Hebrews 4:12-14 Hidden Sin, Really?

Hebrews 4:12-14  “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.   Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” (NASB)

So, I was in Boise this week and stayed at a hotel downtown where the company had arranged the meeting that I came to attend.  This particular hotel chain is one that I frequent a lot although I had never been to this particular property.  My experience is that the rooms are always clean and comfortable and I can always count on a comfortable bed.  I’ll start by saying my overall experience was different this time.

I always have road warrior travel stories.  This one started in near tragedy when the shuttle driver handed me the other guy's bag at the second to last stop upon arrival Monday night.  In the darkness I didn’t notice, just toted it in and started to check in.  Oddly when I let go of the bag to reach for my wallet it flopped over – NOT MY BAG.  Well, that’s just how this visit went with the TV remote not working, the key reader to the outside door not working and etc.

Well after the first day of meetings I returned to my hotel room briefly to drop my computer bag and rejoin the group for dinner.  When I walked in, I saw something that didn’t register at first.  Something odd about my suitcase; something out of place.  When I looked purposely at it I saw the maid had left her rubber gloves behind.  Not only left them behind in my room, she left them behind IN MY SUITCASE!

Now, I don’t really know the ins and outs of housekeeping down to the last detail.  I couldn’t make a hotel bed just the way they do and I don’t have an endless supply of those tiny mints.  But I’m pretty sure the first page of the housekeeping manual says – DON”T PUT YOUR DIRTY RUBBER GLOVES IN THE GUEST'S SUITCASE!

So, she knew what she was doing was wrong – she just thought she would get away with it.  You know, she worked all alone in that room with her cart strategically placed so no one could follow her in.  What she did in there was completely HIDDEN!  Or was it?

You see, as benign as this little housekeeping incident seems it is sinful behavior; it is sin.  And it is sin that I’m quite certain the maid had not intended to reveal.  You know, sometimes there are sinful behaviors that people do flagrantly – IN YOUR FACE sins.  The parades in San Francisco come to mind as examples.  It would be hard to argue that anyone involved in some of that outlandish behavior regardless of their misguided beliefs could think what they do in some of those parades is upright and wholesome behavior.  That’s IN YOUR FACE sin.  The maid’s actions were not, she committed her deed in private.

The problem with hidden sin is that it can sometimes fool the perpetrator into living a double life; putting on the sparkling image in public but knowing secretly of their dark and shameful behavior.  Sin is that way – it eats at us – it ultimately will KILL us.  That is if it is not dealt with.

Scripture tells us of the remedy.  As believers the Word of God – Scripture itself is referenced in the passage quoted today.  “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  So, as Christians the Word of God is at work in our lives as a spiritual scalpel.  It can actually cut through with surgical precision to “Judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  That precision work of rooting out the evil that continually creeps into our lives because of our sin nature is a preservative surgery we need on a continual basis as believers.  We’re all sinners – all of our hearts are darkened by that stain of sin that fell upon our kind since the fall of man.

But, I’ll just HIDE!  My sin is mine alone!   

Baloney!!!

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”  Scripture is pretty clear here – THERE IS NO HIDING!  You can’t get away from the black and white facts.  You may fool your fellow man.  You may even tidy up after yourself most of the time by picking up those gloves you left in the customer’s suitcase – but your sin is not hidden from “His sight”.  “All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him.”  So, who are you fooling?  Yourself?  Your family?  Your friends?  Your fellow church goers?

Some years ago the elders went through study called, “Experiencing God” together.  It is an intensive study and I highly recommend it to anyone individually but especially to a small group.  That said, my own experience when it came time in the book to “Walk with God” was quite profound.  The instruction was to go someplace alone with no distractions and simply bare all before your creator.  It took me several days to figure out how and where to accomplish my “Walk with God”.  I finally did it on a lonely drive home one night.  It is something I will never forget as I finally understood standing before my God, “Naked and ashamed.”  I came to terms with the truth that was always there but finally was real to me – there are no secrets with God, there are NO HIDDEN SINS!  I shook in the reality of that moment and unexpectedly I am sobbing even now.

But, our God is good!  He doesn’t leave us alone in that state of weakness and vulnerability.  He’s been there, done that.  Read on in the passage, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.´  We can trust in Jesus because He has walked among us and experienced every temptation and worse and yet did NOT sin.  That’s a great thing because it gives us a Savior in whom we can confide, in whom we can trust.

And although previously unquoted I will close today with the end of the chapter which sums things up nicely, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:15-16 (NASB)  AMEN!

Romans 14:20-23 My Confession

Romans 14:20-23 “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.  Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.  It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.  The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God.  Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.  But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith.  For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin”.  (NASB)

Ok – I have to confess I blew it last night.  I have been at a company meeting here in Minneapolis all stinking week and we had a big dinner with about 180 managers.  It was a big deal.  When it all finally broke up some of us from our unit thought it would be a good idea to go somewhere alone.  We did.  Around the block was a place we had actually found the night before, “Ike’s”.  And, like the night before we each ordered a drink.  ONE!  “Last call” the waiter said and out we went back to the hotel.  There we found the group that had left the restaurant had reassembled in the lobby lounge adjacent to the elevators and there was no escaping the gravity.  So, we joined back in the social revelry of the company banter over another beverage.  “Last call” there was indicated when the lights went up and we all scattered back to our rooms.

So what’s wrong Dale?

Here’s what is wrong.  After my reminding all to “Shoot Straight or Don’t Shoot” very recently I managed to come back to the room and give the glamorous FaceBook rendition of the evening.  “Closed two pubs tonight, haven’t done that in awhile”, I wrote.

Yep!  I blew it with that post because it violated the Scripture shown above.  I had not behaved in violation of my conscience and understanding of Biblical standards of conduct for myself for the evening.  But, I may have led others to believe that I had with that post.  And, I have to confess I thought it was kind of cool that a just turned 53 year old guy that barely can stay up past 10 could actually stay up late enough to close not one but two establishments.  Of course “Pub” was a stretch too in reference to the hotel lobby lounge.  So, I was off the reservation with my comments.

No excuses, I blew it and someone may have read that and wondered, “What the heck” I thought this Dale Nicol was the guy that wrote all this stuff about the Bible and here he is out getting drunk and closing down pubs all over Minneapolis.  Although that isn't what happened someone might have thought so, and then taken liberty they believed wrong but since Dale did it ...  That's causing, "Your brother to stumble".   

The key violation was not my behavior but allowing it to be viewed or misconstrued or even twisted by my own hand into something it was not that could have tripped someone up.  
“Do not for the sake of food, destroy the work of God”.

Well, here’s maybe the biggest lesson.  We all blow it, and I did.  You will too.  If so, suck it up and admit it. It's not so easy but here's my confession in black and white. And ... don’t do what I did.  It's easier to avoid the problem than have to explain and confess it!  AMEN!

Proverbs - The Consequences of Lazy

Proverbs 10:26  "Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him".

Proverbs 12:27  "A lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man is diligence".

Proverbs 15:19  "The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns, But the path of the upright is a highway". (NASB)

Today – rather than one passage or verse I’m going to share three proverbs all linked to the common theme of laziness. I’ll refrain from sharing why laziness comes to mind today but it did and so I thought I’d look it up.

Solomon touches on laziness three times in his proverbs and I’d like to share what he says.

In 10:26 Solomon shares the effect lazy people have on those who want them to do something. It speaks of the one who sends him. That could be a parent asking a son or daughter to help or it could be an employee asking a worker to work. It could also be a project organizer asking a volunteer to do something. Regardless, the lazy person has a particular affect on the one who “Sends” them.

The effect is referred to as, “Vinegar to the teeth”. Think about that or better yet try it. Fill your mouth up with vinegar and then rub your teeth together. It’s a little bit like chalk on the chalk board scraping and grinding. The other effect is similar, “Smoke to the eyes”. You know what that’s like; tearing, blinking, rubbing and etc. Overall it’s just plain irritating. And I guess that’s the best word for what Solomon is describing. Lazy people are irritating to those who are trying to get them to do something.

In 12:27 Solomon uses a comparison. This time he compares the lazy person to one who is diligent. “The lazy man does not roast his prey”. Now I’m all for sashimi and once in awhile I like beef carpacio but come on. Let’s cook something here. The lazy man whom I’m surprised has actually hunted and killed something in the first place won’t follow through and cook what he’s hunted. Although not stated, there could be consequences to eating uncooked food. Illness from all sorts of micro organisms or parasites could come to the lazy man from eating that uncooked prey. In contrast the diligent man follows through cooking his prey. One who follows through this way has a “Precious possession”. So it is much better for the diligent than the lazy.

In 15:19 Solomon talks about the way ahead for the lazy man. Here the lazy man is compared to the “Upright”. There could be a double meaning here since a lazy man lays down and the active man is, “Upright”. More likely this “Upright” man is a righteous man or one who does what is right. The comparison then is how things go for the two. The path forward for the lazy man is like a, “Hedge of thorns”. Imagine making your way forward through a thick hedge full of thorns. Not only is the path difficult but it is painful and can actually cause injury and infection. Making a path through thorns isn’t at all pleasant and is at the least inefficient. By comparison the path of the upright is like a highway; it’s clear sailing with no interruptions.

So in these three Proverbs we find clearly that it is much better not to be lazy. You won’t irritate others, you won’t bring potential harm to yourself and you won’t be prevented from making progress. I’d say Solomon makes it pretty clear; lazy ain’t the way. AMEN!