Good morning. It's good to be with you all together as one community and we have a lot to cover this morning so I'm just going to jump right in.
We are continuing our series in the book of Proverbs. You'll remember that Proverbs is a book about wisdom and wisdom is skill in the art of living.
Wisdom begins its foundation is the fear of the Lord and it continues. It grows with humility. We can't expect to grow in wisdom, to have wisdom, unless we're willing to admit we don't know everything.
And so this morning we're going to be in Proverbs chapter 6 starting at verse 20. I invite you to turn there now and as we come to this portion, section of Proverbs, we're going to again be talking about the topic of sex.
And so I'm going to repeat virtually the same things I said at the beginning of my sermon last time when we talked about Proverbs chapter 5 at the beginning of July.
First of all, when we come to topics that are hard and sensitive, it's important to note that we're going to say something, but not everything.
There's too much to be said in one sermon and so we trust that as we come to God's word over and over again, we'll receive the full orbed view of what he has to say about a variety of topics.
Second, we're going to come again across this issue of the woman playing the role of the temptress.
That's what we're going to see in chapter 7 and so it's important again to ask the question, why is it the woman and not the man?
And I believe it's because it's a genre issue. So this is a book that's written to a young man and so it makes sense that he's being warned about a young woman.
And if instead this were a book written by a mother to her daughter, we would expect the mother to warn her daughter about the man who is a tempter or a seducer.
So it's important to say that because we need to speak clearly in this issue because often women's sexuality is spoken of in the church that in a way that's harmful, sometimes very toxic.
And so we just want to say up front, both men and women tempt people sexually. Both men and women are tempted. Both men and women desire and enjoy sex. Both men and women struggle with sexual integrity.
So we don't paint these things as a man's issue or a woman's issue. This is a human issue because God's made all of us as sexual beings.
It's also important to note as we come to topics like this, it can be something that bring up memories for some of us, either of sinning or being sinned against.
And so it's important to remember as those things happen that God's with us and that his forgiveness is real.
But those things don't prevent us from looking at the entire counsel of his word, everything that God has to say to us.
God speaks about these things, and so we are unashamed to speak about them as well.
Now, last time when we talked about this, we were in Proverbs chapter 5, and there's some overlap between Proverbs chapter 5 and Proverbs chapter 7.
But the main emphasis of Proverbs chapter 5 was this, flee sexual sin and do it by running towards your spouse, right?
Have a lot of sex with your spouse.
That is one strategy the Proverbs present to us against sexual temptation.
We're going to see a different strategy this morning from chapters 6 and 7.
It's not run towards your spouse, but run away from sin.
Not run towards your spouse, not have a lot of really good sex with your spouse, but run away from sexual sin.
Now, there's going to be a lot in this passage, right?
We're covering all of chapter 7, part of chapter 6.
There's going to be portions of it that reteach what was taught in chapter 5.
And so we're not going to cover everything equally this morning.
We're going to have a focus, and that focus will be from chapter 7, verse 25.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways.
Do not stray into her paths.
So we won't treat everything equally this morning, but we'll have a special focus on that because that's the primary focus of this passage.
With that, I invite you again to turn either in your worship guide or in your Bible or in your phone to this portion of God's Word.
We are in Proverbs chapter 6, starting at verse 20.
And as we turn to this, remember that this is God's Word.
And God tells us in Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5, that every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
And so that's why we start now reading at verse 20.
Verse 27.
Chapter 7.
Verse 6.
Verse 10.
Verse 27.
Verse 21.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.
And есть luigi comment we ask of trueordo affine the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
and you would challenge us.
We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
You may remember when we were back in Proverbs chapter 5,
there was one small comment that the father made to the son
as he was telling him to pursue his wife,
and it came in verse 8, and it was this,
keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house.
So there's this woman out there right from chapter 5
that's trying to tempt you.
Stay as far away as you can.
Now that was a side comment in chapter 5.
It is now the main focus of chapters 6 and 7.
The father is not satisfied that he's just given that warning.
He's now going to tell a long story
so his son can understand why that is so necessary,
why it's imperative that he stays away.
And that's the story that we're told in chapter 7.
Starting at verse 6, this father's looking out on the streets,
and he sees this simple person, this young man,
who has not heeded the father's command to stay far away.
It seems it should be implied right by the fact
that he's told to stay away that people know where this house is.
They know the places of temptation.
They know where this woman is lying in wait.
And yet this person is foolish.
I don't know if they're doing this intentionally or unintentionally,
but either way, this foolish person is not being careful
about the way he's walking.
And so he is very close.
He puts himself, just by his very position, in danger.
And then we get to see that there's a process here.
There's a pattern to sin, so it doesn't happen all at once.
It starts with him being in the wrong place,
and then it continues by this woman coming out to seduce him.
First of all, he's there at the wrong time, right?
Verse 9, he's there in the evening.
We might wonder why he's wandering around at night.
And then in verse 10, this woman comes out,
and she has a variety of strategies.
Verse 13, she kisses him.
Verse 14, she helps him understand that what's going on here
because of her religious activities
is at a time where she has a wonderful meal
that she's prepared for him.
That's part of what we're supposed to take away
from the fact that she's performed her sacrifices.
In addition to that, she has created a space
that's welcoming and inviting.
Verse 16, her couch has coverings on it.
She's perfumed her bed.
Verse 17, and not only is there this wonderful experience
that she's offering out to this man,
she's appealing to a variety of senses.
She's also appealing to his desire for secrecy.
Look, you can enjoy this,
and no one will find out.
No one will know.
Verse 19, my husband is not at home.
He has gone on a long journey.
He won't be back for a long time.
And so she uses her dress to attract him.
She's physically attractive.
And of course, she uses her words to attract him.
It's interesting that the Proverbs
put such a highlight on the words of this woman,
both in five and in seven.
She is saying things that this man wants to hear.
It's not just a physical relationship.
There are needs, perhaps, that he feels and has that are unmet,
and she is willing to meet them.
And so we see several principles here
that we have seen before,
that when it comes to the foolish person
and the simple person.
First, the simple person,
as I've told you over and over again,
does not understand the relationship
between present actions and future consequences.
The simple person cannot connect the dots on those things.
And so that's part of what makes him simple.
He can't connect the dots
that being at the wrong place at the wrong time
is going to make him vulnerable to this sin.
He doesn't have any strategy.
Now, maybe he didn't have any bad intentions in this.
Maybe he's just failing to guard himself.
Maybe he knows where he's going.
Either way, that's part of what makes him simple.
He has no strategy in life.
He can't connect how all his actions come together.
Remember, this is what we saw in chapter one, verse 22.
Wisdom cries out and says to the simple person,
how long, oh simple one,
will you love your simple ways?
There's something that the simple person
gets out of their simpleness.
They don't have to do the hard work
of being careful.
But then there's another principle here
that comes to us again from chapter one,
and that's about the fear of the Lord.
It's not just that this simple person
doesn't understand the danger
that he's putting himself in.
It's that this simple person
doesn't have the fear of the Lord.
You'll remember at the beginning of chapter one,
our very first sermon on Proverbs,
I gave you a list of the kinds of things
that characterize someone
who has the fear of the Lord.
One of them is,
this person's goal is to stay far away from sin.
The goal of the person who fears the Lord
is to stay far away from sin.
That's something they're working for.
And so someone who fears the Lord
does not play the game
where they try to get as close to sin as they can
without crossing the line.
Because remember,
the person who fears the Lord loves wisdom.
And so they love what's right.
They want to stay as close to it as possible
because of their love for God
and their knowledge of God's discipline.
That's part of what it means to fear the Lord.
And so this man,
this foolish young man,
this simple man,
he's simple,
so he can't connect the dots.
He's simple,
so he doesn't fear the Lord.
He's not trying and working
to stay away from sin.
If we are trying to get as close as possible to sin
without getting burned,
we don't actually love wisdom.
We're only perhaps afraid
of the consequences of sin.
We don't hate sin for its own sake.
We don't love sin for its own sake.
Wisdom is at most an inconvenience, right?
Maybe the simple person's afraid of consequences,
but the simple person doesn't love wisdom enough
to pursue it and hold firmly to it.
You might think about it like this way.
The foolish person
is the kind of person who knows
there's something, right,
they shouldn't buy.
Maybe it's something that's wrong for them to purchase.
Maybe it's something that's not wrong.
They just can't afford it.
They know it's outside of their budget.
It would be foolish to do it.
And this is the person who goes to the store
where that thing is sold
and they press their nose up against the glass.
They don't stay far away.
They hover around sin.
They know they're not supposed to do it,
yet they dance around it.
They're looking at it.
They're thinking about it.
That's what the simple person is doing here.
As the wise person, right, would stay away.
They would not be in parts of town where that store is.
They wouldn't walk by and look in.
If they had to walk by it,
they'd stay far away
because they know that's a temptation for them.
And that's what the wise person does.
So we've got the principle of the simple person,
the principle of the fear of the Lord.
And then we also see again
the principle that we saw in 1 Peter,
which is that our sexuality,
sexual sin has this gravitational pull to it.
Remember I told you that story
about the man who was a terrorist
who went to bomb an adult theater
and he was so drawn in by the images on the screen
that he forgot there was a bomb underneath him.
He blew his legs off.
Why?
Because there's this gravitational pull to sexual sin.
It has a special power and a temptation to it.
And so this young man underestimates, right,
the power that this is going to have over him.
He has both put himself in the wrong place
and he's put himself in a specially vulnerable place.
And so those are a few of the things
that this highlights for us.
The principle of being simple,
the principle of fearing the Lord,
and the principle of the serious attraction
of sexual sin.
There's a few minor notes here
that I'll highlight as well
that we covered in chapter five,
so I won't go over them in detail.
But this chapter again outlines for us
the serious consequences of sexual sin.
It talks again about the fact
that it can lead to death.
Remember we covered that in chapter five.
It also highlights another principle for us
under the consequences.
If you look at chapter six, verse 26,
we are told that adultery
is an especially damaging form of sexual sin.
So Solomon's not saying here adultery is wrong,
but other kinds of sexual sin are okay.
He's saying adultery is especially damaging.
We might have put it this way.
It is wrong to look at pornography.
It is damaging.
It is even more damaging
to have a sexual relationship
with someone who's married.
And so that's again part of what's being put out here.
There are repercussions
that can carry across generations.
It's not like cheating on your taxes.
You can repent, right?
And you just go back and refile.
Sexual sin's not like that.
You can't go back and undo it.
There are things that you cannot walk back.
That's part of what we see in verse 33 of chapter six.
He will get wounds and dishonor
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
That's not to say that Jesus doesn't offer real grace
and real forgiveness for sexual sin,
but it is to highlight
that even in the midst of our repentance,
there are consequences
that we may have to walk with
for the rest of our lives.
And so that's why Solomon cares so much
about warning his son here.
As we think about this passage for us,
there are still houses
that we need to stay away from.
It may not be a physical house.
You may not have someone in your neighborhood
who's standing on the corner
trying to tempt you,
but there are places
where sexual experiences are offered.
There are relationships
and people who offer these things.
Some of you have had that experience.
You know when someone's giving you the eyes, right?
And those eyes say this,
I wonder what it would be like
if you were my husband
instead of my current husband.
I wonder what it would be like
if you were my wife
rather than my current wife.
You can see that sometimes, right?
In the way that someone interacts with you,
in the way that they look at you.
Stay away from that person.
It could be flattering, right?
That someone's thinking of you in that way.
Don't be like the simple person.
Don't be flattered by that.
Be scared by that.
Move away.
Have boundaries, right?
You may be someone
who needs to be relocated in your job.
You may need someone
who needs to change
some of the things about your life
so your contact with that person is less.
Of course, it's not just people
and relationships.
I will highlight this.
So there's relationships, right?
We have to know our temptations.
There was a lot of talk
a couple years ago
about the Billy Graham rule
where Billy Graham would resolve
never to be alone
with someone of the opposite sex
and then Vice President Mike Pence
took that rule upon himself
and our culture did what?
They mocked him for it.
They mocked him
for seeking sexual integrity.
Now, I'm not telling you
that you need to adopt
the Billy Graham rule
or the Mike Pence rule.
They were not just staying away
from the foreign woman,
they were staying away
from every woman.
So I'm not binding
your conscience with that.
I'm just saying
that's one application
that those men took.
Now, they're in a different position
than many of us are.
They're public figures.
So they're at especially great risk
for being sabotaged
in some way for scandal.
But this is someone
who in their particular situation
is finding a way
to apply that
in their relationship.
So whether we agree
with that rule,
whether we apply it
to ourselves or not,
we can look at that
and say there's someone
who's trying to stay
far away from her house.
There's someone
who is making
sexual integrity a priority.
There's someone
who, unlike the simple person,
is actively staying away
from sexual temptation.
Of course,
it's not just relationships, right?
We live in a culture
where there are movies
and TV shows
that present us
with things
that are not helpful
for our hearts
and our minds.
Now, I'm not here
to tell you
which shows you should
and should not watch.
And each of us
has to know
our own temptations, right?
For some of us,
there's things
that we watch
that are going to take us
in places in our minds
we should not be.
There's others of us,
those things won't take us
to that place.
So for different people,
that line's going to be
in a different place.
But what we don't do
is we don't take
the assumption
of our culture
and say,
well, you know,
it's a drama,
it's a documentary,
it's not pornography
so I can watch
whatever I want, right?
We know
that that's another house
sometimes we need
to stay away from.
And so we don't just
consume the content
that our culture gives us
without thinking about it,
without discernment.
We are careful
where we park
our sexuality.
I read to you
an excerpt last time
from this book,
Why Does God Care
Who I Sleep With?
And he compares
our sexuality
to a car,
that they're beater cars,
right?
We don't care
what we do with them.
And then he tells
the story of someone
loaned him a convertible
that didn't have
a single scratch on it.
You better believe
he was careful
with that car
because the car
was valuable.
He makes the same point
about our sexuality.
We are careful
about where we park it
because God
values it so much.
It has so much worth.
And so we value it
as well.
And so when it comes
to the people we're with
and the things we watch,
we are careful
where we park ourselves.
We're careful
where we place ourselves.
Now it's not just people.
It's not just entertainment.
Of course,
one of the greatest corners,
one of the greatest houses
that we need to be careful
about in our culture
is what's happening
on the internet.
What we're doing
when we're on our phones
or our computers.
Maybe staying far away
for you
means that you need
a filter
on your phone
and your computer.
Maybe it means you need
an accountability software.
I know many people
and I do this myself
who use a software
called Covenant Eyes
which they put on their phones
and their computers
and it monitors
every single website
that they go to.
And then it filters through them
and it emails
a variety of people
that you've chosen
as accountability partners
any website
that you've visited
that's questionable.
And so it's a way
to stay away
from that house, right?
You know
that you are not
anonymous.
You're not able
to believe the lie
that this woman
offers to this man, right?
This is going to be secret.
Chapter 7
verses 19 and 20.
And so for many of us
maybe for most of us
we don't want to
accidentally stumble
into the wrong part of town.
That means being proactive
about what's happening to us
when we're on the internet.
There are all sorts of things
on the internet
that are wonderful
and all sorts of things
that are terrible
and damaging.
So we want to present
prevent ourselves
from accidentally stumbling
into those areas.
Remember the fool here.
We don't know
if this was intentional, right?
He's just on a walk.
He may not have been
seeking this woman out.
The problem is that
he wasn't proactive
in staying away from her.
Regardless of his intention
he was not on guard.
He did not realize
the fact that he was in a war.
That when we're against
sexual sin
we have to have strategies.
We have to go in
with a plan.
That's what the wise person does.
We are in a war
against sexual sin.
That's what the fool
is unwilling to admit.
That's why he finds himself
at the wrong place
at the wrong time.
I want you to think about
when we think about the internet
think about it like this.
About
over a decade ago
I was in New Orleans.
And if you've ever visited
New Orleans
you know that it's
it's a mixed bag, right?
There are wonderful things there.
There's wonderful music
and musicians.
There is wonderful food.
There are wonderful
cultural events.
And also
you could turn the corner
and suddenly
without warning
find yourself
in the red light district.
No warning, right?
You could be walking around
walking into a jazz club
or a jazz bar
and you look
and you realize
oh
that's a prostitute.
That's the same way
the internet works.
There are many
wonderful things about it.
And
if we are not on guard
we're wandering around
right
without even trying to
we stumble into things
and think
oh wait
I'm in the red district now.
oh that's something
I shouldn't be looking at
even without
in our culture
seeking it out.
And so we make sure
we stay away
from her house.
We make sure
we stay far away
from the places
of temptation.
We have a strategy.
We have a game plan.
We know where
the enemy is, right?
We are in a war
against sexual sin
and so we don't
just wander around.
We want to make sure
we have the high ground.
If you're in a battle
you're not just going
to wander down
into a valley
without thinking about it.
You want to know
who's on either side
and what they're going
to do.
The same is true
of our battle
against sexual sin.
We know
where we are
and we're on guard
against it.
That's what the wise
person does.
He knows the territory.
He knows where
the dangers are.
He stays far away
from it.
The other thing
that's interesting
about this foolish
young man
not just is he
in the wrong place
at the wrong time
why is he wandering
around late at night?
Now there could be
a variety of reasons
he's wandering around
late at night.
I'll suggest one to you.
Since he's a simple person
he's probably not an ant.
It's one thing
to stay away
from sexual sin
but why is he wandering around?
This man probably
has too much time
on his hands.
He's not pursuing
the things he needs
to pursue.
He's not working hard
for the things
he needs to work hard for.
So of course
he's open up
to these temptations.
Of course
there are these
opportunities for him.
My last semester
in seminary
I took this class
with a professor
on preparing
for pastoral ministry
and he never gave
our final papers back.
I shouldn't say
he never.
He did not return them.
And then we all graduated
and went to various places.
And he finally decided
I don't remember
how long it was
after
it wasn't quite a year
but the next winter
he finally sent
our papers to us.
And because he was
sending them through the mail
he wrote us all this letter.
And I still have it.
He wrote us this long letter
and a lot of it
was a discussion
about sexual sin.
Writing it to
a majority of men,
young men
coming out of seminary.
And he says this.
It is not possible
simply to deal with sin
in your own heart and life
and by this alone
to become a changed person.
More than anything else
sinful patterns
have to be replaced
with patterns of obedience,
habits of love
and acts of serving
and caring for others.
This is true
with all sins
including the sins
of the many of you
who struggle
with your sexuality.
You have
too much time alone,
too much time
thinking about yourself,
too much time
on the computer
exploring the internet,
too much time
thinking about
your own sexuality
and too much time
finding ways
to serve
your own sexual fulfillment.
your lives
need to become
much more engaged
in living for other people,
most of all
in living for your wives
and children
or husbands and children
for those of you
who are married,
but also in a life
of serving others.
And if you are single,
just get deeply involved
in some truly demanding
relationships
in a ministry
that uses your mind,
heart,
imagination,
soul,
and strength.
You simply
will not have
so much time
or so much energy
and your mind
and heart
will become full
of your concern
for other people
rather than merely
the needs of yourself.
You will develop
genuine battle faith
and an embattled life
because you will become
full of concern,
compassion,
and love
for other people
rather than being
so focused
on your own fulfillment
and your own sin.
And then he goes on
to say this,
in addition
to this general
human problem
and your weaknesses
in this area,
you are children
of this generation,
a generation
in which all
through your lives
you have been encouraged
to love yourself,
to serve yourself,
to make time
for yourself,
to find fulfillment
for yourself.
Instead of this
absurd call
from our culture
to be self-centered,
we have been created
and redeemed
for the Lord
and to give ourselves
every day
to a life of love
for others.
These are the fundamental
and most constant graces
of repentance
for which we need to pray
and at which we need to work.
Of course,
you can see
this is a long letter.
It costs a dollar
for him to mail it.
The point is this,
this man,
it's not just
that he's at the wrong place
at the wrong time.
He is not pursuing the good.
He is not working hard
like the ant.
He is not loving
his neighbor as himself.
So it's not just
his location
but his activity.
If he were an ant,
he wouldn't have time
to be wandering
the streets
by himself,
himself.
Because he's a simple person though,
he has all this time
on his hands.
And so it's not just
that we stay far away,
that we pursue
the love of others.
We pursue true
and real
community.
And of course,
these aren't the only
solutions to sexual sin.
As I've told you,
I'm going to say something,
but not everything,
but that's the one
that's presented here.
We stay far away
from places
where we might be tempted
because we love God
and we love his ways.
And we look to do things
that are serving others.
And so we don't even have time,
right?
We're not even able
to get caught up
in these sorts of things.
Of course,
as I've been telling you,
Jesus is our great
and greater wisdom teacher.
Matthew chapter 12,
verse 42,
tells us that Jesus
is greater
than Solomon.
And Jesus teaches
these very same things.
Jesus also tells us
to stay
far away
from sin.
Remember,
in the Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew chapter 5,
he says,
this,
if your right eye
causes you to sin,
tear it out
and throw it away.
For it is better
that you lose
one of your members
than that your whole body
be thrown into hell.
And if your right hand
causes you to sin,
cut it off
and throw it away.
For it is better
that you lose
one of your members
than that your whole body
go into hell.
So Jesus is just repeating
as the greater wisdom teacher
the same thing.
Look,
stay far away from sin.
Whatever might be
drawing you towards that,
even if it's your eye,
run away from it.
Put it to death early
so you don't have to suffer
great consequences later.
Of course,
that's a motivation
of fear
and it's good and right
to talk about
the consequences of sin.
But as I've been telling you,
we need more than fear, right?
We need a new love.
We need something good
and great
to replace things
that are little
and small.
And so Jesus also
offers us something better.
I told you from
Proverbs chapter 5
that he makes us a promise
again in Matthew 5,
blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.
We could say that God
pulls us
into a greater drama.
He pulls us
into something
more beautiful.
I shared with you
last time
from this book
about the fact
that there is
something greater
than sex, right?
That sex points to.
It's our relationship
with God
and the community
that he's building.
And this man points out
from Mark chapter 2
the fact that Jesus
refers to himself
as the bridegroom.
In other words,
he is the true husband.
He's inviting us
into something
ultimately
that's even greater
and better
than sex
and family
and marriage.
These things
are just small pictures
of the great future
that Jesus has for us
that we experience
in part now
and will experience
in full
in the future.
And so it's not just
that we stay far away
from sexual sin
but we pursue
the real,
true intimacy
and love
and community
that Jesus offers us
now through himself
and through his community.
He gives us
something better
and greater
that is actually
worth our love.
He gives us
a better place
to walk
than the corner
that her house
is on.
Jesus offers us
something better
to pursue
and work for
and chase after.
Jesus,
the bridegroom,
is here.
Recently,
over during
the coronavirus
when we were all
under quarantine,
I received
a friend request
on Facebook
from someone
I have not had
contact with
in over a decade.
And this person
was not even really
a friend of mine.
They were just
an acquaintance.
So I was very surprised
that they were friending me
and I looked on
his profile
and I was shocked
to see that this person
was engaged
in Christian ministry.
The reason I was shocked
is because the time
when I knew this individual,
he was very much
not a Christian.
He was living
a lifestyle
that we would not
follow as people
who love Jesus.
So I immediately
messaged him.
I said,
what in the world?
Why are you working
for such and such
organization?
He messaged me back,
yeah,
lots changed
since I knew you.
And so,
of course,
I was very curious.
I ended up having
a phone call with him
because I wanted
to hear about his journey
to faith in Jesus Christ.
And as we began talking,
I kind of asked him,
you know,
what was it really
that convinced you?
And he shared with me
that one of the most
challenging things for him
in becoming a Christian
was embracing
the Christian sexual ethic.
And I said,
well,
what was it
that changed your mind?
You're like,
what book was it
that you read
or what argument was it
that really,
he said,
it wasn't a book
or an argument.
He said,
I became a part
of a Christian community.
And as I was part
of that community
and I saw the gospel
lived out,
I realized that it was true
and it was plausible.
And even more than that,
and he said,
this might be too much information,
but as I was part
of that community,
as I was involved
in other people
in their lives,
living with them
and loving them,
I found myself naturally
looking at pornography
less and less.
I didn't want it anymore.
I had something better,
right?
He had real
and true relationships
and community.
He was pulled
into real love.
He was pulled
into a place
where he was actually
serving other people,
sacrificing for them.
And so brothers
and sisters,
Jesus calls us away
from sexual sin.
He calls us
to stay far away,
to not even get close.
But he doesn't just
call us away.
He calls us
into something.
He calls us
into his greater story.
He calls us
into a greater community.
He calls us
into real love
and intimacy
and fellowship
and commitment.
And so we can embrace that,
we can embrace him,
and we can embrace wisdom
instead of any other counterpart.
And we do that
because Jesus comes
and does that for us first.
And so we can do it
with joy,
loving and embracing
the people
that God has given us,
loving our neighbor
as ourselves.
I invite you
to pray with me.
Our Father in heaven,
we thank you
and praise you again
for your word
that is your gift to us.
We ask that you
would build us
up into a community
and people
who stay far away
from sexual sin.
and we embrace you
and the better story
that you've given us.
We thank you
that this isn't something
we do
by pulling ourselves up
by our bootstraps,
but it's something
that Jesus gives to us
through his word
and in his community.
And we ask that you
would make that true
of us
and of this church.
And we ask these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.