of Shalom
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I recently read a Christian writer, Platenga, who reminded me about something that I think we all need to be reminded about.
I read his book called “Not the Way It's Supposed to be”,
and it really inspired this sermon.
Let’s pray before going any further.
...
I think we can all say that we get annoyed.//write annoyed
We probably get annoyed every day.
Somebody cut you off on the road.
A customer was rude.
The restaurant didn’t have the best service,
and you were starving.
So you get annoyed.
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Deeper pain than annoyance is that of regrets.//write regret
Maybe you feel regret when you look at your educational decision.
Or your career choice.
Or you feel regret because of what you did as a child.
...
Further pain than regret is what theologians have called miseries. //misery
Loneliness can be a misery.
Feeling alone at your own home with your own family can be a misery.
Boredom can be a misery.
Anxiety can be a misery.
Feeling restless,
and bored while scrolling through social media can be a misery.
These things--
annoyances,
regrets,
and miseries--
tell us that things are not how they are supposed to be.
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But something that brings more trouble than anything,
than annoyances,
regrets,
and miseries,
is this:
sin. //write
And I’m going to be transparent with you today, without holding punches.
So please be prepared.
Most of us have been here for a while.
So we have a level of trust and comfortably.
Let’s talk about sin without holding back.
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Sin distorts our character.
Sin is assumed to be part of our nature.
Sin corrupts our thoughts,
emotions, speech,
and actions.
Sin is worse than any annoyance,
any regret,
any misery.
Sin perverts what makes us human.
It distorts the image of God within us.
Sin is what leads political leaders to commit fraud.
Sin is what causes a peer to feel happy when his or her colleague received sour feedback.
Sin is when a drug dealer plans to hook a fresh customer with drugs.
Sin is when a teenager mocks his grandmother.
Sin is when we look at others, have high standards for them,
but give ourselves plenty of allowances.
Sin corrupts us.
And sin,
to be honest,
is the root of misery:
because of sin,
we experience loneliness,
restlessness,
shame,
and meaninglessness.
You want to know what is wrong with the world?
You’ll get a lot of answers.
Maybe we don’t have enough resources.
Climate change.
The rich getting richer,
the poor getting poorer.
Weapons of mass destruction.
These are certainly things that are a problem,
but I like what Albert Einstein said about weapons of mass destruction:
“What terrifies us is not the explosive force of the atomic bomb, but the power of the wickedness of the human heart.”
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Sin within the human heart is the main human problem.
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Sin hurts and damages people.
Sin is what leads a father to abuse his daughter and corrupt her.
Sin is what causes an angry husband to hurt his wife.
Sin corrupts that daughter and wife,
and makes it more likely for their children to be abused.
Sin leads that daughter to abuse alcohol and not find a stable marriage.
...
Sin brings disease,
accidents,
and confusion.
...
According to one scholar,
Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin Introduction
Thousands of Third World children die daily from largely preventable diseases: out of laziness or complacency, certain grownups fail to prevent them. Thousands of First World children are born drug addicts: their mothers have hooked them in the womb.
Sin is what leads people with STDs,
who are aware of their STDs,
sin is what moves them to put their partners at terrible risk.
...
Sin happens every day.
...
Today’s message is not entirely gloomy,
although it will be because I should speak reality,
and reality can be gloomy.
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But there is good news,
because at the center of our Bible,
we see the four Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And they tell us,
the lengths that God went to defeat sin and its wages.
Sin and its effects.
Sin and its consequences.
We Christians,
should not be afraid to talk about sin.
Because we know it can be dealt with.
And it has been dealt with.
Jesus’ death on the cross,
the physical ripping of his body,
the metaphysical effects of his death,
it all demonstrates that sin is serious.
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But it also demonstrates that God has dealt with sin.
Martin Luther correctly wrote in his hymn, From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee
Thy love and grace alone avail
To blot out my transgression;
The best and holiest deeds must fail
To break sin’s dread oppression.
Before Thee none can boasting stand,
But all must fear Thy strict demand
And live alone by mercy.
Though great our sins, yet greater still
Is God’s abundant favor;
His hand of mercy never will
Abandon us, nor waver.
Our shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow.
Though great our sins, yet greater still
Is God’s abundant favor;
Our sins are great, but God’s grace is greater.
Rom 5 20 says
Romans 5:20 (CSB)
But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more
Romans 5:20 (NIV)
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
Romans 5:20 (NLT)
But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
Eugene Peterson in the Message said,
But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace.
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Nevertheless,
it is crucial to understand sin.
Because it’s still here,
and while God has dealt with it,
and we can experience freedom from it,
we’re in this in-between time,
where we are waiting for the execution of sin.
On the cross,
sin was sentenced to death.
In the end,
sin will die.
It will be executed.
But for now,
we still deal with it.
...
As Christians,
sin is not the primary influence over our lives.
The Spirit and word of God are.
Yet,
we still fall.
We still sin.
...
So let’s use the word of God to understand sin.
Sin can be seen as missing the target. // draw
Sin could also be seen as wandering away from the path.
Or straying from the fold.
The Bible tells us that sin is a hard heart and a stiff neck.
Sin is blindness and deafness.
Sin is overstepping a line and the failure to reach it.
Both transgression and shortcoming.
Sin is a beast crouching at the door.
Out of sin,
people attack or evade or neglect their divine calling.
These biblical images should help us identify sin.
Sin has been the biggest problem for humans since the beginning.
Today,
we’ll hone in on one aspect of sin.
And it is the vandalism of Shalom.
...
In a movie,
when a character’s expensive car didn’t work anymore,
five young boys try to do some harm to the person,
But fortunately,
the tow truck shows up at the nick of time.
And the boys dispersed.
Then,
the tow-driver said something I think we’ve all felt.
Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin Chapter 1: Vandalism of Shalom
Man,” he says, “the world ain’t supposed to work like this. Maybe you don’t know that, but this ain’t the way it’s supposed to be. I’m supposed to be able to do my job without askin’ you if I can. And that dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin’ him off. Everything’s supposed to be different than what it is here.”
Everything’s supposed to be different.
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I like Christianity,
because it recognizes reality,
instead of ignoring it.
You hear about a lot of philosophies,
religions,
and worldviews that ignore reality,
ignore evil,
ignore bad vibes,
but Christianity recognizes that evil exists.
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Things should not be as they are.
There is true evil,
There is sin.
Augustine,
a super smart Christian,
right after Paul in terms of intelligence.
Augustine taught concerning the Christian understanding of the world.
And foundational to his teaching was that the world has a design.
There is a way things ought to be.
God purposed and intended the world with a design,
both in creation, in the beginning,
and in the restoration of creation.
In God’s intended plan,
in God’s intended world,
there is supposed to be peace,
justice,
mutual respect,
and people desiring to do good.
Ask yourself,
is that how things are?
You look outside,
in all the countries,
or across your city,
Do you see peace,
Do you see justice,
Do you see mutual respect,
Do you see people desiring to do good?
And while there are exceptions,
must of us would say uh,
I actually see the opposite.
And that’s because,
things are not as they should be.
Humans have messed up the world,
the balance of things.
Our wrongdoings mars,
taints,
corrupts the adults’ workday,
the child’s school day,
and every holiday.
We see that sin vandalizes what should be,
when--as an example,
a third grader had liked a girl.
Nothing happens when they were in school,
but they meet again in a high school reunion and had some drinks.
Some nostalgia happens.
Though both of them were married to other people,
their evening climaxes in a room at the Marriott.
...
Sin messes up marriages.
Marriages are supposed to be a place where two love each other,
without corrupting their love with someone else.
...
Sin corrupts things.
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The prophets of the Bible knew this.
They repeatedly confronted Israel for its sins.
But the prophets also dreamed of a new age,
when human crookedness would be straightened out,
rough places made plain.
The foolish would be wise,
and the wise, humble.
They dreamed of the deserts flowering,
the mountains with wine,
and no more weeping.
Sleeping without a weapon at hand.
People would work in peace and work effectively.
Lambs could lie down with lions.
All nature would be fruitful, filled with wonder.
All humans would be close to one another in brotherhood and sisterhood.
All humans would walk with God,
look to God,
lean towards God,
and delight in God.
People would regularly shout with joy.
...
The coming together of God,
humans,
and all creation in justice,
fulfillment,
and delight.
This is what the Hebrews call Shalom
We translate it to “peace,”
but it’s more than just peace of mind or a ceasefire.
It’s universal flourishing,
wholeness,
and delight.
It’s how things are supposed to be.
God,
the physical world in its fullness and beauty,
the human race,
families,
married couples,
group of friends,
human beings,
all together and flourishing.
In God’s shalom world,
it works for every child of his.
Nations and races would treasure differences in other nations,
and see other races as attractive, important, and necessary.
Men would see women as equal.
They would include them in making decisions,
and vice versa.
Women and men, equal.
Government officials would tell the truth,
and praise the virtues of other public officials.
There wouldn’t be negative comments under YouTube videos or Instagram posts,
or negative tweets.
No gang violence or death.
No fear of deportation.
No road rage.
News outlets would have well-written accounts,
accurate accounts of acts of great moral beauty.
And the greatest thing is that God would be with humans,
in all his beauty.
…
Something that we have all longed to witness.
As a result of seeing God’s beauty,
we would glow with the love of Christ.
Human communities of different ethnicities will come together in the name of God to be radiant and hospitable,
each with their unique cultural foods.
Each person with their accents,
praising God and eating together.
This is God’s plan.
This is shalom.
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But sin corrupted this plan.
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Sin is a religious concept.
That is,
it comes from the Bible,
and somebody who is not familiar with Christianity,
may have no idea of what sin is.
...
A thief steals from a store.
We,
as Christians,
would say that he has sinned,
Nonbelievers would just say he committed a crime.
We see it as sin because we understand that there is much more taking place.
Not only did the criminal steal from the store and break the law,
but he has vandalized God’s shalom,
and has sinned against God.
He offended and betrayed him.
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Sin is not just about breaking laws,
but it’s about breaking a covenant,
a berit,
maybe you remember that word from our time in Malachi,
this close relationship that we have with God.
Sin harms that relationship.
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Think about that when you’re about to sin,
sin mars your relationship with your heavenly father.
No sin is disconnected from God.
That is why in the Psalms,
when it says that David sinned against Bathsheba,
he sees it as primarily sinning against God.
He finds mercy of course,
but he sees the gravity of his sin:
Be gracious to me, God,
according to your faithful love;
according to your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.
Completely wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you—you alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in your sight.
So you are right when you pass sentence;
you are blameless when you judge.
All sin
first and ultimately
is sin against God.
God created this shalom world,
and your sin, disrupts it,
you are sinning against God.
Any continuing thought,
desire,
emotion,
word,
or action,
that is sinful displeases God and deserves to be dealt with.
Sin makes you guilty before God.
Of course,
when you are redeemed
by believing in the work of Christ and repenting of your sins.
Because of God’s grace, you gain this new position.
God doesn’t see your sin but the sacrifice of the cross.
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Still,
God hates sin.
He hates sin,
not because he’s an angry person,
but because sin destroys the peace.
It breaks the peace.
It interferes with the way things are supposed to be.
Because God is for shalom,
because God wants peace,
he is against sin.
We may say,
sin,
evil,
is anything that spoils shalom,
whether it’s physically,
morally,
or
spiritually.
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Have you disturbed shalom or preserved it?
Ask yourself that.
We Christians have this vision of shalom that comes from the Bible,
and from the world we see,
and from reflection and wisdom.
And we have concluded that some things easily vandalize shalom:
Generally speaking,
robbery,
assault,
malicious gossip,
fraud,
blasphemy,
envy,
idolatry,
and lying destroy shalom.
But we can build shalom,
by giving to the poor,
embracing people,
praising,
harvesting,
thanksgiving,
complimenting,
truth telling,
and worshiping God.
We also notice that people ought to love and obey God.
We ought to marvel at God’s greatness and praise him,
because of this world of shalom he is bringing.
And we should hate sin,
because it runs counter to the way things are supposed to be.
Sin,
and godlessness are anti-shalom.
Sin offends God because it bereaves him since it assaults what God has made.
Look at sexism and racism.
These two things are sinful.
Why?
Well,
because God created humans as equals.
Sexism and racism show contempt and hate towards what God has created.
Therefore it’s a sin.
It corrupts God’s intentions.
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Sin is horrible.
As a side note,
don’t confuse sin with mere error.
Like a typo.
Sin should not be confused with humanness.
We have limits.
We’re finite beings.
We are guilty not for being human,
but for being sinful.
As a human,
Jesus died for us humans,
to save us from our guilt that comes from sin.
God did not desire us to be sinful.
He made humans,
and if you want to see the truest human,
the most genuine human,
look at Jesus.
He is what a person is supposed to look like.
But obviously,
we don’t look like him.
We sin,
in different ways.
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All sin is equally wrong.
But not all sin is equally bad.
Actions that we do are either right or wrong.
But some actions are better than others,
and other actions are worse than others.
Like adultery,
if your heart is thinking about someone else other than your wife with lust,
that is wrong,
just as adultery is wrong,
but obviously,
looking is not as bad as actually sleeping with somebody who is not your spouse.
Certainly,
looking, fantasizing about someone who is not your spouse is a problem that needs to be dealt with,
but adultery in a motel room is worse and harder to deal with.
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You know,
you might covet your neighbor’s house.
That’s wrong.
You might steal your neighbor’s house.
That’s wrong.
But obviously,
stealing your neighbor’s house is worse,
since that’s not how things are supposed to be.
You corrupt shalom.
And you may commit a sin,
that corrupts shalom,
unintentionally.
You can be prideful,
envious,
angry,
lazy,
lustful,
without trying to be sinful.
And these things grow naturally.
We need to fight against these sins.
And we are going to fall,
but we need to fight and rely on God’s love.
The Bible tells us that we need outside intervention to control and conquer our faults.
We need prayer.
We need community.
We need accountability.
And ultimately,
we need God’s spirit to fight.
Hopefully,
you want to fight sin.
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But it might be possible that you want to commit these sins.
You want lust. (be careful if new peeps)
You want to do anything to excite you.
You don’t just want sex,
but you want the appetite for sex outside of the beautiful context God has given humans.
I pray that you would see how you are vandalizing what God intended for you.
God made sex to be a strong force between couples,
and a pleasurable force as a loving thing God has given us.
And the bond that sex produces should be nurtured in the context of marriage.
If you’re having relations casually,
you’re making strong bonds,
destroying bonds,
and it perverts sex and it affects you.
You have this legitimate need but you are fulfilling it in an illegitimate way.
And now
you want sex to get a transcendent experience,
a euphoric experience
and it might not matter whom it’s with.
You’re using sex to meet other needs you have that sex wasn’t supposed to fulfill.
Sex is a beautiful thing.
God made us as sexual beings.
And he didn’t have to make it as pleasurable as he made it.
But he did out of love.
And God made this beautiful experience so that you can get close to your spouse.
Sex outside of this context is sin.
It breaks shalom.
It breaks the peace and design of God.
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If you have sinned in any way,
What I recommend is this:
Repent.
Tell God you are sorry,
and that you are now committed to bringing Shalom.
And believe,
that when Jesus died on the cross,
he took all your guilt,
so that you could be free.
Get a hold of God’s grace
And start building shalom.
If you need help stopping,
find somebody who could walk with you.
Try to identify the patterns that lead you to those sinful habits.
Stop deceiving yourself and saying that sin is not bad.
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Let’s pray.