That phrase just flies in the face of everything that we have always learned in Sunday School, doesn't it? We know that Jesus is all about giving, loving, caring, sharing and all that other warm mushy junk. But in the middle of all that, we too often lose sight of some of the really important aspects of the work of Jesus in our lives. We seldom consider the hard parts of the Christian faith, or the difficult claims and actions of Jesus.
The church has done a very good job of making Jesus pretty harmless through these last two millenia. He makes no significant claims on our lives, our time, or our money. He has very low expectations and a lot of grace and forgiveness. In fact, Jesus loves us so much that we can do almost nothing that is wrong. Sin has become an out-moded, out of touch doctrine that is inconvenient at best. Or at least, so goes the popular notions of Jesus in the church.
We keep running back to Jesus the lover of my soul, the friend of sinners, because that is a lot more comfortable than Jesus the Judge. We prefer the Jesus of Easter morning than the Jesus of Good Friday. Good Friday Jesus is filled with sin. He was a bloody, sinful mess. In fact, on Friday, at his crucifixion, Jesus was so full of sin that his Father could not even look at him. And most of us find that Jesus hard to look at too. It could be that this is the most important Jesus to see, however. You see, it is when Jesus is at his worst, that he has about our best.
In the crucifixion he takes our sin. All the nasty, secret, dirty, ugly sins that you and I have ever committed are taken away by Jesus on the cross. His sacrifice allows us to be made whole. The ugly Jesus is a great sight for us.
In the crucifixion Jesus takes our sickness. The prophet of the Old Testament tells us that by the stripes, the scourging, of the Messiah we can be healed. How appropriate then, that Jesus' body was beaten and broken so that ours' could be made whole. Our healing and restoration is taken by Jesus.
In the crucifixion Jesus takes our sorrows and sadness. When we know that our guilt has been taken away, we have cause for celebration. There can be no sorrow, no sadness, among those who are redeemed. The forgiven are by definition joyous.
The crucifixion is a terrible, ugly event. But it is through the bloody sacrifice of Jesus that so much of what is bad in my life is taken away.
Yes, Jesus is a taker. And I, for one, am glad about that!
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Friday, September 21, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
How to think like a Christian about sin and sinning
Life is complicated. There are so many ideas, philosophies and temptations thrown at us all the time. It is no wonder that many Christians fall into sin at various points. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We gossip. We use pornography. We use illegal drugs. We have extra-marital sex. We lust. We envy. (If I have not included your particular sin, please feel free to include it now.) The point is we are bad. We are nasty. We sin!!
So why is it that we Christians are so quick to judge someone else? Why are we so willing to point our fingers at someone else’s sin?
Maybe it makes us feel better. We can point out how someone else has failed so that our sin does not seem so bad. We can emphasize our neighbor’s abortion while justifying our own apathy toward the genocide in Darfur. I cannot feel too awful about my sin while I am castigating someone else for their’s.
Maybe while I am pointing at someone else, no one will notice that I have sin. It is a diversion tactic. If I make a stink about the sexual sins of my homosexual co-worker, perhaps no one will notice my flirtations with my best friend’s wife. If I can make another person’s sexual sin worse than mine, no one will care anyway.
But isn’t that all wrong. There is nothing in the Bible that would make me think that one sin is worse than another. When we say that divorce, or abortion, or homosexuality (interesting that these are all sex-related sins) is worse than our disregard for the homeless, the hurting or the hungry, we do a disservice to the gospel of grace.
I believe that all sins are sins. I refuse to go soft on homosexual practice, abortion or divorce. But at the same time, I refuse to believe that any of these should occupy more of my time or energy than workplace gossip. It is impossible, in biblical or Christian terms, to justify any sin. It does not matter how ‘serious’ or ‘minor.’
Finally, let me say something about sinners. I am one. You are one as well. The Bible teaches that all people are sinners (Romans 3.10, 23). But, God’s Word also teaches that all people are loved by God (John 3.16). You see, there is no sin that is so great that God cannot and will not forgive it.
So what should we do? First of all, let us renew our commitment to God’s holiness in our own lives. Whatever tempts you the most, offer it to God. Do not allow it any place in your life any more. Let us turn from sinning. Secondly, let us continue to speak out and stand up against all sin. If gossip is sin, then we must not tolerate it in our lives. And finally, we must love the people that Jesus loves. It is too easy to demonize those people who are in sin. I must remember that Jesus loves them just as much as he loves me. We must love all people. We must love sinners while hating sin.
So why is it that we Christians are so quick to judge someone else? Why are we so willing to point our fingers at someone else’s sin?
Maybe it makes us feel better. We can point out how someone else has failed so that our sin does not seem so bad. We can emphasize our neighbor’s abortion while justifying our own apathy toward the genocide in Darfur. I cannot feel too awful about my sin while I am castigating someone else for their’s.
Maybe while I am pointing at someone else, no one will notice that I have sin. It is a diversion tactic. If I make a stink about the sexual sins of my homosexual co-worker, perhaps no one will notice my flirtations with my best friend’s wife. If I can make another person’s sexual sin worse than mine, no one will care anyway.
But isn’t that all wrong. There is nothing in the Bible that would make me think that one sin is worse than another. When we say that divorce, or abortion, or homosexuality (interesting that these are all sex-related sins) is worse than our disregard for the homeless, the hurting or the hungry, we do a disservice to the gospel of grace.
I believe that all sins are sins. I refuse to go soft on homosexual practice, abortion or divorce. But at the same time, I refuse to believe that any of these should occupy more of my time or energy than workplace gossip. It is impossible, in biblical or Christian terms, to justify any sin. It does not matter how ‘serious’ or ‘minor.’
Finally, let me say something about sinners. I am one. You are one as well. The Bible teaches that all people are sinners (Romans 3.10, 23). But, God’s Word also teaches that all people are loved by God (John 3.16). You see, there is no sin that is so great that God cannot and will not forgive it.
So what should we do? First of all, let us renew our commitment to God’s holiness in our own lives. Whatever tempts you the most, offer it to God. Do not allow it any place in your life any more. Let us turn from sinning. Secondly, let us continue to speak out and stand up against all sin. If gossip is sin, then we must not tolerate it in our lives. And finally, we must love the people that Jesus loves. It is too easy to demonize those people who are in sin. I must remember that Jesus loves them just as much as he loves me. We must love all people. We must love sinners while hating sin.
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