Recalibrated Choices
Recalibrated Life • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro:
Recalibrated Life
sin and archery
aim
zeroing out a scale
orienteering (compass)
-semi pic-
Bad things don’t happen to pastors, just sermon illustrations
No Gas
Emphasize choices
what to do without heat
heaters
sleep in church
sleep at sister’s
Not knowing the problem, what step to take
the choice to trust uncle jeff
not sending a plea for help
the choice what to do first
The Garden
When Adam and Eve sinned,
they threw all relationships,
both divine and natural
into chaos
God then recalibrated the trajectory of all humanity
by offering redemption to His fallen children
God promised that He would set humanity back on course,
using Adam and Eve
He set the basic rules for a recalibrated reality:
Rules for a Recalibrated Reality
God covers sin;
sacrifice atones for failure;
man cannot redeem himself,
but needs forgiveness from God
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
first choice Eve made in this story was to respond to the serpent
which the bible establishes that he is knows for his craftiness
We don’t have to respond to every voice
-intrusive thoughts-
Note that Eve knew the rules
she knew the consequences
We don’t always know the concequences
we don’t get a speeding ticket every time we speed
but we know the consequence and do it anyway sometimes
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Adam also knew the consequences, but chose anyway
there’s no point blaming one or the other
they both are at fault
and we all face the consequences of this decision right here
They were given one rule, and they broke it
they missed the mark
they aimed, targeted, and missed
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
They chose to cover themseves
They needed no clothes before this
they literally invented sewing to solve their problem
or what they percieved as a problem
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
There must have been some physical representation of God for them to think that they could hide
Reminds me of playing hide and seek with Selah
she was playing with her cousins in the meeting space we were in a couple of days ago
she hid in the same place each time
there was a curtain on one side of the room hiding some stacked chairs
she curled up behind the curtain
Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
Note that God initiated relationship before authority
God’s authority is assumed
He doesn’t assert “I see you”
or “I know what you did last summer”
He gives an opportunity to respond
He wants a dialog
God already knew where they were
he is everywhere, and all knowing
God wants a relationship with us
that’s why he asks us, Where are you?
Where are you in your life?
Are you on the straight and narrow
are you making choices that honor God, or shame him
when you hear that question, do you feel God’s love
or do you feel like hiding in shame?
If you feel the weight of your sin,
just know that God isn’t the one accusing you
God is asking, “where are you?”
Pay attention to what God does and says next,
He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Note, that God doesn’t declare their sin.
He asks questions
he initiates dialoge
He want’s relationship first
obedience second
Despite having to invent sowing to clothe themselves,
he still felt naked despite his “clothes”
that must have been some crude attempt
Although it reminds me of the first time I ever saw a speedo
when I was around 8, my next door friend just got back from swim team
I had no idea what a speedo was, so I just see him run over to play with us
in what I thought was his underwear
He didn’t really think about it.
He was used to it.
I couldn’t get past it.
It didn’t take long for his parents to come back after unloading the car and make him put a pair of shorts on
realistically, he wasn’t really wearing that much more clothes,
but it felt different
it didn’t make me feel uncomfortable anymore
I imagine Adam is feeling what I would feel like wearing a speedo to church
I don’t wear speedos, so maybe I should just say swimsuit or underwear, but we’ll keep with the analogy
it would be awkward
this is supposed to be God’s house
there is a sense of respect when you are in the presence of God
and your clothes can make you feel the need to hide
On Christmas, Ada got a hold of someone’s waterbottle and was chewing on the cap
someone thought she might get the cap off and choke, so they took the cap off thinking she just wanted a drink
well, she didn’t want the water bottle anymore and brought it to me and threw it on my lap
instantly, my lap was soaked through with cold water
everything I was wearing was wet
it would have looked like I had wet my pants if my shirt wasn’t also soaked
I immediately retreated to the bathroom and did my best to wring out my clothes
I honestly just wanted to hide
....
Dispite God asking Adam more questions, he doesn’t directly answer them
Adam knows God already knows the answers
so he immediately tries to blame Eve
he wants to shift God’s attention from what he did
Then Eve does the same thing
The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Blame is natural part of our human nature
we know in our hearts that our poor decisions have put a barrier between us and GOd
and our hearts long to be close to God
We know that there is no way to get rid of our sin, so we blame
we make excuses
we try to cancel out the wrong choice by pointing out all of our good ones
we say “but God, look at all of the good thing I do.”
I tithe, I volunteer, I obeyed all the other rules
I saw a reel on facebook where the parent of a deaf child with an implant got a call form the teacher
and her young son got in trouble in school for saying Shit
The parent then ignores the wrong behavior and zero’s in on the fact that he sad the SH sound properly
it a difficult sound to make if you are deaf because even implants don’t replicate sounds in your head properly
the kid was still in trouble,
but that attempt to make our bad behavior into something good is something we all do
God then curses the serpent
but he doesn’t stop there
he then curses Eve
and he doesn’t leave adam out
you see, all three earned what they got
because of their choices
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
God’s next action is a forshadowing of the cross
God gives a temporary solution
but he does it in such a way that points to the permanent one
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
God began the process of recalibration
of getting us back to eden
though clothinging us
thoguhg sacrifice
God had to slay an animal, shedding blood, to provide clothing
And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
this is the introductions to the concept of atonement for sin
the animal skins symbolize ho God covers over our spiritual nakedness and guilt
this forshadows the messiah being the pure spotless lamb of God whose blood would ultimately atone for the sins of the world
fast forward to the temple, when God has given the instructions for the forgiveness of sins
the blood of the pure spotless lamb was sprinkled over the ark of the covenant
explain atonement....
God want more than our obedience though
he wants relationship
he want right hearts
outside in acting
vs
inside out acting
God wants us to do the right thing for the right reasons
jesus- murder, adultery, lying (yes be yes)
Do your choices need recalibrated?
God is asking, “Where are you?”
in this new year, take some time to ask that question
what changes do you need to make to recalibrate
to zero out the scale
be honest with yourself
be honest with God
have a conversation with Him this morning
song
