Tree People

 

May 02, 2021     NOTES NOT EDITED
Tree People
Luke 19:1-10

SIS—Responding humbly to the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ will dramatically and wonderfully change one’s life.

Could you imagine the excitement of living in a 14-story penthouse apartment overlooking a city park?  That’s sort how it feels to visit the Korowai people of Papua, New Guinea.  [SHOW PIC] These people build their houses 80 feet above the forest floor in one of the most remote, unexplored regions of the world.  Papua, New Guinea is the second largest island in the world just east of Indonesia.  Can you imagine the sacrifice a Korwaiian husband has to make when his pregnant wife has a “craving” for a midnight snack?  Down the ladder he goes!  And, we American husbands complain when the wife wants bubblegum-flavored icecream from Vons.

I did love climbing trees as a youngster, but I’d have to think twice if the Tree People of Papua, New Guinea invited me for dinner.  Especially, since some sociologists believe they might still practice cannibalism.

Today, we are going to look at the life of a man in a tree by the name of Zacchaeus.  Let’s read that text together:  LUKE 19:1-10. 

Four characteristics describe Zacchaeus, both before and after he was saved, and Jesus offers us the invitation of grace, just like Zacchaeus. 

1.  Zaccheus was a SHORT man (v 3)

►He was a short man (v3^NIV).

The most identifiable feature of Zacchaeus was his “short stature.”  As the song says, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.”

We can view his size both literally and metaphorically.  For sure, Zacchaeus was short physically.  He was also short socially and short spiritually. We need to connect some dots in this story to understand how Zacchaeus was short socially and spiritually.  In verse 2 we read 

►² There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.^CSB 

Being a “tax collector,” and especially the “chief tax collector” made Zacchaeus rich.  Verse 1 tells us that this incident takes place in Jericho, and that is very significant.  Jericho and the surrounding area was a very prosperous place.  As the Chief Tax Collector, this made Zacchaeus a very, very rich man.  However, being a tax collector made Zacchaeus a very hated man; it made him a social outcast or pariah.  A “pariah” is someone who is despised and rejected.   Zacchaeus was a Jew, but he worked for the Romans.  The Jews hated the Romans and anything or anybody associated with the Romans.  The Chief Tax Collector paid for the privilege of collecting taxes for Rome.  The Romans established this collection system so they would not have to deal directly with the people they ruled.  They required a certain amount from a district and the chief tax collector paid it, and then anything he could collect over and above that amount was his profit.  It was a terrible, corrupt way of doing business—much like our IRS.

The Greek construction of verse 2 draws attention to the meaning of Zacchaeus’ name.  A literal reading would be, “a man being called by name, righteous.”  Zacchaeus literally means, clean, righteous, or pure.  Zacchaeus fell far short of his name—he was anything but righteous.  Connect this with verse 7,

►“All who saw it [Jesus go to Zacchaeus’ house] began to complain. He’s gone to lodge with a sinful man.”^CSB

Not only was he a traitor, making him a social outcast, he was a sinner meaning that he came up short spiritually as well.  In fact, we all are short spiritually.  By any meaure, Zacchaeus was a “short man.”  He was short physically, socially, and most of all spiritually.

The Bible describes all unrepentant people as “short people.”  Rom. 3:23 says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”

2.  Zaccheus was a SPOTTED man (v5, 10). 

I don’t mean “spotted” like a Dalmatian, but spotted in the sense that someone was looking for him and found him.   Verse 5 says, 

►⁵ When Jesus came to the place, He looked up. 

Jesus did not simply happen upon Zaccheus, he was looking for him. In fact, if the grammar of the original is followed closely, it would translate as, “Jesus was looking up.”  It emphasizes an intensity of purpose and focus as continuous action (Greek participle).

We see this same intense purpose in Jesus’ life in  verse 10^CSB. 

►¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” 

Jesus, that is God, is ever the seeker.  We do not “find” God, but God finds us.  He is the initiator AND sustainer of our faith.  Paul refers this to Jesus being both “the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2, ^KJV). 

The Bible tells us Zacchaeus climbed a “sycamore tree.”  This tree is distinct from the North American Sycamore Tree.  This tree is related to the fig tree. Some scholars call it a “fig-mulberry.”  An important aspect of this tree is that it has leaves year around—many leaves.  At least some scholars believe Zacchaeus intended to remain hidden and was only curious about this traveling preacher who had become so popular among the common people.  He was not “seeking” salvation, but only seeking a show.

I believe this is the proper way to view these verses.  Zacchaeus was not the “searcher.”  Jesus was.  That is always the case.  The Bible says,  there is no one who seeks God (Rom. 3:11). 

If God does not pursue a man, that man will never be saved.  God is the initiator, the Seeker, in salvation.  The Lord spotted Zacchaeus because the Lord was searching for Zaccheaus.  The Lord called Zacchaeus by name.  The Lord was on a mission, and the mission’s name was, Zacchaeus. 

Throw away any foolish idea that you can contribute anything at all to your salvation—even if you are not as big a scoundrel as Zacchaeus.  The Bible teaches very clearly (Eph. 2:8),

► ⁸For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift.

 

There are literally thousands, maybe millions, of people who will gather in Christian churches “looking for a religious show,” but without one clue that God is actually looking for them and inviting them to have an eternal relationship with Him.  Millions will climb the tree of religion and after all is said and done, they will continue to hide behind the fig leaves of their own self-righteousness without ever experiencing the soul-saving, life-changing salvation of God. 

Man has been hiding behind fig leaves from the first sin in the Garden when Adam and Eve tried to hide their nakedness from God by sewing together fig leaves. Zacchaeus took hiding behind fig leaves to a whole new level—the whole fig tree.  Zacchaeus wasn’t seeking salvation; he was just looking for a show.  But, Jesus spotted him hidden behind the branches, leaves, and fruit of the sycamore fig tree. 

There’s no place we can go that God’s grace will not spot us.  Psalm 139:7–8^NASB

►⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, [that is, the grave] behold, You are there.

Glory to God, when God is looking for you, God will find you—just like the Lord spotted Zacchaeus.  So, Zaccheaus was not only a short man, but he was a spotted man.

3.  Zacheus became a SAVED man (v 9-10)

 The matter before us could not be stated any more concisely, 

►⁹ “Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.  ¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”^CSB

Here we discover the essence of Christianity wrapped up in a neat little package and tied with a pretty bow.  “Salvation.”  Churches do err greatly when any other program or purpose supersedes, sets aside, or any way diminishes the stated purpose of the Lord, “I’ve come to seek and to save the lost.” (v10)

We live in a world in which church has become little more than a religious version of a neighborhood bridge club, or a cheap imitation of a Las Vegas entertainment act.  Or, churches degenerate into a “social service” program or “political action committee.”  Our calling is, and always has been, “to seek and to save the lost!”

The central truth in this passage is this:  Zaccheaus was a SAVED man.  His eternal destiny was changed in one instantaneous moment that he surrendered climbed down out of his tree of pride and in humble submission surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Money didn’t matter to him.  Power didn’t matter to him.  All that mattered to Zacchaeus was, “today, salvation has come to this house.”(v9). Have you had a “come down” moment in your life?

Salvation did not come because of Zacchaeus’ good deeds—he had NONE BEFORE he was saved.  Even if we could stack our good deeds  as high as a mountain, salvation would not come to us.  Salvation comes only as a gift of grace in response to putting one’s faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  Look at the second part of verse 9:

►“because he too [that is Zacchaeus] is a son of Abraham.”^CSB 

This means, Zacchaeus, like Abraham centuries before him, placed his full trust and confidence in the grace and goodness of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Galatians 3:6 tells us:

►⁶ Just as Abraham believed God,  and it was credited to him for righteousness,  ⁷ then understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons.

Remember when I talked earlier about Jesus being the seeker and how we cannot save ourselves.  Let me repeat the verse I shared: 

►Ephesians 2:8-9 ⁸ For you are saved by grace  through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works, so that no one can boast. 

Everything changed in that one moment when the spotlight of God’s grace fell upon the wretched dark soul of a sinful man.  It was not a change in moral behavior that brought salvation to Zacchaeus that day, but the call of the Merciful Savior, Jesus Christ (vv 5, 9):

►⁵“Zacchaeus! Quick, come down! . . . ⁹Salvation has come to this home today!^NLT

The “good deeds” of Zacchaeus came AFTER he was saved—and they came in abundance.  Salvation changes everything—a man’s tomorrows, but also a man’s todays.  One preacher wrote of Zacchaeus:  “What a deliverance was that day! The wife of Zacchaeus had a new husband. Their children had a new father.  The community had a new citizen.”  Everything changes the moment a person is gloriously saved. 

The change might not be as sudden as it was with Zacchaeus but when a person responds humbly to the merciful invitation of Jesus Christ, his or her life will be radically and eternally changed! 

Zacchaeus climbed high up the tree of worldly success.  He was a very rich man as the world counted riches, but before meeting Christ on that day that salvation entered his heart, he was eternally destitute.  He was still a small, little, wimp of a man spiritually.

Salvation changes everything both for the here and now and forever!

4.  Zacchaeus was a SATISFIED man (vv 6,  8).

 We know that Zacchaeus was truly saved because he was, in fact, demonstrably changed as I just said.  Look again at verse 8:

►⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give  half of my possessions to the poor,  Lord! And if I have extorted  anything from anyone, I’ll pay  back four times as much!”

Before meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus was like every other unsaved man or woman, he simply could not get enough. He was never SATISFIED. Even when he had more than he could possibly spend, he wanted even more.  He threw away his integrity and scuttled any meaningful relationships just to get more coin.  

The lusts of the lost are never satisfied.

“Today, salvation has come to this house,” Jesus declared, and Zacchaeus goes from a self-serving, striving sinner to a joyously satisfied saint.  Verse 6 tells us:

►⁶ So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully.^CSB

No hesitation—no reservations!

Then, verse 8,  as we read above, demonstrates that Zacchaeus could not give away his stuff fast enough—and he had a lot of stuff to give away! He wanted to bless everybody.  He no longer sought to live like a parasite off the community, but wanted to give back to the community.  He didn’t need money and stuff to be satisfied, he was fully satisfied with Jesus.  The old hymn says,

                                       I am satisfied with Jesus, He has done so much for me:
                                     He has suffered to redeem me, He has died to set me free.

 A popular story recounts a meeting that may have taken place at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in 1923. There is debate whether the meeting in fact occurred, but what is not in question is the actual rise and fall of the men featured in the story, who were nine of the richest men in the world at that time: (1) Charles Schwab, President of the world's largest independent steel company; (2) Samuel Insull, President of the world's largest utility company; (3) Howard Hopson, President of the largest gas firm; (4) Arthur Cutten, the greatest wheat speculator; (5) Richard Whitney, President of the New York Stock Exchange; (6) Albert Fall, member of the President's Cabinet; (7) Leon Frazier, President of the Bank of International Settlements; (8) Jessie Livermore, the greatest speculator in the Stock Market; and (9) Ivar Kreuger, head of the company with the most widely distributed securities and investments in the world.

What happened to these powerful and rich men 25 years later? (1) Charles Schwab had died in bankruptcy, having lived on borrowed money for five years before his death. (2) Samuel Insull had died virtually penniless after spending some time as a fugitive from justice. (3) Howard Hopson became insane. (4) Arthur Cutten died overseas, broke. (5) Richard Whitney had spent time in a mental asylum. (6) Albert Fall was released from prison so he could die at home. (7) Leon Fraizer, (8) Jessie Livermore, and (9) Ivar Kreuger each died by suicide. Measured by wealth and power these men achieved success, at least temporarily. But it did not surely guarantee them a truly successful life (copied).

Zacchaeus avoided dying miserable and unsatisfied when he “made haste and came down out of that tree to become a disciple of Jesus.”

He was still a short man physically, but he was a satisfied man eternally. Zacchaeus had a radical life transformation.  Zacchaeus gave up all he had to gain more than he could ever want.

Responding humbly to the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ will dramatically and wonderfully change one’s life.

Some people are really hard cases—hard nuts to crack as the saying goes. Everything about their lives is hard, and harsh. They don’t respond to anyone’s guidance or suggestions.  They are just “hard.”  Like Clifford.

Clifford and Daisy May were married for many years. Clifford was mean, stubborn, and a know-it-all.  He wasn’t very well liked around town. Neighbors actually feared him.  Clifford and Daisy May fought a good bit.  Whenever there was a confrontation in the home, yelling could be heard deep into the night. Often Clifford would shout, "When I die, I'll dig my way up and out of the grave and come back and haunt you for the rest of your life ol' woman!!" Old Clifford liked the fact that he was feared.  He died at the ripe old age of 98. After the burial, Daisy May's neighbors, concerned for her safety, asked, "Aren't you afraid that he may indeed be able to dig his way out of the grave and haunt you for the rest of your life?"  She replied, "LET HIM DIG. I HAD HIM BURIED UPSIDE DOWN...AND I KNOW HE’S TOO STUBBORN TO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS." 

Don’t be stubborn and prideful like Clifford.  Be like Zacchaeus.  Respond humbly to the invitation of grace and let Jesus radically and wonderfully change your life—not just for eternity, but right here, right now.

In another place and another time, a beloved pastor gave this invitation after telling the story of Zacchaeus.

Come down!  Come down out of that tree of self-centeredness—living as though Jesus had never lived, or as though Jesus had never died.  Come down out of the tree of unforgiveness and unkind attitude toward others.  Come down out of laziness and apathy toward the things of Christ.  Come down out of your tree of pride.  Come down out of your tree of skepticism.  Come down out of your tree of secret sin.  Come down out of your tree of doubt.  Come down out of your tree of indifference or procrastination.  (R.G. Lee).  Come down out of whatever tree is keeping you from joyfully and sacrificially following the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you don’t know Jesus, I’d like to invite you to climb down out of the tree of self-centeredness and embrace the truth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  It will dramatically and wonderfully change your life—now, and forever.

 

 

Chasing Fleas

 

April 25, 2021              NOTES NOT EDITED
Chasing Fleas
1Samuel 24:1-22

SIS—We often miss God’s best for our lives because we concentrate on issue that are quite small in the grand scheme of things.

Let me read a verse I shared  two Sundays ago: Rom 8:18^(CSB)  
►For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.  Keep this in the back of your mind as we study together today.

When you hear the word, “flea,” what comes to mind?  Probably not, “entertainment.”  For me the word that comes to mind in regard to “flea,” is “irritation.”  There are several species of flea but they all have one thing in common:  they bite!  And, there bite causes itching that leads to much scratching.  A flea cannot eat a dog, but it can sure make the mutt miserable.  Fleas have been around for a very, very long time.  In fact, scientists in China have discovered an ancient ancestor of the flea, dubbing it pseudopulex magnus, or roughly, “the great flea.”  It seems even dinosaurs had to wear flea collars. 

Another word that comes to mind in regard to fleas—and the issue we will deal with in our text this morning—is, “small.”  Fleas are small, and at least according to size, “insignificant.”  Fleas are mentioned twice in the Bible, and both times in reference to the relationship between David and Saul. Saul had a “flea problem.” David belittles Saul by calling him someone who “chases fleas.”  Fleas in our text today stands for the foolishness of focusing on insignificant or worldly matters and missing the most important, eternal matters.  Fleas represent worldly distractions in our text or “foolish pursuits.”

I love the way the beloved pastor, R.G. Lee, describes “chasing fleas”: People who chase fleas allow themselves to become “slaves to small anxieties, small ideas, [or] small ideas . . . who exchange heavenly principle for loose expediencies [and] high ideals for cheap compromises.

 The number of “fleas” that people pursue foolishly are many and varied, but our text shows us clearly “fleas” are everywhere.

READ TEXT:  1Samuel 24:1-4, 11-14

We will look at several different passages, but our jumping off point is an examination of Saul’s obsession with David. It gives us an “historical show and tell” of how “majoring on minors diminishes our quality of life.” From chapter 18 to Saul’s death in 1Samuel 31, Saul descends into a deep neurosis by obsessing over David, who wanted nothing more than to serve Saul as long as God allowed Saul to remain on the throne.  In fact, 2Samuel begins with David mourning over the death of Saul in battle.  Saul destroyed his life by “chasing fleas.”  I want to example a few of the “fleas” that we often chase in life, and offer a warning about “missing God’s best by majoring on minor things.” Here are a few “fleas” that distract us from God’s mission in life.

1.  Worry is a flea.

Everything about Saul was “kingly.”  Physically he stood head and shoulders above his peers (1Sam. 10:23).  He had the favor of the great prophet, Samuel—at least in the beginning of his reign. He even prophesied, himself (1Sam. 10:6). Saul wore the garments of royalty.  In his hand was the royal scepter and upon his head rested the royal crown.  When he sat, he sat upon the royal throne.  With royal authority, he commanded the armies of the kingdom to do his bidding.  Saul was by every human measure, kingly.  The word says,
 

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“there is no one like him among the entire population” (1Sam. 10:24).

But, here in our text, we see the mighty king playing the role of a court jester, as someone expending the great resources of the kingdom to “pursue a flea.”  For all his “kingliness” Saul was a worrier.  He had all the power of the position of Supreme Monarch, but lack confidence in regard to the future.  Saul was a worrier.  We meet him in an earlier text: 1 Samuel 16:23 (CSB)

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Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. 

We find Saul, the worrying king, comforted by David the winsome shepherd.  The powerful monarch soothed by the humble musician.  Yet, Saul’s love of David’s music would not keep him from seeking to destroy David.  Saul worried that David would take over his kingdom [ironically this would indeed be the case].  Saul was a worldly king and worldliness always leads to worry. 

Worry drove the powerful king to act like the court jester—a fierce fighter becomes a bumbling fool because of “worry.” He uses all the resources at his disposal to chase someone who was no threat to him at all.  Worry and paranoia are siblings.

The Bible says so much about worry.  Worry about the future is a huge distraction that keeps people from fully enjoying the present.  It is tragically foolish for one to miss fulfillment and joy today because of worrying about what might not even be tomorrow.

Jesus warns us:  Matthew 6:34 (CSB) 

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³⁴ Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Paul tells us the same thing:  Philippians 4:6–7 (CSB)

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⁶ Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Worrying is a lot like a dog scratching at fleas.  All the scratching in the world will not rid the dog of fleas.  So it is with worry.  All the worrying in the world will not rid you of your perceived difficulties and oft-misplaced fears.  Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but won’t take you anywhere.

Worry is about misplaced focus.  Imagine that I put a four-inch wide plank across this stage and asked you to walk across.  Most of you would have no problem and would suffer no anxiety in completing the task.  Now, let me put that four-inch wide plank up three stories between two buildings.  Now, few of us would be able to cross that plank successfully, and none of us without much anxiety.  Why did thirty feet make such a difference?  It was the same plank, your same feet, your same mind, and your same muscles.  The difference is “focus.”  Your worry comes when you focus on what “could happen.”  When the plank is on the floor, your focus is on the task of walking across.  Raise it three stories and your focus changes to falling off, instead of walking across.

A dog with fleas can think of nothing but scratching.  So with a man chasing the flea of worry.  The mind becomes bogged down with little fears and consumed with anxiety.  There is too little mind left to concentrate on what really matters. 

We all find that living without worry is much easier said than done.  Insecurity about the future is an “itch that begs to be scratched” and worry is how we scratch it.  Worry is a “flea.” 

2.  Pleasure is a flea.

The whole, sad story of Saul’s rise and fall stems from the “pursuit of pleasure.”  Pleasure can be defined as worldly or frivolous enjoyment: the pursuit of recreation, amusement, or diversion. The key word is “worldly.” Pleasure pulls us down hard into the here and now. It makes the more weighty matters of eternity a bit blurry.

Like a flea, the pursuit of pleasure gets under our skin and distracts us from the pursuit of God—which has disastrous, eternal consequences.  I’ve already said, a flea by itself cannot kill a dog, but the dog may get hit by a car if it stops to scratch in the middle of the street!  Pleasures, in and of themselves, are not killers; but the pursuit of pleasure as a distraction from the pursuit of holiness most certainly leads to disappointment and disaster.

No man every enjoyed worldly pleasures more that King Solomon.  He had whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it.  Yet, he comes to this conclusion at the end of his life: Ecclesiastes 2:1–3 (CSB)
 

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¹ I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile. ² I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” ³ I explored with my mind the pull of wine on my body—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to grasp folly, until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. 

The problem with pursuing pleasure is that it always takes more and more of it to give one the same level of pleasure.  Chasing the flea of pleasure becomes like scratching an itch—it feels so good at first, but soon becomes a great distraction, and a maddening irritation. 

Our text does not say specifically that Saul, as was Solomon after him, overly concerned with pleasure.  But, we do know that Saul had all the amenities that come with being King.  He also did not have many, besides the prophets, who were going to say anything about his indulgences.  Though we do not have in our text a direct connection to Saul chasing the flea of pleasure, his whole life as king was the satisfaction of the worldly desires and pleasures of the people of Israel, and everybody getting what they wanted. 

The coronation of Saul as king came as an appeasement of the pleasure of the people of Israel—it was what they “wanted.”  1Sam. 10:17-19^CSB describes Israel pursuing the flea of pleasure:

 

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¹⁷ Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah ¹⁸ and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You must set a king over us.’”

The people of God wanted what the world had—a king—and they wanted it now.  They got what they wanted in Saul, and it was a disaster, not only for the people of Israel, but also ultimately for Saul.

For as long as there have been philosophers—from Solomon to Socrates to our day—they have consistently warned of making pleasure the chief aim of life.

I think we would be wise to follow Solomon’s advice and see the pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake as “chasing after a flea.”  Chasing after pleasure will be like scratching an itch—the more you scratch it, the more it itches. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, pleasure in and of itself is not evil, or even bad.  The Bible says very clearly,  Psalm 34:8-10^CSB

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⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him! ⁹ You who are his holy ones, fear the Lord, for those who fear him lack nothing. ¹⁰ Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.

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And also in Psalm 37:4:  Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.

So, it is not “pleasure in itself” that becomes a problem, but the pursuit of pleasure above all else, or the chasing after pleasure that distracts you from delighting in the things of God.  Pleasure can become a “flea” leading to an itch that just isn’t satisfied by even endless scratching. 

3.  Fame and Fortune is a Flea.

You may have noticed I say a lot about the folly of pursuing fame and fortune.  It is a major topic throughout the Bible, and especially in the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It was the Lord, Himself, who warned (Mat. 19:24-25^CSB):
 

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²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished. 

Now, as with the pursuit of the flea of pleasure, the pursuit of the flea of fame and fortune do not come directly out of our text in regard to Saul.  Certainly, Saul commanded a vast mountain of wealth as the monarch of the kingdom.  As I said above, he did not want for anything. Fame and fortune were never an issue with Saul.  He was both rich and famous.  He was the king! 

Yet, we know that all his wealth did not keep him from “chasing after a flea.”  David describes the great king, not as a fierce monarch, but as a foolish court jester.  Saul’s vision in life was completely out of focus—so much so that David said he looked like a fool.

Do we not see people who have great riches acting just as much a fool as Saul?  Do we not see everyday men and women so feverishly chasing after fame and fortune as to look as foolish as a dog chasing its tail?  The pursuit of fame and fortune is like “chasing a flea.”  Every possession you have in life—down to the very penny—you will leave behind in this world. Favor in eternity is not measured by how high we can stack our cash!

Over sixty years ago a preacher described chasing the flea of fame and fortune in bitingly poetic language:  Many today are sickly victims of advertisement, diseased with the notion that only the rich and famous folks are interesting. These folks are running around looking for fool’s gold (R.G. Lee).

The Italian poet, Dante, described fame and fortune as only a great poet could:  “Worldly fame is but a wind that blows now this way and now that, and changes name as it changes direction.”

I’m afraid that too many of us spend too much time trying to acquire either more fame or more fortune, or both.  Neither has eternal consequence.  Fame, like fortune, is always left on this side of the grave.

There are many fleas on a dog and there are many “flea-like pursuits” by mankind.  But, I don’t think there is any “flea” that so distracts man from true devotion to God than the flea of

4.  Religion.

Y

ou hear me say—and with some bit of frequency—that “religion” is a bad thing.  I believe religion damns more souls to hell than any other vice such as murder, adultery, or stealing.  In fact, the religions of man break the very first commandment:  “Thou shall have no other gods besides Me.”  Religion makes God in man’s image—a comfortable, manageable God. A god, though, that is without any power at all to save.  The greatest error of religion is that it errs in regard to sin.

This caused God to evaluate Israel’s religion very harshly,  Isa 1:14

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I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to me; I am tired of putting up with them. (CSB) 

You can tell when you slipped into the error of “Chasing the flea of religion” by how you look at “sin.”  Religion can become a substitute for repentance.  Let me say that again, religion can, and often does, become a substitute for repentance. 

William Booth described the “flea of religion” in this way:  “The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.”

There is a concept of sin in religion wholly at odds with what the Bible teaches.  That is when sin is viewed as a mere “stumbling in man’s upward progress.” Sin, if mentioned at all in most religions, is nothing more than a mere, misstep along life’s way.  It is from the abysmal blackness of religion we here recounted the oft-repeated saying, “to err is human.” 

No, sin is no mere error to be corrected or managed. Religion seeks to “manage” sin as a businessman seeks to manage market fluctuations, or a doctor seeks to manage the symptoms of an illness.  Sin is not a glitch, or an error, but an abomination! Society no longer tolerates a preacher well that speaks so bluntly about sin, but that’s how the Bible speaks.  There’s no kind way to tell someone they have cancer, but it would be much more cruel to let them go on thinking all is well until it is too late.

We see very few religious groups today calling sin what it is:  “an unholy affront and offense to an absolutely Holy God.”  David, after being confronted with his sin in regard to Bathsheba declared from the agony of his soul: Psalm 51:4^(CSB)
 

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Against you—you alone—I HAVE SINNED and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.

Sin is death, not a disorder.  Sin is an abomination, not an alternative lifestyle.  Sin sours the soul like old milk sours in the stomach.  Sin carries a stench like a rotting carcass in the hot sun.  Sin is so black it blots out any ray of God’s light from entering the soul of a man or woman who stands in rebellion against God. Sin is a gangrenous wound with no cure but amputation.  Sin is death—eternal separation from God. David lament was not that he made a mistake, but he said “I have sinned against the Holy, Almighty God!”

Religion is a nasty flea because it masks a deep, eternal death percolating in a human soul.  Sin cannot be talked away by ritual or covered up by much preaching.  Sin is like a killing frost that falls upon tender shoots and drains them of life.  

We must get away from religion as far as we can.  The diabolical falsehood of religion makes sin less than it is:  an unholy affront to a Holy God. 

I fear that for many of you, it was “religion” that brought you here this morning.  I fear far too many see Sunday worship as checking off the religious box on one’s “Things To Do List.”  Oh, please, discard such a notion as the foolish “chasing after a flea.” 

There are many “fleas” that can consume our lives if we chase them:  worry, pleasure, fame and fortune, and religion.  There is yet another that I must warn us about today.

5.  The Flea of Politics.

We ignore the matter of politics at our own peril if we shun from engaging in the marketplace of ideas.  In order to be the preserving salt of the earth, Christians must participate in politics.  But—and this is very important—we cannot let the political debates of our day distract us from our obligation to see “God’s will be done, His Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10).

The Bible calls us to be “good citizens” and that means we must do our part in regard to the politics of our day.  Psa. 12:1 & 8 says,

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¹ Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race. (CSB)  . . . . Then verse 8,  ⁸The wicked prowl all around, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.

Without Christians participating in the political process, it is an absolute guarantee that “the wicked will prowl all around.”

God has ordained human government.  Paul tells us, Rom13:1 (CSB)
 

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¹ Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.  We engage politics to set boundaries on the government to keep them from usurping God’s authority. 

The key to engaging politics from a Christian perspective is “balance.” We are to bring God’s point of view to bear on the key moral issues of our day, such as abortion, justice, and other ethical issues.  But, we must remain “balanced.”  We can’t let politics consume us and distract us causing us to be like a constantly scratching dog infested with fleas. 

Political involvement must never distract us from the bigger issue of our duty to see souls saved and those saved serving through the church.  Democracy must always take a backseat to disciple-making.

Worry, pleasure, fame and fortune, religion, and politics can all become “fleas” that distract us from the bigger issue of our service and devotion to God. 

Saul became obsessed with killing David and it literally consumed his life and drove him mad. 

These are not all the “fleas” that mankind chases.  It is doubtful that any dog would have but five fleas and no more.  The number of “fleas” mankind chases is myriad.  The pursuit of anything, and everything, that will not be of great value one hundred years from now rides upon one’s back like a fleas upon a dog.  A flea, as we have used the metaphor, today, is anything that distracts from the wholehearted, hotly passionate pursuit of holiness.  The list is nearly endless. 

God wrote with His own finger a warning about fleas:

Thou shall have no other gods—make that fleas—beside me. 

Every stray thought is a flea.  Any attitude or action that pulls us away  from our duty and devotion to Almighty God is a flea, and as such will cause us to miss God’s best for our lives. 

I believe we must look at David’s accusation against Saul and ask ourselves if we have not made, or are making, the grievous error of “chasing fleas,” whether it be the flea of worry, pleasure, fame and fortune, religion or a hundred other such worldly issues.

It’s not enough just to scratch at fleas.  You must do all in your power to eradicate them from your lives.  Stop scratching, and wrap the flea collar of God’s righteousness around your neck.

 

Kid’s Time VIDEO Watch | David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities: The Flea Circus - YouTube