Just Being Honest

I'm enjoying the series we are going through right now.  Enjoying?  Maybe that's not exactly the right word.  Kyle Idelman is an excellent communicator, a solid theologian, and a man of God.  This is why I am so willing to use his materials, like Not a Fan and our current AHA series.  They spur us on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25).  That being said, sometimes the pace on these series is a little slow for my taste.  In the off chance that is the case for you, I just wanted to share a thought or two.

I remember being in seminary over ten years ago.  I was taking an excellent class entitled "Doctrine of Grace."  It was a great class that surveyed many, if not all, the Scriptures that spoke to sin, death, grace, salvation, and how God brings us home to the Father through the Son, giving us the Holy Spirit.  I'll never forget one of the class sessions where we made it through the wages of sin: death.  This not only meant physical death.  It included the second death in the lake of burning sulfur.  The professor said, "I'm sorry to leave you all in hell like this. Hopefully that will be an encouragement to come back next week to find out how to get out."  I didn't like being left in hell.  That was awkward.

I don't want to finish this week leaving you in a similar predicament.  Yes, AHA experiences happen when we have an awakening.  Yes, that awakening needs to be followed by brutal honesty.  This step is difficult because we all seem to have a tendency to blame others for our own sin.  That being said, sometimes the trouble we face is the result of another person's sin, too.  Discerning the difference helps us walk together with God.  When the trouble is the result of our own sin, I just want to remind you that the Father doesn't "leave you in hell."  Our Father provides us a way back home.  AHA is simply showing us how. Come back next week to learn the next step.

Know that, even in my busyness, I have been praying for you throughout this series.  I not only pray for you, but for your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors who also need AHA experiences in their lives.  We all need God.  When we come home to God, things really do change for the better in this life and for all eternity.  Blessings.

Consequences

When we finally wake up and look around, we may find ourselves being honest about our circumstances and even how we got here. It all becomes way too real, though, when we finally come to terms with the consequences we need to pay for what we have done. Sometimes the consequences seem harsh. Other times, though, they make perfect sense.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.' (Luke 15:19 NIV)
Saying, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son," is like saying, "God, I no longer deserve to be called your child." Sometimes we are not willing to admit that, but it is true. All sin is rebellion against God. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When we sin, we are not being children of God. We are being children of the devil. The wages of sin is death.

Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. For forty years--one year for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' (Numbers 14:33-34 NIV)

The Israelites learned this the hard way. They will be living out the punishment for their rebellion for 40 years. All of the adults will pay the penalty of death. None of them will get to go into the promised land. Their children have hope of seeing it, so they need to pass down the stories from generation to generation. This is the best they can hope to accomplish, considering the consequences of their actions.

How about you? Are there consequences to your actions? Do you see the consequences? Are you living with them? Are you honest with yourself about those consequences being tied to your actions?

What Brought You Here

Aha cannot happen unless we are brutally honest with ourselves. We may hear the alarm and wake up to the fact that God is trying to get our attention. We look around at our circumstance and accept it for what it is. We are in the distant country. None of that will help, though, if we start making excuses about why. I cannot point a finger and blame someone else because three fingers are just pointing back at me. I must be honest about what brought me here.

I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. (Luke 15:18 NIV)

Admitting to sin is tough. It requires humility. It requires honesty. It requires us to stop making excuses. The younger son had all three. He rehearsed what he was going to say to his father and it didn't include any reasons for his actions. He just admitted that he was wrong. I remember apologizing to a pastor friend of mine for something I did. Then I started to explain why I did what I did. He told me, "That's not a true apology. Apologies are admissions that you were wrong. You are making excuses." He was right.

In this wilderness your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. (Numbers 14:29-32 NIV)

The adults in Israel needed to admit their wrongdoing, too. They weren't willing to, though. They tried to rally everyone to go back to Egypt. It didn't matter where God was. They figured a majority vote would make it all right. They were wrong. God always gets the majority vote. They just get to choose whether or not they will be on the winning side. The same is true for us.

So, how about you? Do you admit when you are wrong? Do you try to blame everyone else for your own sin? Do you try to justify your actions by getting a majority on your side? Do you admit what brought you here?

Honest About Circumstances

Once we wake up, an "AHA" experience will not happen unless we are brutally honest with ourselves. That's what the younger son finally did.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! (Luke 15:17 NIV)

The younger brother finally admitted his situation. It was one thing to think that the pig's food looked good. It is another to realize that his situation is permanent. This isn't just crashing at a friends house for the night. It's not just working through a hangover. It's a long-term situation, now, and the son is comparing long-term situations in his mind. Even as a servant in his father's house, he would be better off than he is here.

The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. (Numbers 14:20-24 NIV)

Israel needed to come to terms with their circumstances, too. They are going to wander the desert for 40 years, now. All of the adults will pass away before they are allowed to enter the promised land. They didn't trust God. They rebelled against God. Now, they are in the wilderness. They will stay in the wilderness. They would have been much better off in the promised land.

How about you? What are your circumstances? Does God want something different for you? Has God communicated that to you? Are you honest about your present circumstances?

Brutal Honesty

Aha experiences include a sudden awakening, brutal honesty, and immediate action.  Last week we talked about listening to God's alarm clock and waking up.  Waking up, though, doesn't make any difference unless you look around and decide to get out of bed.  In other words, we have to decide to make a change.  No one will do it for us.

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." (Numbers 14:2-4 NIV)

I know we are talking about the parable of the prodigal son, but the children of Israel lived out this parable over and over again.  They were broken out of slavery in Egypt, brought through the water on dry land, fed and given water in the desert, and now shown the promised land.  They are being shown God's desire for their lives, but they just aren't being honest with themselves.  Slavery in Egypt was bad.  Living in the desert is livable, but not experiencing God's blessings.  In many ways it is bad.  God wants them to go to the promised land.  Only then will they experience what God has in store for them.

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." (Numbers 14:5-9 NIV)

Israel had sent in twelve spies to look at the land.  They all saw it.  They also saw the size of the people living in it.  God wasn't afraid of their size.  God was going to give them into the hands of Israel just like God had punished Pharaoh in Egypt.  Two of the spies saw it.  Ten of them just saw fear.  They wanted to go back to bed.  They got the crowds riled up, too, so the whole community wanted to go against God.

But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they." (Numbers 14:10-12 NIV)

Remember the definition of leadership?  Leadership is not about power, position, or politics.  It's about walking with God and helping others do the same.  Joshua and Caleb were leaders.  The other ten were rebellious.  They were about to hear the punishment for them and all of their followers.  You cannot go up against God and win.

The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished... (Numbers 14:18 NIV)

All too often, people will quote some sense of the first part of this verse.  They like to talk about God being slow to anger and abounding in love.  They love to talk about grace and forgiveness.  They don't like to talk about the guilty being punished.  But God does it all.  Brutal honesty is the only thing that will drive us to true repentance.  Brutal honesty is the only thing that will get us out of bed to make a change.  Brutal honesty about our rebellion sends us looking for reconciliation and change so that it never happens again.

How about you?  Do you make excuses for your rebellion against God?  Do you try to sugar coat it or sweep it under the rug?  Do you want to rely on God's love and forgiveness, but not be honest about God's justice and punishment?  Are you brutally honest with yourself about your own walk together with God?