Lust

Intro

St. Augustine “ Lord, grant me chastity and self control. But not yet.”

Origen Castration story.

I can’t address the whole topic of sex and sexuality in one sermon.

What is Lust?

The Church and society have often been at polar opposites on the topic of sex

Culture suggests sex is the ultimate good, the greatest thing in life

The Church has often taught sex is dirty, taboo, and sinful

This creates serious psychological and emotional problems for many Christians. They are taught sex is bad before marriage and one must practice abstinence and chastity, but after marriage those rules disappear and it’s a big free-for-all

Neither of these views are right. Culture has done an awful job at understanding sex, but so has the Church

Sex is a good thing, and was created by God for humans to enjoy.

We have an entire book about the goodness of sex and intimacy: The “Song of Songs”, or “Song of Solomon”

Just as Gluttony twists the good gift of food into something it was never meant to be, so Lust twists the good gift of sex into something God never created it for

Sex has two primary purposes in God’s design: to draw two people together in unity; and to create new human beings

“The two become one flesh”

An image of divine love. The Church is depicted as Christ’s Bride, and Israel is depicted as God’s bride

“Be fruitful and multiply”

Participation in God’s creative act

So what’s at stake in Lust? Love and Life.

Sex links us intimately to our spouse as well as a future child. Lust, on the other hand, makes sex into something only for me.

In the Old Testament, wife and husband are said to “know” one another

Hebrew יָדַע

Is this prudishness? No!

Sex forms a deep spiritual as well as physical connection. It bonds two people together and makes them more intimately understanding of one another

Thus to engage in sex is to be bound not only physically, but also spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically to another person.

Lust, in contrast. makes sex a purely physical act. In doing so, it strips sex of love.

Lust alienates people from one another just when they are supposed to be experiencing intimate union.

Society suggests that “sex is just sex”. By which they mean there doesn’t have to be any deeper significance other than the physical.

It is possible, over time, to become numbed to the emotional, psychological, and spiritual significance of sex.

But to become immune to these good aspects of sex is, in a sense, to become less fully human. It is to do untold damage to our hearts, minds, and souls, all for the satisfaction of our flesh.

As beings created in God’s image, both body and spirit, we are designed to be fulfilled by something more than a fleeting physical. We need more than that. We are created for love, but lust destroys love.

Love is giving oneself to another. At its best, sex is “to know” your spouse. It is to be made “one flesh”, and thus to surrender body, heart, and soul to another person.

Lust, however, refuses to give oneself to the other. It is all about self-gratification.

In some ways, this makes Lust safer than love. We don’t have to be vulnerable with another person.

Yet in being “safe”, we are cutting ourselves off from the very thing we desperately need: love.

Lust Hurts Others

The reality is that lust hurts people.

Culture and society have attempted to show that “sex is just sex”. We’re already seeing the fallout from that dangerously wrong idea.

“Me too” movement

We see the dangers of lust easily in scripture as well

Consider David and Bathsheba

Lust destroys the relationship between husband and wife (Bathsheba and Uriah, likely Bathsheba and David too)

Lust destroys the relationship between parent and child (David’s child dies)

Lust destroys the relationship between people and God (Psalm 51)

Lust is dangerous precisely because it causes us to view others as objects to be used for our own satisfaction

Lust eventually teaches us to be numb to love.

Sex industry: lust causes real harm

Atlanta shooting: lust causes real harm

1 Cor 6:17-20

The New Revised Standard Version Glorify God in Body and Spirit

But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Do we see the bodies of others as sacred spaces, or a place for our own cheap thrills?

Lust Hurts Us

Some may still want to argue that lust doesn’t always hurt others. But even if it doesn’t, it hurts us

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife

“Can you tell me what advantage a man has who, although not in bondage to another man, is in constant subjection to his own passions? At least men are merciful from time to time, but the passions- they won’t be satisfied until they have destroyed you!” -John Chrysostom

We become enslaved to Lust, and it ultimately makes us less human

Chastity

What then is the cure?

Chastity isn’t just for single people, but for married couples as well

Abstinence in singleness or faithfulness in marriage are convenient litmus tests, but Lust is more about the state of our hearts, not the action of our bodies

Jesus in Matt 5:28

The New Revised Standard Version Concerning Adultery

I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Every Christian is called to have chaste hearts and minds

How do we cultivate chastity?

Flee

Many sins require preventative measures, but this is especially true for Lust

1 Cor 6:18

The Greek New Testament, Fifth Revised Edition (with Morphology) Chapter 6

φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν

Joseph literally flees

Jesus “cut off your hand”, i.e. remove the source of temptation

Community

Lust, like other sins, thrives in isolation. We need a community with openness, honesty, and accountability

Community also helps us to form genuine, loving friendships. When we learn to give and receive love in healthy and satisfying way, we are less inclined to look for the the sham substitutes and quick fixes lust offers.