Dear Fellow Children of God,
This week in my devotional readings from the Today’s
Light Bible I have been reading in Leviticus, specifically chapters 4-19. As I have read through these chapters it is
striking how many ways the Jews were called to stay away from personal sin
against God and others, and how much work they had to do to stay ceremonially
clean so they could worship the Lord.
The devotional writer in this Bible suggested that the many requirements
for spiritual purity point to the overwhelming presence of sin in our world and
in our lives.
Sin is considered by many today to be an “old-fashioned”
idea that has little or no relevance in today’s world. I guess if we don’t believe that we have been
created in wisdom and love by God, and if we believe we don’t answer to our
Creator and Lord, then sin can seem an outdated idea. But, if we sincerely believe we are children
of God, to whom we owe honor and love and obedience, then anything that harms
or breaks our relationship with God is serious.
Christians believe that the struggle with sin is constant.
This Lent as a small part of my Lenten disciplines I have
given up caffeine. Any of you who know me,
know I especially appreciate a strong cup of coffee. There are daily reminders and temptations to
compromise my discipline during Lent. In
truth, drinking coffee in and of itself is not a sin, but it points me to the
many ways we are daily tempted to compromise God’s call to be holy as He is
holy. Every day we each face temptations
to selfishness, lust, unrighteous anger, or other actions that disobey God and
hurt others. These sins are not just
some old fashioned way to think. They
are serious. How serious? The first half of Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.
. . ” If you think death is serious, then sin is serious.
These Lenten disciplines not only point
us to our struggle with sin, but they point us to our only real hope. I know that I have drunk caffeine at least
twice this Lent. One time I did so out
of politeness at someone’s home. Another
time I thought I was drinking something that was de-caffeinated, but my racing
heart later told me there was indeed caffeine in the drink. Even with my best efforts I have not
perfectly kept my goal. We are all much
worse when it comes to obeying God and loving others. Even when we try to obey we fail. And how about the times we don’t even want to
try?
The Jews had many laws to keep them
obedient and pure, but they were unable to keep them all. We have a God who created us in love, but we
do not always obey Him. Often we obey
our own sinful desires. That is why it
is important to know the seriousness of our sin. That is why it is important to know the only
real source of help for our eternal relationship with God.
The whole verse from Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Thankfully, God has an answer for
our failure, our Savior, Jesus. Our sin
demands and leads to death, but Jesus kept God’s law. When we believe in Jesus God forgives our
sins. Instead of the death we deserve
for the serious break that our sin causes in our relationship with our Heavenly
Father, God reaches out with Jesus and calls us to love and eternal life. Jesus’ life and death and resurrection are
our only real hope.
If sin seems like an outmoded idea of a less educated
time, then I guess it doesn’t seem like we need a Savior. But, if death is real, maybe you know the
depth of the gift that God has given in His only Son, Jesus. May your Lent point you in faith to Jesus,
our Savior from sin.
A Child of God, Thankful for the Gift of
God,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. DAYLIGHT
SAVINGS TIME HITS TONIGHT. Remember
to set your clocks forward 1 hour before going to bed tonight.
****
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me
know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if
you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me
their e-mail address.
****
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