Subtitle: Seven things God hates, and how to keep them from messing up
your life.
Lent is the season when Christians traditionally give things up. We
give up things we like in order to build up spiritual discipline. We
normally give up things like chocolate, or caffeine, or television.
This Lent, instead of challenging you to give up what you like, we'll
talk about giving up the things God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19 has a list
of six, no, seven things God says are abominations. Thankfully,
neither chocolate, caffeine, nor television are on the list. But some
other things are. And they're much, much harder to give up.
Proverbs 6:16-19
King James Version (KJV)
16These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in
running to mischief,
19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren.
Luke 22:14-23
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles
with him. He said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it
until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' Then he took a cup, and
after giving thanks he said, 'Take this and divide it among
yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' Then he took a loaf
of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to
them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.' And he did the same with the cup after supper,
saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my
blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on
the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but
woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!' Then they began to ask one
another which one of them it could be who would do this.
---
We're in the season of Lent.
And we're doing this series based on Proverbs called, "Give Up!"
We haven't put that on the signs out front, because people might get
the wrong idea.
So, if you haven't been here, or if you have a memory like mine,
here's the concept in a nutshell.
Lent is the 40 days before Easter when Christians traditionally give
up things, like chocolate, or caffeine, or television.
We sacrifice stuff we like in order to remember the sacrifice God made
for us in giving up His Son, Jesus, his only Son, to death, on the
cross.
God gives up his Son to a horrible, painful death.
We give up chocolate.
I really think we can do better.
Any church can challenge you to give up something you like.
In fact, you don't need church to do that.
Dr. Oz does that.
Oprah does that.
So this Lent, instead of politely suggesting that you give up
something you like, we're challenging you to give up something God
HATES.
Hates.
That makes a little more sense, doesn't it?
God doesn't hate chocolate.
(Yea!)
God doesn't hate coffee.
(Yea!)
Give them up if you think it'll make your body thinner or your teeth whiter.
But seriously.
If you want to give up something to remember God's sacrifice for you,
then give up something God very plainly wants you to give up.
Don't give up the things you like; give up the things God hates.
Our text throughout Lent is Proverbs 6:16-19, where the Bible gives us
a very clear list of six, no, seven things that God absolutely,
positively HATES.
Proverbs 6:16-19 gives us a list of things God not only hates, but,
yea verily, are an abomination unto him.
16These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in
running to mischief,
19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren.
The writer of Proverbs knows humans are forgetful, especially when it
comes to sins.
("Was that a sin? Really? I am so forgetful.")
So, Proverbs has organized the sins by body part, to help us remember
them better.
We all have these parts.
And they're not the parts we normally think of as sinful.
We start at the top and go to the bottom.
A proud look, comes from the EYES.
Lies and false witness come from the TONGUE.
The shedding of innocent blood is done by HANDS.
Wicked imaginations and the sewing of discord are devised by the HEART.
Running swiftly to mischief is done by the FEET.
Eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet.
The first week we talked about proud EYES.
Then we talked about lying TONGUES.
This week, we're talking about the shedding of innocent blood by HANDS.
---
We get stink bugs here in the church.
Sometimes we get them at home.
Any of you get them in your house, too?
The other day, there was a stink bug in our kitchen.
I've never squished a stink bug.
Because I've heard that if you do, they stink.
I don't know if this is true.
It could be a clever rumor started by the bugs.
And if so, they have excellent publicity.
So, being the most manly man in our house, I got a paper napkin,
scooped up the stink bug, and carried it to the toilet, where I
flushed it into the water supply.
Then I heard a tiny voice inside my head…
(or maybe it was from outside; I can't tell anymore)
…telling me that this wastes water.
Plus, what if the bug survives and crawls back up when you're in a
compromising position?
And then I was hit with the doozy, the one that always gets me.
I remembered hearing the tale of another house-elf-man, who neither
squashes nor flushes, but rather, takes the bugs outside and sets them
free.
Being manly is so confusing.
Back when I was a boy, you could squish bugs all day and never think
twice about it.
Back before any of us were children, there was this commandment handed
down by God that says, "Thou shalt not kill."
And ever since, people have debated.
Exactly how literal did God mean that commandment to be?
So, even now, we have impassioned discussions - that's a nice word,
discussions - over everything from the ethical treatment of bugs to
the existence of the death penalty.
Did God mean, "Thou shalt not kill ANYTHING?"
Or did God mean, "Thou shalt not commit premeditated first degree homicide?"
Shalt not thou kill bugs?
What about trout?
People have discussions, and protests, and lawsuits over these things.
I'm pretty sure I'm not smart enough to clear this up this morning.
But here's the thing. I'm foolish enough to believe that the Bible is
meant to apply to us.
Even if we'd never hurt a fly.
---
There's the old story about the couple who were celebrating their 50th
wedding anniversary.
Someone asks the woman if she's ever thought about divorce.
She says, "Divorce? Never. Murder? Often."
Now, the story's funny for a couple of reasons.
First, it surprises you.
You don't expect a grandmother to be talking about murder.
Second, it's funny because anyone who's been married for more than 15
minutes that after 50 years, grandpa had it coming.
He's just lucky she's never carried out her plans.
But.
Change the roles in the story, and it's not funny at all.
Change it so it's the grandfather who gets asked, so it's the husband
who's been thinking of murder, for 50 years,
you start eyeing the old man suspiciously.
I don't think any of us have much room in our hearts for people whose
hands shed innocent blood.
We cringe, we get angry, we get scared, when the news comes on and
someone's gone on yet another spree.
A school.
A courthouse.
An Afghan village.
And that's just in the last two weeks.
That kind of thing happens, and we agree with God.
We hate that.
We hate hearing about it.
We hate that it ever happens.
We may not hate the ones who committed these crimes, personally.
But we hate what their hands have done.
We hate their hands that shed innocent blood.
The Bible tells us, God does, too.
We hate to hear about those acts.
We hate to even think about them.
They're like sickening, sour tastes to the mind.
We're kind, decent, generous, peaceful people.
We do our best to live and let live.
We might get all worked up once in a while, some more often than
others, but something inside us makes us stop short.
Way short.
Sure, the boss might be an idiot, but it's hard to hide a body.
Who has that kind of time?
And that's good.
That's a sign of mental health.
Roll up the car windows and scream.
Run around the block as fast as you can.
Go to Chuck E. Cheese and play Whack-a-Mole.
For a couple of hours.
And then go next door and play with the puppies.
That's good for you.
It's healthy.
The fact that we come to church is a sign of health.
What's the first thing we do when we come to church?
I mean, after we advance to our pew before someone else steals it?
We start out worship with a prayer of confession.
We may not personally have committed all those sins every week.
None of us start Monday morning with a to-do list of evil.
We do the best we can with what we've got.
We all do.
We try to act right and do good.
But.
All the people who do terrible things say the same thing.
I did it for the greater good.
I did it to execute justice.
I did it because God told me to.
That's the kind of stuff they say.
So we start off worship, we come before God, confessing that while all
of us are capable of great good, any of us is capable of great evil.
---
In today's New Testament lesson, Jesus is celebrating the Passover
with his disciples.
The Passover is one of the bloodiest, most brutal stories in all the Bible.
Remember how it goes?
Moses is telling Pharaoh to let my people go.
So the Hebrews mark their doors with blood.
An angel of death passes over the Hebrew doors and slays the firstborn
of all the Egyptian children, whose doors lack the mark.
The history of our faith is a history of people with bloody hands.
And yet, God hates hands that shed innocent blood.
It's a paradox.
Anyone who thinks the Bible is simple and straightforward isn't
reading enough of it.
So, Jesus is celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples.
We know it better as the Last Supper.
He breaks the bread, which is his body.
Then the Bible says,
And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup that
is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the
one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the
Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by
whom he is betrayed!' Then they began to ask one another which one of
them it could be who would do this.
You know who it is.
We all know who it is.
We know it's Judas.
His name is synonymous with evil, betraying people.
People stab you in the back, you call them a, "Judas."
Judas is the one who steals the promotion.
Judas is the one who reads your diary.
Judas is the one who was just pretending to like you, and then leads
others in laughing at you behind your back.
That's a Judas.
But slow down, there.
Just because we know how the story ends, doesn't mean it's over.
If we jump ahead and go off on the disciples, "Well, of course it's
Judas, dummies!" we miss the meaning of the dinner.
We miss the point of what Jesus is saying, and doing, and teaching.
Because at this moment in the story, the playing field is level.
At this moment - and the Bible even tells us this - it could have been anybody.
They began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.
I take that at face value.
All of the disciples are capable of great good.
And any one of the disciples is capable of terrible evil.
The cup is the new covenant in Christ's own, innocent blood.
And any one of them could be the one who spills it.
Jesus knows it.
God knows it.
And God hates it.
---
In church, about every six weeks or so, we "celebrate" the Lord's Supper.
That's what we say, "celebrate."
We're "celebrating" communion.
"Celebrate" is a great word, but in this case, it's kind of a loaded word.
We celebrate birthdays.
We celebrate Christmas.
We celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
I don't know about you, but I don't think I would want to say I'm
"celebrating" the day when someone was betrayed.
You don't "celebrate" the day when someone decides innocent blood will
be spilled.
And that's what's happening at the Lord's Supper.
One of the those disciples is going to flick the switch that turns on
the violence against his own Lord.
Why in the world would we want to celebrate that?
But we do.
We celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Why?
Maybe we're celebrating the fact that the Lord invites us back.
In Matthew 5:21 and 22, Jesus tells his disciples, the same disciples
who will wonder, "Is it I, Lord?" –
earlier in the Bible he's told them -
21 'You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You
shall not murder"; and "whoever murders shall be liable to
judgement."22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or
sister, you will be liable to judgment;
Oh, thanks, preacher.
Now I feel so much better.
Hang on; making you feel guilty isn't the point.
It's fun, but it's not the point.
I want to be clear about this.
You have to put these things in their context.
But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you
will be liable to judgement;
If you just pull those verses out of the Bible, it sounds like Jesus
is saying you're not allowed to get angry.
Oh, come on.
Of course you're allowed to get angry.
Jesus got angry all the time.
Usually because his disciples were so dimwitted.
If you put those verses in context, Jesus isn't saying you can't get angry;
he's saying, "Just because you haven't acted on your anger, don't
think you're better than someone who has."
He's saying, "Just because you've never killed, or hurt, or betrayed,
don't think you're better than someone who has."
God doesn't hate anger.
God hates the hands that do violence in anger.
God hates the hands that act in self-righteous anger.
Hands that act in self-righteous arrogance.
Hands that pridefully think they have the right to take out their
anger on an innocent victim.
Sinful pride.
It takes sinful pride to think you can get away with violence against
another person.
It also takes sinful pride to think you're better than someone who does.
Actually, "think" is the wrong word.
Pride doesn't think.
Around the Passover table in that upper room, around Christ's table,
all the hands were equal.
All the disciples - disciples - connected to those hands asked the same thing.
They wondered who it could be. "Is it I, Lord?"
The story would be so different.
The Bible would be so different if instead of wondering which one was
was evil, the disciples turned to Jesus and said,
"Whoever it is Lord, please don't let it be me."
The Bible would be so different if instead of wondering who ELSE it
could be, each disciple prayed,
"I confess that it could be me. Please, Lord, heal the proud darkness
in my heart."
Things might have turned out so differently.
But then, maybe people just aren't like that.
And still, Jesus keeps inviting us back.
Jesus keeps on inviting us back to his table.
Jesus keeps inviting us back into his house.
In fact, Jesus invites us be a part of his body.
His broken body.
An innocent body that suffered violence by people with bloody hands.
Jesus keeps inviting us back.
Why?
Why does he keep doing that?
Why doesn't he just give up?
Maybe Jesus thinks we can change.
Maybe Jesus thinks we can be changed by confessing the worst of our
human nature.
And in confessing let him make us born anew into something else.
Not something better.
Something else.
Something that shares a spirit that is, at its most honest, holy.
---
You who are mentors, you who are teachers, you hear little kids in
lunchroom conversation saying things like, "My daddy beat up my momma,
and now he's in jail."
You who are in law enforcement, or the legal system.
You who are doctors.
You who've been foster parents.
God bless your ears and your hearts.
Because you hear things no one should ever have to hear.
Do you know how many kids are victims of violence in their own homes?
Too many.
You know how many women suffer at the hands of the men in their lives?
Too many.
And if you, in whatever role you have been given, get the chance to
stop just one act of violence, take it.
If you have the chance to change one environment of violence, take it.
Get angry.
Get angry enough to speak out.
Get angry enough to speak out for the innocent, before they become victims.
But remember this.
In that Upper Room on that last supper night, every one of the
disciples touched that cup that held their Savior's blood.
Every one of the disciples drank from the cup that held the spirit of
a New Covenant
written in Christ's blood,
shed for the forgiveness of sins.
Every one of their hands was the same.
And yet, Jesus celebrated.
Jesus celebrated a feast with them.
Do you know why?
I guess he had hope in them.
For some reason.
Hope that even though any one of them could have been his betrayer,
every one of them could be redeemed.
Born anew.
Made clean.
Giving up the worst in ourselves doesn't mean purging ourselves of it.
I don't know if we can do that.
Giving up the worst in ourselves doesn't mean we can purge it on our own.
Of course, there's no harm in trying.
Giving up also doesn't mean giving in to our basest human nature and saying,
"Well, I can't fight it; guess God just made me this way."
Giving up, in God's book - the Bible - means giving confession.
It means confessing our worst.
It means confessing our capacity for the worst.
It means giving it up and giving it to Jesus so that as he dies and is
born anew, he can take the worst of us with him.
Giving it up to him means he can take even the worst of our thoughts
and actions and feelings.
He can take them with him as he goes to the cross.
He can take them with him as he is reborn.
And with him even our worst, can be changed into something new.
Now again. I am nowhere near smart enough to know how that works.
But I believe it does.
Give up your bloody hands for Lent.
Give them up for God.
Let's pray:
Loving, cleansing, redeeming God: We hate the evil in the world. We
hate the hands that shed innocent blood. We confess that we often keep
on going and hate the people connected to those hands. Because it
makes us feel better about ourselves. We confess our sins of pride. We
confess that sins of pride that we use to deceive ourselves into
thinking that we're better, and that given different circumstances,
well, our hands might not be so clean, either. Lord, help us to work
for a world where people act in love, instead of hate. Lord, help us
to work for a world where no one has to live in fear of violence.
Lord, help us to work together, as the body of Christ, with Christ's
blood running in our own veins, moving us to work in goodness and in
peace. We make our prayer in Jesus' most holy name. Amen.
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