How Did Things Get So Crazy

How Did Things Get So Crazy Romans 1:21-32 The title of today’s sermon asks the question, How did things get so crazy? Turn on the news, open a paper, go and spend some time out in public, and you’ll find yourself asking this same question. Marriage is trying to be redefined; the church is trying to be redefined; God is trying to be redefined. We see people against being overly proud but see pride parades. We see intolerant people arguing for tolerance. We see people arguing over what marriage is, but it’s all for nothing because more people today would rather live together and not be married. We see politicians jump on the bandwagon with whoever is willing to pay the most money. We see people who would rather degrade others and make fun of things rather than find solutions. It’s a world that proclaims love and inclusiveness, but acts in hatred and discriminates against anyone who doesn’t believe like they do! But why? How did things get so crazy? I bet all of us in here can remember better days. We look to the past and wonder why things can’t go back to the way they were? And although the past wasn’t without its own troubles, today’s world doesn’t seem to resemble the good ole’ days. Natural disasters, earthquakes, wildfires, and hurricanes are changing the face of the earth. Same-sex marriage, pride, abortion are changing the face of humanity. And like a boulder rolling down a mountain, it keeps getting faster and faster. How many of you have ever seen the movie Black Sheep with Chris Farley and David Spade? My favorite scene in that movie comes when Chris Farley and David Spade are quietly playing a game of checkers inside a log cabin. The cabin sits at the base of a mountain, and at the top of the mountain is a huge boulder. Although once stable, a raccoon is digging the dirt out from underneath the boulder, making it very unsteady. And it’s not long until that boulder is simply balancing. Then it happens, a bird flies over the boulder, poops, landing on the boulder, causing it to lose its balance, tip, and roll right down the mountain towards the log cabin. The ground is shaking, the checker pieces rattle off the board, and our two characters look at each other wondering what’s happening. Then the boulder hits the cabin, knocking it off its foundation! After the dust settles, Chris Farley yells, “What in the world was that all about!?” Likewise, the world’s boulder has been balancing for a while. And when the foundation weakens, and the boulder starts to roll, we’re left saying the same thing, “What in the world was that all about?” Well, to answer the questions, “What in the world was that all about” and “How did things get so crazy,” we don’t have to look any further than the Bible. Romans 1:21 says, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” It’s when people deny God and begin to see themselves as the center of the universe that the boulder of sin starts to roll. It reminds me of a small boy who visited his friend’s home for dinner. When the youngster sat down at the table, he bowed his head and waited for someone to give thanks for the meal. The others at the table, however, began passing the food. The boy looked up and said, “You guys are just like my dog. You start right in!” That’s the way sin is! When people begin to worship created things instead of the One who Created those things, it starts right in and rolls faster and faster. The Bible calls this Idolatry, and the rest of verse 22 & 23 says, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” Suppressing the truth results in a hurtful cycle of idolatry. Because humanity “didn’t glorify Him as God… their thinking became futile.” When people decided to exchange God for something they thought would be more satisfying, they swapped, “the glory of the immortal God” for earthly things. An idol is any person, place, thing, or thought that you look to in order to get your needs met apart from God. It’s the worst exchange possible because, as the Bible says, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” In the world, we can define Religion as having 2 contrary poles, the biblical and the naturalistic. The biblical pole is explained in the Bible. The naturalistic pole is explained in all the man-made religions. Now man-made religions can have certain bits of truth, usually taken from Christianity. But a man-made, or naturalistic religion, is like counterfeit money. As Billy Graham said, “The very presence of counterfeits proves the existence of the real.” But man didn’t like the real and desired the counterfeit instead because with the real, they had to live by God’s standards, but with the counterfeit, they were free to make their own standards. And what was God’s response to their counterfeit nonsense? Verse 24 has God’s answer, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts.” When people insist on perverting the knowledge of God, God says, “You want it; you’ve got it.” They're free to choose their lusts and passions, but they’re not free to choose their consequences. People can resist the Holy Spirit’s attempts to restrain their sin. God’s grace is always present because God “desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). But when people resist the Holy Spirit to the point of no return, God gives them over to practice their sin. In an attempt to be reasonable, man has become irrational. 3 Times in today’s Scripture, in verses 24, 26, & 28, God says He “gave them over.” Now I want you to understand that this can happen not just to an individual, but to a group of people, a family, a community, an entire country, and sadly, even a church. And each time God says He “gave them over,” it’s another step, another layer peeled off in mankind’s downward spiral. It’s a pattern showing how people “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator.” And this pattern, revealed in today’s Scripture, shows what happens when people leave God, and God lets them do it. When a nation tries to kick God out. When schools try to enroll everyone but God. When people seek their own pleasure and fulfillment and not God’s. And when a church tries to re-define what love and being a Christian means. So let’s examine these verses and these 3 layers to see what happens when God “gives them over.” When God “gives them over,” it’s a downward spiral that progressively worsens. Like peeling off layer by layer, people sink further in their sin. The 1st thing that happens is in verse 24 where God “gave them over to their sinful desires.” God’s forgiveness is always there, but God will never force Himself on you. So if you want to be your own God, He says, “Go right ahead.” The first layer is having the Holy Spirit’s restraint removed, to do your own thing. However, doing your own thing sounds like fun, not judgment. At first, it is fun, until it’s time to pay up. People use credit cards like this. They go on a shopping spree, pull out the credit card and say, “charge it!” If you’ve ever been that person, you’ll know how long it takes to pay it all back. It’s like that in the spiritual world too. You may think you’re free to indulge yourself, but the payment will always come due. The 2nd layer peeled off is verse 26 which says, “Because of this, God gave them over (there’s that phrase again) to shameful lusts.” The Message Bible says, “Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either.” This is the layer of degrading passions where the Bible address what today’s called LGBTQ. But notice how the Bible doesn’t argue hormones, lifestyle, or what a person may be born with. All of that is a smokescreen to cover the real issue. The real issue is it’s a degrading sin that invites God’s judgment. Also, these “shameful lusts” don’t just include the world’s “alternative lifestyle,” but all sexual sin. Lust, adultery, fornication, all of which are sinful and degrading. All of this sounds bad enough, but the last layer is even worse. The 3rd layer is verse 28 which says, “Furthermore, just as they didn’t think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.” How do you know when people have reached this point? Verse 32 says, “Although they knew God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” This is legalized depravity; legalized sin. You know things have gone crazy when people make sin legal and attempt to also make it look respectable. Let me tell you, just because human law says it’s ok, doesn’t mean God’s Law agrees! When a person or a society reaches this point, “every kind of wickedness” in the following verses happens. “Evil, greed, envy, murder, strife, malice, gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, people who invent ways of doing evil, people who disobey their parents, and people who have no understanding of love or mercy.” If you want to sum that mouthful up in one word it’s this: Selfishness. Whenever idolatry has gripped a society, immorality is the result. When people start worshipping other people and things, they become obsessed with the physical—the gratification of their physical desires. They’ve separated themselves from God's love, and in their desperate attempt to find love and acceptance, the only means they have left is physical expressions. But the more you get of something, the less satisfying it becomes. They need more and more, and yet it brings less and less satisfaction. It dominates their lives and holds them in bondage, even as it destroys their marriages, their families, and their health. And yet, they find it impossible to free themselves from this bondage. God gave them up. He didn't do it to them; He just let them have their way and suffer the natural consequences of their way. God gave them up to immorality. It’s like the Prodigal Son. His father said, “You want to leave? Go ahead. But call me when you’re tired of the pigpen.” Remember, God’s grace is always available to anyone who repents. The beginning of the book of Romans tells us that everyone inwardly knows there’s a God, and they’re without excuse. So the problem isn’t that they can’t believe. Their problem is that if they do believe, it’s going to change their way of living. That’s the real battle. People's pleasure over purpose. Selfishness. Idolatry. But the Bible makes it clear in Numbers 32:23, “You may be sure that your sin will find you out.” So what can we do? 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” With that promise, We cannot keep quiet! We can fight the good fight of faith! We can stand with God! We can proclaim God’s Truth! God will not send us out unprepared. The Bible prepares us, and the more time you spend with God and His Word, the more prepared you’ll be. Then you can rise up and say along with Isaiah, “Here I am. Send Me!” (Isaiah 6:8). We’re all called to proclaim the Gospel. In Hebrew, “Preach the Word,” is said, “Kay-roos-so to Logos.” So Rise up, and preach the Word! In closing, there’s a type of ant in Africa that builds its colonies in deep underground tunnels. It’s there that their young and their queen live. Even though these ants may be a great distance away from the nest foraging for food, they can sense when their queen is being attacked, and they all become extremely nervous and uncoordinated. And if she’s killed, they become frantic and rush around aimlessly until they die. What a perfect illustration of the person who has rejected God in their life. Being unable to find direction and peace apart from a relationship with God, they rush around aimlessly, pursuing sin until they also die and enter eternity. If you’re in that shape, I invite you to come to Jesus for salvation right now. The alter is always open. If you know someone in that shape, let me challenge you to pray for them, and then go one further and share the Gospel with them. Brothers and Sister, Preach the Gospel! Kay-roos-so to Logos. AMEN