Romans 12:10: Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
I remember sitting on the beach when I was 16 years old. I
lived on Okinawa at the time, and my friends and I would go to the beach to “do
our homework”. At this point I was watching several guys surf. Suddenly one of
them writhed in pain and began screaming. One of the horrible jelly fish
looking things that were in the waters had wrapped itself around his leg in a
strangle hold and was emitting poison into his body. Those closest to him got
the thing off of him and rushed him to a hospital. We did not have cell phones
back then, nor would we have used them. We happened to be on an off limits
beach, pronounced thus by the authorities because they knew the waters on that
part of the island were filled with these dangerous creatures and would cause
great harm to anyone frequenting them.
This leads into my points for today. Do not do what you are
told not to do. You will get hurt. You can die from your mistake. I am talking
here, of course, about feeling you don’t need to listen to the authority of God
and His laws. He gave them to us so that we would understand that the world is
a wild place and that we need to follow His instructions to navigate it safely.
My friends and I scoffed at the signs that told us to stay away from these
waters. There was a thrill in proving the authorities wrong. Besides, it was
beautiful here, pleasant and fun. The waves were high and crashing, perfect for
some dare-devil living. And it could have cost my friend his life. So it is
with sin. It is tempting because it is something we want to do, and the devil
knows our weaknesses. If you cannot resist chocolate, and the doctor tells you
that it is off limits to you, you will probably spend many days thinking of
nothing but chocolate. It is the same with sin. If God says to avoid pornography
because it is harmful to you and to the women in the industry, and you have the
tendency to crave this kind of thing, you will be tempted at every turn to
engage in viewing and reading it. We must see sin for what it is: dangerous and
deadly to our spiritual health. We can pray for strength; we can go to
confession, but most importantly, we can get a friend or spiritual director to
whom we are accountable.
Rule #3 for evangelization: Be a friend to those in
spiritual need. Seek a friend for your spiritual needs.
My friend would have died that day if he had been surfing
the dangerous waters alone. It took several people to get that thing away from
him. He could not have done it alone, for he was already succumbing to the
poison. It is like that with sin. We jump into it because it brings us some
kind of pleasure, or we wouldn’t be doing it. I doubt too many confession lines
would be very long if it were a grave sin to eat brussel sprouts. But once the poison of that pleasurable sin
enters into our bodies, we begin a slow spiritual death. We begin to justify
our actions; we begin to operate in darkness and alone. We must have a band of
buddies to help us out of the addiction, whether it is gossip or sex, and we
must call on them when we are tempted. To be a warrior for God, we must be
willing to be the safe person for a friend trying hard to avoid temptation.
Don’t be an enabler. Be a savior. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Heaven
is waiting for you, and Jesus is counting on you!!!
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