Shameless
Notes
Transcript
Phillip Griffin tells a story about a man who walks into a restaurant and orders a Coke. As soon as he
receives it, he throws it in the waiter's face. The waiter is ready to fight, but the man says, “Oh, I'm so
sorry. I have a horrible compulsion. I can't help it. Whenever someone hands me a drink, I throw it in
their face. Please, forgive me.” Then the guy says, “I'm working hard to overcome this compulsion.
Would you bring me another Coke?”
The waiter says, “Do you promise not to throw it in my face?”
The guy responds, “I'm going to do everything I can not to throw it in your face. I'm working really hard
to resist.”
So the waiter says, “Okay, I'll bring you another one.”
Soon the waiter comes back with another Coke, and the guy throws it in the waiter's face. The waiter
says, “I thought you said you wouldn't do that.”
The guy apologizes: “Oh, this compulsion is so strong. I promise you that I will check myself into an inpatient
clinic to get some help. Forgive me. I'm so sorry.”
The guy felt genuine guilt and sorrow, so he checks himself into a clinic, and for one month he gets
intense psychotherapy to deal with his compulsion. When he gets out of the clinic, he goes back to the
same restaurant, and he walks in and says, “I'm cured. Give me a drink.”
The waiter says, “Wait a minute. I had to change my shirt last time you were here. Are you sure you're
cured?”
The guy says, “I know I'm cured. I promise.”
The waiter says, “Okay, if you're cured, I'll bring you a Coke.” And so the waiter brings him a Coke. The
guy looks at it and throws it right in the waiter's face. The waiter says, “I thought you said you were
cured.”
The guy says, “I am cured. I still have the compulsion, but I don't feel guilty about it anymore.”
I can’t tell you how many people have asked me what’s wrong with people today. People ask how people can be the way they are today.
Well this story describes it well. It’s the condition of our society today. They think the solution to sin is to just not feel guilty about it anymore.
People seek out the right counselor or friend to tell them what they want to hear so they don’t feel shame over their sin.
Even in the church we see people seek the right church and pastor who will just tell them what they want to hear so they don’t have to feel convicted by the sin in their lives.
People just push the shame aside as they march toward their own destruction. And roughly 600 years before Christ Judah was in the same condition.
Babylon laid seige to Jerusalem as God was pronouncing His judgment on them and they had no shame in their sin.
If you have your Bibles and want to follow along turn to Ezekiel 16. We’re going to look at what God says to a society that has no shame in their sin. Back then and today.
1 The word of the Lord came to me again: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices. 3 You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hethite.
4 As for your birth, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut on the day you were born, and you weren’t washed clean with water. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one cared enough about you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. But you were thrown out into the open field because you were despised on the day you were born.
In it’s origin Jerusalem was a Caananite city, hated and despised, until David made it the capital city. Until then it was treated like an unwanted child.
You see, after a baby was born in ancient times, the midwife would cut the umbilical cord. Then she washed the vernix and blood off the newborn and rubbed it with salt to dry and firm the skin. After that, she wrapped the infant in cloth for warmth and covering.
However, when Jerusalem was born, no one looked on her with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for her. In fact, they threw her out into the open field to die like they did to unwanted and deformed children in the ancient world.
But look what happens when God came along.
8 “ ‘Then I passed by you and saw you, and you were indeed at the age for love. So I spread the edge of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged myself to you, entered into a covenant with you—this is the declaration of the Lord God—and you became mine.
In those times when a man spread the edge of his garment over a woman it was considered a marriage proposal as can be seen in Ruth 3:9. God’s telling Judea that He proposed marriage to them, took them as His wife and professed His love for them.
Look at verses 9-14
9 I washed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and provided you with fine leather sandals. I also wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.
11 I adorned you with jewelry, putting bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. 12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained royalty.
14 Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through my splendor, which I had bestowed on you. This is the declaration of the Lord God.
God took care of His bride. He gave her the finest clothes and jewelry and the most luxurious food and wine. She became world famous all because of God.
They took God’s love for granted and turned away from God to other lovers. They turned to idols that just abused them and tore them down. They went from revered in the world to despised by the world.
Do you think we’re seeing that again today in our society? We’ve taken God’s love for granted and are despised by the entire world. The only way to restore ourselves begins with us.
We must:
Remember God’s Love for Us
Renounce Our Unfaithfulness
Receive God’s Discipline
It starts with remembering God’s love for us.
Remember God’s Love for Us
Remember God’s Love for Us
We have to remember all the blessings we have in and from God.
God saw our helpless plight. Despised and discarded by the world. Ephesians 2:1 says we were “dead in or trespasses and sins.” Romans 5:8 tells us that God proved His love for us when He entered into this world while we were sinners and died on the cross.
God said to us, “LIVE!” John 3:16 promises eternal life to all who believe in Jesus Christ. God makes those who trust in Christ His bride. Eph 5:26-27 says He “makes her [that’s the church, us] Holy,” cleansing us with the word and presenting us without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless.
Have you ever taken God’s love for granted?
I know I have!
We must constantly remind ourselves of the love God has for us. Let His love take a deep seated grip on our soul.
God blesses us and gives us many wonderful and amazing gifts, none greater though, than His love. We must not take them for granted. Instead we need to take time to appreciate God’s gifts, especially His love.
If your in the place where you’re currently taking His gifts for granted, then take the time to remind yourself of God’s love for you. Then we must renounce our unfaithfulness.
Renounce Our Unfaithfulness
Renounce Our Unfaithfulness
Turn away from our idols and come back to the One who loves us so much. Some of you might be thinking, Bill I don’t worship any idols.
Really? Anything you place before God, any place you remove God from the situation is an idol. You either trust and worship God in it or you trust and worship yourself or something else in it.
God did so much for Jerusalem and Judea whom it represented. God told them “I made you Beautiful.”
15 “ ‘But you trusted in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame. You lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by. Your beauty became his.
18 Then you took your embroidered clothing to cover them and set my oil and incense before them. 19 The food that I gave you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I fed you—you set it before them as a pleasing aroma. That is what happened. This is the declaration of the Lord God.
20 “ ‘You even took your sons and daughters you bore to me and sacrificed them to these images as food. Wasn’t your prostitution enough? 21 You slaughtered my children and gave them up when you passed them through the fire to the images.
They had taken everything God had given them and turned it over to idols. They took His love for granted so much that they even began sacrificing their children to idols.
Israel’s idolatry started, so they thought, in secret, by building temples to other gods on the high places outside of the city. Then they brought them into the city and placed them on full display in all the major areas of the streets.
They eventually brought the idols into the temple Solomon built and made alliances with other nations instead of trusting God alone.
26 You engaged in promiscuous acts with Egyptian men, your well-endowed neighbors, and increased your prostitution to anger me. 27 “ ‘Therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your provisions. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the Philistine women, who were embarrassed by your indecent conduct.
God tells us He’s a jealous God and here He’s like a jealous husband who’s wife is prostituting herself out without getting anything in return. In fact she’s giving away possessions in return.
32 You adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors. 34 So you were the opposite of other women in your acts of prostitution; no one solicited you. When you paid a fee instead of one being paid to you, you were the opposite.
Prostitutes usually require payment before they render any services. The Israelites were paying their suitors to violate them. Their idolatry was just like adultery in God’s eyes and it broke His heart.
It still breaks His heart today. When believers place their trust in their idols over God. When we trust in our status, our wealth, our manmade laws, our own understanding to get us out of situations.
We all have areas in our lives where we push God aside. Anytime we trust in anything more than God we’re committing idolatry. We must Remind ourselves of God’s love for us, renounce our unfaithfulness and we must receive God’s discipline.
Receive God’s Discipline
Receive God’s Discipline
Accept God’s discipline for our adulterous idolatry. Or as God puts it “be ashamed and bear your disgrace” for a little while.
God just got done reminding Jerusalem representing Judea all of the horrific sins they have committed. Sins in which they appear to have no shame, no disgrace.
He’s saying since they have no shame and feel no conviction He must discipline them.
41 And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more. 42 So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.
43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?
Then God switches the metaphor from adulterous wife to a rebellious daughter and her sisters.
44 “ ‘Look, everyone who uses proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hethite and your father an Amorite.
46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you, and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to the south of you. 47 Didn’t you walk in their ways and do their detestable practices? It was only a short time before all your ways were more corrupt than theirs.
God is telling His people they are worse than Samaria and Sodom. Think about the people you dislike and/or detest more than anyone else. In our sinful idolatry we’re acting worse than those people in God’s eyes.
The church has pretended to live out perfect lives while simultaneously condemning society around them. It’s time to stop acting holier than thou and start feeling some conviction over our own sins.
Too many Christians look for the church or the pastor who will just tell them what they want to hear. A pastor who actually preaches hard truth and makes them feel any conviction is ridiculed and attacked.
Without conviction there can be no sanctification. It’s in our conviction that we allow the Holy Spirit into the deepest darkest places of our soul. He only goes where He’s invited. But wherever He’s invited He makes a miraculous transformation.
I have said several times that we should be rejoicing in our conviction. Most people run from conviction. They hide in the darkness so they don’t have to feel their shame and guilt.
How should we respond?
52 You must also bear your disgrace, since you have helped your sisters out. For they appear more righteous than you because of your sins, which you committed more detestably than they did. So you also, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.
The story is told of a time when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to play a practical joke on twelve of his friends. He sent them each a telegram that read, “Flee at once. . . . all is discovered.” Within twenty-four hours, all twelve had left the country.
How much sin do we keep hidden in our private lives?
We can’t “be ashamed and bear our disgrace” if we keep it hidden.
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Sin, Confession Of
A college freshman went to the dorm laundry room with his dirty clothes bundled into an old sweatshirt. But he was so embarrassed by how dirty his clothes were that he never opened the bundle. He merely pushed it into a washing machine and when the machine stopped pushed the bundle into a dryer and finally took the still-unopened bundle back to his room. He discovered, of course, that the clothes had gotten wet and then dry, but not clean.
God says, “Don’t keep your sins in a safe little bundle. I want to do a thorough cleansing in your life—all the dirty laundry of your life.”1243
We should be ashamed of our sin but, when we bear the disgrace, God has promised to restore us.
62 I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord, 63 so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your disgrace. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ ”
In our disgrace and conviction we are able to allow the Holy Spirit access to our souls. In doing so, He transforms our character. It’s because of this that the Apostle John, 700 years later can write,
1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. 2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
Remember God’s love for us, renounce our unfaithfulness and receive God’s discipline. When our shame and disgrace lead to sanctification, to a transformed character, we can anticipate God’s restoration.
Norman Vincent Peale once said, “for your Creator is also your re-creator.”
So, let’s be ashamed and bear our disgrace. So God can recreate in us a masterpiece much more magnificent than the original.
