Honoring Sexuality

Here is a link to my sermon from this past week. I shared the role of sexuality in the Life God Gives series here at Keystone Church of the Nazarene here in Okinawa Japan.

Just in case the link above doesn't work, here it is ready to copy and paste into your browser.

http://ftp.keystonenazarene.org/audio/2016-5-15.mp3

And here are some others if you are so inclined.

https://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20677191

Override

Mark 7:9-13

      We all have ways to rationalize our breaking of the rules. And we all break the rules. When was the last time you were driving and all the traffic was going above the speed limit, and you joined in because you didn’t want to cause an accident by making everyone pass you? Or you took that extra cookie even though it doesn’t fit into your calorie count? Or said “yes” to that commitment even though you knew you weren’t going to fulfill your commitment?

      We do it sometimes with Scripture as well. Lots of cultural rewriting of the text is taking place today. Here are a few examples of some of that rewriting. Hell doesn’t exist for some people. All those sexual sins are just backward, primitive chains of a backward culture. We now know better. We now know sex is just like a handshake with fluids. It doesn’t really mean anything. Marriage is also a backward institution invented by men to keep their women in bondage. We don’t need it either. Any ‘family’ can raise healthy kids.

      This practice of adding to the Old Testament Law started very early in the Jewish tradition. When people had a problem not specifically dealt with in the Scriptures, they would go to the religious leaders in their town and ask for a judgment, ask them to decide what was right. Over time those specific interpretations were collected and studied.

      And then those same religious teachers began making rules that became loopholes in the Law’s requirements. I am sure it began innocently enough. One of the often repeated instance of these extra regulations deals with a Sabbath’s day journey. This is the reason you see a concentration of Jewish people living right around every synagogue even today. They live close so that they can walk to service without violating the Law.

      According to the Old Testament Law, you are only allowed to travel 2000 cubits, or less than half a mile from their home. So if they needed to travel further than that, they would either have to travel the day before, or the day after the Sabbath. But they figured out a way to get around this restriction.

      On the Sabbath they would fill their pockets with things from their home and then drop them along their journey every half mile or so, leaving a trail of ‘home’ to be retrieved when they returned. Now they could travel almost any distance, if they had big enough pockets.

      Our text tells of one of these sets of traditions that went so far from the Law that it violated the Law itself. The religious teachers of that day would allow people to set up a financial living trust in the Lord’s name. Everything in the trust was declared the LORD’s. But the people could continue to use it until their death. Then the rules of the trust would take effect and the value of the trust would be transferred to the offering plate.

      This little arrangement allowed people to continue to use their money the way they wanted to, but prevented those pesky provisions of the Law from taking their money. They didn’t have to care for the widows, orphans or their parents. Since they didn’t have any money, since it was in this trust, they didn’t have means to help out. They violated the essence of the Law for their own convenience.

      Don’t come up with new interpretations of God’s Word so that you won’t have to be obedient. We didn’t become that much smarter since the 60’s and 70’s than the millennia of people before us. Our Western culture is not superior to many others throughout history, at least not at this particular time. Beware of people who dismiss God’s Word as something old fashioned and out dated. They are about to sell you some swamp land in Florida.

Mentorship

Proverbs 16:31

      If our proverb is true, and I am sure it is, then I am one splendor-crowned guy! In a society that doesn’t value gray hair, and the wisdom and experience that can come with it, these words seem silly. We dye our gray hair. We work hard to hide any sign of those changing follicles. Instead of bringing honor, they bring a sense of shame. We are getting “OLD,” the pariah of our times.

      So why was gray hair seen differently during the proverb writer’s day? For starters, the life expectancy was much shorter. They didn’t live into their 80’s as so many Americans do today. Disease and a hard way of life took their toll.

      I think the reason our culture lost respect for older people is simple. The older generations were wise enough to regard the follies of the 60’s and 70’s as just that, folly. They didn’t buy into the lies that academia were propagating. They realized that sex without marriage would lead to decline in society. They knew that there was no such thing as “recreational” drug use, volleyball maybe, but not drugs.

      So when the younger generations saw their rejection, they rejected the gray hair. They rejected the wisdom and knowledge of lifetimes of living. They thought they knew better. Political correctness pushed against millennia of wisdom. All universal values were rejected except the value that there are no values.

      This meant that instead of learning to avoid mistakes that had been learned previously and passed from one generation to the next, they had to make the mistakes for themselves. This led to lots of mistakes, and costly mistakes that could have been avoided. Divorce rates skyrocketed.

      I want to encourage each us to seek out the wisdom of the older generations. Find people who have been successful at living a life of righteousness and volunteer to become their mentee. Allow them to provide guidance. Give them the honor of being your mentor. I will save you many pains.

Intoxication in the Bedroom

Proverbs 5:15-23

Sexual relations as husband and wife are supposed to be exciting and satisfying. Studies have found that those who report their sexual encounters as being the most satisfying are not the short-lived casual relationships, but between a husband and wife in a committed marriage. This of course is not what Hollywood has portrayed. They portray the one night quickie as the preferred sexual encounter.

Our writer uses the imagery of water to portray sexual relations. He says that we ought to drink from our own store of water. A cistern catches rainwater, usually within your own property for private, home use. Think of a cistern as a rain barrel attached to the downspout of you house. It catches the water that naturally falls, and is there ready for enjoyment. In a dry desert climate, a cistern would keep you alive.

Sexual intimacy in marriage is a private joy between husband and wife. As he addresses his son, he focuses his attentions on his wife’s beauty, wanting him to stay focused on her. She is to be cherished and honored. She will intoxicate him, if he allows her to.

Some may read these words and get the impression that he is “using” his wife. Nothing could be further from the truth. Wives want to be the center of their husband’s attentions. They don’t want his eyes or thoughts wandering off to other women. They want to feel that they are wanted, special. In all my years, I have never met a couple that was satisfied with an “open” marriage. Jealousy always arose. Dissatisfaction, anger, and hurt soon followed.

And now for the crosshairs, this same reaction happens when porn is allowed to enter a relationship. It may bring a momentary spark, but when the spark fades, all that is left is a charred, blackened spot. The same holds true for all the other sinful intrusions into the bedroom. Husband and wife. Period. Work to satisfy each other. Keep it pure.

Why? Because the LORD sees it all (v21). We might think it is innocent fun, but it goes against the Designer’s plans. It would be like a dentist using a pickaxe to fill a cavity, or a bulldozer to do a manicure. The tools just don’t fit the job.

Sex is designed to be between a husband and wife, man and woman, ‘til death do us part. Other combinations just are just awkward and ultimately don’t match with our status as one created in the image of the Holy God.

Remember, read verses 19-20 again. Love can be intoxicating. Enjoy.

SEX!

Proverbs 5:1-14

It takes two to tango, the old song lyric goes. To put it bluntly, prostitutes would have no job if the John’s didn’t show up and pay. We can’t put the blame on the women. The men are just as guilty as they are.

The next three chapters of Proverbs are filled with exhortation and illustration of what happens when anyone gets involved sexually with someone outside the bonds of marriage. Our culture dismisses this premise, but it is proved wrong by the facts. The best place for children to grow up and the most satisfying sexual relationships are within a lifelong marriage, man and woman. Despite the cultural trend away from marriage, the facts remain the same. So let’s begin to dive into the text.

Verse three give us a poignant picture of the thrill of an elicit sexual encounter. Lips dripping with honey, who wouldn’t want to dive in?  These kinds of encounters must be thrilling in that moment. The pleasure must override all the negative consequences that will inevitably come (vv4-6). Having talked to hundreds of divorced and divorcing couples down through the years, I have never heard of such a breakup that was filled with joy. Even the best, if there is such a thing on the negative side of this equation, have their pain.

If you get involved, be ready for aimless living. The pain will be greater than the reward. The pleasure is short-lived, while the pain is long-lasting. Read carefully the negative consequences of these types of choices. Read it again. Yikes!

Verse eight gives us some good advice, which we will hear stated several different ways in the coming chapters. The writer tells us to avoid even getting close to the temptation. Alcoholics need to stay away from places that sell and consume alcohol. Problem shoppers need to stay away from the places they purchase things. Notice he tells us to choose a different path, one that takes us far from the temptation.

Too often believers try to see how close they can get to the temptation. They want to walk the thin line between sin and righteousness. The writer tells us to do just the opposite: choose a path far from the temptation. We get to choose the path. At the end of your life, you will regret walking over the line. You will probably have lost what is most valuable.