Lame Excuses                                   Sermon by Doug Davis

                                                                     March 13, 2009

Parents know what I mean, when I say Lame excuses.

Have you ever asked your child what happened, or why did you do that, only to be given some silly, and lame excuse?

My Step Dad used to get so upset, when he'd ask one of his sons why they did something, and they'd shrug their shoulders.

I know this isn't a PC thing to say, but he'd holler at them, “don't give me that Pollock answer!”

I never did, I was to smart for that.

Kids don't have to be taught to lie.

It comes natural to them.

Kind of like the words, mine, and no.

We are born into sin, and flesh, and it doesn't take long for it to show up.

However, to some extent, it is excusable when dealing with a small child, but when you get stupid nonsense answers from adults, it is not only annoying, but funny.

I was watching Cops the other day, and this guy was drunk, and making a fuss, so they called the police.

When they got there, he was talking stupid.

He was upset that his, “old lady,” had left him.

That was why he was making all the noise, but he wasn't drunk, he hadn't been drinking.

It was sad, but funny.

In my sensitive, and pastoral maturity, I was cracking up.

I couldn't help it.

Then, a couple days later, in my daily Bible reading, which I know everyone does, I ran across something that cracked me up, in the same way.

It is in the book of Exodus, chapter 32.

It is when Moses comes down with the ten commandments in his hands, and the people are dancing, and worshipping this golden calf.

He asked his brother, Aaron, what was going on, and this is the answer he got.

EXODUS 32:24  "I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

Did you catch that?

I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.

Think about it for a second.

Aaron is the top priest, the top dog, right after his brother, Moses, and he tells his brother, “I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

Gosh, I don't know how it happened!

You should have seen it Mo, we just threw all that gold into this big old fire, and it was like magic, this calf thing came walking out.

Did I say walking?

Well, of course it wasn't walking, metal statues can't walk, everybody knows that.

It just floated out, yeah, that's what happened, I think.

I picture myself as this little lizard, sitting there in the sand, not even noticed.

Can you imagine the look on Moses' face, when Aaron told him that?

What a hoot!

It reminds me of Bill Cosby's story about him and his brother Russell, wrestling around in bed, and breaking it.

Their dad came in, and they told him a man came in the window, and started jumping on the bed.

Let's look back at the beginning of this chapter, to see what really happened.

EXO 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

2 Aaron said to them, "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."

3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."

5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord."

Oh, so that's what happened!

Aaron not only fashioned the calf himself, but it was his idea.

What a sneak!

So, when Aaron sees his brother coming down from the mountain, he realizes that he's made a huge mistake.

Moses isn't dead, and in fact, he's really ticked off.

So, Aaron says the famous words.

I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.

He didn't want to admit that it was his idea, that he made the stupid thing, and let the people push him around.

He was trying to cover up his sins against God.

He knew what he was doing, but he did it all the same.

Quickly, let me show you another lame excuse.

GENESIS 3:12 The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."

Ok, the woman “you” gave me.

You see?

It wasn't my fault, it was hers, and if you really stop and think about it God, it was your fault, because you made her, and gave her to me.

This would have never happened, if you had just left good enough alone, and let me have the garden, and the planet to myself.

Yep, not my fault, not at all.

Yeah, right!

The judge asks the mass murder, “why did you take an automatic weapon into the store, and kill 9 people?”

The guy says, “it isn't my fault.

My wife left me, and my dog bit me, and my car wouldn't start, and I lost my job, and my mother didn't love me, and my Dad beat me, and my teachers didn't like me, and the other kids teased me, and on, and on.”

Our society is so good at blame shifting, and not taking responsibility for our own actions.

Nothing new.

It's been going on since the beginning.

We have to face the facts, and the music.

God isn't going to take any silly lame excuses from us.

I sinned, because my mother…

Don't hand me that junk, I am not buying it!

Yeah but God.

Pam says her brother used to get in more trouble, because he always said, “yeah but!”

We will too, if we try to pawn off our sins on something, or someone else, even the devil.

No excuses any longer.

Suck it up, face the music, and ask for forgiveness.

You can't fool God anyway, so why try?

Please let me paraphrase the following verse.

1JOHN 1:9 If we stop acting like dorks, and spoiled children, and confess, and admit our sins, and take responsibility for our own stupidity, and foolishness, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You see, there isn't a reason for trying to cover up, or jerk God around.

We can't schmooze him either.

Chase it, face it, let God erase it, and then embrace it, meaning the forgiveness.