Friday, June 18, 2010

VI. The Fury

Sin is always a liar first. It was in the beginning when it whispered, "Did God really say...?" It has to be a liar. Sin cannot look reasonable at first glance.

"Eat the fruit and die? Do I really want that?"

"Of course you do, you won't die, in fact you'll be god."

"I'd like that very much...perhaps I do like apples."

And so the first defense, the unreasonableness of sin, is disarmed by a lie. Seems so cold, inglorious, and passionless. Why give into the deathlike embrace of foolishness, unless she has made herself seem reasonable? Sometimes, however, the reasonable appeal of sin is not needed. There are times that the fury besets you.

There are times sin asks One to make bread from stones. This is reasonable, a hungry man must eat. Why not make some bread? Then there are times sin asks God himself to bow to the enemy and worship a lie. Sin is not even pretending to be reasonable at this time. Sin has become the fury. The vile, serpent-like, slithering vomitous appeal of self unto self: give me my due in this matter whatever the consequences!

The fury makes Samson nap like a baby on Delilah's lap. The fury makes David a murderer and adulterer. It sends kings to burn incense in place of priests. It covets vineyards unto murder. It belches lies and false statements against God's servants. And it doesn't even pretend to be reasonable, it just is desireful. Under the fury, I act in no other way except in that way which attains the goal I want. Self becomes god under this movement of the soul, and no other coronation than that desire which self wants becomes the glory of the universe. Great things contract into shriveled prunes of value, and the small moldy crumbs of addiction become sumptuous morsels that we must scrape up and gum on in a vile attempt to feast. God help us against the fury.

No comments: