Total Depravity, Radical Evil  6-28-09  Jer. 17:9; Eph. 2:1

                Bernie Madoff appeared to be someone you could trust.  He was the non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange.   People like Steven Spielberg invested with him.  He was on about seven different philanthropic boards.  He had given millions to fight cancer.  He was said to be at one time the sixth busiest trader on Wall Street.   It was said of Bernie Madoff that he had no conscience.   He defrauded people of at least 170 billion dollars.  Two of his victims committed suicide.  Yet he shows no remorse.   Individually, and corporately we see total depravity.  The bombing of the World Trade Center killing thousands of lives is depravity.  The bombing of Pearl Harbor while feigning peace was depravity.  The Holocaust shows us our depravity.Some would only have preachers speak of good tickling itching ears, but the Bible says we must speak what is real- and sin is not an illusion or something we can hide- it is something we must handle with faith, hope, forgiveness, and grace.

I. THE SCOPE OF EVIL

A. NO ONE IS IMMUNE- There is no perfect person- except Jesus.  No institution is immune- not the United States government, not the S.C. Government, not the county council, not the school board, not the civic clubs, no college sports program however dear, or educational institution,  not the choir, not the church, not the SS Classes, and if you are honest- not yourself.

B. NO MOTIVE IS TOTALLY PURE- Luther used to say, “We sin in our best thoughts and our worst thoughts.”  Pride tends to leak into every thought like a tiny drop of poison can make            the whole gallon of water undrinkable.

C. SIN IS BEFORE US AND WILL COME AFTER US- We may like to think we learn how to sin, but if you look back historically it is there.  Babies cry because they want you to stop what you are doing and meet their need right then and there.  The great child psychologist, Piaget, said we have to learn that the world does not revolve around us.  Sometimes we look back and think that the people in the previous generation were far worst than us- but that is just a trick.  In the name of eliminating brutality and lifting up the common person, the Soviet Union killed the czar along with tens of millions.  Mao’s cultural revolution began in the name of making things “better” but it killed approximately 50 million.  Pol Pot in Cambodia said he was going to eliminate corruption and bring control to the country- but instead brought chaos.  Nicaragua was going to lift up the common person, but only managed to lift up the leaders of the communist revolution there.  If we have the illusion that the past is totally evil and we are totally good, we deceive ourselves.  The Bible says the hearts is deceptive.  We criticize torture and chemical warfare, but it is an illusion to think that because we torture from an airplane instead of with a rack we are somehow innocent.   More people were killed in the wars of the 20^th century than all the other centuries combined.  Our technology has blessed us with great comfort, but it also helps us to sin in deeper ways.  Our transportation efficiency allows us to access any kinds of drugs anywhere.  Our computer technology allows us to access pornography, and to be anonymous gossips and say evil things on the internet without others knowing who we are.  But ultimately God knows.  We are not innocent.  To think that we are good people is an illusion.  We tend to rationalize our wrongs, and make excuses for our evil- often in the name of freedom.  But we have abused our free speech with evil speech- gossip, cussing, pornography.  We stand in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. 

II. THE SCOOP OF EVIL- Evil is not restricted to the devil and hell.  Evil is seen most readily in human beings.

                A. WE CANNOT REDEEM OURSELVES- This is a basic theme of the Bible.  Our sins weigh us down so much, that we cannot get on the first rung of the ladder leading to heaven.  We cannot save ourselves anymore than we created ourselves.  We want to believe we don’t need God, but we don’t need God just a little bit- we need Him desperately.   We cannot educate ourselves out of sin.  I have found some really smart evil people out there.  Do not think that because you have a Phd.  Or think that because you know the consequences of your evil action that you won’t do evil. 

                B.  DISCLAIMERS- It is not that we are totally evil.  It is not that we are as bad as we can possibly be.  God’s Holy Spirit restrains evil even among those who give into it.  Even the worst among us have done some good. Hitler did improve the German economy and encouraged scientific innovation but at a terrible cost.   Saddam Hussein united his nation and kept Iran from taking over his country- but he was terribly brutal and we have mass graves to show it.  Saying that we are not as bad as we could be is a little bit like the alcoholic who thinks they are okay because they are not drunk 100% of the time.  I have met alcoholics who think they are okay because they can pass a course, or keep a job, or keep a relationship.  But their alcohol begins to control their lives, their work, their studies, and they plan their lives around their drinking instead of enjoying drinks around their lives.  The wife abuser who thinks they are okay because they only hit their wife once every six months is still an abuser, and you can bet that abuse affects everything about that relationship.   There is some good in everyone.  We are capable of great good.  We are made in God’s image, but we tarnish that image.  When we rely on God, we are able to do far more than we thought we could by ourselves. 

                There was a philosopher/artist who lived during the Enllghtenment named Raudin.  He believed that human beings are basically good, but are corrupted by our evil world.  So he travelled to Tahiti, thinking that if he could get to the primitive tribes he would find that the people there were innocent- like the Garden of Eden before sin entered.  Instead, what he found was unrestrained brutality, a culture that lived on revenge.   There is no place, no culture, no country, no government that is without sin.  The universality of sin is one of the empirical proofs of the Christian faith. 

III. OUR REACTION – Okay, so now I’ve probably taken the air out of your balloon.  As always, the real question is what should we do?

                A. DO NOT BE SURPRISED AT EVIL- Always saddened, always fighting against evil, but never surprised.

The Governor Sanford thing was a shock in some ways to almost everyone.   But we should not be surprised at evil found in everyone.  We could look at Eisenhower, Kennedy, Bill Clinton, the Senator from Nevada the week before.   Michael Jackson, in my mind was a super-talented individual, but he had some real problems with sexual immorality that showed itself in manifest ways.  Farrah Fawcett was a beautiful girl, but she was no angel.  The most powerful, the most talented, the prettiest among us all fall- and eventually give into the corruption of life- which ultimately is death itself. 

                B. DO DISTRUST HUMAN POWER- Lord Acton was right when he said “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Power sometimes unlocks our evil.  It is almost like people who have reached economic or political power are very much tempted to think they are beyond being brought down, or falling.

One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence also taught at Princeton and was a Presbyterian minister, John Witherspoon.  He influenced Adams and Madison and most say he is behind the idea of checks and balances in the government as a recognition of human sin, and checks on governmental power. 

                C. BE WARY OF YOURSELF- There is a real need for humility in our lives.  Christians are to hold the truth tightly, but also hold it with humility.   If the human heart is deceptive, it can deceive ourselves too.  We are in the quicksand mix sinking down together with everyone else.  Calvin said, “Unless you know you are sick, you don’t ask for the prescription for the cure. “

                D. DEPEND ON GOD- Call to God for mercy on your life.  Ask God to work through you, despite you, for good.  We cannot save ourselves- in this life or the next.  Call out to God to forgive you of your sins, and you will find hope.  There is no sin too great for him to forgive- including adultery, stealing, lying.  Mark Sanford was right to call on the image of David- who was an adulterer and involved in manslaughter.  David was forgiven, but he had to repent writing, “Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.”  David paid a price for his sin- embarrassment, family problems, and affliction from God.  But in the end, our faith does promise a second chance.   We are called to be gracious because God is gracious to us.  We are called to forgive others of their debts to us because we are forgiven a great debt. 

                E. WHAT IS POSSIBLE? – There is always a tendency when we hear people talk about our inability or total depravity to think that we should therefore give up.  The Holy Spirit, who restrains evil in this world from being as bad as it could be, also inspires us to get beyond ourselves.  God did not put us here just to sin, but He asks us to redeem our lives our time.   God created us for a purpose- and it was not just to wallow in our sin. 

It is to use our minds, our might, our meaning for His Mission. 

                I would contend that those who think they are great and perfect in life- who lack humility are the ones whose power is short-lived.   When we recognize our own sin and evil, then we can learn to avoid it.  The first step of recovery for an alcoholic is to go to the AA meeting and say, “Hi, I’m so and so and I’m an alcoholic.”   The first question in joining the church is to say, “I admit that I am a sinner and In need of God’s mercy.”   The Good News is that though we fail, we are not left in our failure.  With God there is always hope.  Apart from Him we can do nothing- that is total depravity.  But with Him all things are possible.

            It is when we recognize our great sin that we cast away our little temporary, distracting saviors.  We need a real , powerful, great Savior- we need Jesus.  When I know I am in real danger of sinking I don’t hold hands with someone else sinking,  I don’t grab a cork, I may grab a lifejacket- but even better the hand of the lifeguard.  Jesus is that lifeguard.