The Pizza Box Family

David is gone on vacation with his family, so we decided to post this sermon preached by him last year for you to read.

Preached at Northwest Christian Church
David P. Kautt
Sunday Morning, May 24, 2009.

Psalm 128:1-6 
Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.
When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy,
And it shall be well with you.  Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants
All around your table.  Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.  The LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem All the days of your life.
Yes, may you see your children’s children. 
Peace be upon Israel!

If you were to boil down to one thing so as to describe for me the essence of Satan’s strategy in this day and age, if you were to try to zero in on one way – just one – in which Satan is going about his sinister work at the present time, what would that one thing, that one way be?

My loved ones, as I look at our world, as I intersect with people on a day-to-day basis, and as I consider our lives, it seems to me that Satan’s strategy in this day and age, has one primary focus, one main target:  The family – marriage and the family.

I could easily list for you 6, 8, 10 maybe 12 families and marriages that I know are being assaulted at this present time by the one who wants to see those families disintegrate.  And believe me, it’s not pleasant, nor is it pretty.  You know what I’m talking about, I’m sure.

Family trouble – marital difficulties due to the weakness of our sin-stained selves, due to the allurements of this world, due to an enemy who wants to see our marriages and families dead in the water.  It’s ugly, and very, very painful.  Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about here, don’t you?

And yet, then I remember that the family – marriage and the family is where Satan has been setting his sights literally from the beginning.  You go back to the very first chapters of this Book, and what do you read?  What does the Word of God help us to see? 

That Satan has been seeking to unravel marriages and families, and thereby to undermine the plan of God, literally from the beginning of mankind!  There in Genesis 3, in the garden of Eden through his fiendish temptation, he sought not only to set man and woman against God, but against each other!  He purposed to turn Adam and Eve against each other, and away from the ONLY ONE who could help them the God who made them!

Last week I was assisting a young man with some projects he was trying to accomplish, while at the same time, attempting to help him to understand some important truths from God’s Word about life.  This young man and I were here at the building preparing to do a few things around here, when I noticed something laying in the middle of the intersection across the street.  It was a pizza box, with two half-eaten slices of pizza left in it, laying where someone had tossed it out their car window.  It was a pizza box, some trash to pick up and put in the church dumpster, sure.  But it was more than that.  It was an object lesson – a teachable moment for this young man and me, as we walked across the street to clean it up and dispose of it.

What was the object lesson?  What did my young friend and I learn from that bit of sanitation work?  The pizza box, with most of the slices gone because they were eaten, but with some left over, and slung out the window of a passing car:  Some people live their lives that way, don’t they?  Some people, who have swallowed the devil’s lie that THEY are the important ones, that THEY are GOD and the center of the universe.  Some people treat other people – their spouses, their children, their parents, their live-ins – some people treat other people that way.  “I’ve had my fun.  I’ve gotten out of you what I wanted.  [Wad up and sling out the window.]  Now it’s time for me to move on, to find someone else to use and abuse.”

Satan’s strategy, his scheme to destroy what God intended to be beautiful, and sacred, and a hub for His blessing in our lives, believe me, it’s a frightening thought, as we live in these latter days, it’s a sad, and discouraging thing to see all the ‘pizza box’ marriages and families and relationships laying here and there along life’s road.  But what can we do to defeat that strategy of the enemy in our own lives and in this world?

The ‘pizza box’ family – the ‘pizza box’ marriage or relationship – you know something, my friends?  I’ve yet to meet anyone who wants to have that kind of family or to be treated in that way.  However, I’ve also found it difficult to find very many who really know how to make their marriages and families any different.  Anybody here have any idea why that is?

I’d like to suggest that it all begins right here, in God’s Word.  If you treat the Book of God, and the God of this Book, like some half-eaten slice of pizza and the box it came in, no wonder you don’t know how to make your marriage and family any better!

The Blessed Family – not the Pizza Box Family – but the Blessed Marriage, and Family:  How does your family and my family get to be that kind of family?

The psalmist writes,

“Blessed is the man who fears the LORD
Who walks in His ways.

When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy,
And it shall be well with you. 
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.

The LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
Yes, may you see your children’s children. 

Peace be upon Israel!

This psalm is a beautifully picturesque view of the Blessed Family.  It’s what I want my family and my marriage to be.  And I trust that is your desire as well.  But how does it come to pass?  What do we need to do to reach that goal?

If I may, I’d like to use the time we have left this morning to examine several secrets to family success that God has made plain right here in His Book.  Would you follow along with me, please? 

How does a family – how does a man and his wife cultivate the blessing of God in their lives, in their marriage and family?  Before we answer that from this passage, notice the blessings that God says He has in store for those who do:

    Verse 14  --  rain in its season
    Verse 14  --  a bountiful harvest
    Verse 15  --  well-fed livestock
    Verse 21  --  long lives and strong family heritages.

These blessings and many others, God has in store for His people.  But how do we open ourselves up to them?

Pick up the reading of the text beginning in verse 18 through 21:

Therefore you shall lay up theses words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

How do families go about cultivating God’s promises of blessing?  They do so by starting right here with His Word!  The Blessed Family – How do our families get that way?  They get that way by learning God’s Word together.  By treasuring up this exceedingly rich source of wisdom in their hearts.

Mom and Dad, it begins with you!  “Lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul,” the Lord declares.  And then He says, “You shall – [that’s the language of commandment.] – You shall teach them to your children.  You shall speak of them”  step-by-step, as you go about the day.

Do you want to be a Blessed Family, not a Pizza Box Family?  Start here, with God’s Word.  Start here.  There are a lot of things, even many worthwhile things, to learn in this world, to find out about as a family.  But listen.  Nothing… NOTHING is as important as learning, and knowing and DOING this.  Nothing!

Please find 1 Corinthians 16:19 with me.  Someone has made this astute observation about families: “The Christian family, not the Pizza Box family, but the Christ-centered family is in actuality the Church in miniature.”  Have you ever looked at your family and your marriage that way?

The so-and-so family – “Hey, we’re the Church in miniature.”  The such-and-such family – “Hey, we’re the Church in miniature.”  You get the point.  But now then, how does that connect with the subject of cultivating the blessing of God for our families?

The Christian family – the Church in miniature.  Take a look at 1 Corinthians 16:19.  And then we’ll learn how it connects.

1 Corinthians 16:19 – “The churches of Asia greet you.  Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.”

This man, Aquila, and his wife, Priscilla, are dear friends of Paul.  The apostle Paul describes their home, their family, as being the headquarters for their church.

What does all of that mean?

Here’s what it means.  You wanna be the Blessed Family?  Do you want to cultivate God’s goodness in your marriage, and in your family?

Worship God together!  Worship God together.  Beloved, that’s what Joseph and Mary, and their young son, Jesus did.  Talk about a blessed family.  Remember, Luke chapter two?  That occasion when 12-year-old Jesus got separated form His mother, and Joseph?  Where were they?  And why was this family there?  They were in Jerusalem.  And they were there to worship, to go to the house of the Lord to worship together as a family.  You wanna be the Blessed Family?  Worship God together.

Number Three – 1 Timothy 3:4, 5 and 12 is the passage that sets forth for us the qualifications for church leaders.  What does a passage about church leadership have to do with what it takes to have a Blessed Family?  Take a look and you’ll see.

Men who are candidates for, possible prospects to fill the key roles in the Church of  the bishop (also known as the overseer or the elder / shepherd) and the deacon / servant – how are you and I to know whether or not they are suited for the job?

The Bible says we should take a look at their homes.  Examine closely their marriages, and their families.  Godly men – men fit for these important positions of spiritual influence – what are they, to begin with?  Let’s look at 1 Timothy 3:4, 5 & 12.  To begin with, they are men who rule well – men who rule well – their own households.  The idea there is that of loving leadership, not a Hitler dictator, not a Saddam Hussein tyrant, but a “compassionate overseer” who guides, guards and governs his wife and children in a Christ-like manner.

Mom and Dad, you are to be the family watchmen.  You say you want your family to be in on God’s blessings?  Then you – Mom and Dad – you must be the family watchman.  By the way, I say Mom and Dad for a reason.  Proverbs 31:27 – We’ve looked briefly at what God’s Word has to say about the husband and father’s role in all of this.  He must “rule his house well” according to 1 Timothy 3:4, 5 & 12.  But what about his wife – his partner in caring for the children?  Look at what Proverbs 31:27 has to say about the godly woman, the Christlike wife and mother, and what her responsibility is in seeking to cultivate God’s blessings on the home.

Proverbs 31:27 – “She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

What is the godly woman’s role?  It’s the same as that of her husband.  Like her husband, she is to “watch over, watch out for, the ways of her household.”

What can you and I do to cultivate the blessing of God on our marriages and on our families?  Believe me, there is nothing more sad, more painful - yes, even more ugly – than a “pizza box” family.  With God’s help, I’m going to work to make certain my family isn’t one of them.  How about you?

A Summer of Self-Indulgence?

Photo credit

David is on vacation with his family, so we decided to post a sermon preached by David last summer.

Preached at Northwest Christian Church
David P. Kautt
Sunday Morning, June 7, 2009.

1 Corinthians 9:19-27  For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
    Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?  Run in such a way that you may obtain it.  And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.  Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.  Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.  Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.  But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. 

1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.  Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.  Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; for ‘the earth is the Lords, and all its fullness.’  If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake.  But if anyone says to you, ‘This was offered to idols,’ do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, for conscience’ sake; for ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.’
    ‘Conscience,’ I say, not your own, but that of the other.  For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?  But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?  Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saves.
     Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

I have a song I want to sing for you as we begin our study this morning.  Here it is:  “School’s out, schools’ out!  Teacher let the monkeys out!  Yipee!  We’re free!  We’re free!  It’s summer time, and at last we’re free!”

Did you like my song?  Deeply spiritual, right?  Nope!  Moved you to greater oneness with the Lord, right?  Nope! 

School’s out.  It’s summer time and at last we’re free!  I know that at least the students among us relate to that song.  And perhaps you teachers and parents are singing it, too! 

“School’s out, and we’re free!”  Free, in what way?  What have you got planned for the summer?  Really now, what are the next 10-12 weeks for?  Have you thought about it?

If I can be my own musical critic, and maybe even jump in with my own answers to these questions about summer time, I’d have to admit to you that my – uh-hum – ‘deeply spiritual song’ about the end of the school year – what it’s really talking about is something that summer time and yes, maybe even all the time, every minute of our lives – are too much about.  Have any ideas what I’m thinking about here?

I know that this may not be our favorite subject to consider.  And likely not too many of us came here this morning thinking we’d hear a message on the topic.  But listen to me, will you, my loved ones?  My song about the end of the school year – what it’s really about – what its message really is, is that summer time – school’s out time – is a season for self-indulgence.  A season for self-indulgence.

Nearly two thousand years ago, the ‘musicians’ at a place called Corinth in ancient Greece, were singing a similar song.  It went something like this:  ‘We’re Christians, we’re Christians.  Jesus let the sinners out!  Jesus saved us and we’re free!  We’re free!’

As redeemed sinners – some of them converted former idolaters – there was some truth to that way of thinking.  Those Christians at Corinth were free!  They were no longer enslaved to their sins – and no longer in bondage to the idols they used to worship.  But the question was:  “How far was that ‘freedom in Christ’ supposed to go?  Were there meant to be any limitations or restrictions or boundaries on that freedom?  And were there any obligations and responsibilities that went with that freedom?

With your Bibles still open to the passages we read a moment ago, I want you to look around with me a little at this section of Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth.  Notice with me what really was at issue here, and how that specific case-in-point relates to the larger subject of Christian freedom and self-indulgence.

1 Corinthians 8:1 is the verse that serves as the introduction to this larger three-chapter section.  What does it say?  “Now concerning things offered to idols:  We know that we all have knowledge.  Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.”  The specific case-in-point that Paul addresses in these three chapters of this letter is the issue of Christians – free-in-Christ as they are, with a ‘knowledge,’ an insight into that idolatrous worship in which they used to take part, as Paul says in verses 4 and following of chapter 8 –a knowledge that so-called idol gods really are nothing at all.  Possessing this knowledge about idols, free-in-Christ Christians had the liberty to eat food that previously had been used in idolatrous worship ceremonies.  Christians were free to do this.  But does that mean that they should do this?

I know it may not be completely clear to you yet; but even just that one verse – that first verse of chapter 8 – hints at what the bigger issue here is, doesn’t it?  It begins to point us in the direction of the truth that often Christian freedom goes awry into self-indulgence, and that the only cure, the only antidote for self-indulgence is self-denial.  Self-denial is part of what I call the CROSS PRINCIPLE, that daily dying-to-self mindset, that simply must operated in the life of a true follower of Jesus.

Before we look a little further into the subject of self-indulgence – this Christian freedom gone awry, and self-denial – the prescription for this malady, I’d like to get a little transparent with you for a moment, if I may.

Self-indulgent.  There aren’t many of us that aren’t already that way, are there?  Take your preacher, for example.  When it comes to eating, he’ll be glad to take an extra portion of whatever’s on the menu.  And when it comes to sleeping, his pillow is one of his favorite places.  And when it comes to talking, he can keep up with the best of you, and with lots of ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ and ‘my’s’ mixed in. 

Self-indulgent.  We know what that means, don’t we?  And, then along comes some musician, some disc jockey, playing a tune that goes like this:  “School’s out, school’s out.  Summer’s here, and we’re free!”  And what do we do?  We’re tempted to take self-indulgence to the limit, to an extreme!  But hear me, my loved ones, will you?

Self-indulgence – this ‘I’m free in Christ, free to do anything I want to do’ mindset – that whole messed-up way of thinking, in fact flies directly in the face of the correctly understood message of the gospel.  Do you realize that?  You see, the world says – the Prince of this world, the Devil says – even our flesh says, “I’m free!  Jesus set me free!  So I’m going to indulge myself.  I’m going to feed and nourish the ‘I want, I want, I want’ part of me!”  All the while Jesus, our Liberator says, “If you desire to be My follower, if you want to learn My truth and imitate My ways….  If you want to be My disciple, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me!”

Self-indulgence - a summer full it.  Self-indulgence – Christian freedom gone awry – freedom in Christ wrongly understood.  What does it produce?  What are the results?

1 Corinthians 8:1.  It produces arrogance!  It results in that puffed up pride that Paul said in chapter 13 was the very opposite of Christ-like love!

Lets look at 1 Corinthians 8:8.  Self-indulgence.  It prompts me to have the mistaken notion that my eating - my exercising that freedom in a selfish way – actually benefits me!  But look at what the Word of God says.   It says that “food – eating this meat that had been sacrificed to idols – exercising the freedom I have in Christ to eat that meat – it does not – it does not commend me to God.  I am no better, no more enhanced spiritually for exercising that freedom!”  But the self-indulgent mindset will make me think that I am!

Thirdly, self-indulgence produces a certain blindness – a shortsightedness to the fact that my reckless exercising of this freedom actually causes me to sin against Christ by wounding the brothers and sisters of Christ.  1 Corinthians 8:9-13.  And how do we do that?  1 Corinthians 9:19-23.  We do it, by maintaining a ‘serve me’ mentality, rather than a Christ-like, ‘serve others’ mindset!

Fourthly, self-indulgence – this wrong-headed way of viewing and utilizing one’s freedom in Christ – it can cause a stubborn kind of deafness to the truth.  Take a look at 1 Corinthians 10:23 and imagine a conversation along these lines between a self-centered Christian – which, by the way, is a virtual oxymoron, a contradiction in terms.  Imagine a self-centered Christian and Paul discussing the subject of Christian freedom.  The interchange goes something like this. 

Self-centered Christian:  “All things are lawful for me!” 

Paul’s response:  “But not all things are helpful!”

Again, the self-centered Christian:  “All things are lawful for me!”

And again, Paul replies:  “Are you listening, friend?  All things may be lawful for you and me, but are all things up-building?!”

Wrong-headed, self-centered Christianity will make you deaf, deaf to the truth about what freedom in Christ really means!

And where does all of this lead?  What is at the end of that road marked ‘self-indulgence?’  Take a look at 1 Corinthians 10:1-11.  As the sad and pitiful examples from the history of the nation Israel illustrate, you and I may be under the cloud of God’s visible presence.  (Remember that cloudy pillar that led Israel safely out of Egypt and toward Canaan land?)  And you and I may be able by God’s grace to pass through the Red Sea on dry land.  (Remember the story recorded over in Exodus 14?)  And you and I may be baptized with Moses in that cloud and in that sea.  We may be partakers of all these enormous spiritual privileges, including eating spiritual food and drinking spiritual drink.  But if we go about it with a proud, foolhardy, self-serving way of living, taking those privileges for granted – Watch out!  We may end up just like those Israelites:  dead in the wilderness, having never reached the Promised Land!

Self-indulgence with all of its pride, with all its blindness and deafness and self-centeredness – self-indulgence – this wrong view of what it means to be free in Christ…  Is that what summer time is all about?  Is it?

As Paul says here in these three chapters of 1 Corinthians, as well as in Romans 14 and 15, and Galatians 5 and 6, I’d like to suggest to you that for the Biblically-informed Christian, the summer is not all about self-gratification and self-indulgence, but about self-denial.  Self-denial.

First, a definition.  What is self-denial?  Well, in a word, it is Christ-like agape love in action!  What does that introductory verse in 1 Corinthians 8:1 say?  We know that we all have knowledge.  This ‘I’m free in Christ’ kind of knowledge about things like eating food that’s been sacrificed to idols.  But what is the tendency of that knowledge?  Pride. Self-indulgence rooted in and related to pride.  But is that the only way to go about appropriating one’s Christian freedom?

No!  There’s a better way – a much more Christian way, a Christ-like love:  self-denial in action, at work through unselfish love that builds up the other person.

In 1 Corinthians 10:24, Paul says that self-denial is all about seeking the other person’s well being.  In Galatians 5:13, Paul says, “You, brethren, have been called to freedom.  But do not use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [to have its way]; but rather through love, through unselfish, sacrificial love, serve one another.’  Self-denial.  Jesus defined it like this:  “Not My will, but Thine be done….  Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  And then, He stretched out His arms and died.

Self-denial.  What is it?  It is Christ-like love in action!  It is the CROSS PRINCIPLE at work in you and me, as we seek to serve and bless each other in Jesus’ name.

And where does all of this lead?  Well, I want you to imagine something with me.  Imagine a summer – this summer – jam-packed with self-denial.  What would it look like?

Here’s what it would look like:  1 Corinthians 8:9-13.  A self-denial summer would be one where God uses you and me to build and strengthen this church to a level higher and stronger than it’s ever been before.  We wouldn’t be putting stumbling blocks in the way of our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ.  Rather, if we were practicing self-denial, we would say ‘no’ to whatever was necessary to make sure that those weaker brethren were built up, not torn down.  That’s what is called EDIFICATION.  EDIFICATION.

And a self-denial summer – this summer – would be one where God uses you and me to reach more lost souls than we’ve ever reached.  1 Corinthians 9:19-23 and 10:33.  Look at those passages with me for a moment, will you?

Paul is not so much talking about creative outreach methods as he is talking about self-denial.  “I am free from all men,” he says in 9:19.  But “though I am free, I have made myself a servant.”  Did you catch that phrase, Beloved?  “I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more….”

In chapter 10, verse 33, he says it this way:  “I’m not seeking my own benefit, my own profit, but the profit of many, that they might be saved.”  Beloved, that’s evangelism, not gimmicky outreach, but true Biblical evangelism.  Self-denial based evangelism.

Snapshot number three.  What would a self-denial summer look like?

In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul says, “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.”   “You wanna see what a self-denial summer looks like?”  Paul says, “look at my life.”  And what would we see if we looked at Paul’s life?  1 Corinthians 9 – the whole chapter.  What’s Paul trying to get across to the Corinthians in that chapter?  Well, Beloved, he’s trying to help those folks, and us folks, understand that he, as an apostle – like Jesus Christ  as God’s Son – he had a ton of prerogatives, a truckload of rights as an apostle.  Verse 4:  He had the right to eat and drink.  Verse 5:  He had the right to marry a wife.  Verses 6 and following:  the right to expect financial support for his work, and so on .  But what does this Apostle say was his mindset toward all these rights and privileges?  Verse 15:  “I have used none of these rights.”  Just like his Lord and Savior did as He hung on Calvary’s cross, in sacrificial self-denial, Paul gave up those rights for the benefit of others, to win others.

Self-denial. What is it?  It is imitating Christ, mimicking Christ for who He really is, before a watching world that is so skeptical and yet so hungry to see the real thing.  Copying Christ’s pattern of self-denial – that’s what’s called EMULATION.  EMULATION.

Quickly, two more portraits of a summer of self-denial.  Here’s what it would look like..  1 Corinthians 10:31:  Paul says, “Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”

A summer of self-denial.  Imagine God using you and me to honor the Lord through everything we think, say and do to make His praise glorious!  To magnify and enlarge His name and His kingdom!  That’s what the Bible calls EXALTATION.  EXALTATION.  Through a summer jam-packed with self-denial, that’s what God can use us to do!

And then, last of all, snapshot number 5.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27:  A self-denial summer.  It is a summer – ten, maybe twelve weeks lived to the hilt for Him.  But why?  1 Corinthians 9:27.  So that one day when we stand before His all-seeing eyes, we’ll hear Him say, “Well done!  Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Beloved, a summer of self-denial – this summer, starting today.  It’s pursued in view of that day – the Judgment Day.   “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection,” Paul says in 9:27, “lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”  Self-denial in view of that day – that’s what God’s Word calls EXAMINATION.  EXAMINATION.

“School’s out, schools’ out!  Teacher let the monkeys out!  It’s summertime and we’re free!  We’re free!”

But free to do what?  As Christians, free to what?  Here – in God’s Word - you have your answer:  free to lay aside, free to let go of some pleasure, some possession, some pass-time, some purchase, some plan of ours for Him… and for them.  What will we give up, lay aside and let go of to make this summer a self-denial summer?  A summer cram-packed with EDIFICATION, EVANGELISM, EMULATION, and EXALTATION, and all of that done in view of THAT day – that day of examination.  A summer of self-denial.

Are we ready to do what Jesus did?

In Philippians 2, Paul says that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, gave up all the rights and prerogatives of that position, to take on the form of a servant, to humble himself to give up Himself in complete obedience even to the point of death.  And He did it for us.

A summer of self-indulgence.  Beloved, that’s what 99 out of 100 people will be doing this summer.  I’d like to invite you to do what One Person did.

What's the Big Deal about Sin?

 

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, July 11, 2010

1 John 2:28 - 3:10 – “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Have you ever tried to show someone something, or explain something to someone, and after you were finished with the ‘show and tell’ you realized that your ‘student’ simply didn’t ‘get it’? Even though you as the ‘teacher’ tried your best to make the subject clear, somehow-someway, for your student, it simply didn’t ‘compute’. He or she did not learn what you were trying to teach him.

When the apostle John wrote this letter, late in the first century A.D., he was functioning as the Teacher. He was seeking to help his ‘students’ learn some things that were crucial to their day-to-day lives as Christians. He was presenting to them, not only ‘study material’ for them to take note of, but also ‘test questions’ for his students to use to see whether or not they were ‘getting it’.

One of the areas of ‘learning’ which John particularly emphasized pertained to the subject of one’s everyday behavior and one’s response to sin and sin-ning. In effect, by his words of instruction the apostle John sought to answer the question his students must have posed to him – or, at least, had floating around in their minds. That question was: “What’s the big deal about sin and sinning? I don’t get it!”

So far in our look at this powerful letter of John, this Holy Spirit-inspired word from God to us, we have been confronted with several key ‘test questions’ designed to probe us and prod us in the direction of self-examination, to help us see whether or not we really are “in the faith.” (See 2 Cor. 13:5-6) For example, in 1 John 1:5-7, John asks, “Are you walking in the light? Are you practicing – literally DOING – the truth?” “John, what’s the big deal about walking in the light, doing the truth, and so on? I don’t get it!” Here’s the big deal: walking in the light is important simply because God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all! Walking in the light – DOING the truth - is essential, why? Because the continuation of our fellowship with other Christians and, because of the continuation of our being cleansed by Christ’s blood hinge upon it!

Then there’s the issue of obedience – “I mean, John, what’s the big deal about obeying God’s commands, His word? I don’t get it!” 1 John 2:3-6 – Here’s the big deal: to claim, to confess – “I know God, I’m a Christian” – but to fail to consistently pursue obedience to God’s Word, is to make those claims, those confessions, nothing but big, fat lies! Obedience to God’s Word – is it a big deal? Verse 5 – you bet it is a big deal – for, “Whoever keeps, whoever obeys God’s word, truly the love of God is perfected in him [and] by these we [can] know that we are in God…”

One more - test question number three – “What’s the big deal about believing that Jesus is the Christ? Can’t I be a Christian - someone who thinks Jesus is pretty ‘cool, who likes what He said and did – without having to hold to some declaration about His unique identity? I don’t get it!” What IS the big deal about one’s willingness to acknowledge and submit it to WHO Jesus is? 1 John 2:18-23 – Here's the big deal about the identity of Jesus and one's acknowledgement of it: to deny that Jesus is the Christ is – in fact – to be anti-Christ, against Christ! In fact, to deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny God the Father also!

Now, let's come again to our text for today's study, and watch and listen and learn, as John presents to us yet another test question for our consideration. This one dealing with the issue of sin and sinning.

Before we examine the passage in some detail, I invite you to take note of two or three things going in. The issue of sin and sinning, if we don't grasp anything else from John's instruction here, let's at least be careful to observe that sin and sinning, our day-to-day behavior either for or again God and Christ, these things are connected to the second coming of Christ. 1 John 2:28 and 3:2,3 – They are connected to the new birth, to being born again. 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:1-2,9-10 – And, number three, sin and sinning IS a big deal – why? Because it is connected to the work, the saving, and sanctifying work of Jesus Christ, against the devil and his sinful works - 1 John 3:8.

“What IS the big deal about sin and sinning? Is my day-to-day behavior either for or against Christ really that significant? I don't get it!” As we seek to grasp these things, let's begin our study where John begins it, with a consideration of two interesting questions. Listen closely: question number one, “What will it be like to stand before Jesus Christ, when He comes again?” And, number two - “What will it be like to see myself for what I really am, as I look upon Jesus, and contemplate who He really is?” Read the text again with me.

1 John 2:28 – 3:3 - “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

“What IS the big deal about sin and sinning? I mean everybody's doing it! In fact, Christians are doing it, some even enjoying it!” Ever allowed your mind to run down that trail?

Allow me to shine some Light on that way of thinking. The nature of sin and sinning, is kind of like the nature of one's nakedness.

Because of shame, embarrassment, modesty, propriety – however you want to put it - most of us cover up, most us do what we can not to expose ourselves! But, listen – 1 John 2:28, 1 John 3:2-3 – One of these days it's coming, I guarantee it, one of these days all the covering up will be over with, and who we are and what we are will be made known! Wide open, and laid bare, that's what we will be at Christ's coming. Now, here's the crucial question: when He comes, and we stand before Him, will we be confident and un-ashamed because we are like Him or will we grope for some fig leaves to cover ourselves?

So, what IS the big deal about sin, and sinning? Is my day-to-day behavior either for against Christ really all that important. John answers that so simply, so powerfully – when he says in chapter 3, verse 3 that, “Everyone who has this hope, the hope of seeing Christ, and being like Him, purifies himself, even as Christ is pure!” Sin and sinning are a big deal because they hinder me from becoming more like Christ!

Secondly, sin and sinning are a big deal because they are an indicator of my ancestry – because they are a sign-post declaring my allegiance. Look again at our text with me. How can you tell - you know, you and I can't read each other's minds, we can't discern each other's heartfelt thoughts and intentions, can we? But listen, we can tell a lot about ourselves, and, even a lot about each other, by observing our ACTIONS! Our day-to-day behavior, is it that big of a deal? It is! It is – because, as John points out in chapter two, verse 29, and again in chapter three, verses 8 and 9 – these things TELL us who our ancestor is! I mean, either I make a habit, a concerted effort by the help of the Holy Spirit, to practice righteousness – and by that I show that God is my Father, or I practice sin as a basic way of life, and, in doing so, I show that my father is not God, but the Devil! Sin and sinning, they are an indicator of my true ancestry: born of God, a child of God, or a child of the devil. Those are the only two choices.

But, then, notice also, how sin and sinning also tells a lot about where our allegiance is: 1 John 3:6 – What is the Christians 'Pledge of Allegiance'? In simple terms, according to 1 John 3:6, it is: “I know God”, 3 or 4 short words, “I have seen Christ,” “I know Christ”. Now, listen – I was not born in Missouri, nor have I ever lived in Missouri - But listen, I'm a little like Thomas was, He was from Missouri, did you know that? He said to his fellow disciples: “Show me! Unless I see Jesus' hands and feet and side, I won't believe it! You're gonna have to show me!” People like you and me, make statements all day long like, “I know God,” “I have seen Christ,” “I am a Christian” - but listen, the biggest sign-post to their allegiance, to OUR allegiance is not our words, but our actions. Verse 6 - “I know Him!” “I've seen Him!” But, what about that sinful habit you just won't let go of! Really now, where IS your allegiance? Where?

What is the big deal about sin and sinning? Let me see if I can wrap up our study in this way: to understand all that we're learning about today – to GET IT – we must grasp two basic ideas. One has to do with the nature of sin and, the other has to do with the nature of Christ and of God. Let's look at these one at a time: first of all, the nature of sin. What is it? 1 John 3:4 – Sin, by it's very nature is lawlessness! To commit sin, is to act unlawfully - to violate the law of God, to break His word! My friends, do you grasp the significance of that simple truth? Think of it – every time you and I sin, we are violating God's law! We are breaking, not the word and command of some man – no! Rather, we are breaking the command of our Mighty Creator, our Sovereign Sustainer, our Gracious Savior, our Faithful Father! Now tell me, IS sin a big deal?

Secondly, basic idea number two – what is the nature of God? What is the nature of Christ?

1 John 3:5 - “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

Sin and sinning, do you see it? Sin and sinning are a big deal – why? Because not only are they a violation of God's law, they also are an assault on God's character – in Him is NO SIN! Am I in Him? If I am, then my aim, with His strength, is AWAY from sin, and TOWARD obedience to His will!

And, so, let me conclude by reading once more these words of the apostle John:

1 John 3:4-8: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Understanding and Finding True Freedom - Independence Day 2010

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, July 4, 2010.

John 8:31-36: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Today our nation marks the 234^th anniversary of it’s independence – a freedom bought and paid for by the blood of patriots whose mindset and motto was, “Give me liberty or give me death…” For those of us who truly understand the history and context behind that great struggle for independence – and the sacrifices made to achieve it, and the blessings that have come with it – there is a great measure of appreciation for those men and women and for what God enabled them to accomplish. In other words, for those of us who view this day for what it really means – this is not just another day for the banks and Post Offices to be closed, not just a day to cook some brisket and drink a six-pack, not just a day to shoot fireworks and fly a flag – but a day to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in this country: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly. It’s also truly a day to remember and thank God for those He used to bring al of it to pass.

My friends, though we could talk for a while yet on that aspect of freedom, what I really want to do is open up the Word of God and examine what is says about this subject. True freedom, what is it? What is it not? And, how do we obtain and experience it? As I see it, deep within the heart of every person is a longing, an intense desire to be free. However, that desire, that longing - warped and mis-shapened as it is because of our sinfulness – often propels us in the direction of lives lived without controls, behaviors expressed without restraints, as if the uncontrolled, lawless life was the truly free life.

But, the fact of the matter is – it isn’t! True freedom is not living without rules and without consequences for one’s actions. No, that’s chaos, that’s rebellion, and that’s destruction. Just listen to these words of wisdom from the Book of Proverbs that speak to this subject: what does it mean – what can be expected – when one lives his life with a “no-rules, no restraints” way of thinking? Proverbs 25:28 – “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down and without walls…” The destruction, the wide-open vulnerability to be destroyed of a live lived without restraint is obvious to us – or, is it? Proverbs 16:32, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.” Great warriors who take cities are great. But, the Word of God says that the self-controlled person is even greater!

What does it mean to be truly free? Does it mean what a friend of mine told me her neighbor thinks it means? This friend of mine – her neighbor, expressed his ‘freedom’ by urinating on the public sidewalk in her apartment complex. And, he did so, in the sight of my friend’s 8-year-old son. Is that what it means to be free? Another young man I was talking to recently told me that he’d had enough of his big brother’s ranting and raving and trying to control his life – so he punched his lights out! Is that the way to be truly free?

What does it mean to be truly free? You know, we Christians have a statement that we rehearse and recite often, don’t we? It goes like this: “Jesus Christ is Lord.” “Jesus Christ is Lord.” And, believe me, it’s an important statement! The apostle Paul indicated that the verbal expression of that statement, combined with a heart felt belief in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ leads to salvation. (Romans 10:9-10) But listen, that statement “Jesus Christ is Lord,” is it only a Christian confession of faith? Is it only a theological doctrine of religious creed? Or, is it something more? If our answer to these questions is, “No! This Christian confession is not something more, it is only a theological doctrine,” then I believe the door is thrown open for the rebellious, un-restrained, no rules life and life-style. But, if the words, the declaration, “Jesus Christ is Lord” is more than mere doctrine or creed, then I believe we have a sign-post before us, pointing the way to the freedom for which we all yearn.

What does it mean to be truly free? Take a look at our main text, John 8:31-36, and watch how Jesus answers that for us.

First of all, He underscores for us a truth - a reality, a hard, cold fact-of-life - that until we acknowledge it, and alter our lives in accordance with it, we will never know true freedom. What is that fact? Verse 34 – sin enslaves! No, I didn't say what the devil has been saying since the Garden of Eden, but I point you to what Jesus said. What He said was that the sinner, is a slave! You and I may think that we've found “freedom” in that thrill, that 'no-no' we're getting away with, that activity or addiction that allows us to get away from it all. But listen again to the words of the One who knows you better than you know yourself, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34) Whoever violates the laws of God, whoever lives his life as if he has no need of anyone, especially God – such a person is not free, but in fact, miserably enslaved!

What does it mean to be truly free? And, how am I too obtain that freedom? Well, the first thing to realize and recognize is that a life without rules and restraints, a life of sinful rebellion against your Maker, is not freedom, but slavery!

Secondly, Jesus informs us that true freedom is to be found in His Word, in the truth that sets a person free! (John 8:31-32) Now, before we quickly move on to the next portion of our study here, allow me to take a moment or two with you to unpack what Jesus means. When Jesus says, “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free...” What is He trying to show us, to explain to us? Look at His words closely. As I understand it, Jesus is not saying that true freedom is found and is all about hearing His word or reading His word, or even studying His word, as we are doing now! Don't get me wrong, we need to do all of those things, we do! But none of those things, individually, nor all of those things collectively, is the goal, the outcome God has is mind for us, the doorway to true freedom. No, look. The goal, the outcome, the doorway is all about ABIDING in Jesus' word! ABIDING in the truth He has spoken.

Now, here's the $64,000 question. What does it mean to “abide in Jesus' Word”? To “abide” literally means to dwell, to remain, to stay. And, the word “in”, we all know what that little word means, don' we? It's a direction word, a location word. But, what does Jesus mean by the phrase, “abide in His word”? To put is simply: not only for Jesus, but even for us, a person's word is a verbal expression of his will. It's a declaration of what he or she wants. So, when Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are My disciples indeed...” What Jesus is really trying to tell us is that the liberating knowledge of the truth is all about staying – staying where? Staying, abiding in His will, as expressed by what He has said.

In other words, the truth designed to set you and me free, Jesus' words, doesn't set us free by simply reading it or hearing it (as you are this morning) or even studying it or preaching it. But it sets you and me free by conforming oneself to it! In other words, freedom is not to be found and experienced exerting my will or your will, but in surrendering to Jesus' will! In a location more liberating and more satisfying than any other, a placed described and summed up in the words of a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus - the fellow who later came to be known by the name Paul the apostle, (Acts 9:6) this blasphemer, this persecutor of the Church, this violent, angry man, on a road toward a place called Damascus, stepped into a place called the “tree freedom”, when Jesus confronted him with His word: What does it mean to be truly free? It has everything to do with abiding, remaining, staying IN Jesus' word! It has everything to do with living out the words Saul spoke with trembling lips and quivering knees: “Lord, what is it that You want me to do?”

What does it mean to be truly free? And, how are you and I to obtain that freedom? One more time, back to our text, beginning at verse 33, can't you just hear the arrogance of the Jews of Jesus' day? “We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone!” Can't you just hear the arrogance of the people of our day? “I'm an American! I've never been in bondage! I drive a nice car, live in a quiet neighborhood, work hard at my job, have white as my skin color – I've never been anyone's slave!” So, Jesus, how can you say that we will be made free?

Well, remember the point at which Jesus began this discussion: He made clear to all, I mean all, that all who sin are slaves! Does that include you? Does that including me? Yes! And, notice – in verse 35 – that He says that a slave, he does not, indeed, he cannot call the “house” his “home”, his permanent dwelling. Why? Because the “house” is meant only for the master's sons, for the king's children. But, what happens when a son, we'll say, THE Son – Jesus Christ – sets s slave free? What results? A temporary work release, kind of like they do with some of the prisoners over here at the county jail? A partial entry into the joys and privileges of the “house”? No! Look again at verse 36 and at the one whose words these are - “A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed!”

True freedom, what does it mean? It means it's moving day! There are a lot of folks on the road in their rented U-Haul trucks this weekend, aren't there? It's moving day, for every slave to sin set free from that bondage, that's right, that's what it is. Sin is bondage, but for every slave to sin who is set free by the Capital 'S' Son, it's moving day! Time to send out the change of address cards, because the servant's quarters is no longer his abode! No! From this day forward this used-to-be-slave is a son. And, from this day forward this son lives in the house with his Master, his King, his Father! And, how is that possible! The Capital 'S' Son makes it possible! “I have been crucified with Christ,” the apostle Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

“Jesus Christ is my Lord”. Oh, listen my friends, that statement is more, way more than just a doctrinal declaration. It is what freedom, true freedom is all about! “Jesus Christ is my Lord, there for I will abide, I will locate myself, I will stay in His word, I will rest and reside within the bounds and blessings of His will! Then, and only then, will I be truly free!