a drop of water

This was the last message in the annual Tough Questions series at Coast Vineyard this past Sunday. Pastor Michelle gave the message and here are the sermon notes:

Bible often uses the metaphor of blindness when referring to sin; when you can’t see, you are a hazard to yourself and those around you.

When should Christians Take a hard stand against sin? (Luke 6:39-42)
1. First and foremost, when we find it in our own lives. (We can not help anyone without dealing with ourselves first)
2. Second and only second, when we find it in the church. (Must be saturated with humility, compassion and patience. – Gal 6:1) The message is not to never look at others and only at yourself, but instead to look at yourself very hard so that you can be available and able to help others around you. It is a responsibility to each other, for us to get ourselves in shape.

Is that It? What About Everyone Else? (Matt 5:15-16)
Our good works and not our rebukes are our witness to the world.

What About Politics
Pitfall #1: Confusing our faith with politics.
Pitfall #2: Removing our faith from politics.
Solid Ground: Acting like Jesus in our politics.

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We must be a light in our community and show the world God’s invitation into relationship through grace.
Separation of church and state was intended to keep government from enforcing a particular form of religion, and not prohibiting religions influence on the state.

I like the idea for us to take a hard stand against sin “when we find it in our own lives,” but I’d like to explicity add that it is important for us to take a hard stand against the sin in our own lives.  Its there, so its not a matter of when we see it, its a matter of when we decide to see it. I like the idea that its importance is rooted in supporting and helping those around you.  We aren’t taking a hard stand against sin in our own lives just to make ourselves ‘better’ or make those around us ‘better’,  instead we are taking a hard stand against sin to glorify God, together.  It is a communical process and commitment in relationship, to stand firm against sin together.

I think that it is helpful to break up this question further into a few ideas.  1. Whether we should and how we should take a hard stand against sin are two completely different questions.  2. Does it matter what type of sin it is and the scope that it has, i.e. personal or global (social injustice)  – though admittedly all sin is far reaching in its effect no matter how personal it may seem.  I believe we should always take a hard stand against sin, but how realizes into action is a lot more fuzzy.  I’m torn between the idea that we should wait for an opportunity to share our hard stance against a specific sin or if we should openly and readily share it, regardless of who is listening.  I’m torn because it seems like taking an uncompromising stance on sin is of so much more value when someone is seeking guidance, or encouragement to not compromise, or to hold fast to a prior commitment versus someone who doesn’t see, believe, or entertain the idea that they are in error.  But at the same time, what if that opportunity never comes?

How to take a hard stance against sin – this to me is the tough question.  Maybe the how lies somewhere in the gray area of how much it affects me?  Does the sin’s scope directly affect me and should that dictate how active I am in expressing my hard stance agains it?  Sin has the ability to make everything around it rotten, imperceptibly until its too late.  Soemthing I’m realizing is that sin often begets sin, i.e. the extreme example of someone killing someone starts the vicious cycle of killing.  So I believe that one key aspect of taking a hard stance against sin is making sure that you aren’t sinning in the process (more emphasis on examining yourself first).  Sometimes taking a hard stance against sin is passive, sometimes its active.  Jesus takes a hard stance against sin and in a world where sin is very present, each of us has the free will to choose to sin or not to sin.  So I guess that comes back to the closing point of the sermon, to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”