Self-Gratification, Self-Glorification, and Greed
Self-Gratification, Self-Glorification, and Greed
God’s creation is a gift that we abuse.
Where Adam failed, Jesus won.
Welcome to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Light of Christ Anglican Church is located in Georgetown, Texas at MLK and University Avenue. We are a modern expression of the ancient faith. You can learn more about us at lightofchristgeorgetown.org.
Today, we will hear a selection from Sunday's sermon based on Romans 5:19, "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."
Imagine yourself as a child. Maybe middle school. It's Christmas day. There's a gift under the tree. You open up that gift and it is a beautiful new bat. It's like the best that money can buy. You take that gift and that very day you go over to your neighbor's house, break in using the bat through the window, beat your neighbor and take his candy and eat it. That's sin. Is the bat bad? No, the bat is a good gift given to you. Sin is the misuse of God's good gifts. Sin is the misuse of God's good gifts. We see in Genesis that God created everything good, and he puts Adam and Eve in the garden to work it, to steward it, to receive that gift. But what do they do? They take that good gift and they misuse it. That is sin. Sin is the misuse of God's good gift.
What is the baseball bat made for? Baseball, right? It's made to hit a home run, hit a base hit, or put a bunt down. It's not meant to beat your neighbor. What have we done? Adam shows really what all of us have done. “Because through one man's disobedience, we were all made sinners.”
How do we take God's good gift and sin? Well, first we use God's good gift for self-gratification. For self-gratification. We were meant to be gratified. God made that in us, but we were meant to be gratified in using our bodies and the good gifts he's given us to love our neighbor. What is love? To seek the good of the other for their own sake. Love is to seek the good of the other for their own sake. Why did God make this world? Why did he make you?
Why has he given you everything you have, including your body? So that you can seek the good of the other for their own sake. The reason he's given you the baseball bat is to play baseball. The reason he's given you a body and given you everything you have is to love others. But what have we done? Instead, we use that for self-gratification, right? Like the child who beats his neighbor and takes his candy, we use our bodies to not love other people, but to use other people and manipulate other people to get what we want for self-gratification. Not gratification because we've loved, but gratification at others' expense. Self-gratification. Adam sees sees that the fruit is good. He wants to be self-gratified apart from God's plan for him, which is to love.
How do we abuse God's good gift of creation? Self-gratification and self-glorification. What does the serpent say to Adam and Eve? “If you take this fruit, you will be like God.” You know what's really interesting about that? What did God make us to be like? God. God made us to be like God. God made us to be glorified. But how? Adam and Eve were placed in the garden to learn how to love one another. That's why there was Adam and Eve, so they could learn to love one another and have kids and learn how to love. This is why God made us, so we could be glorified. We could become like God because God is love. But instead we chose self-glorification. “I'm not going to be glorified by God because I love my neighbor! No, I am going to seek glory for myself on my own terms.”
If you were a kid, you ever play king of the hill wherever there was a dirt hill? You would try to be the one on top. You would try to be the glorious one on top. How did you get there? You push everyone else down. That's right. You give them a good kick in the face to stay on top. This is what we do, isn't it? We don't seek glorification by laying our lives down, by loving. We seek glorification by stepping on other people and pushing them down.
Self-gratification. Self-glorification. What's the last way that we abuse God's good creation? Greed. Greed. They took it and they ate. Mine. Mine. This idea that it's mine, I can do whatever I want with it. I'm going to accumulate, accumulate, accumulate.
“It is mine.” Is it yours? When Adam and Eve are put in the garden, they were placed there as managers, stewards. It's as if God has an investment account and he's placed you as the investment manager, or he has a small business and he's placed you as a manager over it. Can an investment manager ever say, "These investments are mine?" No, he's doing it for someone else. It's by God's grace that he's allowed us in on his work. We're part of it, but what have we done? We have stolen from him. We've said, "No, it's not yours, God, it is mine. I don't have to use everything you've given me to love. My body is mine and everything I have is mine. I can use it for myself. I don't have to use it to seek the good of the others for their sake. It is mine." It is greed. We've been made managers, but we try to take ownership.
Here's a time for a little self-diagnosis. How are you seeking the good of others for their own sake with your possessions, with your time, with your talent, with yourself? I think if we're being honest with ourselves more often than not we are seeking our own self-gratification, our own self-glorification and greed at the expense of others. I am a sinner. I need a Savior to heal this heart that's all tangled up inside. We need a better father than Adam. A better example to follow.
I am a sinner, but He is righteous. Here in this painting is Jesus in the desert place. He's the second Adam, and he's placed by God... Remember, the Spirit takes him into the desert. He's placed by God not in a garden, but in the desert. The desert that we have made because of our sin.
The desert represents the consequences of our sin. It is the God forsaken place. God himself, God the Son goes into the god-forsaken place. Why? To undo what Adam did. Like the tangled string, he's going to undo what Adam did. How does he do that? Well, the tempter comes. What does he tempt Jesus with?
Jesus is on a very clear mission. Jesus' mission is to undo what Adam did. His mission is to love, to use his body and everything that he has, all of his power to seek the good of the other for their own sake. The way he specifically going to do that because he's the savior, and this is what's unique to Jesus, is he's going to do that by going to the cross, dying and rising again.
He knows that that's his mission, and what Satan is trying to do is the same thing he tried to do with the first Adam. He's trying to get this man off of God's mission to love. How does he do that? He tempts him with the very same temptations.
Self-gratification. Jesus is there hungry, fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, and Satan comes to him and says, "Hey, you've got the power to do it." We know that, right? Because later what does Jesus do? He does make bread. "You got the power to do it. You're hungry. Turn these rocks into bread. Gratify yourself. Step out of God's plan to love others with your power and use your power to gratify yourself." Jesus says no.
Then Satan moves to self-glorification. Hey, will you seek glorification apart from the cross? Look, Satan is actually advanced in his techniques here. What did Satan do? He quotes scripture. Just a little side note, you can quote scripture to hide your lust. You can quote scripture to maintain your life of self-gratification, self-glorification, and greed. It's something to remember. Satan says, “Look the scriptures say, ‘If you jump down off of this temple, that God has you completely protected.’" What does Jesus say? "No. You're missing the heart of it. I'm protected as I am walking in God's plan for me. Do not put the Lord your God to the test. I will not seek glorification for myself. My glorification will come as I love others, and it will come from my father."
Finally, greed. This is where Satan is his most honest I guess you could say. He shows him all the kingdoms of the world. He says, "I will give you all of this. Everything. You can have it if you fall down and worship me." I think Satan's getting desperate at this point because it's so obvious. Jesus says, "Get away from me. We only worship the Lord God." What Adam failed to do and sinned, Jesus did and was righteous. Where Adam failed, Jesus won. He was always seeking the good of the other, always using his power for love, even to this cross where he poured out his entire life for you. I am a sinner. He is righteous.
Thank you for listening to the Light of Christ weekly podcast. Let us end our time together with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. You can find the Collect for the First Sunday in Lent on page 605.
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
