Sermon snippet – Lord, Make Me an Abomination
INTRODUCTION – A quick-witted wag might suggest that this prayer has already been answered! However, it is a Biblical request. Proverbs 29:27 states, “An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.” Lord, make me the right kind of abomination.
- OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE ABOMINATIONS THAT WE SHOULD NEVER BE
With the exception of the second half of Proverbs 29:27, an abomination is something hateful to God. Leviticus 18 reads like an indictment of our modern culture, summarized in verse 32 as “abominable customs.” Deuteronomy 7:25 singles out idolatry (which is placing anything above God) as “an abomination to the LORD thy God.” Deuteronomy 18:9-11 refers to “the abominations of those nations”; child sacrifice (abortion is a modern equivalent) and sorcery (always connected with illicit drug use) are specifically condemned. Proverbs 20:10 references dishonest business practices as “abomination to the LORD.” Proverbs 6:16-29 points to man’s pride and its negative offshoots (including violence) as “abomination unto Him.” There are numerous other biblical uses of this term. The fact that there are so many should be convicting. Sadly, evil seeps and spreads.
- THERE IS ONE ABOMINATION THAT WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE
We are not to do things that are hateful to God. However, if we are obedient to God, “the wicked” will not approve, as we saw in Proverbs 29:27. The Christians I know are decent, honest, hard-working, law-abiding people. Why then do some people hate us? There are a number of reasons, including the sad power of Satan in their lives, but two are presented in today’s key verse. First, the contrast enrages them. Rather than change, it is easier for them to lash out against “the just.” Second, their real problem is not with us but with God. It is God Who calls them “unjust” and “wicked.” Jesus said in John 15:18, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” How great is that hatred? It is so all-consuming that many will welcome “the Abomination of Desolation” (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15), the Antichrist who is called “that man of sin” (II Thessalonians 2:3). The danger deepens, as Proverbs 17:15 cogently clarifies (compare to Romans 1:32).
CONCLUSION – However, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are rescued from the things that are hateful to a holy God. Then, each one of us can pray, “Lord, make me an abomination – the right kind of abomination.”