It's Not My Fault
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
"It's Not My Fault" by C. David McKirachan
"The Logic of Grace" by C. David McKirachan
"It's Tempting" by Charles D. Reeb
"God's Got You Covered" by Charles D. Reeb
What's Up This Week
Sin and forgiveness -- those are probably the two major themes of Lent. We remember during this season that our sin separates us from a holy God, and that it takes the forgiveness of God through the atoning work of Christ on the cross to bridge that chasm. These two themes are central to this week's StoryShare. In "It's Not My Fault," we are confronted with our human tendency to avoid responsibility for our sinful actions. "The Logic of Grace" offers an inside view into the formation of Paul's exposition of the grace of God, the grace that offers forgiveness of sins. "It's Tempting" takes us through Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, showing us through that account how we can resist the temptation to sin in our daily walk with God. "God's Got You Covered" is a touching tale of forgiveness and redemption -- a redemption we all can receive through Christ.
* * * * * * * * *
It's Not My Fault
C. David McKirachan
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Through the years one of the most frustrating exchanges I've had with my sons has always gone something like, "This room is wrecked" (that's me), "I didn't do it" (that is one of them), "Well, let's clean it up" (that's me), "I didn't make the mess, why should I have to clean it up?" (that's one of them). "I don't care who made the mess, it's got to get cleaned up" (that's an irate me). "That's not fair" (that is the philosophically-whining them). "Right. Such is life" (that is the existentialist me). I kept waiting for them to grow into seeing and doing, into taking responsibility for having a nice living space. What they gave me on a consistent basis was an argument about whose fault the situation was.
They're not alone. Our justice system is big on measuring culpability. Our civil legal system is big on assigning blame. Our political system uses scapegoats to avoid responsibility and divert attention. Corporations are big at blame. Don't forget your paper trail. And then there's marriage and divorce. Almost never do we face a situation with the attitude, "Here's the mess we have -- now let's get to it."
I think the biblical story of the fall demonstrates this so well. We're so ready to blame the snake. He just happens to be crafty. I think he does pretty well for a reptile with a weird tongue. No lisp recorded in my Bible. Then we blame Eve. I've heard so many jokes about Eve, most of them sexist. How would you like to be the mother of humanity? Talk about a setup. You'd be guilty for everything. Then there's Adam. Here come the cracks and jokes again. Good old Dad. Can't get no respect.
Sin belongs to all of us. It doesn't matter who did the deed. We've got to live with the mess and do our best to clean it up -- unless we want to remain children and continue driving our parent nuts. Okay, now we're down to it. It's hard to let go of the child thing. It feels like we're sheltered when we can argue with the rents, because it reminds us of the time when we weren't responsible for soup to nuts -- the time when there was somebody in charge who could make sense of the whole thing.
The hardest part of losing my parents, other than missing them, was realizing that now I was an adult. Now, whether I whined or not, I was in charge of making things happen. No safety net. I think God wants us to grow up. When it comes down to it, it doesn't really matter whose fault it happens to be -- we've still got the mess to clean up. Our brothers and sisters are in trouble and no matter how good or pure or wise we happen to be, it's all in the family.
Maybe we were thrown out of the garden because we became adolescents. Even God would have a hard time with a sixteen-year-old.
The Logic of Grace
C. David McKirachan
Romans 5:12-19
I was a Philosophy major in college. Then I went on to recieve a Master's degree in Metaphysics. I was hoping to get a wand at graduation. They gave me a stole. When I started the journey toward this high and mighty plain of thought, I had to learn to crawl before walking, running, or flying. I was patiently informed by one of the wisest people who ever taught me, Professor Strodach, that I needed to learn the basics of thought before I left on my quest for the foundations of the universe. He played the cello and drank sherry, the good stuff.
Logic was my crawling stage. Deductive logic is a system that puts bits and pieces together in a structure that makes sense. It helps the unwary builder to avoid doing something stupid. It allows the unwary listener to get hornswoggled by some slippery-tongued devil. It deals with validity. Now validity is a funny thing. For all the power of deductive logic to create an airtight argument, to find all the holes and reform the whole thing so that every one is plugged, it can't test for or produce truth. That's another matter. There's a saying in computers that run on logic, "Garbage in, garbage out." You can have a perfectly valid argument, following all the rules of logic, that is not true. The argument that proved the flatness of the Earth was valid in many of its various forms. The underlying facts were wrong. So you need good facts AND a valid system to produce good stuff. I learned this ad nauseum.
This section of Romans is a carefully constructed deductive argument. Paul was classically educated. He knew Aristotle's stuff. He did a fine job here. Put the whole thing together. Somehow, however, this leaves me cold. This doesn't show me why I have a problem with some people. It doesn't demonstrate why there is abuse and arrogance and ugliness in the world and it sure doesn't open the mind of God to me.
I think Paul knew that. I think he was laying a foundation here. He was removing all doubt that he was a crazy maniac who couldn't think straight. I think he was building a gantry for the spacecraft that was to come not much later. His life was anything but logical, but that didn't mean he left his logic behind. He never forgot the lessons of crawling through the basic discussions, carefully dissecting them, looking for holes. It kept him humble.
However, when it all came to a focus, when the horrors and glories were center stage, there logic and its systematics were useless. They crumbled. You see, he had a more basic truth that stood behind all his thought, that flew above all his reason. He knew that his Lord loved him.
If you knew Paul, that wasn't logical.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. He is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
It's Tempting
Charles D. Reeb
Matthew 4:1-11
Oscar Wilde once said, "The easiest way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." So it is. Whenever we find ourselves tempted, the pull of sin often feels too strong to resist. Giving in to temptation is the surest way to get rid of it. It is also the surest way to find spiritual and emotional trouble.
In our text in Matthew, we find the familiar narrative of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. It is interesting to note that these temptations occur immediately after Jesus was crowned Messiah in the river Jordan. Temptation often follows moments of great achievement. Pride can easily wiggle its way into our hearts, making us vulnerable to temptation. When the devil tempted Jesus, it wasn't with a girl in a swimsuit or a big chocolate cake; it was with pride. Each time the devil approached Jesus, he tempted Jesus to show off his power. Jesus knew better.
We know better than to be tempted by sin, but we often fail. How do we strengthen our resistance to temptation? Well, we need to ask God for strength and saturate ourselves in scripture (it is no accident that Jesus combated temptation with scripture). It is also a good idea to replace bad habits with good ones and avoid those people and places of temptation.
Another thing to consider when we are tempted is how heavy the weight of sin is to carry around. Back when I played competitive tennis, I had a coach who would work me until I was just about to collapse. One of the things he would make me do was strap weights around each of my ankles while I practiced. It was rough. Running after balls became such a chore, and my legs would be so sore the next day. However, when I showed up to a match without the weights I was amazed how swiftly I ran around the court.
Sin is the same way. It weighs us down. It complicates things. It makes us sluggish and slow in the race of faith. It can also cause us to lose the race altogether. If we could remember this whenever we are tempted, we would certainly be better equipped to resist. Unfortunately, many too often do not take the weight of sin seriously enough to resist temptation.
Coach Erick Russell of Georgia Southern tried to get his football team to resist temptation. He arranged for a couple of men to interrupt a team meeting by throwing a mean six-foot rattlesnake onto a table in front of the team. Russell said that his whole team of big and tough football players suddenly transformed into scared little kids, screaming and scattering out of the room. When he gathered the team back together and calmed them down, he said, "When drugs come into a room, you're not nearly as apt to leave as when that rattlesnake comes in. But they'll both kill you!"
This is true for all sin. The weight of sin can spiritually kill us. Let's remember this the next time we are tempted.
God's Got You Covered
Charles D. Reeb
Psalm 32
This psalm begins by expressing the relief and joy that comes from the assurance of God's forgiveness. Indeed, "Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!" (Psalm 32:1). A colleague of mine once told me about a unique baptism where sin was definitely "covered." It all began when a lady started attending church. As she opened herself to the ministry of the church, she began to release sins and wounds from a checkered past. She was reluctant, however, to bring her bleeding heart to God; yet as she felt the love and acceptance of the congregation and God's Spirit, she began to experience the freedom that comes from trusting in God's mercy. Soon she felt ready to express her liberating faith through the Sacrament of Baptism. Her pastor was so excited that he planned a baptism unlike any other. When the day came for her baptism, the whole congregation gathered in great anticipation. At the appointed time, the pastor, who usually baptized by sprinkling, took a jumbo-sized cup, dipped in the baptismal font, and said, "I baptize you in the name of the Father!" -- and poured the entire cup over her head. He took another cupful and said, "And of the Son!" -- and poured it all over her head. Then he took the third cupful and said, "And of the Holy Spirit!" -- and poured the water all over her head. The woman was drenched. The water was heard trickling off her hair and clothes and onto the tarp-covered floor, but she was not uncomfortable. In fact, she was relieved. She stood in front of the chancel soaking wet and leaned over to whisper in the pastor's ear, "Now, I know Jesus love me." Her sins were definitely covered.
What holds you back from a fresh, new baptism of God's Spirit? Why not return to God with all of your heart and experience the abundance of God's mercy. Return to God with all your sins and bathe them in the lather of God's forgiveness. Return to God with all your vulnerabilities and be drenched in God's acceptance. Return to God with all your tears and allow God's warm blanket of grace to dry them all. God's got you covered.*
*Major portions of this text taken from my book, One Heaven of a Party (CSS), p. 17-18.
Charles D. Reeb is the pastor of Tuskawilla United Methodist Church in Orlando, Florida. He has been a featured preacher on the national radio program Day 1 (formerly known as The Protestant Hour). He is the author of two books, One Heaven of a Party and Seven Wonders of the Faith (CSS).
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply email the story to us at storyshare@sermonsuite.com.
**************
StoryShare, February 10, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
What's Up This Week
"It's Not My Fault" by C. David McKirachan
"The Logic of Grace" by C. David McKirachan
"It's Tempting" by Charles D. Reeb
"God's Got You Covered" by Charles D. Reeb
What's Up This Week
Sin and forgiveness -- those are probably the two major themes of Lent. We remember during this season that our sin separates us from a holy God, and that it takes the forgiveness of God through the atoning work of Christ on the cross to bridge that chasm. These two themes are central to this week's StoryShare. In "It's Not My Fault," we are confronted with our human tendency to avoid responsibility for our sinful actions. "The Logic of Grace" offers an inside view into the formation of Paul's exposition of the grace of God, the grace that offers forgiveness of sins. "It's Tempting" takes us through Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, showing us through that account how we can resist the temptation to sin in our daily walk with God. "God's Got You Covered" is a touching tale of forgiveness and redemption -- a redemption we all can receive through Christ.
* * * * * * * * *
It's Not My Fault
C. David McKirachan
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Through the years one of the most frustrating exchanges I've had with my sons has always gone something like, "This room is wrecked" (that's me), "I didn't do it" (that is one of them), "Well, let's clean it up" (that's me), "I didn't make the mess, why should I have to clean it up?" (that's one of them). "I don't care who made the mess, it's got to get cleaned up" (that's an irate me). "That's not fair" (that is the philosophically-whining them). "Right. Such is life" (that is the existentialist me). I kept waiting for them to grow into seeing and doing, into taking responsibility for having a nice living space. What they gave me on a consistent basis was an argument about whose fault the situation was.
They're not alone. Our justice system is big on measuring culpability. Our civil legal system is big on assigning blame. Our political system uses scapegoats to avoid responsibility and divert attention. Corporations are big at blame. Don't forget your paper trail. And then there's marriage and divorce. Almost never do we face a situation with the attitude, "Here's the mess we have -- now let's get to it."
I think the biblical story of the fall demonstrates this so well. We're so ready to blame the snake. He just happens to be crafty. I think he does pretty well for a reptile with a weird tongue. No lisp recorded in my Bible. Then we blame Eve. I've heard so many jokes about Eve, most of them sexist. How would you like to be the mother of humanity? Talk about a setup. You'd be guilty for everything. Then there's Adam. Here come the cracks and jokes again. Good old Dad. Can't get no respect.
Sin belongs to all of us. It doesn't matter who did the deed. We've got to live with the mess and do our best to clean it up -- unless we want to remain children and continue driving our parent nuts. Okay, now we're down to it. It's hard to let go of the child thing. It feels like we're sheltered when we can argue with the rents, because it reminds us of the time when we weren't responsible for soup to nuts -- the time when there was somebody in charge who could make sense of the whole thing.
The hardest part of losing my parents, other than missing them, was realizing that now I was an adult. Now, whether I whined or not, I was in charge of making things happen. No safety net. I think God wants us to grow up. When it comes down to it, it doesn't really matter whose fault it happens to be -- we've still got the mess to clean up. Our brothers and sisters are in trouble and no matter how good or pure or wise we happen to be, it's all in the family.
Maybe we were thrown out of the garden because we became adolescents. Even God would have a hard time with a sixteen-year-old.
The Logic of Grace
C. David McKirachan
Romans 5:12-19
I was a Philosophy major in college. Then I went on to recieve a Master's degree in Metaphysics. I was hoping to get a wand at graduation. They gave me a stole. When I started the journey toward this high and mighty plain of thought, I had to learn to crawl before walking, running, or flying. I was patiently informed by one of the wisest people who ever taught me, Professor Strodach, that I needed to learn the basics of thought before I left on my quest for the foundations of the universe. He played the cello and drank sherry, the good stuff.
Logic was my crawling stage. Deductive logic is a system that puts bits and pieces together in a structure that makes sense. It helps the unwary builder to avoid doing something stupid. It allows the unwary listener to get hornswoggled by some slippery-tongued devil. It deals with validity. Now validity is a funny thing. For all the power of deductive logic to create an airtight argument, to find all the holes and reform the whole thing so that every one is plugged, it can't test for or produce truth. That's another matter. There's a saying in computers that run on logic, "Garbage in, garbage out." You can have a perfectly valid argument, following all the rules of logic, that is not true. The argument that proved the flatness of the Earth was valid in many of its various forms. The underlying facts were wrong. So you need good facts AND a valid system to produce good stuff. I learned this ad nauseum.
This section of Romans is a carefully constructed deductive argument. Paul was classically educated. He knew Aristotle's stuff. He did a fine job here. Put the whole thing together. Somehow, however, this leaves me cold. This doesn't show me why I have a problem with some people. It doesn't demonstrate why there is abuse and arrogance and ugliness in the world and it sure doesn't open the mind of God to me.
I think Paul knew that. I think he was laying a foundation here. He was removing all doubt that he was a crazy maniac who couldn't think straight. I think he was building a gantry for the spacecraft that was to come not much later. His life was anything but logical, but that didn't mean he left his logic behind. He never forgot the lessons of crawling through the basic discussions, carefully dissecting them, looking for holes. It kept him humble.
However, when it all came to a focus, when the horrors and glories were center stage, there logic and its systematics were useless. They crumbled. You see, he had a more basic truth that stood behind all his thought, that flew above all his reason. He knew that his Lord loved him.
If you knew Paul, that wasn't logical.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. He is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
It's Tempting
Charles D. Reeb
Matthew 4:1-11
Oscar Wilde once said, "The easiest way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." So it is. Whenever we find ourselves tempted, the pull of sin often feels too strong to resist. Giving in to temptation is the surest way to get rid of it. It is also the surest way to find spiritual and emotional trouble.
In our text in Matthew, we find the familiar narrative of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. It is interesting to note that these temptations occur immediately after Jesus was crowned Messiah in the river Jordan. Temptation often follows moments of great achievement. Pride can easily wiggle its way into our hearts, making us vulnerable to temptation. When the devil tempted Jesus, it wasn't with a girl in a swimsuit or a big chocolate cake; it was with pride. Each time the devil approached Jesus, he tempted Jesus to show off his power. Jesus knew better.
We know better than to be tempted by sin, but we often fail. How do we strengthen our resistance to temptation? Well, we need to ask God for strength and saturate ourselves in scripture (it is no accident that Jesus combated temptation with scripture). It is also a good idea to replace bad habits with good ones and avoid those people and places of temptation.
Another thing to consider when we are tempted is how heavy the weight of sin is to carry around. Back when I played competitive tennis, I had a coach who would work me until I was just about to collapse. One of the things he would make me do was strap weights around each of my ankles while I practiced. It was rough. Running after balls became such a chore, and my legs would be so sore the next day. However, when I showed up to a match without the weights I was amazed how swiftly I ran around the court.
Sin is the same way. It weighs us down. It complicates things. It makes us sluggish and slow in the race of faith. It can also cause us to lose the race altogether. If we could remember this whenever we are tempted, we would certainly be better equipped to resist. Unfortunately, many too often do not take the weight of sin seriously enough to resist temptation.
Coach Erick Russell of Georgia Southern tried to get his football team to resist temptation. He arranged for a couple of men to interrupt a team meeting by throwing a mean six-foot rattlesnake onto a table in front of the team. Russell said that his whole team of big and tough football players suddenly transformed into scared little kids, screaming and scattering out of the room. When he gathered the team back together and calmed them down, he said, "When drugs come into a room, you're not nearly as apt to leave as when that rattlesnake comes in. But they'll both kill you!"
This is true for all sin. The weight of sin can spiritually kill us. Let's remember this the next time we are tempted.
God's Got You Covered
Charles D. Reeb
Psalm 32
This psalm begins by expressing the relief and joy that comes from the assurance of God's forgiveness. Indeed, "Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!" (Psalm 32:1). A colleague of mine once told me about a unique baptism where sin was definitely "covered." It all began when a lady started attending church. As she opened herself to the ministry of the church, she began to release sins and wounds from a checkered past. She was reluctant, however, to bring her bleeding heart to God; yet as she felt the love and acceptance of the congregation and God's Spirit, she began to experience the freedom that comes from trusting in God's mercy. Soon she felt ready to express her liberating faith through the Sacrament of Baptism. Her pastor was so excited that he planned a baptism unlike any other. When the day came for her baptism, the whole congregation gathered in great anticipation. At the appointed time, the pastor, who usually baptized by sprinkling, took a jumbo-sized cup, dipped in the baptismal font, and said, "I baptize you in the name of the Father!" -- and poured the entire cup over her head. He took another cupful and said, "And of the Son!" -- and poured it all over her head. Then he took the third cupful and said, "And of the Holy Spirit!" -- and poured the water all over her head. The woman was drenched. The water was heard trickling off her hair and clothes and onto the tarp-covered floor, but she was not uncomfortable. In fact, she was relieved. She stood in front of the chancel soaking wet and leaned over to whisper in the pastor's ear, "Now, I know Jesus love me." Her sins were definitely covered.
What holds you back from a fresh, new baptism of God's Spirit? Why not return to God with all of your heart and experience the abundance of God's mercy. Return to God with all your sins and bathe them in the lather of God's forgiveness. Return to God with all your vulnerabilities and be drenched in God's acceptance. Return to God with all your tears and allow God's warm blanket of grace to dry them all. God's got you covered.*
*Major portions of this text taken from my book, One Heaven of a Party (CSS), p. 17-18.
Charles D. Reeb is the pastor of Tuskawilla United Methodist Church in Orlando, Florida. He has been a featured preacher on the national radio program Day 1 (formerly known as The Protestant Hour). He is the author of two books, One Heaven of a Party and Seven Wonders of the Faith (CSS).
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply email the story to us at storyshare@sermonsuite.com.
**************
StoryShare, February 10, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
