"A king wanted to settle accounts with his servants. A man who owed him a thousand talents (bucks) was brought before him. Since the man was not able to pay, the king ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before the master.
"Be patient with me and I will pay back everything."
The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when the forgiven servant went out he found another servant who owed him a hundred denarii (pennies). He grabbed him and began to choke him. "Pay back what you owe me," he demanded.
The fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, "Be patient with me and I will pay you back everything." --Matthew 18:23-29.
The lesser servant is thrown into prison. The first, forgiven servant is thrown into prison and tortured for his unforgiveness and charged for his original debt.
What has God forgiven of you? Our children are probably our best lesson in forgiveness. We have gotten past so many of our sins by luck or grace. We have maybe made peace with God, or consider ourselves "forgiven" by the amazing Grace of God, as well we should.
But then there is this child of mine. Repeating all my sins. Doing it again. Muddling through badly, as I once did. And I judge just a bit more harshly than God judged me.
I once heard a church leader say, "We need to require these teens to give up sin before they come through these doors. I gave sin up when I was saved. We need to get their commitment before we let them in."
Last I heard we were all deeply entrenched in sin, yet released from the bondage of sin by Grace. Who then shall we judge?
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
No Condemnation
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Him the law of the Spirit of life sets me free from the law of sin and death."--Romans 8:1-2
I always find it odd that people are of two minds about following Christ. First, they think following requires harsh judgement upon ourselves and others, but conversely when told there is no condemnation they skeptically see following Christ as a "get out of jail free" card we pull so as to escape judgement.
To avoid condemnation is also to avoid atonement and forgiveness. Paul explains that we are all guilty and stand condemned UNTIL the atonement of Jesus frees us from both our conscious sins and the tortured flaws original sin has built into us.
Whether I am an alcoholic or a voyeur or an anorexic, or one of a hundred other renditions of the human condition, I am lost, condemned, suffering daily with it unless I agree that Jesus makes it possible for my release from that bondage. If I knew myself to be in bondage, would I accept any reprieve for freedom from it?
I always find it odd that people are of two minds about following Christ. First, they think following requires harsh judgement upon ourselves and others, but conversely when told there is no condemnation they skeptically see following Christ as a "get out of jail free" card we pull so as to escape judgement.
To avoid condemnation is also to avoid atonement and forgiveness. Paul explains that we are all guilty and stand condemned UNTIL the atonement of Jesus frees us from both our conscious sins and the tortured flaws original sin has built into us.
Whether I am an alcoholic or a voyeur or an anorexic, or one of a hundred other renditions of the human condition, I am lost, condemned, suffering daily with it unless I agree that Jesus makes it possible for my release from that bondage. If I knew myself to be in bondage, would I accept any reprieve for freedom from it?
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
O, Holy Night
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”—Luke 1:38.
“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has regarded my lowly state and behold, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.”—Luke 1:47-48.
These simple observances from a young girl opened wide the door for God to enter into His creation to bring us back into relationship with Him.
The whole of creation—above and below—caught its breath in this one moment that God sought hungrily for relationship. Free will responded with surrender and trust, partly because the groundwork of trust had been laid for generations.
This was a young girl raised with the psalms of David on her tongue. She was a girl who naively heard the stories of Messiah and took them on the faith of her fathers. Mary knew with a child’s faith that a girl, any girl, could be the one chosen to birth this great King of Jews; Son of Man; Messiah; Savior of the whole world.
This is a story of salvation, sanctification, surrender and suffering. To be the mother of any child is a testament to surrender and faith. We balance on the ledge between free will and complete surrender. We jump, not knowing if the pool is filled with water. We become mothers, knowing we may have to attend the funerals of those we have birthed before we die. We are relegated to the back playground corner, watching and crossing our fingers that all will be well.
Let it be to me according to your word. And the earth shook.
“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has regarded my lowly state and behold, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.”—Luke 1:47-48.
These simple observances from a young girl opened wide the door for God to enter into His creation to bring us back into relationship with Him.
The whole of creation—above and below—caught its breath in this one moment that God sought hungrily for relationship. Free will responded with surrender and trust, partly because the groundwork of trust had been laid for generations.
This was a young girl raised with the psalms of David on her tongue. She was a girl who naively heard the stories of Messiah and took them on the faith of her fathers. Mary knew with a child’s faith that a girl, any girl, could be the one chosen to birth this great King of Jews; Son of Man; Messiah; Savior of the whole world.
This is a story of salvation, sanctification, surrender and suffering. To be the mother of any child is a testament to surrender and faith. We balance on the ledge between free will and complete surrender. We jump, not knowing if the pool is filled with water. We become mothers, knowing we may have to attend the funerals of those we have birthed before we die. We are relegated to the back playground corner, watching and crossing our fingers that all will be well.
Let it be to me according to your word. And the earth shook.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
