The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear friends, in previous sermons, we have talked about pride, envy, and wrath. Now, in case you did not notice, these three deadly sins are perverted love directed toward other people. In other words, pride, envy, and wrath are what happen when love towards a neighbor is twisted, perverted, and infected with sin. For example, with pride, love is turned inward so that a person exalts himself over others. With envy, love is poisoned so that instead of rejoicing in the blessings of another, the heart resents them. With wrath, love toward the neighbor is corrupted into anger, bitterness, and the desire to strike back. Thus, in all three of these sins, what we see is love toward other people becoming twisted and infected by sin.

As you can remember, though, we discussed sloth. Now, unlike pride, envy, and wrath, sloth is not perverted love towards a person, but rather, sloth is the absence of love altogether. It is the failure to do good and to love others. It is a sin of omission. It is omitting love from others because, frankly, there is no love with sloth. Sloth is the refusal to act when love calls us to act. It is the refusal to serve when service is needed. It is the refusal to help when help is required. Where love should be present, sloth leaves emptiness.

That leaves the last two sermons.  As you know, we have heard about greed and gluttony. Now, instead of greed and gluttony being perverted love directed at other people, both greed and gluttony are perverted love directed toward things. For example, greed is the sin of frantically acquiring and accumulating, whereas gluttony is the sin of overindulging. 

This morning, we are left with our final deadly sin - lust. 

So, what is lust? 

When we hear the word ‘lust,’ we immediately think about sexual sins. However, sexual sins are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lust. You see, lust is not just a sexual sin.  Instead, lust is the intense longing - the uncontrolled desire - to get someone or something. That is to say, a person can lust for sex. They can also lust for power. Or, they can lust for money. And so, while greed is the sin of getting and gluttony is the sin of overconsuming, lust is the sin of unhinged desire to get something or someone at all costs. It is the opposite of self-control. It is the opposite of chastity.

Perhaps a better way to think about lust is like this: 

Lust is our desire to have something or someone that is contrary to God’s will.

Hear that again: 

Lust is our desire to have something or someone that is contrary to God’s holy will.

And so, let me use an example so that we can correctly understand this. Lust is not a man noticing the beauty of a woman. That is to say, it is not lust if a man says, 

“Susie is really beautiful today.” 

Again, that is not lust. There is nothing sinful in recognizing beauty. Instead, lust is when a man looks at a woman with lustful intent, thinking to himself, 

“I wish I could crawl into bed with Susie, even though she is a married woman.” 

You see, lust desires to possess another person sexually outside the bounds that God has put on marriage.

And so, we can simply say that lust is the internal sin of desire. It is wanting to consume and wanting to take what God has clearly forbidden. Lust is disordered cravings. It is desire broken loose from God’s order. It is desire that seeks self-satisfaction regardless of what God says.

Dear friends, a caution is needed at this time.  It is important to remember that desire is not necessarily sinful. To desire to be with one’s wife is good, right, and salutary. To desire to receive the Word and Sacraments is also good, right, and salutary. Even the desire for food is fine; after all, we need to eat to live. But again, sin takes desire and detaches it from the love of God and the love of neighbor.

And so, lust can be seen in a person’s lust for power. It can be seen in a person’s lust for control or domination over others. A person can crave authority not to serve but to rule over others for selfish gain. Likewise, lust can happen over wealth or possessions. A person can lust for money, luxury, and success. The heart begins to crave what riches promise: comfort, security, admiration, and status.Lust can also happen with sex and pleasure—living for the thrills, lusting for another drink, lusting for endless entertainment, lusting for sex, and so forth. As already stated, lust can be sexual, but it can just as easily be tied to things like money, influence, admiration, revenge, or control.

Tragically, what we are hearing is that lust ultimately us curves us inward on ourselves: 

“What do I want, and how can I possess it now?” 

Lust makes the heart that says, 

“My wants come first. My cravings matter most.” 

Dear friends, are you hearing how dangerous this lust is?  Are you hearing how lust enthrones the self and makes desire into an idol?

This is why we need God’s Holy Law.  We need the Law to expose our sin of lust.  Our lust for power, control, admiration, pleasure, revenge, and possessions outside God’s Holy Will needs to be revealed.  It needs to be crucified.  

* * *

Baptized Saints, we also need God’s Holy Gospel.  We need to hear boldly today that Jesus forgives us of our lust.

Yes, hear that clearly: Jesus forgives us of our lust.

Please listen.  Straighten up in the pew!  Where our desires have strayed outside of the Father’s will, Jesus’ desires never once strayed outside of the Father’s will. His desire was always perfectly aligned with the holy will of His Father. He was never curved inward upon Himself. Rather, He was perfectly turned outward for you and for me. 

And what was His desire?

His desire was His sheep.

His desire was to seek and save the lost.

His desire was to bleed and die for you and me.

Where we are so often consumed with what we want, Christ was consumed with mercy for sinners. His desire was to go to the cross for you. His desire was to take your sin upon Himself. His desire was to bear your lust, your self-centered cravings, your disordered desires, and all your uncleanness in His own body upon the tree.

And there He bled for it.

There He died for it.

There He atoned for it.

Dear Baptized Saints, Jesus forgives even this sin. His blood covers lust. His righteousness covers our impurity. His holiness covers our corruption.

The One whose desires never strayed from the Father’s will gave Himself over to death for those whose desires so often do. And so, in Christ there is forgiveness—full forgiveness, complete forgiveness, free forgiveness for you.  

In the name of Jesus. Amen.