2025-11-23: Pastor Mark Quist – Discipleship: Sin – Foolishness, Such Folly Is

Happy Thanksgiving!  “Give Thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever!”

Divin’ in, to understand sin… for 3 weeks, we have taken a look at our problem of sin.  We know we break God’s good law of love, a law for our flourishing, to love God and neighbor, and break it.  We know even our best efforts miss the mark of God’s desire and intention for our flourishing.  Last week we understood this problem of our sin goes deep, the depravity is total in ‘every part of us is tainted.’  These things are true, undeniable, and inescapable.  Simply put, our sin separates us from God.  And often separates us from one another.  This makes sin and its engagement utter foolishness… but we can’t seem to help ourselves.  If God is our source of all life (and God is) why would we separate ourselves from God by sinning?  If our design is for unity in community, why do we sin in our relationships causing so much separation?  That’s an age old question to an age old problem… a squirrelly one.

Ever watch two squirrels chasing after each other, almost in lock step as they run from branch to branch yet never quite catching each other?  Maybe, this is similar.  The Apostle Paul says it well in Romans 7, “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer myself who does it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep doing.”  It’s a human struggle… always.

Let’s meditate on the foolishness of sin this Sunday.  Simply do a search of the book of Proverbs and you will have all the wisdom needed to wrap your head and heart around the foolishness of sin.

See you Sunday,