Good Morning All,
Psalm 103:12; “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Have you ever had someone make a promise
and then fail to deliver? The first time
that someone does that can really leave an impression. A little bit of trust leaves you. For most of us, the first time that you break
a promise to a child, no matter how small to you can be as devastating to us as
it is to the child. You see the look on
their face and you know that you will never stand as tall in his eyes
again. As we grow older, we experience
this betrayal or breach of trust with more frequency. Each time we experience it; we become a
little more jaded; our heart a little more hardened. It is like each little cut that scars over
and becomes denser and having less feeling.
A
broken trust causes much turmoil in our life.
Many people who experience a painful breach may have a difficult time
trusting again. It can take many forms. If you share a confidence or a fear with
someone only to have it becomes gossip fodder, you are slower to openly share
next time. A trust is broken and a
breach is formed. This breach is like a
gully forming between you. It gets wider
and deeper and you and the other person are pushed farther and farther apart.
A definition of transgression is just
that. It means to break a trust. It means to make a breach in a relationship. It can best be thought of in terms of
relationships especially like that of a marriage vow. It is a most sacred trust that we pledge to
be faithful to one and to only one and if that trust is broken fixing it is
difficult at best. We transgressed
against God. We were unfaithful. We broke that trust by seeking false
gods. Those false gods took many forms:
greed, selfishness, anger, lust, or callousness to our neighbor. These all show the effects of a broken trust,
a breach of our faithfulness. How does
one ever get past this? You and I may
not but God does.
Jesus suffered and died because you and I
were unfaithful to God. We broke the
trust, the faith, but God healed it.
Every whip mark, every beating, every moment on the cross was to fix
that breach between man and God. God filled
the gully in with every drop of sweat and blood that Jesus expired.
The difficult thing for us to understand is
that as we respond to this event; we should not respond out of guilt or
sadness. We should see beyond this and
see this for what it truly is. It is an
act of incredible love. Jesus’ selfless
actions, his willingness to die for us should cause to respond with the same
type of love for God and for our fellow man.
Lent, Good Friday and Easter are not about guilt they are about
immeasurable love. The God who loves
you, the God who got his hands dirty for you comes to you with the love of a
father beyond our ability to comprehend.
Relish in it; for by his love our transgressions are gone.
Gracious
Father, we come before your throne seeing your wondrous mercy. All our sins are gone, our debt is paid. You bring us back to you every time we break
that trust with you loving kindness.
Continue to pour out on us your grace.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.