Private Sins, Public Grace

Psalm 36:1-12

Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God before his eyes.  
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil. 

Lord, you see and know the atrocities of evil men. You see them plotting in the night, and daydreaming of what they secretly desire. You see their hypocrisy as they justify themselves. You know every secret deep in our hearts.

Your steadfast love, O Lord,
extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.  
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord. 

 

Father, you contrast the dark hearts of men with a love that stretches from eternity to eternity. You offer your kindness publicly and without shame.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge
in the shadow of your wings. 
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink
from the river of your delights. 
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light. 

God, your vast heart of love overflows in blessings poured out on the heads of all men. Even those who despise you are daily drinking of your gifts and enjoying your patience. If only they would see the fountain from whom all these delights arise - then they would truly have life.

Oh, continue your steadfast love
to those who know you,
and your righteousness
to the upright of heart! 
Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 
There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Not one day of life is promised to us, so those who know You ask for a continuing of your kindness and protection. Let the bodies of evil men lie motionless so that injustice and sorrow may finally cease. Bring your judgment and spare those who trust you, by your grace alone!

The Well That Satisfies

John 4:13-15

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

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Time for some honesty.

There are many times and many days when I do not see Jesus as very satisfying. I may hear someone talking about the Bible or Christian life and it sounds like religious jargon. All talk. All abstract concepts and theological acrobatics. On these days I am tempted to find my comfort and satisfaction in whatever my eyes and ears crave. I know that the source of all pleasure is God, but I prefer his creation over the creator. I scan the internet for whatever is new and shiny. I get lost in a new song or film or game or tech gadget. These things appear more tangible, more immediate, and more fulfilling than going to God via prayer or scripture reading. Seeking him seems less like a priceless privilege and more like a tedious effort.

In John 4, a Samaritan woman just wants some water. A simple basic human need.

Jesus sees more.

He sees before him a human being made in His image. He sees her birth, childhood, adulthood. He sees her broken past and hopeless present. He sees that she has been thirsting for more than water.

That woman was not unlike myself. She had 5 husbands, probably in a tireless effort to quench that deep deep longing for companionship that cannot be met by anything in this life. She thought the "next thing" would finally meet that need. The grass was always greener on the other side, and she did not hesitate to jump the fence and put her hopes in the next best thing. But, what she really needed, more than anything else she was thirsting for, more than another husband or another drink from the well, was to be fully known, fully understood, and to connect with the One who knows her true self.

You see that as the chapter progresses. When Jesus tells her about the adultery he sees in her life, that is the point where she is taken aback. She may have been surprised by his willingness to talk with her, but his prophetic omniscience was unbelievable. That was the thing that she went on to tell the whole neighborhood about, and it's what convinced the whole town that Jesus was the Savior of the world:

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him....Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:28-30, 39-42)

Being fully known and understood is what we really thirst for, even if that reveals our deepest fears and sins. That is what can satisfy and cause us to believe. And that is what Jesus offers. Not only that, but he approaches us and initiates that relationship, seeking us out even while we cling to earthly wells. He knows all about that and still wants to claim us as his own.

And we must respond to his initiation with worship. As Jesus answered this poor woman's questions, he called her to worship God in spirit and in truth. This transcends the trivialities of which temple site (or music style) is right or wrong. Jesus was calling her to connect with him personally, not just religiously. He was the omnicient God almighty right there in the flesh. He knew the real truth about her. And that's how we need to see him and approach him. As real people, with real struggles and temptations, seeking a real savior who really wants to know us and welcome us into his family.

That is a deep well that truly satisfies.

Condemned No More

John 3:17-18

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

...............

Condemned.

It's a word that is used a couple different ways in our world today.

For one, we call a building condemned when it falls into disrepair. Where once stood a grand Victorian manor home, now stands a hollow skeleton devoid of life. Time and elements conspire to wear away at the walls and ceiling, leaving their indelible marks. A chandelier covered in cobwebs, moldy wallpaper hanging down in strips, mantles covered in dust. Yellow light streams in through faded stain-glass. Underneath the cosmetic symptoms there are rafters and foundations beginning to crumble. Once condemned, a building becomes dangerous for anyone to enter. Squatters and graffiti artists take over at their own risk. Eventually, even these new purposes become impossible, and there arrives a day of collapse or demolition.

Likewise are the effects of our sin, at least in the passive sense. Each of us is born into a world that is decaying, a shadow of its former glory. Our bodies and souls quickly fall victim to the effects of man's curse - illness, tragedy, broken plans, and broken promises. As the elements wear against our souls, our own former glory becomes weak and tarnished. Without someone coming to renovate, we continue to degrade. In this condemned state of ruin is a glimmer and a memory of glory - the image of our Maker remains. But without intervention, we stand condemned and on the verge of collapse.

Another common use of the word condemned is for criminals. A criminal is any violator of the law of the land. Theft, drug deals, violent offenses, blue collar crime, white collar crime, tax evasion, treason - these acts tear at the fabric of social order and threaten the good of self and neighbor. A criminal stands condemned when arrested, tried, and sentenced, ideally in equal measure to the crime they have committed. He also stands condemned before his Maker.

This is the position of every man before God who has violated even one of his commands. This is sin in the active sense. We are not merely victims of a fallen world. We are also perpetrators in a grand treason against our benevolent creator and redeemer.

In John 3, we hear an extended description of how to enter the kingdom of God, and it is not what we would expect. Nicodemus is shocked to realize that neither his ethnicity nor his religious credentials offer any hope when God himself is standing in the room with you demanding that you be born again as a new person.

Then, John offers an oft-quoted promise of salvation for all who believe, followed by verses 17 and 18. Here we are told that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save those who believe. It is tempting to see this as evidence that Jesus was excusing sin and sweeping it under the proverbial rug. But verse 18 states that outside of Christ we are condemned already. In other words, Jesus did not come to condemn us because he didn't have to - that job was already done. He could condemn us no further because humanity's hands were already stained with the blood of hatred and injustice and self-destruction.

Gladly, while he had every right to leave us in the darkness we chose for ourselves, instead he entered that darkness and took the curse and condemnation on himself. John the Baptist cried out, "Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" The penalty and power of sin is forever removed for all who trust in this sacrificial lamb, who takes it all upon himself. Our condemnation is removed in every sense - we are criminals no more and new life is given to a home fully restored.

I pray that we can walk in the freedom and joy that comes from being condemned no more. Our renewed life and hope of heaven is as sure as the finished work of the cross and empty tomb. There is now a banner draped over our heads that reads "No condemnation!" as Paul so beautifully declared:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)