Some questions for you. Not important questions, but questions nonetheless:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do snooze buttons only give you nine more minutes of sleep?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why can\u2019t you tickle yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those big clocks in the parlor \u2014 why do we call them \u201cgrandfather clocks?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s unlikely that these questions have crossed your mind, but they\u2019ve crossed someone\u2019s<\/em> mind. The editors at Mental_Floss<\/em>, a trivia magazine, have included them in an article called \u201cThe 25 most important questions in the history of the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tongue firmly planted in cheek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These questions and more \u2014 like \u201cWhy does Hawaii have Interstate highways\u201d? \u2014 are adult versions of the riddles we used to ask as kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did the sock say to the foot? You\u2019re putting me on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do whales like to chew? Blubber gum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What animal keeps the best time? A watchdog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions intrigue us, even if they\u2019re trivial or humorous in a grade-school sort of way. And then sometimes we get hit with questions that stop us in our tracks, conundrums that confuse us and paradoxes that perplex us. Like the dilemma the apostle Paul poses in today\u2019s Epistle: \u201cI do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate\u201d (7:15). He repeats himself in verse 19: \u201cFor I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a mystery that matters, a riddle that rocks: Why do we do what we don\u2019t want to do, and \u2014 the corollary question \u2014 why don\u2019t we do the good that we want to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer to Paul\u2019s question has to begin with sin. In Paul\u2019s experience, sin is more than a bad deed, evil action or wrong decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a power that pervades his inner self, and dwells deep within him like a V-chip programming his every move. It\u2019s the worm at the core of the apple. It\u2019s sin with a capital S. The action (sin), \u201cWhat I do,\u201d is the outcome of the state<\/em> of Sin within him. It\u2019s the poisoned fruit of the tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul has bad DNA; he\u2019s part of a corrupt gene pool. Augustine calls it \u201coriginal sin,\u201d and John Calvin and others call it \u201ctotal depravity.\u201d It\u2019s a problem that corrupts Paul\u2019s relationship with God and neighbor. This predisposition causes him to do the things he hates, it prevents him from doing what is right, and it causes him to do evil. \u201cNow if I do what I do not want,\u201d he concludes, \u201cit is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me\u201d (v. 20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can certainly relate to Paul\u2019s inner struggle. Sin is what causes us to gossip with our friends when we know we shouldn\u2019t, to cheat on school assignments against our better judgment, to waste time on the job when we don\u2019t want to, to mislead our customers for a buck, to lust after our coworkers, to abuse drugs and alcohol, to snap at friends and loved ones, to covet wealth and material possessions, to turn a blind eye to the needs of others \u2014 all this and more, when we know full well what course of action we should take \u2014 but don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, who argued that the unexamined life is not worth living, proposed that no one chooses evil or chooses to act in ignorance. We pursue what is good, but fail to achieve it because of ignorance, or we lack the knowledge as to how to obtain what is good, or how to do what is right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aristotle, the intellectual grandchild of Socrates, and pupil of Plato, scoffed at the notion. Simple observation of human behavior, he said, tells us that an individual might know what is best, right and true, yet still do what\u2019s bad, wrong and false. Moreover, if evil is never done deliberately or voluntarily, then evil is an involuntary act and no one can properly be held responsible for the evil that is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our own life and times show us that Socrates got it wrong, and that Aristotle and the apostle Paul got it right. So with Paul, we agree: \u201cI do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do\u201d (7:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even worse, our best intentions are often thwarted by our sinfulness. Sin would seem to play a corrupting role in every deed we do. We do a good deed, and hope we\u2019ll be rewarded for it. We work hard, and end up becoming workaholics. We make a sacrifice for someone else, and feel selfish pride about our selfless act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evidence of Sin is everywhere: in the schoolroom and the boardroom, the home and the office, in business and politics, in communities and nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin: It\u2019s all over. Not to say that everything we do is completely sinful, but that every dimension of our life \u2014 personal, community, national, global \u2014 is tainted by Sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where does this leave us? What \u2014 or who \u2014 will get us out of this mess? Paul puts it this way: \u201cWho will rescue me from this body of death?\u201d (7:24). \u201cThanks be to God,\u201d he continues, \u201cthrough Jesus Christ our Lord!\u201d (7:25). The only antidote to total depravity is total grace, a grace that comes to us through our faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul sees this as a rescue<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This perspective is typical of those who see themselves as caught in an event, situation or crisis that is now beyond their control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rescue. That\u2019s what Paul \u2014 and what we \u2014 are looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good intentions won\u2019t rescue us. More education, more money, more discipline, more time, more second chances won\u2019t rescue us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Christ is our Rescuer. Costly for him, because he died in the \u201crescue\u201d process. But that\u2019s what makes it grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why Paul\u2019s startling discovery as he ponders the riddle before him is that through Jesus Christ the rescue has already taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s our business now to live as though it were true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is to say, there\u2019s no point staying in the coal mine when the rescue has been accomplished. No point staying at the bottom of a well. No point in clinging to a tree in the middle of a raging river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No point clinging to an old resentment. No point refusing to forgive. No point cheating, lusting, fighting, carping, harping, stealing, lying \u2014 any of these things. It\u2019s not who we are!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this mean we become perfect? Not quite. We\u2019re forgiven, not flawless. And Paul knows that there is always a war going on between the flesh and the spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the riddle is solved. Why do I do the bad I don\u2019t want to do, and don\u2019t do the good I do want to do? Because of the power of Sin that is activated when I \u201cserve\u201d the \u201cflesh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when I remember who I am, and when I serve \u201cthe law of the mind,\u201d then I know what it means to be \u201crescued\u201d and to live the way God wants me to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cherokee Elder was teaching his grandson about life. He said to him, \u201cA fight is going on inside me … it is a terrible fight between two wolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride and superiority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They thought about it for a minute and then the boy asked his grandfather, \u201cWhich wolf will win?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old man simply replied, \u201cThe one you feed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which wolf will you<\/em> feed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some questions for you. Not important questions, but questions nonetheless: Why do snooze buttons only give you nine more minutes of sleep? Why can\u2019t you tickle yourself? Those big clocks in the parlor \u2014 why do we call them \u201cgrandfather clocks?\u201d It\u2019s unlikely that these questions have crossed your mind, but they\u2019ve crossed someone\u2019s mind. The editors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n