AUDIO ONLY

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Christmas is so misrepresented in our culture. It is often seen as that time of year when we should be nicer to each other – and we should be nicer to each other. It is often seen as that time of year when we should focus on the children. Even in Christian circles we certainly mention Jesus – but he seems to be swallowed up in the other things. Jesus often seems to be the price we pay so that we can feel better about the gifts. I fear that – in our thinking – the gospel is not as big as it should.

Any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.¹

Sin is indeed action – We should not kill, we should not lie,

Sin is also found in our attitude or our thoughts:

Exodus 20:17 – “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Matthew 5:28 – But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Mark 7:20-22 – He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Institutional sin – Cultures and societies develop group thinking that, over time, becomes “wired” into the way we reason so as to create a cultural disposition that either actively approves of sin or participates in sin without thought. Slavery in this country and in Europe become part of the cultural “necessity”. The economy was built on the impact of slave labor. Slave labor – in one way or another – created convenience, wealth, employment, national power, and a whole of other things. Many who should have known better were trapped in this unspeakable evil. And it’s strong today – abortion is part of our cultures dynamic and many, if not most, who consider themselves Christians are tired of the issue and have simply left it – let’s focus on what’s important. Last year there were more than 1,000,000 abortions in the United States. INSTITUTIONAL SIN DOES NOT, IN ANY WAY, REMOVE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILIITY

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I have a question for you this morning – a very important question. As a Christian – how do you view the extent to which you currently sin? I think this is an important question because we all live out our answer to this question every day. Our answer to this question affects how we see ourselves. It affects how we see others and how we relate to God.

Psalm 51:5 – Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Isaiah 64:6 – We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Romans 3:23 – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 John 1:8 – If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

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What might it look like to have no sin?

Luke 10:27 – And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

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Some would say that seeing oneself as deeply sinful – after becoming a Christian – is not helpful, not productive, perhaps not even biblical – especially right after Christmas. Our sins were dealt with on the cross, we’re saved, let’s focus on Jesus and move forward. Let’s not talk about my continual inability to get things right. Let’s not talk about the idolatry in my life. Let’s not talk about my “secrets”.

I don’t think Paul would agree with this. In the middle of the amazing letter to the Romans, Paul launches into his own sin:

Romans 7:15–21 – For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

The truth is, the more I focus on Jesus and cling to him, the more time I spend in Scripture and prayer, the more connected I become to the magnitude of my sin and to the magnitude of God’s kindness in Jesus. The more I focus on Jesus the more I:

• see a problem with the way I spend my time.

• see a problem with the way I spend my money.

• see a problem with the way I view others.

• see problems with every aspect of my life.

• see the gospel as beautiful and penetrating and consuming

The more I see Jesus for who he is the more I see myself as someone who is utterly dependent on God’s grace. So, this morning I’d like to ask, “What happens to you when you focus on Jesus?” Are you like Peter?:

Luke 5:4–8 – And when [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

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Luke 2:11 – For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Matthew 1:21 – [Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”