Vampires? Isn’t this Good Friday? Easter Weekend? How could you possibly use Vampires at a time like this? Besides, what do icebergs have to do with this? And what do you mean by “Mother of all Sins”? Well. I am glad you asked. All of these will play an important part of this post.
Vampires. Yes. I am about to write about a mythological character in a fictional novel. But I am going to only use one aspect of this created character from one book only—a gothic horror novel, “Dracula” by Irish author Bram Stoker (1897).
Stoker describes one characteristic of his version of a vampire that is important for this post. What could that possibly be? Well. It has to do with mirrors. Now some of you may already be zooming ahead of me your mind. It’s ok. I’m going there. According to legend, a mirror can reflect part of your soul. But, it cannot reflect what you don’t own. And since vampires don’t have a soul they cannot see themselves in a mirror. There. The important thing to remember is not being able to see it in a mirror. This sin I will be talking about is like that. It is often invisible to the person who has it.
Ok. So we cannot see this sin in the mirror. But what about the icebergs? Ahh. It’s a very similar concept. Ohhhhhh. I can hear a number of minds racing ahead. Why? Because they already know that you can only see the “tip of the iceberg”. The density of an iceberg is less than that of water. It floats, but about 90% of the iceberg is under water and only 10% is visible above water. So even if you can see this sin, it will only be the tip of something much larger lurking in your soul. Ugh. That sin could be really bad.
It is. It *is* really bad. Most folks will recognize the tip of the iceberg, especially in *other* people. It is almost impossible to recognize it in yourself. I am calling it the “Mother of all Sins” because I believe I can trace almost any sin back to this as its source. The root of wickedness. The source of evil. Ha. I am hearing racing minds again. You thought it was Satan. The devil. Well. You are correct. Sort of. But I called this a “sin”. We don’t really have Satan himself inside us. But we have his nature. The nature and character of the first fallen man, Adam? Yes. That fallen nature. The old nature. Sometimes referred to as “the flesh” depending what version of the Bible you are reading.
Well, does this “sin” have a name? Yes. It is “pride”. The tip of the iceberg—the part that is easily seen in others is boastfulness, arrogance, and an air of superiority. The I’m-right-and-you’re-not kind of superiority. People with self-inflated egos are pretty easy to pick out. Yet they themselves often do not see their own folly.
The part that gets sticky is the part that is under water. The unseen part. The unrecognized part. If you are still reading this you may want to stop right here. You think that you are not boastful, arrogant, or superior to others. You feel safe. But, I am going to expand on pride. The Bible has more to say about pride than the dictionary.
Here’s why understanding pride is important. Look at the last part of this verse:
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
—1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)
Notice the word “opposes”. In English dictionaries this word can mean many things. It can be something rather harmless like disagree in argument or disapprove of. But it can also be used as an opponent in a conflict or competition. Do you really want to have the Almighty God, Creator, Master, and Lord of the Universe to be your opponent? But how can we know if this is the harmless disagreement or the opponent in competition kind of meaning? Ah. By checking its original language (Ancient Greek) we find that the word used here is an ancient military term literally meaning organized resistance. Like battalions in formation in full battle array and ready to fight. Whoa! That verse sounds much more intimidating now!
In direct contrast, the word use for “favor” actually is the same Greek word for “grace”. It’s not just favor. It’s unmerited, unearned, and free favor. And it is for the humble. So now we have the two groups, the proud, and the humble. And we have how God treats each one. The great thing is, that we get to choose which group we are in. It is the ultimate free choice. Now you know why understanding pride and humility is so very important.
Where there is strife, there is pride…
—Proverbs 13:10 (NIV)
Is there strife in your life? Time to search your soul for any evidence of pride.
As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
—Proverbs 26:21 (NIV)
Do you find yourself in a lot of arguments? Yep. Pride is probably lurking somewhere.
For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.
—Proverbs 30:33 (NIV)
Do you find yourself getting irritated often? Do you allow the irritation to fester and become anger? Uh-oh. Pride is probably somewhere closer than you want it to be.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
—Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)
Do you feel like you have been unjustly disgraced? Dishonored? Shamed? Oh, my. You didn’t think I’d go here, did you? If you’ve had this happen as a result of your stand as a Christian you understand it. But if it’s been happening to you and you don’t know why then it’s time to look inside. Pride deceives us into believing we’re doing a good thing when really we are doing not for the good of others but we are hoping that we’ll look better in other people’s eyes.
An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
—Proverbs 18:1 (NIV)
Remember the quarrelsome person mentioned above? Here we find that one who starts quarrels ignores sound judgment. The same person is unfriendly because he pursues selfish ends. Pride is expanding to include selfishness. In fact, that is the very best definition for pride—inordinate self-focus.
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
—James 3:16 (NIV)
Disorder is not a physical disorder. It is disorder—like chaotic disorder. Things are out of control in your mind. There’s a riot going on inside your head. You don’t know which way to turn. And everything you try to do seems to fail. You are overwhelmed and confused. Self focus to the exclusion of others? It leads one down a dark, lonely road.
So how does this sin hide itself so well in us?
In their own eyes they flatter themselves
too much to detect or hate their sin.
—Psalm 36:2 (NIV)
Do you see it there? A person can flatter themselves so much that it makes their own sin undetectable. In other words, it’s as good as invisible like the Vampire in the mirror example or at least looks acceptable since only a little bit is showing, like the iceberg example.
What does all this have to do with Easter? Everything! Easter has it’s roots in the Jewish Festival of Passover. They do their spring cleaning by ridding their houses of all leaven (yeast) up to the start of Passover. And for a whole week that will eat only unleavened bread.
Yes, you say, but we are Christians. But I tell you Jesus was a Jew. (And he still is). Our understanding of true Christianity can be greatly enhanced by understanding the significance of Judaism and its profound influence on early Christianity. So what does this unleavened bread (bread without yeast) have to do with Passover?
First of all, unleavened bread is part of the Seder. It’s a feast that celebrates the Passover tradition in the book of Exodus. Unleavened bread was eaten on the night before they were freed from the slavery under the Egyptians. The Exodus is the story of their deliverance. It was unleavened bread because they had to eat it in haste. There was no time for it to rise.
Did you know the Apostle Paul wrote about unleavened bread? He did it in a letter to the believers in Corinth in Greece.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
—1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NIV)
Did you see that? Paul is associating boastfulness with yeast (leaven)! The leaven represents pride. And like yeast, pride spreads quickly throughout one’s life. It is insidious. So get rid of the old pride and put your trust in the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One.
Pride is putting trust and confidence in our own abilities. Humility is putting your trust in the Passover Lamb—the Messiah. We cannot whip pride on our own. We must rely on Jesus to give us a new heart. A heart that is pliable and willing and hears the Voice of God and is quick to obey.
So I encourage you to read the story of the Exodus again this weekend. Read about the plagues. Read about the deliverance. It’s an amazing story of God’s favor to the Israelites. Thanks to that deliverance, the Jews were still around over 1,000 years later. Without that, Jesus could not have been born and we would not have Christianity today. For Jesus, the Christ, did not only give his life for the Jews. He graciously died for our deliverance as well.
During Passover, the Israelites brushed blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. The blood was a sign. The plague of the death of the firstborn son was passed over those homes with blood on the sides and top of the door.
Brush the Blood of the Passover Lamb over the doorposts of your heart. Apply His Blood to your mind, your will, and your emotions. Submit your lives to Jesus. He is the keeper of your heart. He is the Lord and Master of the Universe. He is God. And He loves you far more than you can possibly imagine.
This weekend I encourage you to take communion. You can do this at home even if your own church doesn’t do it. If you’ve got some matzo bread (unleavened) then great. If not, that is ok too. If you’ve got wine, great. If not, grape juice is fine. You now know the significance. That is what’s important.
Take the bread. Give God thanks. The bread represents Christ’s fulfillment of the Law. Christ has shared all the blessings of the Law with you. And He has broken all the curses of the Law. You get all of the benefits. None of the curses. It’s the too-good-to-be-true news. That is what Christ accomplished in His death. Every time you eat it, you proclaim this good news! Rejoice! It’s your deliverance!
Take the cup. Give God thanks. The wine represents Christ’s blood. It is the Cup of Redemption. This is the New Covenant. He has given us all a new heart. We are new creations. His perfect work has made us clean, without blemish, and without blame. He wants us to trust Him completely. Every day. Every moment.
Duct Tape Rx 