Saturday, April 12

Sin Still Matters to the Saints

Saturday, April 12

Mark 14:38

Sin is always dangerous – even if it is going to be forgiven.

Of all Christians, I believe Lutherans tend to be most flippant about sin.

Before you get your dander up about that statement, part of the reason this may be true is that we understand grace so clearly.  Jesus died.   His powerful blood, anguished vicarious suffering, and perfect sacrifice removed my sin. I rest in that grace completely, and that is why on occasion I am tempted to not be so upset about sin.   And, frankly, my rest in His grace explains why my prayers may not be so passionate. God has it all covered.  I just trust Him.

However, Jesus certainly was concerned about sin – perfect, as He was — and imperfect as His disciples were. He was still concerned about both His need to be faithful, without sin, and their fleshy natural propensity to slide into sin and their tendency to keep running after it.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, as He is literally sweating blood in His prayers…His disciples are asleep. (Now, pause for a moment to meditate on one of your most anguished moments.  Translate it into anguishing over fighting against the desire to sin.  Add the element of knowing that God wants you to be drawn to Him and the goodness and love and faithfulness He offers.  Such meditation is taking sin seriously.) Upon finding His friends asleep, He said: “Keep watching and praying, so that you will not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mk. 14:38)

I do not believe the disciples were sleeping because they knew Jesus had their sin covered. They were sleeping both literally and spiritually because they really weren’t concerned in a passionate way about God’s plan and providence. The combination of full bellies, abundant wine, the late hour, ignorance of the spiritually bigger picture, and not taking seriously Jesus’ directive to pray to avoid “coming into temptation,” all contributed to their lethargy, apathy, and fatigue.

Now please consider two things: “pray that you may not come into temptation…” and “flesh without strength.”

An alcoholic should avoid driving past liquor stores if he knows and admits that he is genuinely tempted to go in and purchase alcohol by doing so. Making the decision to turn down another street is avoiding even coming “into” temptation. As Paul says in Romans, “make no provision for the flesh.”  Why pack something on a trip that we don’t intend to use? Any provision which we take is usually connected to the plan to use what is packed in a bag. We go “into” temptation when we make plans to provide entry points into Satan’s den of iniquity.

Consequently, because the flesh is literally “without strength” as Jesus said in Mark 14:38, we take literal physical/fleshy steps to avoid coming into temptation.  How? By not even making provision for it and by avoiding the street where temptation lies.   So discipline and loving God with our mind and strength matter. But the battleground to avoid sin involves prayer. The spiritual exercise of prayer, trusting God to answer it in the best possible way spiritually, limits Lucifer’s access to the soul. Once he gets into that, sin becomes animated and is “crouching at the door ready to consume.” (Genesis 6:7) Take sin seriously and pray to avoid “coming into temptation.”

Yet despite a zero batting average in the Garden to pray, Jesus forgave them all for their sleep and apathy.