St Theodore's Sermon

	St Theodore's Wattle Park

Sermon of the Week

30/1/00

Temptations People Face -
Set Free 1 John 1:5-10

Today we begin a new series of sermons on Temptations People Face. Over the next 4 weeks we'll be thinking about a number of temptations that people commonly face: the temptation to trust externals; the temptation to be perfect; the temptation to wield power; the temptation to get struck in dissatisfaction. Some are temptations that women are particularly susceptible to, some men are particularly susceptible to, but I think you'll find that each of the temptations I've listed are common enough to both sexes.

But before we begin looking at particular temptations, I thought it would be good to think about the whole question of holiness and sin, to make sure that we begin from a helpful starting point.

In fact this time of the year isn't a bad one for thinking about temptation, is it? We've just been through the Christmas round of parties and dinners, with all that cake and shortbread and chocolate. And we're probably now trying desperately to lose those extra kilos we put on. You may have been to the beach and seen all those semi-naked bodies parading around. You might have been to the sales and been tempted to spend more than you really needed, just because it seemed cheap. And of course we've just celebrated New Years Day, the day people make those New Year's resolutions that will change their life. By the way if you did make some this year I hope they were big ones, because they were new millennium resolutions after all.

But that brings us to the point of what I want to say today. You see the trouble with New Years resolutions is that they don't last. No matter how much we mean them, they seem to last about 30 seconds before we forget them again.

   The situation isn't helped by the culture in which we live either. Whichever way we look in today's world we're bombarded by temptations: on the TV, the radio, at the movies, in our letterboxes, on roadside billboards. You can't escape it. What's more you can't expect to get any help from society. There was a time when sinful behaviour was looked down upon by the society in general. When people would be ashamed of their sin if others found out about it. That was a time when there was some sort of agreement about what sin was of course, at least about the more visible types of sin. But these days we have no common understanding. Right and wrong are defined by the individual rather than the community. They depend on who has the most persuasive voice, or who has the best publicist. They depend to a large extent on how the media wants to portray them.

   That means that it can be incredibly hard for us as Christians to live a righteous lifestyle. It may mean that for us to live holy lives will mean going against the majority, ignoring their opposition, swimming upstream. And that won't be easy. The forces of advertising and popular culture are incredibly powerful, yet often very subtle in the way they manipulate our opinions and therefore our behaviour.

   But more than all that, the fight against temptation is made doubly difficult by the fact that although we're Christians, although we've committed our lives to Christ, we're still fallen creatures. Our commitment to Christ is still weak, still faulty. We're still vulnerable when it comes to being tempted. So we need help.

   C. S. Lewis wrote a series of children's stories called the chronicles of Narnia. Some of you may have read them. They tell the story of a group of children who discover a way into another world, which is ruled over by a Lion, whose name is Aslan. In one of the books, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader we're introduced to a boy named Eustace. Now Eustace is a spoilt brat. A real pain in the neck. At one point in the story Eustace becomes so bad that he turns into a dragon. When this happens he suddenly realises that he's actually been a dragon personality all along. Once he discovers this he longs to become a boy again. The trouble is, no-one seems to be able to help him be undragoned. No-one that is except Aslan. One day, Aslan leads him up a mountain to a beautiful place where there's a garden and a pool. Eustace realises that if only he could get into that clear pool he might be healed. Then Aslan tells him to undress before going into the water. Well, that confuses Eustace, because he doesn't have any clothes on. But then he realises Aslan is talking about his scales. So he begins scratching off his scales. He manages to get quite a few scales off until he's peeled off a whole layer of skin. So he heads down to the pool, only to be stopped at the edge by his reflection in the water. As he looks in the water he sees that he's still clothed in thick scales and dragon skin. So he tries again. He peels another layer of skin off, only to find another scaly layer below that. He keeps trying, but each time he finds a similar skin underneath. Eventually he's ready to give up, but then Aslan tells Eustace that, if he's to be changed, he will have to undress him. Eustace is afraid of the lion's claws but he's so desperate that he lies down on his back and lets him do it. Aslan pierces Eustace's dragon skin with his sharp claws and peels it off. It's a terrifying experience for Eustace, but he feels wonderfully liberated as he's set free from all that heavy knobbly skin and scales. Aslan carries Eustace down to the water and the pain he'd known as a dragon is gone. He realises as he splashes in the pool that he's now turned back into a boy, Aslan dresses him in new clothes and Eustace returns to his friends to apologise for how badly he's behaved. Lewis writes: "It would be nice, and fairly nearly true, to say that 'from that time forth Eustace was a different boy.' To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun." John Newton, the ex-slave trader said a similar thing about the change brought about in him when he became a Christian. He said: "I am not what I ought to be; but I am not what I once was. And it is by the grace of God that I am what I am."

   Well, C. S. Lewis has a great way of putting into a simple story, profound truths about the Christian life. That's the way it is, isn't it? We all have a dragon quality about us. We all need to have those scales and dragon skin torn off us, and the only one who can do it is Jesus Christ.

   You see as much as we may realise what a burden our scales are, sometimes we just don't want to lose them. They may be defences that we've built up over the years to protect ourselves from others, or even from God. They might be old habits that make us feel weak and guilty. We might even try making resolutions to change, we might go to a counsellor or a self help group, to try peel off a layer or two of scales, but the scales remain.

   What we need is deep cleansing of our hearts. That's what the Bible calls true repentance. A turning to God for help to remove our sin from us. And it's only God who can do it. Only he can change our hearts from the inside. Only he can begin the healing that brings new life.

   When that happens, things are different. It's as though we're new people in God's eyes. It's as though the books of our life have been wiped clean. I read the story the other day of a man named Bob Sheffield who was a worker with the Navigators in the US. Bob grew up in Canada where he played professional ice hockey. He was a typical tough hockey player and one night was arrested after a barroom brawl. The trouble was when he applied for a visa to work in the United States his request was denied because he had a criminal record. So what did Bob do? He applied to the Canadian government for a Queen's pardon. After a thorough investigation, the pardon was granted. From that time forward, Bob could honestly say that he had no criminal record. The record of his crimes had been erased. When his fingerprints were sent to the Canadian Mounted Police and they ran them through their computer, the display would say, "No Record."

   That's the kind of pardon we have in Jesus Christ. When we're forgiven we're set free from any penalty or punishment for our sins. When Satan asks for a list of our sins, he'll be told, "No record. Pardoned through the blood of Christ."

   So what does that mean for us? How does our salvation in Christ help us now in our struggle with temptation? As we saw with Eustace, the process isn't instantaneous. We continue to relapse. But there is help for us. Paul talks about it in Romans 5. There he talks about the results of being saved. He says, our salvation brings us peace with God. It gives us access to the grace in which we now stand. It provides the hope of realising the glory God intends for us, of true development of character, leading to strength and endurance in suffering. It promises us love empowered by the Holy Spirit as the new motivation for life and an ongoing experience of the risen Christ's sovereign care in our daily lives. So that's a good start isn't it? Along with our salvation God gives us all we need to grow into his likeness. But that's only the first step. Through faith in Christ we're set free, but there's more growth to come. As Lewis puts it: "Eustace began to be a different boy." As Newton said we are not what we ought to be; but we're not what we once were.

   So for us who have begun this new life in Christ there's an ongoing struggle to fight temptation. To keep down our old selves which continue to lead us astray. Ephesians describes conversion as the putting off the old self which is corrupted by its evil desires and putting on the new self created to be like God. But the trouble is, the old self is like an old injury that continues to bother you long after it's healed. I hurt my left knee about 30 years ago. It healed up OK, but it still annoys me whenever I get tired or the weather gets cold and damp. That's the way it is with the old self. It has an annoying habit of popping up at the wrong moment, to lead me astray.

   That's why John has to remind us in 1 John1 that: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." We're all susceptible to temptation no matter how long we've been Christians. But still, our aim is holiness.

   So how are we to achieve it? Well, one way to achieve it is to go out and fight it with all our strength. Whenever you see a scale, tear it off. That's my philosophy of gardening. Whenever you see a weed pull it out. The trouble is it doesn't work. The weeds grow up in places I don't notice until it's too late and by then they're so well established I can't get rid of them. No, If I'm to achieve holiness, it'll be by the same method by which I was saved in the first place. It'll be through the power of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit. It'll happen as I submit myself to his healing power. It'll happen as I work on my relationship with him; as I read his word and respond to what he tells me in it; as I allow him to work in my life; as I walk in the light as he is in the light. Most importantly it'll happen as I believe what he's told me about who I am in Christ; as I grasp hold of the fact that I am already made perfect in Christ; that through faith in Christ I have already overcome the world. You see, holiness is a present inward reality for all who have faith in Christ, even as we wait for that transformation to be completed.

   So how are we to live, in the light of this reality? Some find it hard to accept, because they see their own frailty coming out all the time. They live in guilt rather than in freedom. Others are so discouraged by their failures that they want to give up. But God wants us to persevere, not to give up. Here's what C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend about this question: "I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations. It is not serious, provided self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience, etc. don't get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be v. muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the sign of his presence."

   So don't give up. It's our persevering to the end that's the greatest sign of our salvation.

   Rather, turn to God for help. Ask him to show you what you need to fix up in your life. Ask him what you should be working on now. What is it he wants to improve? Ask him to fill you with his Spirit. Do you remember when Jesus met the woman at the well. She was a woman who had lots of sin in her life that needed to be dealt with. But how did Jesus respond to her need for cleansing? He offered her living water, "a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." He didn't ignore her sin. He went on to help her identify it. But he dealt with it by offering her his Spirit to dwell within her and bring her new life, a changed life.

   So as we look, over the next 4 weeks, at a selection of temptations that people experience, don't begin by trying to work harder at overcoming them, don't be overwhelmed by your unworthiness or your inability to do anything good, rather turn to God for his help. Ask him to give you his Spirit to empower you. Take the opportunity to listen to his voice when he speaks to you. Read and meditate on his word so your mind is filled with what's right and pure and lovely and praiseworthy. And remember, that we're only on the way. There's more to come. It's only when we stand in his presence in heaven that we'll be perfected.


	Contact us	Preaching Program	Home		Last Week's Sermon

	Sermon of the Week
	30/1/00
	Temptations People Face - Set Free	1 John 1:5-10

	Today we begin a new series of sermons on Temptations People Face. Over the next 4 weeks we'll be thinking about a number of temptations that people commonly face: the temptation to trust externals; the temptation to be perfect; the temptation to wield power; the temptation to get struck in dissatisfaction. Some are temptations that women are particularly susceptible to, some men are particularly susceptible to, but I think you'll find that each of the temptations I've listed are common enough to both sexes.
	But before we begin looking at particular temptations, I thought it would be good to think about the whole question of holiness and sin, to make sure that we begin from a helpful starting point.
	In fact this time of the year isn't a bad one for thinking about temptation, is it? We've just been through the Christmas round of parties and dinners, with all that cake and shortbread and chocolate. And we're probably now trying desperately to lose those extra kilos we put on. You may have been to the beach and seen all those semi-naked bodies parading around. You might have been to the sales and been tempted to spend more than you really needed, just because it seemed cheap. And of course we've just celebrated New Years Day, the day people make those New Year's resolutions that will change their life. By the way if you did make some this year I hope they were big ones, because they were new millennium resolutions after all.
	But that brings us to the point of what I want to say today. You see the trouble with New Years resolutions is that they don't last. No matter how much we mean them, they seem to last about 30 seconds before we forget them again.
	The situation isn't helped by the culture in which we live either. Whichever way we look in today's world we're bombarded by temptations: on the TV, the radio, at the movies, in our letterboxes, on roadside billboards. You can't escape it. What's more you can't expect to get any help from society. There was a time when sinful behaviour was looked down upon by the society in general. When people would be ashamed of their sin if others found out about it. That was a time when there was some sort of agreement about what sin was of course, at least about the more visible types of sin. But these days we have no common understanding. Right and wrong are defined by the individual rather than the community. They depend on who has the most persuasive voice, or who has the best publicist. They depend to a large extent on how the media wants to portray them.
	That means that it can be incredibly hard for us as Christians to live a righteous lifestyle. It may mean that for us to live holy lives will mean going against the majority, ignoring their opposition, swimming upstream. And that won't be easy. The forces of advertising and popular culture are incredibly powerful, yet often very subtle in the way they manipulate our opinions and therefore our behaviour.
	But more than all that, the fight against temptation is made doubly difficult by the fact that although we're Christians, although we've committed our lives to Christ, we're still fallen creatures. Our commitment to Christ is still weak, still faulty. We're still vulnerable when it comes to being tempted. So we need help.
	C. S. Lewis wrote a series of children's stories called the chronicles of Narnia. Some of you may have read them. They tell the story of a group of children who discover a way into another world, which is ruled over by a Lion, whose name is Aslan. In one of the books, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader we're introduced to a boy named Eustace. Now Eustace is a spoilt brat. A real pain in the neck. At one point in the story Eustace becomes so bad that he turns into a dragon. When this happens he suddenly realises that he's actually been a dragon personality all along. Once he discovers this he longs to become a boy again. The trouble is, no-one seems to be able to help him be undragoned. No-one that is except Aslan. One day, Aslan leads him up a mountain to a beautiful place where there's a garden and a pool. Eustace realises that if only he could get into that clear pool he might be healed. Then Aslan tells him to undress before going into the water. Well, that confuses Eustace, because he doesn't have any clothes on. But then he realises Aslan is talking about his scales. So he begins scratching off his scales. He manages to get quite a few scales off until he's peeled off a whole layer of skin. So he heads down to the pool, only to be stopped at the edge by his reflection in the water. As he looks in the water he sees that he's still clothed in thick scales and dragon skin. So he tries again. He peels another layer of skin off, only to find another scaly layer below that. He keeps trying, but each time he finds a similar skin underneath. Eventually he's ready to give up, but then Aslan tells Eustace that, if he's to be changed, he will have to undress him. Eustace is afraid of the lion's claws but he's so desperate that he lies down on his back and lets him do it. Aslan pierces Eustace's dragon skin with his sharp claws and peels it off. It's a terrifying experience for Eustace, but he feels wonderfully liberated as he's set free from all that heavy knobbly skin and scales. Aslan carries Eustace down to the water and the pain he'd known as a dragon is gone. He realises as he splashes in the pool that he's now turned back into a boy, Aslan dresses him in new clothes and Eustace returns to his friends to apologise for how badly he's behaved. Lewis writes: "It would be nice, and fairly nearly true, to say that 'from that time forth Eustace was a different boy.' To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun." John Newton, the ex-slave trader said a similar thing about the change brought about in him when he became a Christian. He said: "I am not what I ought to be; but I am not what I once was. And it is by the grace of God that I am what I am."
	Well, C. S. Lewis has a great way of putting into a simple story, profound truths about the Christian life. That's the way it is, isn't it? We all have a dragon quality about us. We all need to have those scales and dragon skin torn off us, and the only one who can do it is Jesus Christ.
	You see as much as we may realise what a burden our scales are, sometimes we just don't want to lose them. They may be defences that we've built up over the years to protect ourselves from others, or even from God. They might be old habits that make us feel weak and guilty. We might even try making resolutions to change, we might go to a counsellor or a self help group, to try peel off a layer or two of scales, but the scales remain.
	What we need is deep cleansing of our hearts. That's what the Bible calls true repentance. A turning to God for help to remove our sin from us. And it's only God who can do it. Only he can change our hearts from the inside. Only he can begin the healing that brings new life.
	When that happens, things are different. It's as though we're new people in God's eyes. It's as though the books of our life have been wiped clean. I read the story the other day of a man named Bob Sheffield who was a worker with the Navigators in the US. Bob grew up in Canada where he played professional ice hockey. He was a typical tough hockey player and one night was arrested after a barroom brawl. The trouble was when he applied for a visa to work in the United States his request was denied because he had a criminal record. So what did Bob do? He applied to the Canadian government for a Queen's pardon. After a thorough investigation, the pardon was granted. From that time forward, Bob could honestly say that he had no criminal record. The record of his crimes had been erased. When his fingerprints were sent to the Canadian Mounted Police and they ran them through their computer, the display would say, "No Record."
	That's the kind of pardon we have in Jesus Christ. When we're forgiven we're set free from any penalty or punishment for our sins. When Satan asks for a list of our sins, he'll be told, "No record. Pardoned through the blood of Christ."
	So what does that mean for us? How does our salvation in Christ help us now in our struggle with temptation? As we saw with Eustace, the process isn't instantaneous. We continue to relapse. But there is help for us. Paul talks about it in Romans 5. There he talks about the results of being saved. He says, our salvation brings us peace with God. It gives us access to the grace in which we now stand. It provides the hope of realising the glory God intends for us, of true development of character, leading to strength and endurance in suffering. It promises us love empowered by the Holy Spirit as the new motivation for life and an ongoing experience of the risen Christ's sovereign care in our daily lives. So that's a good start isn't it? Along with our salvation God gives us all we need to grow into his likeness. But that's only the first step. Through faith in Christ we're set free, but there's more growth to come. As Lewis puts it: "Eustace began to be a different boy." As Newton said we are not what we ought to be; but we're not what we once were.
	So for us who have begun this new life in Christ there's an ongoing struggle to fight temptation. To keep down our old selves which continue to lead us astray. Ephesians describes conversion as the putting off the old self which is corrupted by its evil desires and putting on the new self created to be like God. But the trouble is, the old self is like an old injury that continues to bother you long after it's healed. I hurt my left knee about 30 years ago. It healed up OK, but it still annoys me whenever I get tired or the weather gets cold and damp. That's the way it is with the old self. It has an annoying habit of popping up at the wrong moment, to lead me astray.
	That's why John has to remind us in 1 John1 that: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." We're all susceptible to temptation no matter how long we've been Christians. But still, our aim is holiness.
	So how are we to achieve it? Well, one way to achieve it is to go out and fight it with all our strength. Whenever you see a scale, tear it off. That's my philosophy of gardening. Whenever you see a weed pull it out. The trouble is it doesn't work. The weeds grow up in places I don't notice until it's too late and by then they're so well established I can't get rid of them. No, If I'm to achieve holiness, it'll be by the same method by which I was saved in the first place. It'll be through the power of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit. It'll happen as I submit myself to his healing power. It'll happen as I work on my relationship with him; as I read his word and respond to what he tells me in it; as I allow him to work in my life; as I walk in the light as he is in the light. Most importantly it'll happen as I believe what he's told me about who I am in Christ; as I grasp hold of the fact that I am already made perfect in Christ; that through faith in Christ I have already overcome the world. You see, holiness is a present inward reality for all who have faith in Christ, even as we wait for that transformation to be completed.
	So how are we to live, in the light of this reality? Some find it hard to accept, because they see their own frailty coming out all the time. They live in guilt rather than in freedom. Others are so discouraged by their failures that they want to give up. But God wants us to persevere, not to give up. Here's what C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend about this question: "I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations. It is not serious, provided self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience, etc. don't get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be v. muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the sign of his presence."
	So don't give up. It's our persevering to the end that's the greatest sign of our salvation.
	Rather, turn to God for help. Ask him to show you what you need to fix up in your life. Ask him what you should be working on now. What is it he wants to improve? Ask him to fill you with his Spirit. Do you remember when Jesus met the woman at the well. She was a woman who had lots of sin in her life that needed to be dealt with. But how did Jesus respond to her need for cleansing? He offered her living water, "a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." He didn't ignore her sin. He went on to help her identify it. But he dealt with it by offering her his Spirit to dwell within her and bring her new life, a changed life.
	So as we look, over the next 4 weeks, at a selection of temptations that people experience, don't begin by trying to work harder at overcoming them, don't be overwhelmed by your unworthiness or your inability to do anything good, rather turn to God for his help. Ask him to give you his Spirit to empower you. Take the opportunity to listen to his voice when he speaks to you. Read and meditate on his word so your mind is filled with what's right and pure and lovely and praiseworthy. And remember, that we're only on the way. There's more to come. It's only when we stand in his presence in heaven that we'll be perfected.

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