A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on June 27, 2010 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington WV.
Text: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
Walk by the Spirit
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Introduction
On June 13, 1935, in Madison Square Garden, an epic boxing match took place between a formerly 'washed- up' fighter named James Braddock, and the seemingly invincible Champ, Max Baer. Baer had previously killed two men in the ring and was so vicious that the fight's promoter, James J Johnston, forced Braddock and his agent to watch a film of Baer in action - just so he could claim 'informed consent' if Braddock too was killed!
We can imagine the newspapers and radio announcers of the day plugging the upcoming match as 'The Fight of the Century...!!"
And indeed it likely was! In one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, Braddock, the 'Cinderella Man" defeated Max Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world, winning for himself the hearts and imaginations of every poor and downtrodden man, woman and child in Depression-era United States.
Like Braddock, we Christians are engaged in a fight with a formidable opponent - our flesh! We could even say that the Battle of the Flesh vs our Spirits is the 'Battle of the Century' - or the "Battle of our Lives" if you wish.
Like Paul, in Romans Chapter 7, we 'know that we are 'of the flesh, sold under sin....and that 'nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. We 'desire to do what is right, but don't have the ability to carry it out. (vv.14,18).
Hebrews 12:1 refers to 'the sin which so easily besets us - a certain type of sin that keeps flaring up, unique to each one of us, that causes us difficulty time after time. This is where we get the concept of the 'Besetting Sin'.
So when we talk about the opposition of Flesh and Spirit, we're often referring to this 'Fight of the Century' between our Besetting Sin and our better spiritual natures, between what I desire to do and what I actually do.
Today we might actually identify better with the language of 'addiction' rather than 'besetting sin' because addiction and 'relapse' may better convey to us the ongoing struggle we have - and the sense of frustration that can grow out of such a repetitive cycle of success and failure.
Biblical examples of addictions or besetting sins would include the foolish young man from Proverbs who falls prey to alcoholism.
-King David's serial adultery might today be called 'sexual addiction'.
- King Saul, David's nemesis, might reasonably be labeled a 'rage-a-holic'. - not to mention being demonized!
-King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, about multiple excessive behaviors: Feasting to the point of Gluttony, he became a 'foodie'.
-Amassing huge sums of gold, houses, slave garden and parks, he became a shopaholic with a capital S!
Name your issue and he probably did it - in large part because he had the time and money to pursue his indulgences. Most of us don't have such huge resources at our disposal, so we have to concentrate on one or maybe two issues - and these are determined by several factors:
Factors affecting our besetting sins:
-Our nature or temperament
-Our nurture, or family background
-Our circumstances, including our current stresses
Regarding our temperament, we can be either outgoing or introverted, driven or relaxed, dominant or submissive, feelings oriented or thinking oriented. Temperament, or one's 'bent' seems to be largely innate. Our 'god-given traits lend themselves to particular kinds of besetting sins:
The outgoing and dominant person might be prone to exaggeration and running roughshod over others' feelings.
The withdrawn, submissive person to silent resentments and anger.
And the overly analytical person to insensitivity.
We tend to think that others are like us, and so have a hard time comprehending how others can fall into certain sins. Of course, we like to frame our own besetting sins as some sort of virtue.
"I'm not a workaholic, I'm diligent!"
'I'm not lazy, I just know the value of relaxation..' and on and on.
In terms of our Nurture, we can learn to play different roles in our families:
Hero/Golden Child
Angry Rebel
Lost Child
Victim
Pleaser
These are some ways we learn to make it through life as we grow up in our families. And each behavior pattern in turn lends itself to various besetting sins.
Then finally, our circumstances can cause an otherwise latent or potential sin to manifest under stress. Work pressures might lead to gambling problems. Financial pressure to theft, or family conflicts to compulsive eating.
Paul says that the remedy for these conflicts is to "walk by the Spirit". If we do so, we "will not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Gal. 5:13) However, even when we try to walk by the Spirit, we often 'see in [our] members another law waging war against the law of [our] minds...making [us] captive to the law of sin that dwells in [our] members." (Rom. 7:23).
We can find ourselves crying out, like Paul, "O Wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death?"...and despair of ever getting the Victory.
Martin Luther, in his famous commentary on Galatians comments on this pattern:
"Do not despair if you feel the flesh battling against the Spirit or if you cannot make it behave. For you to follow the guidance of the Spirit in all things without interference on the part of the flesh is impossible. You are doing all you can if you resist the flesh and do not fulfill its demands."
He goes on to tell how he almost despaired of his salvation because of the persistence of carnal feelings:
"When I was a monk I thought I was lost forever whenever I felt an evil emotion, carnal lust, wrath, hatred, or envy. I tried to quiet my conscience in many ways, but it did not work, because lust would always come back and give me no rest. I told myself: "You have permitted this and that sin, envy, impatience, and the like. Your joining this holy order has been in vain, and all your good works are good for nothing." If at that time I had understood this passage, "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh," I could have spared myself many a day of self- torment. I would have said to myself: "Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh." ...
Luther shows us an almost paradoxical acceptance of our fleshiness, while challenging us to gain mastery over the flesh. Our struggles drive us to Christ:
"The Christian feels the unholy condition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that he cannot trust in his good works. He therefore goes to Christ to find perfect righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble."
Christian writer Denina Hudson says this about Righteousness:
‘You’re not righteous when you feel spiritual and blessed.
Neither are you righteous when you’ve failed miserably, you’ve come to the end of yourself and you’re ready to repent and get yourself right with {God}.
The true test of a righteous man working his way in righteousness is when he’s in the middle of his fight, he knows it’s not over, but he gets before [God] anyway because he knows [God] knows his heart.
(Denina Hudson) http://www.christian-truth-ministry.com/Denina
True to the spirit of the Fight, the righteous person slogs it out, even when feelings go against him.
Turning now to some practicalities, here are some tips on How to deal with Besetting Sin:
4 Be's:
1) Be Sincere ('without chaff') about overcoming the sin. Don't secretly hold on and enjoy the sin. In fact, Hate the sin that keeps you bound.
2) Be assured of God's love for you in the midst of your struggle:
Romans 5:8,10,11: "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ... if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
3) Be assured of your inability to deal with it in your own strength. As long as you have flesh, your flesh will be weak.
4) Be patient, this is going to take a while.
4 Do's:
1) Do ask for help, God first, then other people. (Prayer and counsel).
2) Do Tell God how it is with you, as honestly as you possibly can - however bad it is.
3) Do sit still and listen to whatever God tells you as you focus on His Word.
4) Do whatever he tells you. ( John 2:5, Mary's directive to the servants at Cana.)
Repeat as needed!
Regarding #3 above, here's Luther again on the role of the Scriptures in this fight:
"When the flesh begins to cut up the only remedy is to take the sword of the Spirit, the word of salvation, and fight against the flesh. If you set the Word out of sight, you are helpless against the flesh. I know this to be a fact. I have been assailed by many violent passions, but as soon as I took hold of some Scripture passage, my temptations left me. Without the Word I could not have helped myself against the flesh."
As Hebrews 4:12 says, "... the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
A Final Illustration:
In the last movie of the Lord of the Rings series, 'The Return of the King', at the last stand of the Conflict, Aragorn and Gandalf are gathered with Legolas, Eomer, (and his twin sister Polymer...) and Gimli the dwarf, discussing how to mount one last diversion against Lord Sauron in order to give Frodo more time to destroy the Ring. As they mull over the plan, Gimili reflects, ..."Certainty of death... Small chance of success... What are we waiting for!"
As Christians, we too have a certainty of death - but with a difference. We have the certainty of Christ's death on the cross, the Finished work of God on our behalf, which justifies us once for all.
Then we have the certainty of the death of our Old Man, with its sinful inclinations: "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (v. 24).
Notice that although this is couched in the past tense - 'have crucified' - yet there is a sense of ongoing struggle. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23).
Dying to self is a daily process, one that will last your whole life. As such, this mortification is intimately connected to our sanctification - the ongoing process of becoming more and more like Christ. Paradoxically put, the more you die, the more you live.
Now, as to success - we have a better hope than Gimli. We know that 'it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for his good pleasure' (Phil. 2:13). Therefore we engage the fight to 'work out [our] own salvation - not only with fear and trembling, but also with Confidence, the confidence that God works all things together for the Good of conforming us into the image of his Son (Romans 8:28,29).
It's not just up to us! Romans 8:26 &27 ..." the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
God Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, praying the Father for the Success we need in this fight!
Therefore - - Chance of Success? - Great!!!
So what are we waiting for??!!!
If an ugly little imaginary dwarf named Gimli can muster the chuztpah to face certain death for the sake of saving Middle Earth from Ultimate Evil, and if a formerly washed up fighter could risk death for the sake of a Heavyweight Boxing Title, how much more should we as Christians, who have the assurance of Christ's Victory over Death and the certain hope of the Resurrection be confident in our fight against our own besetting Sin!
Friends, Fight to Win! AMEN!
