10-26-2016

Good Morning All,

            1 Timothy 1:15; ^“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

    It is always one of the most exasperating times but also one of the most fascinating times.  When teaching the Christian faith, one of the very first concepts we need to grab hold of is that I am a sinner.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, I, a poor miserable sinner and so on and so on.  A key element for us is to see and acknowledge that we are sinners.  So, it is both interesting and frustrating when I teach this to our confirmation age kids.  I tell them, “you are a sinner.”  Often the reply is, “no I’m not.”

    Now we could go on and on about what this means.  Is it the parenting or is it the schooling or is it the societal view that everyone is good and everyone is a winner?  “I’m ok and you’re ok” so everything is hunky dory.  Today’s society functions in a world where all true is relative; there are no moral absolutes.  All things play a factor in the idea of “no, I’m not.”  Even as we look at actions that the students acknowledge as sin; there is no sin where the student is involved.  We look at disrespect toward teachers; “well my history teacher is an idiot!”  We talk about disrespect for parents; “they are clueless!”  We talk about misusing God’s name; “God, it’s not that big of a deal!”  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Sometimes, a student will challenge me with, “well, are you a sinner?”  He thinks this is checkmate to our discussion until I tell them, “yes, I am and much like Paul, I am the worst.”  One young gal said they were just imaginary sins as in they were sins but they didn’t count.

    Later that evening, I vaguely remembered a Luther quote about imaginary sin so as I dug it out.  This is what Luther wrote:

       "If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign." [Letter 99.13, To Philipp Melanchthon, 1 August 1521.]

    I am a great sinner but I have a greater Savior; there is no greater truth than this.  Trust God’s promise to wipe away every sin and confess every sin to God and let Him cleanse you from the guilt, anguish and denial that unconfessed and unadmitted sins cause us.  God claims you as his child, free from your sin, to live with Him in eternity.  Trust His promise today!!

Gracious Father, my sins are so great that I cannot bear them.  Then I add to them by denying the truth.  Forgive me all my sins.  Wash me clean that I may live in peace in your loving kingdom.  Restore me Father for Jesus’ sake.  In His precious name, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret