Give it up!

by    21st March 2004    0 responses

At church people have been asking each other, ‘What are you giving up for Lent this year?’ One or two appear to have given up chocolate, and a particularly brave child of a friend of mine has stopped using his Playstation for 40 days! I’ve never really seen the point of this so this year I was happily going to continue to give up precisely nothing…until I was confronted by these words of Jesus challenging me to get serious about sin, and to give it up, not just for Lent, but for life.

“You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Jesus begins by radically re-interpreting one of the Ten Commandments – not for Him mere outward conformity as demanded by the letter of the law. Instead He goes to the heart of the command and says that guilt begins where the sin originates. Notice that it’s not just looking which makes us guilty – Jesus isn’t expecting us to go around with our eyes on the ground – rather it’s the kind of look, one with ‘lustful intent’ which lingers upon someone we find attractive and views them as an object to satisfy our desires. It’s a difference I think we can all recognise in ourselves and in others – just watch people’s faces and listen to their conversation when the latest Britney Spears’ video is on!

I don’t know about you, but my immediate reaction to these words of Jesus is to feel guilty. And actually I think that’s the response Jesus wants because, uncomfortable though it makes me feel to say it, according to Jesus’ definition (and let’s face it – His is the one which counts!) I’m an adulterer many times over. It’s often been said that Jesus came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Right here he’s doing the latter, stripping away our veneer of respectability and shining a spotlight on the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. Jesus wants to expose the sin in our lives so that we see our need of Him and God’s solution to our desperate plight – the cross. That surely is the place we need to start from as we hear these words, to allow God to expose the sin in our lives, to sincerely repent, and to take hold of the mercy offered to us through the death of God’s Son. Humble people who recognise their need are those Jesus is calling to follow Him. After all, didn’t he say just a few verses ago, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”?

But is that all? Are we left to struggle on against lust, continually giving in and turning to God for forgiveness, with no hope of seeing change? That’s certainly the experience of many, and if I’m honest there have been times in my life when I’ve despaired of ever being different. But that’s not the way Jesus leaves it.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

On July 20 1993, Donald Wyman was clearing land near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, as part of his work for a mining company. In the process, a tree rolled onto his shin causing a severe break and pinning Wyman to the ground. He cried for help for an hour, but no one came. He concluded that the only way to save his life would be to cut off his leg. So he made a tourniquet out of his shoelace and tightened it with a spanner. Then he took his penknife and cut through the skin, muscle, and bone just below the knee and freed himself from the tree. He crawled thirty yards to a bulldozer, drove a quarter-mile to his truck, then manoeuvred the manual gears with his good leg and a hand until he reached a farmer’s house one-and-a-half miles away, with his leg bleeding profusely. Farmer John Huber Jr helped get him to a hospital where his life was spared.

In these verses, Jesus appeals to the same passion for survival that exists within each of us in order to show the importance of purity. Just as Donald Wyman cut off his leg to save his life, Jesus commands that we gouge out our eye to escape the fatal consequences of lust. Of course, if you gouge out your right eye you can still see the magazine with your left eye! So why does Jesus use such graphic language?

It seems to me that Jesus wants us to recognise lust for the killer it is. Then we’ll be willing to take whatever steps are necessary to eradicate it from our lives. According to Jesus lust is a ‘sugar-coated poison pill’: it looks nice and even tastes good – for a while – but eventually it leads to death and hell.

“But I’m saved – I’m a Christian! You’re not suggesting that I’m in danger of hell if I indulge in lustful fantasies from time to time are you?” Well, yes I am. Or rather, Jesus is. I believe very strongly in the Bible’s promises that God will preserve those who are truly His. But I also take very seriously the warnings that an unwillingness to battle with sin in our lives demonstrates that saving faith may not be present. In short, growing in holiness is evidence of salvation. We don’t become perfect overnight, but as we discover the depths of joy and freedom that there are in knowing Jesus, we find ourselves increasingly saying “No” to the sin that would hinder our fellowship with Him.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” When the temptation comes to indulge in lustful fantasies, or to look up that web-site, or to let your eyes linger for just a while longer, then remember and cherish this promise. Lust imperils our intimacy with God and hinders our enjoyment of all that He has for us.

Remember: chocolate may make you fat and it can ruin your complexion, but lust will kill you.

Give it up, not just for Lent, but for life.

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