Sermon
25th June 2017
Text:
Genesis 21:8-21 – Dealing with sin through Baptism
The
story of Isaac and Ishmael is an interesting story.
God
had promised Abraham a son with his wife Sarah from which would become a great
nation – so numerous that no one could count them – like sand on a beach or the
stars in the sky.
The
problem is that Abraham is nearing 90 and there was still no child – Sarah was
nearing 80.
So
Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and gives Abraham her maid
Hagar to have a child with her.
As
a result Ishmael was born.
The
problem was, that even though Ishmael was the first born of Abraham, he was not
the child of Abraham and Sarah as God had promised.
13
years later Abraham is visited by God’s angels to advise that the promised
child would be born the following year.
Isaac
is born.
So
now Sarah is conflicted.
She
now becomes jealous of Ishmael who is a constant reminder of her lack of trust
in God’s promise and she demands that Abraham get rid of Hagar and Ishmael so
she is no longer reminded of her sin against God.
Sarah’s
lack of trust in God will leave a scar in her – a reminder that she did not put
her faith in God’s promise.
And
that’s what sin does to us also.
Sin
leaves a scar that continues to attack our consciences with guilt.
And
even though we come to God and ask him to forgive us, sometimes the guilt of
our sin continues to haunt us, just as the sight of Ishmael continued to haunt
Sarah.
So
Paul directs us to our Baptism where God washes away the guilt of our sin every
day – every moment of the day.
As
St Peter says about Baptism - baptism now saves you --not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. (1 Peter 3:21).
Sin
does its worse damage by attacking our faith through guilt.
So
the real danger of sin is not so much the bad behaviour that we have done but
the attack on our guilt that Satan is able to carry out.
We
know that God forgives our sins but Satan also knows that while God forgives
and forgets – we don’t.
As
the book of Hebrews says: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember
their sins no more." (Hebrews 8:12).
So
for Paul, he really sees the spiritual harm that sin does in our lives.
He
puts the equation before us – if God’s grace comes by his forgiveness, then if
we sin more then more grace comes.
Paul
says – no way!
Don’t
be so stupid – sin is our number one enemy in our relationship with God.
Sin
is what breaks down our relationship with God.
And
because of our human nature we often deal with sin the same way that Sarah
dealt with her sin before God.
Get
it out of sight and problem solved.
Or
we deny it or we make excuses.
King
David dealt with his sin in the same way when he committed adultery with
Bathsheba.
He
believed that if he could trick her husband into believing the child was his
there wouldn’t be a problem.
When
that didn’t work he thought that if he had her husband killed he could then
marry her and deal with his sin that way.
But
he discovered the real power of sin when he wrote Psalm 32:
When
I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For
day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat
of summer.
Then
I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I
said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt
of my sin.
Sin
has a power over us that we cannot control.
No
matter how much good we do – no matter how hard we try not to do the things we
shouldn’t do – sin finds its way into our conscience.
You
can hear that diabolical work of sin in Paul as he struggles to try and control
it himself only to find out he can’t:
He
says: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but
what I hate I do. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry
it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to
do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer
I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our
Lord!
Even
if we do good 99% of the time, that 1% will attack our conscience with guilt.
So
Paul directs us back to our Baptism, not to the 99% of good that we do.
Our
sin can only be dealt with by burying it with Christ and allowing the Holy
Spirit to create a new life in us.
We
need to remember that God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to die for our
sins.
And
God invites us to take our sin and bury it with Jesus.
Satan
will still try and our response is not – I’m not that bad – or – what about all
the good I’ve done.
No,
our response is, like Luther when he was being tormented by Satan – I am
Baptised.
We
cannot deal with our sin except by taking it to Christ and letting God bury it
with him.
Sin,
through our guilt can make us question our assurance of going to heaven.
Sin
can make us believe that God is our enemy as it did to Adam and Eve as they hid
from the presence of God.
But
God is our friend, not our enemy.
Despite
our sinfulness God loves and cares for us.
But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Jesus
says; Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to
the ground apart from your Father. So do not be afraid; you are of more value
than many sparrows.
We
cannot avoid sin as Paul reminds us - all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God – but we can deal with our sin by taking it to God and allowing
our Baptism to wash away the guilt that does so much damage.
Sin
tempts us close to our hearts and sometimes we need to make sacrifices.
Sometimes
we need to give up friends or careers or personal interests that are not good
for our faith, but Jesus promises that whoever loses their life will save it.
And
sometimes we may come under threat for standing firm on an issue we know is
sinful but again Jesus says, Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
And
because we are loved by God and he knows the very hair on our heads, that is a
fear we will never have.
Because
we are children of God through our Baptism.
Let
us not be like Sarah who lacked trust in God’s promises.
Even
when it seemed totally impossible in human terms for her – with God everything
is possible.
Let
us not be like Sarah who tried to deal with her sin by herself but let us take
it to God and bury with Christ so that we may also rise with Christ to new
life.
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