Our church is really decorated this morning – as a tropical island. It’s beautiful. Vacation Bible School should really be inspirational to the children of the community. The décor reminds me of our vacation to Hawaii several years ago. The islands and the ocean surrounding them were much more beautiful than I had imagined. We thought that everyone and everything had to be perfect because it just looked perfect! O, what a rude awakening we were in for. The very first day someone broke into our rental car and stole my wife’s purse, our camera and our son’s camera. What a letdown! It sort of reminds me of the church. Everything is beautiful and we get to thinking that everyone has to be perfect. But… we are often let down.

This morning we will examine the question, “Why are Christians not perfect?” Or, how can we be “imperfect saints”?

            “Veronica” is a precious Christian lady. She, her brother and their sisters are taking turns caring for their elderly father. The father is dying of cancer and the kids promised to let him stay in his home. Their mother died three years ago and they are still adjusting to her loss.

            Veronica stated that she is not as close to the Lord as she needs to be. The reason? She is just tired and burned out from doing the children’s ministry without enough help and just does not have the energy to continue. When asked what she thought the Lord would ask of her if He started the question with, “Would you…?” that He would ask her to “be responsible.”

            Personally, I think she is already carrying too big a load. Satan often pushes us to be perfect when he can find no other way to discourage us. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, My burden is light.”

            Satan uses her fatigue and discouragement to keep her from receiving the strength she needs from God.  

            Many of us can understand that.

            People stay out of church for many reasons.

            A friend told me that his church is about as exciting as drinking a cold cup of coffee from yesterday’s breakfast! (After hearing that description, it took a lot of courage to ask my wife how she would describe one of our worship services!)

            The most common reason I hear for not being in church is two-pronged.  First, people complain that church members can be hard to get along with at times. Secondly, they feel so bad about their personal sins that they do not feel worthy to be involved in church.

            Paul explains this in Romans 7:7-8:17.

1. The Ten Commandments (the Law) simply lets us know what sin is.

2. The sin that dwells in us is the problem, not God’s laws. This sin is caused by our human nature.

      When we fail – or sin – God gently and lovingly calls us to repentance. Satan, on the other hand absolutely condemns us.

            The Bible tells us how God handles this problem by telling the stories of His heroes that failed. Since God respects no one person more than any others, these stories help us see how God will deal with us.   

            It helps to look back at the life of David. God describes David as “A man after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22)

            Although David wrote 73 of the 150 Psalms in the Bible and was really blessed by God, he still was not perfect. His list of failures certainly proves that God never gives up on us!

David was a teenager when Samuel went to their house to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king. Jesse had 9 children, and he lined up 8 of them so Samuel could anoint one. God had selected the one dad left out.

David’s brothers laughed him to scorn when he said he could take out Goliath.

Goliath mocked David.

When David worshiped the Lord, his wife despised him because he didn’t act like a king when he worshiped.

One of David’s sons tried to kill him so he could be the king.

            God told Samuel, about David’s brother, Eliab  1 Samuel 16:7, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

            When God looks at you and me He looks at our heart, not our outward appearance and not at our mistakes.

            Yes, we stumble, yes we fail, but God does not give up on us, and we should not either. In fact we need to show equal patience with those that are struggling!

            Galatians 6:1-5 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.”

            God asks us to “restore them gently.” God practices what He preaches, so if we falter or fail God will restore us gently.

            This caution is followed by an admonition to examine our own motives carefully. There is a neat balance here. “If you think you are something when you are nothing, you deceive yourself.” However, if you test your own actions and see that they are in line with God’s desires you can take pride in your accomplishments.

            The Greek word for restore is used elsewhere for setting bones, mending nets, or bringing factions together. To carry each other’s burdens emphasizes moral burdens or weaknesses. All of this lines up with Jesus’ words, “Judge not that you be not judged.”

           At first glance the Ten Commandments seem easy enough to keep.

1.  Thou shalt have none other gods before Me.

2.  Thou shalt not make thee any graven image.

3.  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.

4.  Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

5.  Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long on the earth.

6.  Thou shalt not kill.

7.  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8.  Thou shalt not steal.

9.   Thou shalt not bear false witness.

10. Thou shall not covet.

 

            After all, they do make sense. However, the battle takes place between our sinful nature and our spirit. Thus Paul deals with this very thoroughly in Romans 7.

 

            Sin is defined as rebellion against God. This includes a failure to do as told, or doing what we are told not to do. Of course we can always plead ignorance, but that excuse will only work for so long. If we are not studying God’s word or listening to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit, we are willfully ignorant. And that, my friend, is rebellion.

 

            We all make mistakes because of our weaknesses and lack of understanding. I believe that God sees those as mistakes and deals with them differently.

 

            Romans 7:14 states that the law is spiritual, but we are unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. Resisting sin is a struggle. Sometime we win; sometimes we lose.  

 

            In verse 17 Paul says simply that the problem is the sin that lives within us.

 

            In Romans 7:24 Paul simply says, “I give up! I am a wretched man! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  The he begins to rejoice. “Thanks be to God – I am delivered by Jesus Christ our Lord!” “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Verse 25 b)

 

            The rejoicing continues in chapter 8. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.”

 

            There we have it. Salvation is a free gift, bought and paid for by Almighty God through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus. All we have to do is accept salvation – and then let the maturing process begin!

            Romans 8:3 in the New Living Translation states it better. “God destroyed sin's control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”

 

            Now let’s get tough. If sin controls us, it is because we allow it. The cause of every sin that David committed was faulty thinking. Sin always begins as a wrong thought that is allowed to live and grow until it leads to sin.

 

            We are not any different. God may deliver you from gossip, but you will still be tempted because Satan is a very stubborn spirit. If you yield to temptation, you are back in the gutter.  

 

            Never allow yourself to think, “There is no way I can serve God!” When you mess up, confess up, and God will clean you up!

 

            It’s a Mind Game.  Romans 8:5-8 “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

 

            Let’s break that down. Now we all struggle with areas of weakness. None of us have arrived at God’s level of perfection. That isn’t going to happen. God certainly does not expect it!

 

Hebrews 12:1-4

 

            As Christians we need to examine our lives and our motives on a routine basis.  But this examination should not lead to self condemnation. Rather we should challenge ourselves to growing spiritually rather than continue to struggle with the same old stuff.

 

            Step up to the next level!  Stretch our faith and expect more and more of God’s power to be operating in our lives.  Dare we ask? (You won’t stress God any!)     

 

            John 14:12-14 (If we have faith, our lives will duplicate the life of Christ!)

 

            Mark 11:24 ("Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours").

 

            Listen to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.”  The New Living Translation: “God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.”

 

God is encouraging us to expand our faith to a level that we think is impossible. Not because of our personal need, but because of the needs of those around us.

 

There is only one condition. We must allow the power of the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, but have we given Him total access to our lives, our will and our emotions?  

 

            Many years ago the running joke for new engineers in the Lamp Division of General Electric was to assign them the impossible task of frosting light bulbs on the inside.  Eventually, a newcomer named Marvin Pipkin not only found a way to frost bulbs on the inside but he also developed an etching acid that gave minutely-rounded pits instead of sharp depressions.  This strengthened each bulb. Because no one told him it couldn't be done, he did it. Bits & Pieces, December, 1989, p. 20-21

 

          It makes me wonder, what could we do in Loyal, OK if no one told us we couldn’t?  Maybe we should stop being that “little church in the wheat field” and become a leader for the kingdom of God!

           

            Are we perfect? No, but we have a God that can make success out of our submission to His will. If we try to be perfect we might get stuck on high center like Vladimir Horowitz did.

 

            God is encouraging us to expand our faith to a level that we think is impossible. Not because of our personal need, but because of the needs of those around us.  

 

            Never forget that Jesus said, in Luke 18:27, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."