3-24-2017

Good Morning All,

                   Isaiah 64: 6a; “We’ve all become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags.”

          “The opposite sides of the same coin;” I use this phrase fairly often.  I find that for most people, their greatest character strength is also one of the character weaknesses.  For example, someone who views themselves as a person who takes charge and makes decisions quickly may struggle when asked to follow directions or to serve in a subordinate role.  A person who likes to look at the “big picture” often struggles when trying to deal with the details of the situation.  The phrase “the opposite sides of the same coin” usually describes two truths that are more closely related than we may think.

     Our verse tells us that none of our “righteous acts” can ever impress God.  Nothing we do, no matter how many times you go to church services, no matter how many times you read the Bible, no matter how many prayers you have said, no matter how much money you have given to the church; none of these events impress God.  There is no number of homeless people that you have given food or shelter to that has God impressed by your actions.  The hours you spent in the food kitchen do not raise God’s perception of you.  The kindness you show to strangers, the honor and respect you show to your elders, the generosity that you show to people who can never repay you; none of these make God sit up and think, “There is a great person.”

    There are a lot of people who get depressed when they see this.  Deep down, we want God to be impressed when we tell him, “What a good boy am I.”  When we think that God doesn’t give us a little star by our name when we perform one of these actions, it can be kind of a letdown.  Yet the beauty here is that, more often than not, we live on the opposite side of the same coin.

    It is true that God doesn’t pat you on the back for the number of times you went to church; he also doesn’t hold it against you when you slept in because you stayed up too late the night before.  He doesn’t think more of you when you stop and help the homeless but he also doesn’t think less of you when you don’t stop.  We don’t gain God’s favor by being good but the much better news is that we don’t lose God’s favor when we fail to be good.  God’s grace is poured out upon us for one reason- God loves you. 

   So why bother doing good things if these things don’t impress God?  First and foremost, these good things for others are a wonderful response to God’s love.  Secondly, we never know when the Holy Spirit will use one of those times to move the heart of the person you helped.  Thirdly, God calls us to be the light to the world, to show them what God’s love looks like.  Think about how much God loves you then try and do that for your neighbor.

Father of all mercy, I am thankful that you do not hold my failures against me.  I thank you that your love depends on you and not on me.  Help me to respond to your love by showing love to my neighbor.  Help me to share your grace with those around me.  Lead me to those who are in most need of your loving and peaceful Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret