4th Sunday in Lent
A. It seems that it is
quite difficult for us to learn lessons about life the easy way. Too many times we
are told but we still have to learn ourselves!
B. Doing our own thing,
having our way, enjoying the
sinful things of life are often just too enticing for
us to resist.
C. This morning, I want
you to look with me at some hard
lessons
about sin.
Prayer
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 and John
8:2-11
I. A look at the
scripture.
A. Jesus is in the temple
courts teaching.
B. The Pharisees, wanting
to trap him, drag with them a woman caught in the act of adultery.
C. They turn to Jesus and
say, "The law of Moses commands that this sinful adulteress be stoned to
death; what
do you say?"
D. Jesus, knowing they
were trying to trap him, bent down and began to write on the ground. We have no idea
what he wrote. Some have guessed that maybe he was
writing a list of their sins, but we really don’t
know.
E. After they
persistently questioned him, he finally
rose up and looking at them made this sobering
statement: "LET ANY ONE OF YOU WITHOUT SIN, THROW THE
FIRST STONE AT HER."
F. Then he stooped down
and wrote on the ground again.
G. One by one, starting
with the oldest, the self-
righteous Pharisees began to leave.
H. Jesus got up and asked
the woman where her accusers
were.
I. She told him they were
gone.
J. Then Christ told her
that he did not condemn her and
that she should go and leave her life of sin.
II. What can we learn from
this woman's sin?
A. We know very little
about this woman in particular.
B. From life we know that
she fell into a common sin. She
had committed to a monogamous relationship and had not kept that commitment!
1. She probably
never thought of the consequences.
2. All she saw was
the pleasure of the moment.
C. Look at what this
attractive sin did to her:
1. It gave her - her
moments pleasure.
2. It caused her to
be caught and exposed before the entire crowd.
3. It cost her - her
reputation because while Christ forgives people often do not.
4. It may have cost
her - her family.
D. This poor woman had to
learn her lesson the hard way: sin
hurts, destroys, and separates. Sexual
sins are
never worth the moments pleasure.
III. What can we learn from
the sins of the self-righteous?
A. These men were the
ones who really felt they were
relatively
"sin-free."
B. They were so caught up
in their own way of doing
things that they could not accept Christ.
C. The sin of selfish
pride caused them to reject Christ
and even look for a way to discredit him.
D. It led them to use
this adulterous woman. They were
not concerned with bringing her to justice, but they
were using her to try to trap Christ.
E. Their self-righteous
attitude would even have led them
to stone her to death if Christ had not been wiser
than to fall in their trap.
F. They, like too many good
people, had not learned that
judging, and selfish pride are terrible sins.
G. Judging others is
God’s job. When we judge others, we
are setting ourselves up as
God! When you think about
it, this might be the
ultimate sin! How can we ever
grow if we think we have
arrived?
1. Many messages have been preached about the sins of this women.
2. Many messages have been preached about her being forgiven by Jesus
and what it means to go and sin no more.
3. But I think one of the most important messages here has to do with
the attitude and sin of the accusers!
4. They did not repent but turned and left when confronted with their
sin!
a. They couldn’t see
their sin.
b. In our first scripture
today, the older
brother was arrogant, proud
of what he had
done, bragging on his
faithfulness and how
good he was, and ready to
judge his brother
and thought his brother
should get what he
had coming to him.
c. Again, many
times this is missed in this
passage, but he couldn’t see
his sin, and
when the story ends, he is
on the outside
separating himself from the
love of his
father. He hadn’t yet come
back!
5. Oh, that we can be mindful and aware of our own sin that caused
Jesus to have to die and not always be just looking at others!
IV. Let us learn these
lessons about sin.
A. What can we learn from
what we have heard here today?
1. That sins of
pleasure end up bringing you nothing but misery.
2. That sins of
self-pride cause us to hurt the very people we claim to want to help.
3. That a proud
attitude that makes us sit in
judgement of others generally means we are far
from being in the will of God ourselves.
B. Hear this loud and
clear: Romans 6:23 a
"For the wages of sin is death"
1. It doesn't matter
what particular sin you commit; you are walking a road to disaster.
2. It may seem like
the good times now, but sin
always costs us more than it is worth!
C. Also, hear this loud
and clear: Romans 6:23 b
"but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord."
1. Living right
gives us the freedom to enjoy this life: no hangovers, no morning after
guilt, no
fear of some contagious disease.
2. Living right
allows us to concentrate on our own
growth in Christ instead of
looking around and
judging others.
3. And as life
begins to draw to a close, a life
lived right leads us to a life everlasting.
Conclusion:
A. Many of you have
already learned first hand the hard, cruel lessons about sin.
B. Some may not yet have
been convinced that sin
eventually causes you to pay too dearly for the so
called fun.
C. Is there anyone here
this morning who needs to bring a life burned and hurt by sin to a Lord who
still looks
and says, "I forgive you; I don't condemn you; go
and
leave your life of sin."
D. We can do that as we
encounter Christ at the table
this morning!
Prayer of
Confession
Service of
Communion
