The Sin of the Shortcut

Introduction

Congratulate everyone who got baptised ystd. 34. not too late, one more baptism this year.

This morning we are continuing in our theme of “The Until” where we’re talking about what does Scripture tell us about the waiting periods in life. About the time IN BETWEEN seasons, about times that we are called to wait for a result. What happens when nothing’s happening?

The thing about these seasons that we can be tempted to think is that the worst thing that can happen in a season of waiting is we quit, we end the season prematurely and don’t end up walking into the purpose that God has for us.

This is true, and quitting in a season where God wants us to wait is clearly not what God wants from us in that time.

But there’s actually another danger in periods of waiting that we can be caught off guard by: The shortcut.

When we choose to take another, quicker way to end the season of waiting because we’re tired of waiting.

And this should make all of us ask a question - is taking a shortcut actually bad? If God leads us through a season of waiting, what’s wrong with taking a shortcut through it?

This is what I want to talk about this morning.

Let’s Pray.

Segment 1: The sin of the shortcut

Our story starts in Genesis 15:4 where God makes a promise to Abram.

Genesis 15:1–4 ESV

1 The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”

The story of how this promise is worked out continues in Genesis 16

Genesis 16 ESV

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 6 … Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. 15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

So Abram sleeps with Sarai’s servant Hagar - and she bears a son, Ishmael. Everything sounds like it’s been resolved to an extent - everyone got what they want. Except later on in Chapter 21 we read this Gen 21:1-2

Genesis 21:1–2 ESV

1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

The gist of this story is that that God promises Abram a son of his own, a son of the promise. And yet instead of trusting God to bear him a son - Sarai and Abram both seemingly lose heart as they are in the season of “the until” they lose heart in their season of waiting and decide to act on behalf of God to bring about a result - they decide to take a shortcut.

This particular shortcut results in the birth of Ishmael

But a couple of years after this shortcut - the Lord completes His promise to Sarah - allowing her to bear a son of her own.

Now can I go into what actually went wrong here - because it may not actually be you think it is.

The thing is that many people think that the issue here was Abram broke the covenant of marriage. But that’s not actually the primary issue - yes it was a breach of God’s future intended design of marriage. But in Ancient Near Eastern tradition - Surrogacy through a wife’s servant was actually a recognised and legally regulated institution. It was a common, known tradition of the time. Was it ideal? No absolutely not - this method falls FAR from God’s intended design for marriage, but it is never named in scripture as the primary issue. Covenant marriage had not yet been as fully theologically developed as it is now.

To complicate things even more than this - at this point in time - God had promised Abram that he would bear a son “FROM HIS OWN BODY”. He did not say Sarai’s body - and he had not told Abram that Sarai would be the mother of his child. That occurs AFTER they had committed to the shortcut in the next chapter, Genesis 17. Technically Ishmael IS a son from Abram’s own body.

These two things put together - and it’s almost as if the shortcut is in some senses, rational. It makes sense. They used a known, traditional method of surrogacy to fulfil what God had told them up to that particular point. TECHNICALLY one could argue that they were not acting unreasonably.

So what’s the issue?

The key is found in Genesis 16:2

Genesis 16:2 ESV

2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.”

The main issue is that Sarai declared a conclusion on the Lord’s behalf. Sarai declared “The Lord has prevented me” when God had said no such thing. Effectively Sarai was saying “The Lord has failed to deliver - so I must take things into my own hands”.

And let me share with you why this is such a deep issue - it’s because Sarai trusted what she SAW over what God SAID - this was a faith issue

Sarai looked at her situation, 10 years of waiting, her womb was still closed, there was nothing, there was silence from God. And she compared that with the voice of God in her head, the promise that God made her - and she decided that what she saw in the flesh was more real than the promise. She came to the conclusion that God has kept me from having children.

She had a LAPSE in trust, she allowed what she could SEE to overrule what God had SAID.

And this, church, I call the “sin of the shortcut”. It’s manufacturing our own solution because we choose to trust in what we SEE over what God has SAID.

And it should almost sound painfully familiar - we don’t have to go far back to see this committed previously in Scripture. Genesis 3:6 “6 So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

Eve SAW that the tree was good, it was a delight to her eyes - in that moment she decided to trust in what she SAW over what God SAID. Original sin was committed because man chose unbelief, because man chose to have faith in themselves rather than God.

The shortcut is fundamentally a choice - a choice to trust in our own judgment and intuition OVER trusting in God and His word.

And it doesn’t always look so obvious:

God asks us to maintain our integrity in the office - trusting in His timing to progress us along. But we know that compromising and being silent about our faith may get us there faster.

Or the broken relationship that God is asking us to reconcile through patience and forgiveness; but we choose unforgiveness because we deem it to be a more appropriate conclusion

The sickness that God wants us to journey through with Him, so that we learn dependence. But we lose hope because our hearts are so discouraged by the fact we haven’t found healing.

Will we continue to trust in God’s Word, God’s promise - even when the season of waiting is long, even when our human mind can conjure another way out, even when other pathways look far more attractive.

Or have we, like Sarai - closed the door on God’s promises? Have we prematurely chosen to declare that God has not provided, God has not come through, God has not healed?

Are we allowing our assessment of our situation to override our faith in God?

ILLUSTRATION: Mum teaching me how to wait

Man you know my mum taught me this lesson early on in my life. She would do this really sneaky thing where if I was a good boy for a certain amount of days then she would buy me a present at the end of that period of time. So usually she would tell me that if I was a good boy for 30 days straight then she would buy me a nice toy. And she’d record the days on this board on the fridge by the way so this was about as real as it could get for me. And it’s me guys - I was a rat, I only got like 2 toys through this method, it was the worst.

But mum was really smart - because when it would get to 15 days, she would say “ok you know what, mum’s feeling generous and so if you want - I’ll buy you the china version of this toy OR you can wait the full time and get the toy that you really want!” (Asians are always trying to teach their kids about investment, it’s super annoying).

And so me being a child I didn’t know better - the first time I did it and mum offered me the china toy I was like AWWW YEAH!!!! And cashed in immediately at 15 days. So mum was true to her word and took me to toys-r-us where she promptly purchased me a laser shooting set. (you know the one where you and your friend wear a vest and shoot each other with laser guns and then the vest goes off?). Now the legit one was a brand called Laser Challenge, which was on the TV ads and everything; that was what I really wanted. What I ended up getting was a brand called Light Challenge - which ended up being a very appropriate name for it. Because I soon realised that it didn’t matter where you pointed the gun, the laser vest would always mark a hit. One time I was playing with Dad and he was hiding in a completely different room - and it was still registering hits.

That’s how I learned to ALWAYS wait the FULL length of time to receive the gift that was best.

And I know it’s a silly little story but to be honest with you - this sums up the sin of the shortcut. We struggle to stay strong in the season of waiting and end up taking the shortcut to get what we want faster, to get where we want faster.

but no matter how you look at it, the best end result we can achieve through our own strength will only ever be a counterfeit of the outcome God wants for us.

Segment 2: The Idol of Certainty

I want to talk briefly about something serious in Sarai’s response in Gen 16:2. I call it The pursuit of Certainty. Take a look at what she says: Genesis 16:2 “2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.”

And this happens when we make certainty the goal. We want progress. We want a result. We don’t want to embrace the wait.

We have to be so careful here because our inability to embrace uncertainty can actually be a rejection of faith.

In fact, one of the greatest mistakes that we can make in our seasons of waiting is pursuing certainty instead of trusting God.

I think the reason Sarai felt compelled to manufacture her own solution was because she desired a result over trusting in God to fulfil what He promised.

You know that passage Hebrews 11:1 “1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

This passage should actually make us ask a question: How. how do you live in assurance of something you don’t have? How can you live with conviction of things you don’t see?

The answer is simple - Your faith in a promise is only as good as your faith in the Promiser.

Faith is not just believing that if God said it - then He CAN - it is believing that if God said it then He WILL.

It’s believing that God’s word is MORE REAL than our circumstances, it is trusting in HIS word over what even our own eyes perceive.

God calls us not to seek certainty but to trust Him.

To find peace, not in the certainty of a season - but in trusting the One who walks with us THROUGH the season.

ILLUSTRATION: Mother Teresa

When the brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to work for three months at "the house of the dying" in Calcutta, he was seeking a clear answer as to how best to spend the rest of his life. On the first morning there he met Mother Teresa. She asked, "And what can I do for you?" 

Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him. "What do you want me to pray for?" she asked. 

He voiced the request that he had borne thousands of miles from the United States: "Pray that I have clarity."

She said firmly, "No, I will not do that." 

When he asked her why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of." 

When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, "I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God."

In our seasons of waiting, let’s learn to value faith and dependence on God rather than idolising certainty and control.

Segment 3: The flesh cannot inherit the promise

The conclusion of this story is not surprising. God ends up visiting Sarah and she bears a son, exactly as He said that she would. Fulfilling the promise that He had initially given Abram 25 YEARS prior.

Genesis 21:1–3 “1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.”

God comes through and fulfils His Word - as He always does.

However there is now a problem - because of the shortcut that Abram and Sarai took, there are now two sons. Ishmael and Isaac. Two sons, resulting from two different paths. One a son of the promise, and another a son of the flesh.

So what happens now? Do they just peacefully co-exist together? But who inherits the promise that God made to Abram, who continues the line of blessing? Do both of them get blessed?

To find out the answer we have to go to the New Testament where Paul actually talks about it in Galatians 4

Galatians 4:22–30 ESV

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”

Here’s a point that we immediately need to catch: The way of the flesh and the promise cannot co-exist. They don’t share an inheritance, they are at odds with one another.

The verdict of the text is clear: “the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”

Ishmael does not end up inheriting the promise - that which was born of the flesh does not inherit the promise of God.

In other words: a solution born of the flesh is not compatible with what God wills in the Spirit.

See this for what it is - because this is about so much more than a season of waiting, this is about our approach to life.

Do we choose to live life by taking shortcuts? By walking a path guided by our own strength, wisdom or even our own desires? Or do we choose the path of faith - trusting in God, holding on to His words and His promises?

Are we choosing to walk by faith and not by sight? Are we choosing to trust God’s sovereignty over our ability? Are we walking the path of the Spirit and foregoing the path of the flesh?

Because the opportunities to take shortcuts are everywhere in life:

Compromising faith in order to pursue worldly convenience

Electing for ignorance in relationships as opposed to seeking reconciliation

Foregoing integrity in our workplace to benefit status or finance

Pursuing an addiction in order to counterfeit fulfilment

One clear thing that the outcome of this story shows us is: that which is born of the flesh is not compatible with a life lived in the Spirit.

In order to obtain the promise we must walk the path of the Promise, in order to realise God’s will we have to walk in God’s will

A principle taught explicitly in scripture:

Romans 8:5–8 “5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

We can’t choose to live a life of shortcuts and yet demand divine outcomes; and wonder why God’s will and promise aren’t coming to fruition in our lives.

I believe that today God is calling us out of the shortcut mentality - back to trusting in Him, back to trusting in His promise, His Word - no matter what the season may look like, no matter how long the season of waiting may be for, no matter how deep the valley may seem to run.

ILLUSTRATION:

There was one day I was having an impromptu pastoral with a young person in the garage of my house. You know how like you spend the day with someone and go out for lunch etc. and nothing comes up but then just as you get out of the car they’re like “ps Jon can I please talk to you about something?” yeah one of those. You know who you are.

Anyway, we’re talking in the garage because it’s just started to rain. And this young person asks me about pretty much what I’m talking about today. They’re going through a situation where they just feel like they want to take a shortcut, the season of waiting is long - and it doesn’t look like anything’s happening.

And so they ask me a question - they ask “ps Jon, how do you know that things will work out? How do you know that everything’s going to be ok because I don’t feel that way.”

Just then, my super annoying little dog must have heard us talking and had started to scratch the door separating the garage from the living room. You know how dogs do that *scratch scratch scratch* sort of thing? And then something just kinda popped into my head. I said to him - hear my super annoying dog on the other side of that door? She’s heard me talking and has gotten impatient waiting for me. She has no idea what’s on the other side of this door, she has no idea who I’m with, whether it’s dangerous or safe, all she knows is that I’m on the other side of this door.

And so I told this young person. This is the same as our seasons of waiting. We may not know what’s in store for us at the end of the season. We may not know when the season ends, when it starts to get better, but we do know who’s walking with us through the season. And we know that we can trust Him to lead us exactly where we need to go.

You know the beautiful thing is that even after all of this - the author of Hebrews recognises Abraham and Sarah in the hall of faith. As people who trusted the Lord and did not waver in faith.

Despite this incident of doubting God, despite taking the shortcut. God still redeemed their journey, God still counted them as faithful.

After seeing God deliver on this promise, they lived lives recognising God’s faithfulness, and learned to trust God implicitly.

Whether or not you’ve been in a season of taking shortcuts. Whether or not you’ve taken shortcuts in the past. God can redeem our path, God can restore our way. And he’s here to do that for anyone who wants to get off the shortcut - and walk the path of promise today.

Altar Call

You know Paul mentions something so interesting in Galatians 4:24–26 “24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”

Hagar and Ishmael - the product of the shortcut are representatives of the Sinai covenant. A covenant that was categorised by works to satisfy the law. A lifestyle of striving and working and trying to earn our righteousness. Kind of apt when you think about it - Abram and Sarai taking the shortcut, using their own strength and will to manufacture an outcome that still falls short of the promise.

But scripture tells us that we don’t have to live under that covenant anymore which Paul writes about in Galatians 4:31 “31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.” - we live under the new covenant of grace thanks to Jesus Christ, God’s perfect son who died on that cross as a sacrifice for our sins - so that we could live under a new covenant of grace. Where none of us have to earn our righteousness - but all of us are free from the slavery of sin thanks to God through His son Jesus. And all we need to do in order to be a part of that covenant is to enter into relationship with God.

Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the promise that God initially gave to Abram in Genesis 12:3 “3 … in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””

SALVATION ALTAR CALL