September 20, 2009

2009 09 20

Git “R Dun: Don’t Be Dumb

Genesis 3:1-7

Psalm 1
James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a

People do dumb things.  Just so you know, I really hate to say that people are dumb or that they are stupid.  I feel this is very judgmental, and the Bible is pretty clear on how we ought not judge others.  I know that I don’t like to be called dumb myself.  Yet, I realize that I do dumb things too.  I managed to lock our family out of the parsonage on our first Sunday here.  We always lived next door to the church and just left the front door unlocked on Sunday mornings.  That first Sunday, we decided to lock the door and left the keys in the house.  Fortunately, a window was open, and I sent Katie through it to let us in.  My story had a happy ending, but I would like to read to you a couple instances where a lack of good judgment proved a bit more costly. 

A Pennsylvania man decided to rob the same bank twice. The man spent six years in prison for robbing a PNC bank in 2003, but once released he decided to rob it again. He's now back in jail.

An Oregon woman was pulled over on suspicion of DUI. While an officer was giving her a sobriety test, her boyfriend drove up – also drunk. Police arrested both.

Two Pennsylvania men who robbed a gas station in New York and probably would have gotten away had they filled their gas tank! Police caught the two crooks less than a mile down the road because their get-away car ran out of gas! They were accused of robbing the clerk at knife-point and were held without bail.

My favorite:  A German gardener burned down his house after using a flame thrower to weed his garden! The blaze got out of control and quickly spread to the garden shed and then the roof of the house. Seven firemen were needed to put the fire out and now the house is deemed inhabitable.

These stories came from a section on wtop.com called “Knuckleheads in the News”.  But you can find instances of this sort of thing on just about any morning radio show.  It seems amazing to think that these were living, breathing, thinking human beings.  However, we all make mistakes.  We all do dumb things.  In reality our lack of good judgment has been around since…Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

The garden had been created for Adam and Eve.  In it was everything that they could possibly need.  They would never go hungry or thirsty.  In their life of innocence, they would always have God.  He would come to them and visit with them.  Adam and Eve could spend their time in the presence of their Creator God.  They would know firsthand His love of them.  With only one condition:  “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

We know what comes next.  The serpent…he know what God said, but he twists it and turns it just enough to get the two thinking.  "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Imagine that!  To be like God.  In creation, God gave them everything they needed, but now the serpent created something new…doubt.  In that moment, they began to question their relationship with God.  Perhaps God was holding out on them.  Perhaps this tree holds something greater for them than they already had been given.  Perhaps it would be better to be wise…to know good and evil…than to live in ignorant bliss.  Perhaps we can be our own God. 

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Someone or something told the Pennsylvania man to rob the same bank twice…told the Oregon couple it was a good idea to drive drunk…told the two men to rob a gas station without any gas in their car… and told the German man to weed his garden with a flamethrower.  Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they began the curse that has followed us up to the present day.  I guess you might call it stupidity. 

In our world, we go through life thinking that our brains…our minds have made us like God.  In fact, we are so smart, that we do not need him.  We do not just doubt God’s wisdom, but we now take courage from our own pride.  In our pride, we can provide for ourselves, take care of ourselves, rule over ourselves.  But that is certainly not the case.  Our wisdom is not the same as God’s wisdom.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Earthly wisdom calls us to a life…calls us to deeds that loudly and brashly draw attention to ourselves.  However, Godly wisdom calls us to a life of action that brings glory to God.  Earthly wisdom leads us to deeds that you will know about…because I am going to tell you.  “Hey, look at me!”  But Godly wisdom leads us to quiet, humble service of God.  If people should look to us…if people should desire to heap praise upon us, our response is to simply and quietly point to God. 

¹⁷ (But) the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Godly wisdom is never about me.  It is lived out in a life of purity.  The first week of this sermon series was about cleaning house, getting rid of the junk that keep us from following God like we should.  Godly wisdom is a life filled with peace overflowing into the lives of others and considerate of their needs, not mine.  It is a life of treating others with mercy, farness, and love.  No hypocrisy.  No ulterior motives.  This kind of life bears fruit because it does not show people how to be like God, but it does show how they can know him.  But this kind of life is not easy.  It is not easy. 

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The serpent is still slithering.  The enemy is still out there.   His voice is strong in this world.  The world is telling us to live for ourselves and to hell…literally…to hell with everyone else.  And even when we try to do good on our own…even when we try to do the right thing, he is close to us whispering in our ears.  Do it…but for you. 

How can you do it?  How can a person today live a Godly life?  How can any of us ever hope to battle the wants, the desires, and the forces of this world and take up a life of Godly wisdom?  Don’t rely on wisdom.  Rely on God.

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8a Come near to God and he will come near to you. The second half of verse 8 says, Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Submit yourselves, then, to God.  We all must do this.  Every moment of every hour of every day, we must submit ourselves to the one who has created us.  He is already on high.  He cannot get any higher above us.  We need to knock our own selves down.  We need to bow down before him.  He is God, and we are not.  If we are focusing with all of our strength on God, the devil will not get our attention.  Resist the devil.  Come near to God.  He will come near to you, and the devil will run away.  Seek the Lord, purify your hearts, and the devil will have to place to stand because you will already be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. 

I hate to say it like this folks, but don’t be dumb.  Do not give in to the intelligence or wisdom of this world.  Seek to live a Godly life, filled with peace and bearing fruit.  Submit yourselves fully to the Lord Jesus Christ.  When you do, nothing…not even the devil himself can stand in your way.

In a moment we are going to pray, but first I would like to open up the altar here for anyone who would like to pray.  Maybe you need to pray for yourself and all bad decisions you have made in your life.  God will forgive you, all you have to do is ask him.  If you wish to come forward to pray for someone else, that is fine too.