evening sermon

Series: Coming to Grips with Reality
Ecclesiastes 9:18- 10:1
“Sweat the Small Stuff”
INTRO
Recently, the RCA Dome in Indianapolis—which was the home of the
Indianapolis Colts—imploded
-a stadium that took two full years and 82 million dollars to build—24 years ago
-came down in 20 seconds two years ago
Sometimes—the same thing happens to people
-lives that took years to develop implode seemingly in moments—
-in the religious world, one thinks back of Todd Bentley
-more recently—in the political world—
-or people like Bernard Madoff in the financial world
-men who built their lives—but through a series of misjudgments—their worlds came apart
2009 will be a year that some of us thrive, bear fruit, attempt great things
-others will drift—settle for small lives
-while others will implode—a world will break apart, a marriage will collapse
-a reputation will be stained—dreams shattered
HOW DOES ONE AVOID THE LATTER?
-Solomon wrote these words in 10:1 to warn us, instruct us, guard us
(read 9:18-10:1)
On the surface, it’s a simple proverb
-but there is nothing really simple about biblical proverbs
-for they reflect a lot of life experience compressed into a statement
-a dissertation condensed into two lines so that they will be remembered
-maybe even change a life
Solomon gives this warning—perhaps because his own life imploded
-seduced into relationships that seemed innocent, convenient, diplomatic
-gave himself to excesses that amounted to so much chasing after the wind
-that over time turned his heart away from God to lesser gods
-and the fragrance of a God-full life was spoiled
10:1 is his contribution to God’s overall instruction about sin—something we cannot afford to be naïve about
-as Packer puts it—learning about sin is our first need of life
-here’s what the text teaches us—it tells us something about—
A. SIN’S ATTRACTION
-in the parallelism of the verse—the perfumer’s oil is a metaphor of a life of wisdom, godliness
-for holiness creates its own aroma—the knowledge of God has its own fragrance—2 Corinthians 2:14
-communities that draw together to be missional, follow hard after God— choose to be holy
-create their own powerful scent—more compelling than candles
-the problem—just as flies are drawn to ointment—so wise, godly lives attract sin
-as Richard Lovelace puts it in his book on spiritual renewal—
“All who attempt for a single day to lead a life centered on God and His kingdom will discover they have a battle on their hands”
-one thinks of men like Noah, David, Hezekiah, Uzziah—others who were eminent in their walk with God—and found sin crouching at their door, for its desire was for them—as it is for us
-this is why Solomon warned his son in Proverbs 6:26—the adulteress hunts for precious life
-and in Proverbs 9:15—folly centers her invitation to those “who are making their paths straight”
-those who have a certain fragrance
-the metaphor tells us something about—
B. SIN’S STRATEGY
-which is two fold--
1. BEGIN WITH SMALL THINGS
-the image of small insects is intentional
-Solomon is telling us that sin is a lot like flies—that can be insidious, inconspicuous, pesky
-seemingly harmless by their size
-sins we tend to overlook, minimize, make excuses for
-and over time—accept, even tolerate
-this is always sin’s great deceitfulness—to have us regard it as less dangerous than it really is
-Jerry Bridges in his newest book Respectable Sins, warns—
“We have become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we have lost sight of the need to deal with our own more ‘refined’ or subtle sins”
What do they look like?
-here are a few of the seemingly “harmless” flies I’ve noticed buzzing around your lives and mine—
-anxiety, frustration, impatience, discontentedness, ingratitude, resentment, self pity, over-indulgence, impatience, irritability, a critical
spirit, independent spirit, sarcasm, cynicism, negativity, apathy, unwholesome language
-one can add wasting time, procrastination, moodiness, materialism, mean spiritedness
-most of us make excuses for these “acceptable sins”
-it’s just who we are
-missing the fact that it takes just a little to undo a lot of good
-that just as one sinner destroys much good (9:18)
-so one small sin can do much damage
-maybe because there are really no small sins—from God’s perspective
-sin is sin—there are no misdemeanors and felonies
-for all sin is malignant—all sin kills
-maybe this is why Jesus said a lustful thought amounts to adultery
-anger amounts to murder
-for behind the “respectable sins” are things much darker
i. anxiety is ultimately a failure to trust God—I am saying—I don’t believe
God can come through—or worse—that He doesn’t care
ii. frustration is living as though God is not involved in my circumstances
iii. discontentment is saying God does not know what is best for my life
iv. wasting time is ultimately squandering the gift of time God graciously
gives
-it’s the slow leaks—not the blow outs—you have to watch for
-Solomon is saying--it’s not so much the giants as the insidious pests
-the little sins that eventually mar the nobleness of great character
-the ounce of foolishness that is more weighty than a life of wisdom
Watch the small sins
-for here’s the second strategy--
2. SIN’S AIM IS TO TURN SMALL THINGS INTO BIG THINGS
-just as there is a progress to corruption in a vat
-unarrested—there is a progress to the deadening agent of sin
-small choices progress into attachments that progress into compulsions
that turn into addictions and eventually into idolatries
-this is why Plantinga likens sin to a plague
-to a polluted river that keeps branching and rebranching into tributaries
i. wandering eyes lead to ongoing thoughts that grow into addictive
behaviors that mushroom into adultery
ii. envy branches into resentment into anger and breaks the levy and
becomes destructive murder—Cain and Abel, Saul and David, the
brothers and Joseph
iii. complacency, indifference, apathy, lack of passion grow into
irresponsibility, into missing the moment, missing one’s role, missing
God’s calling—ending in a wasted life
Peggy Noonan, referencing books that impacted her in 2008, noted Mother
Teresa’s Secret Fire
-an account of her trip to a spiritual retreat when she had “an overwhelming experience of God”
-something more than some dry command to feed the poor
-something more monumental, more mysterious—that led her to serve the
least, the last, and the lost in the slums of Calcutta
-the pt-we all have to find our Calcutta—but you don’t have to go to India
-Calcutta (the call of God) is all around you—but you have to be listening—you have to be able to hear
-but just a small lack of passion, a bit of indifference, self absorption,
busyness—can ruin it all
-sweat the small stuff!
C. SIN’S GOAL
-RUIN THE FRAGRANCE
-what Solomon tells us here is what all of Scripture underscore—
-sin’s strategy has an intended aim--to pollute, despoil, wreck, make odious
and unusable
-and it just takes a little—
-one lit—to undo years of integrity
-one inappropriate touch to undo years of trust
-from the beginning—it has been this way
-a bit of impatience, a strike of a rock—and Moses’ well was poisoned
-like one rotten apple that eventually spoils the whole barrel
-like a little leaven that leavens the whole lump
-as dead flies ruin the vat, so sin eventually contaminates, deadens
-the wages of sin is death
Illustration—Lents-Milford—who put these damn ropes up?—ruined the
fragrance
-this is sin’s goal—to corrupt powerful human capacities—thought,
emotion, speech, act
-turn the aroma of justice into the stink of injustice
-the perfume of gratitude to the smell of ingratitude
-the fragrance of respect to the stench of disrespect
-the scent of God centeredness to the odor of self centeredness
Why? Because there is something powerful about smell
-of the five senses—smell is the only one that goes directly to the brain
-more than any other sense—it affects moods, impacts emotions, influences behavior
-no wonder Dobbies puts its fragrances at the front door—Stanford’s places its alder wood fire pit near the front door
If we are to attract the unbelieving—it will have everything to do with our fragrance
D. SIN’S DEFEAT
-the implication of the metaphor is clear
-it begins with our commitment to keep watch, guard the heart, protect the perfume
-inspect the cracks that allow flies in
-for lives do not suddenly implode—marriages do not just collapse
-lots of things were in motion for months—maybe years
-lines crossed, behaviors justified, small flies allowed in
-and then the ointment goes bad
Let’s make this our year to aim for holiness
-hate the small sins—as well as the large ones
-for there’s no sin small enough He does not grieve over
-no sin large enough He cannot forgive

MAY YOU…………………………..