Common Sens...uality (Part 3 of 3)

In the first two entries, the nature of sensuality was defined (Part 1), and examples were given (Part 2). In this entry, we must determine what we are to do in similar situations. Thankfully, Jude provides answers.

What are we to do about the false teachings, the abuse of grace, the sensual nature of life today? First, we must remember the 21st Century does not have a monopoly on these aspects of life. They were prevalent 2000+ years ago, which is why we have biblical instruction on dealing with these, and other, parts of culture.

Jude simply gave three ideas.

A.  Keep yourselves in God's love. How?

1. Build yourself up in holy faith (from the Father)
2. Praying in the Spirit.
3. Waiting for Jesus to return.

B.  Have mercy on those who doubt.

C.  Lead others to salvation.

1. Snatch them out of the fire – means we have to reach in – they are not lost yet
2. Show mercy with fear – be merciful, but be on guard lest you be defiled

These last two statements seem to be contradictory. How can one snatch someone out of the fire while showing mercy? Moving back briefly to the Michael Sam story, David Letterman, this week made a statement while interviewing a guest. He said that much of the atrocities of this world are because of religious beliefs. And he is right. Of course, some might say Islamic terrorists are at fault. But Christians who say, "God hates ____," are no different.

The Bible tells a story in Luke 7 of a woman with an alabaster box. She is a complete outcast in her culture, and yet she shows up uninvited to a pharisee's house to see Jesus.
And Jesus did not pull away even as she rubbed ointment on him, washed his feet with her hair, and even kissed him on his feet.

Is that offensive? It should be! Why? Because the gospel is offensive! Even those of us who claim the truths of the gospel are blown away by how far reaching it really is! We want to take what we need, but likely none of us understands just how far it can go.

Jesus offered grace to the least deserving person. But grace is for everyone! Simon invited Jesus over and felt good about it for whatever reason. Whatever Simon may have thought beforehand was drastically changed. In fact, everyone there that day would have their world turned upside down by the uninvited, and unnamed guest. Not because of what she did. Not even because of who she was. But because of how she was received. By Jesus!

What Jesus did was offer grace. He told her her sins are forgiven. He didn't want to see her return to the lifestyle she lived, but Jesus had already seen the expression of her gratitude because she was forgiven – even before He said the words. As the phrase goes, grace is free, but it isn't cheap. Grace costs Jesus everything, but because of that He can offer it freely however, and to whomever, He chooses.

And everyone of us needs that grace today.

Perhaps you are like the sinful woman. People don't want to know you by our name, but only by what you have done. You are down so low that we have no where left to turn. I encourage you, be like the woman in this story – turn to Jesus. We still don't know her name, but He does. She found her true identity in Him.

Perhaps you are like Simon. We would welcome Jesus into our home to show off what good people we are. I think that describes me sometimes. What about you? How would you feel if Jesus decided to go home with you? Would we like who might show up, and invite themselves in just to be with Him? We aren't told what happened to Simon after that day, but I can't help but think it changed him. I would hope if I were there it would have changed me.

We all need grace because none of us are like Jesus. We may be working towards it. But I would be hard pressed to believe that we would let a prostitute waste that kind of money...to kiss us repeatedly...to wipe her dirty, grimy, hair all over us. But Jesus did.

I can promise you this...whichever person you are in this story, God welcomes you. He welcomes you completely. I can't promise others will. I can't promise I will. I don't always welcome myself. But God does. And if you want to receive His amazing grace, read the prayer that closed Jude's letter.

Jude 24-25
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 

25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

If you will receive this grace – God's amazing grace, you are truly free. You will experience freedom in ways that you have never imagined. But when you truly realize what that freedom means, you won't mistreat grace as a means to do what you want. Like Jude wrote in v. 4, grace is not a matter of sensuality. It does not give us license to ignore Christ Jesus, our Master. Rather you will find yourself wanting to express your gratitude to God and serve Him out of that thanksgiving.

Enjoy God's grace - by living for Him!

Common Sens...uality (Part 2 of 3)

In Part 1, the idea of sensuality was introduced, noting that Jude was writing to believers to contend for their faith because of the false teachings to abuse the grace of God (v. 4). Jude then provided a series of examples for his readers.

The first of these examples was the Israelites who were saved out of Egypt (Jude 5). Although this group of people were saved, the text says that some were destroyed because they did not truly believe. They were offered God's grace (salvation from the oppression of slavery in Egypt), but either complained of their freedom (desiring to return to Egypt) or continually desired more despite all they had been given.

The second example regards the angels (v. 6).  The angels all began with God, yet like the Israelites, some destroyed. Their destruction was the result of rebellion. Specifically, theirs was rebellion against God, but also their mixing with the human race as described in Genesis 6 (in some way that I can never understand).

The third example of this triad involved the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah (v. 7). Unlike the previous examples were some were destroyed. In this instance on a handful were saved. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of the sensuality (Genesis 19), their pride, and their lack of concern for the poor (Ezekiel 16). But even those were saved (Lot and his daughters) could not overcome the temptation of sensual pleasures that were so prevalent in the towns recently destroyed...as each of his daughters took a turn sexually with their drunken father to carry on the family name.

In verse 8, Jude ties these examples of the past with his present day opponents saying that the people of his day rely on dreams for their divine inspiration. But more than inspiration, these dreams are a means to justify their lifestyle. This lifestyle:

• defile the flesh (their sexual pleasures)
• reject authority (specifically the authority of God - like the end of v. 4)
• blaspheme the glorious ones (both good and evil angels)

While it is true that these acts may represent various aspects of sensuality, the Christian must take our queue from v. 9 - meaning don't condemn, but rather to leave it to God. Michael, and archangel of God, would not rebuke an evil angel (the devil) directly, realizing it is for God to do. Jesus commanded that we make disciples by teaching others to observe all that He commanded, not by merely condemning others for wrong-doing. The reality is that none of us, apart from God, understands the full picture. We are to correct, to speak truth, and to show an example - but it is all to be done in love, and in the realization that the authority belongs to God.

Jude continues his letter with a similar stream of thought. Jude says that people blaspheme what they do not understand – living instinctively, like unreasoning animals (v. 10). This thought parallels Paul's thoughts in the last half of Romans 1. Jude then provides another set of examples which tie into this:

The first example is Cain. Cain's offering was not accepted by God. Yet God did not condemn Cain. In fact, God told Cain he would be accepted if he did well (Genesis 4.7). But Cain chose wickedness over goodness. Even when Cain heard from God Himself, Cain did not repent, instead he killed his brother.

The second example is that of Balaam. (Numbers 22-24). When reading this account, one might think Balaam is an honorable prophet - speaking good of God and His people. And, indeed, the blessing Balaam delivers is for Israel (not against, as those who hired him wanted). However, if Balaam was a good prophet, then why would the donkey have needed to stop? Balaam was a prophet, but mainly for profit! In the end, he met his doom, and the New Testament speaks ill of Balaam in multiple places.

The final example from this section is that of Korah (Numbers 16). Korah may not have heard directly from God, but he did hear from God's chosen leaders - Moses and Aaron. Korah, and his clan, were priests who defied the authority of God, rejecting God and like Balaam met their demise soon afterward.

The problem, as Jude relates, is that false teachers are not always easy to spot. Like Balaam and Korah, such teachers are in our midst, but are hidden like reefs under water that wreck ships coming in and out of port (hidden reers at your feast - v. 12. Such people eat shameless at the love feasts though love is nowhere to be found in their hearts. They feed only themselves (see Ezekiel 34 for a picture of how God views "shepherds").

Jude concludes this section by stating these individuals are like:

• clouds without water.
• trees without fruit.
• waves of the sea that leave a foamy residue behind.
• stars without light.

In Part 3, we will discover how Jude suggests to deal with such people.

Common Sens..uality (Part 1 of 3)

A lot of debate has occurred last week regarding a kiss by an NFL hopeful Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend after he was drafted last Saturday. Some have been outraged. Some of those outraged have been silenced. Others are celebrating and welcoming in a more accepting culture.

But understand, a kiss between two men (or two women) is not the issue. Perhaps the issue is how pervasive sex has become in our culture. Of course, it must be understood that God ordained sex. Sexual relations between a man and woman can be a beautiful representation of the love that a couple has for one another. In fact, within this context, realize the first command in the Bible specific to humanity is to be fruitful and multiply. That is impossible without sexual activity. So, in a real sense, the first command God gave was to engage in sexual activity. Last week, we celebrated Mother's Day. Next month, we will celebrate Father's Day. Now I don't want to be crass, but understand a person cannot naturally become a mother or a father without sex.

But as pervasive as sex is, we can actually dig even a little deeper and see sensuality as the issue. Sensuality is being preoccupied with the gratification of the senses. This has to do with all of the senses. It has to do with being pleased or aroused by the senses. We don't often think of it this way, but steak and potatoes can be sensual. Again, God gave us our senses, and they allow us to enjoy life. When our senses are dulled, life is not always so pleasant. Consider lack of hearing, loss of eyesight, numbness, etc. Again, the issue isn't with finding pleasure in our senses it is being PREOCCUPIED – as the definition I just gave stated.

And, in our culture today, there is a great deal of preoccupation with gratifying the senses – and a large part of that is through sexual pleasure. And the boldness with which this is expressed continues to expand. Yet, as bad as some consider our culture today, we have to realize that we do not have a monopoly on sensuality. The Bible is filled with examples such as Tamar's deception of Judah, David's lust of Bathsheba, the idea of temple prostitutes, etc. In fact, in many ways, our culture isn't nearly as bad as previous cultures. Granted, the scope has changed because of television, magazines, romance novels, the internet, etc. But the nature of sensuality that is, has also already been.

Jesus' brother, Jude, wrote his letter about overcoming false teachings, but especially related to the sensual activities of his day. In fact, if a few of the examples were changed, such a writing could show up in the editorial page of a newspaper today and people might think it had just been written. In verse 3, Jude indicates his original purpose was to write about their salvation. But the issue of contending for their faith was more important. Why? Verse 4 says that people have come in and perverted the grace of God into nothing more than sensuality, denying Christ.  The idea is that God wants us to find pleasure, so let's seek all the pleasure we can. There is a fine line here. One of the most prominent pastors of our day is John Piper. Piper speaks of Christian hedonism. His thought is that we should have our pleasure in God. He does not mean this in a bad way, and I think he is right, but it does run right to the edge of overstepping our bounds. It is as Paul wrote in Romans 6, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace abounds. Absolutely not.” The point is that grace frees us not just from our sin, but from seeking the pleasure that comes from it. Grace frees us to enjoy God for who He really is.

Next Jude provides some examples of those who have taken advantage of God's grace in the past. These examples will be explored in Part 2.