12-3-2021

 Good Morning All!

           Isaiah 53:5; “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

     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.

    This is what the phrase “wounded for our transgressions” means. 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. So, as we go through this coming Holy Week; see it through the eyes of joy, aware of the cost, yet seeing the love of the Father. Then relish in it for by his love our transgressions are gone.

Dear Father in heaven, 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