It's a fictional story many of us are familiar with.  Civil war hero, Lt. John Dunbar, is sent to the frontier, posted at Ft. Sedgwick in NW Colorado.  Finding the military outpost abandoned, he establishes a routine of daily tasks awaiting the arrival of the troops.  Eventually he is befriended by a wolf who visits him every day hoping for a scrap of food.  One day while running at the wolf to chase it away, he's seen by the Lakota Indians, who gave him the name, Chumanitutankowachi, "He who dances with wolves."

          2000 years ago, Rabbi Jesus, Son of God and son of man, sent His troops into the field.  Their first assignment was to go out, two by two, to announce the coming of God's kingdom.  And He sent them out with these words, "Go your way;  Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves." Those seventy men learned what it meant to speak God's Word to a hostile world, and we seventy here today must also witness to a hostile world as we build a church on Wolfensberger Road.

          These days in which people befriend almost anything dangerous, wolves are considered docile creatures, wonders of nature, yet dangerous still the same.  Mankind has tried to tame the wolf, but it always bites him back.  Zoologists have tried to show its good character, but they also say a wolf can never be trusted.  Here in Colorado, there are places where wolves are kept in pens, usually those taken from people who wanted them as pets.  Despite all our knowledge of wolves, we cannot avoid the fact that they are wild and cannot be trusted to live alongside people.  You can dance with them, but you're better off staying far away from them.

          In a similar sense, there are wolves around us in the form of certain deadly behaviors that are wild and cannot be trusted.  Christians have come to call these the Seven Deadly Sins.  In our current age of sophistication, we have overlooked these attitudes, or excused them as a product of one's upbringing or something we do by nature.  Regardless of how we regard them, they're still deadly and can bring destruction to all who try to befriend them.

1.      The wolf of ANGER seeks revenge and harm.  This is not the righteous anger, but fury and rage, the vengeful passion against a real or supposed enemy.  This is road rage, people going "postal", or those who beat their family because someone or something got in their way.  This anger destroys people and relationships.  It is practiced by immature, selfish people who want what they want when they want it.  It's a wolf that is unpredictable and vicious.

2.      The wolf of ENVY lives on discontent.  It never has enough and gets upset when it is denied what others have.  Envy is the spoiled child that makes life miserable by its whining and pouting.  Envy is the target of the advertisers who know people's weaknesses and prey on Envy's wanting things its own way.  Envy always wants what others have.

3.      The wolf of GLUTTONY never has enough.  If some is good, more is always better.  Gluttony rears its bloated head anywhere it goes.  It lives among insecure people who believe they can feel good about themselves by getting more and more.  Gluttony indulges itself in excesses and usually destroys itself by overindulgence, all the while depriving people in need, because of the few who have so much that they will not share.

4.      The wolf of GREED has a voracious appetite to get anything of value -- money, land, power or possessions.  Greed can live in the home of the millionaire or the home of the impoverished.  How much money can a man have to live?  "Never enough," says the wolf of Greed, "and furthermore, I want yours!"  Greed can be obvious or subtle, but it always seeks more for future security.

5.      The wolf of LUST has overpowering desire and unbridled passion for pleasure.  Lust drives men to pornography and women to unhealthy fantasy.  It drives youth to addictions and adults to illicit behavior.  Lust is sneaky.  It doesn't pound on the front door, but slips in the back way through entertainment and the media.  Lust wants the unthinkable to become thinkable.  Then the thinkable will become acceptable, and the acceptable will become preferable.  Some say lust is natural, but it's part of our sinful nature.  Lust is natural desire taken to an unnatural extreme.

6.      The wolf of PRIDE is the devious one.  Pride is the inordinately high opinion of oneself and abilities.  Pride sets traps for its victims.  It says, "You deserve it, you're worth it -- go ahead and do it." It says, "You're the greatest!  No matter if you are ignorant or foolish, you're wonderful!  You're not ignorant, just informationally challenged.  You're not an idiot, just intellectually disinclined.  You're special, so do whatever you want."

7.      The wolf of SLOTH is the one unwilling to work.  This one lives on laziness and believes the world owes it a living.  It's often overlooked in our 50-60-70 hour workweeks but it's still there, tempting us to sluff off.  "They don't pay you enough, so why work so hard?"  Sloth seeks early retirement when it can do nothing, which is its measure of the perfect life.

          Remember the story of the Three Little Pigs?  The Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the houses of the two pigs who had no protection because they had built their houses of sticks and straw.  Only the pig who built his house of solid bricks was spared.  In the same way, to live safely among the wolves around us, you and I must have protection.  God gives us wonderful protection in the form of three great blessings - SCRIPTURE, PRAYER and FELLOWSHIP.  Scripture points us to God, Prayer connects us with God, and Fellowship connects us with each other.  Three little blessings that protect us so well:

          SCRIPTURE is our source of truth and salvation.  It's the power of God for salvation and daily strength.  A daily dose of Scripture is the perfect prescription against all wolves.  Sunday Bible study, or midweek Bible study, or personal Bible study - we need it, so please don't neglect it!

          PRAYER is the source of power that connects us to the Ruler of the Universe, day or night, for any reason, small or great.  Prayer is a heart-to-heart conversation with God that changes lives.  No matter who we are, prayer immediately connects us to God - with no long distance charges!

          FELLOWSHIP gives us strength we share with each other.  On July 4 Carol and I joined about 40 of our neighbors in a block party.  What fun!  But Christian fellowship is greater, for our Lord Himself joins us in worship, picnics and projects, and helps us love each other.  Scripture points us to God, Prayer keeps us in contact with God and Fellowship gives us God's strength.

          Pastor Teame Desta has begun a church to Ethiopians and other east Africans in Denver.  We support his work by some of our church's mission gifts.  He told me that during the ten-year reign of communism in Ethiopia, Christianity was banned.  Churches were closed, Christians were prohibited from meeting for worship, and reading the Bible was outlawed.  Communists took away their Bibles and their fellowship, but it could not take away prayer, so the people prayed.

          Gathering in small groups, they prayed and prayed, often all night.  Because singing was forbidden, they silently read their hymns.  Their leaders were jailed, tortured and martyred, but it only strengthened their faith to persevere.  In the midst of suffering and death, Christians prayed and their church grew.

          When communism fell in 1985, their churches re-opened and the people came back, filling them to overflowing.  Teame said he regularly preached to 1,000 people inside and 1,000 more listening outside.  Communists thought Christianity was destroyed, but instead it had grown.  All this because of prayer and faith.  Today Ethiopian Christians still have to dance with the wolves of civil war and internal strife, but God is helping them grow.  They are even sending out missionaries to neighboring nations.  Perhaps one day they will send missionaries to America.  Who knows?

          Why did they do this?  Why not just roll over and let the wolves gobble them up?  Because without God, life is empty and devoid.  Without Christ, life is meaningless.  We all need what God has for us, no matter where we live.  Satan deceives us, promising so much but leaving us empty.  You and I need our emptiness filled, not with things but with a Savior.

          We people are tempted to fill our emptiness with pride in self-accomplishments or we live gluttonous lives.  We become greedy or lustful to get what we think will satisfy, and we envy what others have and become angry when we don't get it.  Or we become slothful, waiting for others to do our work for us.  These are the wolves we face every day.

          Jesus Christ came to deliver us from them, and it seemed they had overcome Him.  The wolves of Satan sent Christ to Calvary, but there He paid the price so that we could live with God.  When He returned to life, He showed the world He was the Savior.  Now He says to us, "Whoever comes to me I will never send away." (John 6:37)   And He says, "Don't be afraid, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)   Every one of us who trusts in Him is empowered to overcome our own wolves and to live with Him forever.

          So don't fear them;  they'll always be there.  Just know they'll never make good pets, for as noble as they might seem, they will always turn and strike us.  Meanwhile, we have peace with God!

          And we who are building a church on Wolfensberger Road can avoid the wolves by joining a Prayer Chain just now starting up in our midst, or we can come to Sunday Bible study or Men's Bible Breakfast on Wednesday.  And we can have fellowship in Vacation Bible School by sending our children or helping make it work by our assistance.  And amid all this, we can pray!  For as hard as Satan might try, he will never blow down this new church at 550 Wolfensberger Road, because it was built on the solid Rock of Jesus Christ!  Amen.

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.