Monthly Archives: July 2015

The cost of being a disciple

 

Grace is free, but it is not cheap.

It comes at an unimaginable price.

 

Those who take God at his Word believe that the gospel story is true:

God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives.

We are separated from God and cannot know his great love or experience his plan for us.

Jesus bridged the gap by paying the price for our sin. Nothing else can bridge the gap: not good works nor any amount of gift-giving, not knowledge nor vain philosophies.

We don’t get to enjoy any gift unless we accept it. Jesus explains that “accepting” him means denying oneself, carrying our cross daily, and following him and becoming his disciple; not following our plan for our life but his.

 

Salvation is a free gift from God. But following Jesus or being his disciple is more costly than saying a prayer; it requires focused action. In Luke 14, Jesus himself outlines some of the costs of being a disciple of Jesus:

1. Give up your place of honor

He says, “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.” (V 8)

I knew one leader who introduced his employees in public as his colleagues, the people who worked with him, not for him. Raising others up is one way of giving up our place of honor. We didn’t choose or earn our place in being born in one of the wealthiest places on earth.  Perhaps giving up our place of honor has something to do with lifting up those around the world who face harder struggles just to live. Another way of giving up our place of honor is to stop presuming that we are right and others are wrong. What does it mean to you to give up your place of honor in order to follow Jesus?

 

2. Answer him when he calls you.

In the story he told about the great wedding banquet, Jesus said many were too busy to come when they were invited. Busyness is one of the enemy’s chief distractions. I’m almost a bit surprised that we don’t see tombstones engraved with, “Sure kept busy!” Perhaps it’s because we’re too embarrassed by our busyness to be honest about it. I read recently that the average user spends 17 minutes a day on Facebook.  I just wonder what is the average time spent in daily prayer. Jesus calls us to pray, to feed the hungry, to minister to the poor, to visit the sick (even if it makes us uncomfortable), and to tell others about his good news. What does it mean to you to answer his call on your life?

 

3. Count the costs

Jesus adds, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. Anyone of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26,33) Of course, he’s not telling us to abandon the 5th commandment (honor your father and mother); he’s calling us to embrace the first (you shall have no other gods before me). Counting the costs means putting nothing before God, not family, not possessions, not your career, not the American dream, nor your health, or pursuit of happiness. Each of us finds that our walk with the Lord is not as deep a journey as it should be. What comes to your mind as you count the costs to following him more closely?

 

Today is the day to give up your place of honor. It’s the only day you have to answer his call on your life; there’s no promised tomorrow. And today is the day to count the costs of following Jesus fully. Perhaps it seems too hard, like giving up so much. In reality, I suspect it’s more like settling for far less than the blessings God intends for you… and me.

 

The time of your life

 

Life is better together. It was the hallmark of the very first churches; people reaching out to live life together. It’s still our call for living today.

 

Last Sunday, eight churches in our community bonded together in an effort called “Reach Out.” Some 1000 volunteers spent 3+ hours throughout the community cleaning gutters, picking up trash, hauling away junk, painting, trimming, visiting and praying…and more. It was a good time of the church BEING the church. Sadly, not everyone knows that the church is not a building. It’s not a set of doctrine. The church is the “body” of believers who are called to live their faith as expressions of love. (Galatians 5:6) Oh that we would express this not just with one great reach out event but daily throughout our lives.

 

Pastor Cory shared the analogy of winning a daily prize. Imagine if you won a prize that awarded you with $86,400 every single day. You could do a LOT with that kind of blessing, right? But there’s a catch. The prize comes with three rules:
1. You have to spend it all every day. What isn’t spent is lost.
2. You can’t transfer it to another account in hopes of hoarding it.
3. The prize might end any day without notice.

 

How would you spend your daily allotment of $86,400 every single day? You could buy a bunch of cars, extra properties, and all the latest doodad technologies. You could eat the finest foods and travel to the most expensive places. Or you could feed a lot of people, pay for the tuition for endless students eager to learn if they just had the opportunity. You could provide homes for the homeless and jobs for the jobless. With $86,400 a day, you could have “the time of your life!”

 

The truth is we are all winners of that very prize, except instead of dollars, our prize is time. Each day we are given 86,400 seconds to spend however we choose. We can indulge ourselves or “spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry” (Isaiah 58:10). The time is ours and granted everyday. We can’t save it and we aren’t guaranteed that we’ll have it renewed tomorrow. We just have today to invest as we choose.

 

Pastor Cory shared that there are two Greek words for time: “kronos” which signifies the time we measure with a ticking clock, and “kairos” which is a period of opportunity. This “kairos” time is what is mentioned in Colossians 4:5-6:

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

 

Elizabeth Kubler Ross said that it’s only when we truly understand that we have limited time that we will live fully. Make the most of every opportunity. Live fully. Don’t waste your life. That’s the “kairos” moment you and I have today, and each day…while there is still time remaining. How do you get started?

 

You could put a sticky note up with the number 86,400 written on it to remind you on the limited time opportunity you have today; the gift you’ve been given to “live wisely.” You could set up a recurring appointment in your calendar to remind you to give daily thanks for the time you have and the wisdom to use it wisely. You could set up an appointment every week or every month to intentionally encourage someone with a note, a phone call, or a gift of service. Go help a neighbor who is sick. Mow their lawn. Bring them a meal or a milk shake. If someone has a big project, offer to help. Send an anonymous gift to someone who is struggling financially. Share the love of God without judging others. There are lots of ways to seize the opportunity and use the time you have for the most impact.

 

For Christians we have this one call to tell people about the love of Jesus and to live lives that demonstrate that love in practical ways. . . to build the kingdom of God starting right where we are, with the time that is given us.

 

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” J.R.R. Tolkien

 

It’s the time of your life. Live it wisely, my friend.

 

It’s not enough to be sorry

 

I remember Don Knight speaking words of wisdom to a group of men at church years ago. He encouraged us all to speak “those three little words” every woman desperately longs for a man to say. You’re probably thinking he was going to remind us the importance of saying, “I love you.” But according to Don, the three little words most important and most cherished by women are those spoken by the man who admits, “I was wrong!”

 

The popular movie, “Love Story” became famous for it’s punch line, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Even the actor who spoke the line looks back and says, “What rubbish!” Love means admitting you’re wrong and saying you’re sorry. It’s sometimes hard to say it because quite truthfully we want to be right. But as perfect as you might be, there will come a time when you will not be right and it will be best to swallow the pride and say “those three little words.”

 

But it’s not really enough, is it? We can’t just say “I was wrong. I’m sorry.” Something more is required. The purpose of admitting being wrong and sorry is to change our thinking and our behavior so we don’t find ourselves in that same situation again! The spiritual word for this is repentance, which means to turn away from wrong and change.

 

Some folk complained to Jesus about other “sinners.” Jesus’ response was that there aren’t some who are worse sinners than others and that “unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3)

 

The truth is, we all fall short. (Romans 3:23) None of us hit the mark. Maybe some days, we aren’t even aiming at the right target. We aim too low in pursuing personal ambitions and filling our sense of self-worth. We aim to “keep busy” rather than to live with purpose. We set up goals that really won’t satisfy us at life’s end. Sometimes we don’t even set up any goals, but just coast through life as it happens to us. Our lives, while designed to be fruitful in spiritual ways, encouraging to others and honoring to God, sometimes may be barren of any good and lasting value.

 

A couple retired and sold their home. They purchased a boat and spent all their last days collecting sea shells. Piper asks, “How will they answer God when he calls them home and asks what they did with the life he gave them? “I collected sea shells?!” What a waste!”” (John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life)

 

Jesus tells the story of a man who had a fig tree that never bore fruit. Year after year it remained barren. He was going to have it cut down. But the man who took care of his vineyard pleaded with him, “Leave it alone for one more year and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not then cut it down.” (Luke 13:6-9)

 

It’s not enough to be sorry that our lives are so barren of God’s love, joy, and peace. It’s not enough to feel regret that we lack patience, kindness, or goodness. We can admit we have too little faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But it’s not enough. We can’t produce fruit by working harder or doing more good things. But while time still remains, today is the day to dig in and fertilize our lives with the nourishment of God’s truth. This is the day to soak up his promises and let them feed the very root of our lives. That’s when fruit will come, by changing our life so it stays connected to God, the very creator of life. And THAT is enough.

 

Nothing is hidden

 

The revered church leader was heading off to an important counsel of leaders to discuss together how to live the Christian life in a compromised world. He picked up his briefcase and hurried to the meeting. At the meeting, he opened up his briefcase in front of the other men to retrieve his notes but was instantly horrified when they gazed down to see not his religious writings, but a briefcase full of pornography. You see, he had two briefcases that looked just the same on the outside, one that he kept hidden in his private office and one for his speaking notes. In his hurry, he grabbed the wrong one and everything that was in the dark was suddenly brought into the light.

 

Maybe you can imagine his horror and dismay to have what was hidden suddenly made known. Maybe you can imagine also the shock and hurt his friends experienced at the revelation. But it’s not only celebrities, politicians, and pastors who get caught up in hiding things in the darkness. None of us get it perfectly right. If we don’t consistently expose our lives, thoughts, and ambitions to the light of God’s Word, we too find ourselves in the darkness of hypocrisy too. What if everything you did and thought was captured on video and then displayed for all to see? What if before we entered into wrongful thinking or behaving we asked ourselves, “How comfortable am I having this played out publicly?” Without a doubt, it would dramatically change the way we think and act!

 

Jesus said to his followers: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” Luke 12:1-3

 

It was both a warning and an encouragement. It was a warning against living a “religious” life that looks good on the outside but is dark and sinister on the inside. It was an encouragement that their heartfelt prayers and praises, even when whispered in the inner rooms, would be proclaimed boldly from the rooftops.

 

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. Paul writes that when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ that all we did, good or bad, will be revealed. (2 Corinthians 5:10) We read in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” He reminds us that we are God’s temple, not that brick building with the cross. We’re warned to not deceive ourselves. (V18)

 

But we do deceive ourselves by thinking that our secret envy, greed, and lust doesn’t matter, that things done in the dark are forever secret even as they completely contradict our public character.

 

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” John 3:19-20

 

Light dispels darkness. Darkness flees from the presence of light. Light overcomes darkness. Let’s not live in the deception of darkness that will one day be revealed. Let’s repeatedly expose the darkness to the light and live our one life in the freedom and power of that light who is Jesus.

 

Are you living a divided life?

 

Part of our human condition is that we live conflicted lives. We believe one thing but do another. We know the good we should do but we don’t do it. We know the wrong we shouldn’t do but we keep returning to it. We have faith that lives with doubt. We know the truth but we believe the lie. It’s a case of “On the one hand…but on the other hand…”

 

Jesus was once accused of preaching good while using the powers of evil to drive out demons. But his response in Luke 11 spoke truth: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and a house divided against itself will fall.” Good and evil cannot love in harmony with each other.

 

It was a truth echoed in the Civil War, proclaiming that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. And it’s a current red and blue struggle to stand together as one nation under God today. It’s a truth that resonates within our individual hearts today when we ponder how to live our lives. We cannot have a bit of God and also be filled with his presence and power. We can’t live a life of fretful worry and at the same time experience the peace that surpasses all understanding. We can’t run with the world and stand with God, worshipping him one hour a week and worshipping our own lives the rest. We can’t hate our enemies and love God nor withhold forgiveness from others and ask God to forgive us. If our house is divided, our days will be constantly marked by cleaning up the debris from its falling. There is no victory in living in a divided house, only woe.

 

Jesus actually speaks six “woes” to people that considered themselves “religious.” And those woes fall upon us today if we live divided lives:

 

Woe to me if I think there is satisfaction in giving a tenth of my income (or less!) to God while neglecting justice and the love of God with regard to those who live in great need and suffering. (V 42) God owns it all and blesses us so we can bless others. Buy JOY to each who lives generously, who spends themselves on behalf of the hungry. (Isaiah 58:10)

 

Woe to me if I think so highly of myself that I “deserve” to be treated better than others. (43) but JOY to each who lives humbly before their great God. It’s when we’re humbled that we are drawn close to God and lifted up. A humble heart loves the God a proud heart cannot see.

 

Woe to me if I live mindlessly without purpose, like an “unmarked grave” that will not be remembered. (V44) But JOY to each who turn to God each day and ask, “What is your purposed agenda for my life today?” The entire purpose of our blessings – and our lives – is to advance the good news of the gospel of Jesus by speaking hope to the lost in practical expressions of love.

 

Woe to me if I demand that others live according to ritualistic and legalistic rules instead of actually helping them. (V46) But JOY to each who lives in the freedom of his grace and extends that same grace to others in his name.

 

Woe to me if I build monuments to God and men but don’t live according to his Word. (Vs 47-51) But JOY to each who live in obedience to the call to be set apart from the ways of the world.

 

Woe to me if I take away the key to truth from those around me, not even living according to it myself. (V 52) But JOY to each who share the truth and grace of Jesus, who let their faith express itself through his love.

 

Living a life that is divided against itself brings certain woe. But for every woe there is a joy ready to take its place. We have only ONE life to live. Live it well, with JOY.

 

“What’s your opinion?”

 

Everyone has an opinion. And the hotter the topic, the more intense the opinions become. Sentences that start with, “I think” are actually opinions but they are often presented as if they were factual and undeniable truths. Statements like, “I believe the one who dies with the most toys wins,” is an opinion. There’s no proof, of course, that having more toys constitutes “winning” at the game of life nor that life is about “winning” at all. It’s an opinion. But more than that, it’s a statement of faith upon which a life is built.

 

You and I have the right to our own opinions and the right to disagree AND the responsibility to treat each other respectfully in how we disagree. But in the end, our opinions don’t really matter. Opinions don’t make something true. What I think about life after death doesn’t matter. Truth matters. One may think that we all turn into butterflies or cosmic vibrations when we die but it doesn’t make it so. What is so is what IS, not our opinion about it.

 

I’ve seen “on the street interviews” where a question was asked: “Do you think you’ll go to heaven?” The responses varied greatly. Everyone had an opinion that ranged from, “I don’t know; I hope so,” or “Maybe if I do enough good things,” to “Yes! Because Jesus is my Lord!” Some have the opinion that heaven doesn’t even exist. Their opinion is that we live and die and that’s it.

 

We’re told a true story in Luke 10 about an “expert” in the law who approached Jesus and asked him a similar question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Instead of responding directly, Jesus referred the man to the Word of God. “What is written in the law; how do you read it?” We can talk about our opinions and our faith until we’re blue in the face, but a better way for the light of God to shine upon a soul is for them to read his Word and answer for themselves, “What does it say?”

 

The man quickly spit up the correct answer, “Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Have you noticed how it is often easier to answer hard questions than to live them?!) And then he asks, “Who is my neighbor?”  Again instead of answering, Jesus tells him the story about a man who is beat up and robbed. Two religious leaders ignore him but a man who was looked down upon as sinful and unworthy went to great lengths and expense to help the injured stranger. “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” “The one who had mercy on him,” replied the expert in the law. Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

 

How we live our lives matters. It is a testimony of faith, an open demonstration of how we interpret what it means to follow Jesus. We’re not called to live according to opinions about people nor to judge them because their opinions are different from ours. We’re called to follow Jesus, to understand how his heart loved others, and to go and do likewise.

 

Losing your life… And saving it

 

Luke 9 tells the story of Jesus commissioning the disciples to advance his gospel and fulfill God’s calling on their lives. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.” (Luke 9:3-6) He continued, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (V 23-25)

 

It’s tempting to think that was a single event in the history of God’s plan; that it’s different today. But is it? Aren’t we still called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him? What does it mean to you to lose your life for Christ? I don’t know if it means we should all give up everything, but I think it means to consider it all as loss, even our lives and our ambitions. Otherwise, how can we follow in two directions (ours and God’s) at the same time? Following Jesus involves at least holding our possessions loosely, living more simply so our valuable resources can be used for the main event, the telling of His Story, the ongoing passion of his love.

 

When you attend a funeral of a respected friend, are you wowed by the mention of their awards and commendations, their great achievements, or their sizable accumulation of assets? Maybe. Maybe not. More likely, your thoughts turn to their character and the passion of their life that was invested in others.

 

Maybe today you’ll pause to consider everything you’re striving to gain in life, everything you’re pouring yourself into and piling up. It’s an opportunity to consider what’s really worth saving…and what’s going to get tossed aside one day anyway.

 

Jesus called his disciples to live a legacy life. It’s the call he still makes on our lives today if we call ourselves his followers. It’s not to live in comfort in the blissful pursuit of every pleasure. It’s living a powerful life freed by the forgiveness of God for the purpose of following in his steps to shine his light into the world.

 

God’s commission was not just for twelve men in Galilee. His call is for each of us today. Let’s live the call together!

 

Don’t be the lobster

 

One cook claimed that the best way to cook lobster is to put the lobster in the pot before you heat up the water. “The meat’s more tender because they don’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.” Not everyone would agree with his assessment. In fact, in some places it’s illegal to boil live lobster because it’s considered cruel and unusual punishment.

 

As terrifying as it might be, the image offers somber warning for us.

 

Don’t get caught in hot water.

 

We all know that to be in hot water means to be in trouble that will likely lead to some degree of severe punishment. Hopefully, we’ve learned to avoid the most obvious of painful traps as we’ve matured. We’ve drawn boundaries in our lives that keep us from jumping into pots of boiling water or other situations equally as dangerous.

 

But there’s another trap that is more deceptive. And that is getting ourselves into warm water that is not too unpleasant at first, maybe even comfortable. But often over time, the water slowly heats up. It may be a book or TV series that starts out innocently enough but gradually becomes more and more graphic and insidiously wicked in content. It’s easy to become so engrossed in the plot that you don’t realize how far it’s carried us away from your values. It might be a simple curiosity that leads you to follow a series of internet mouse clicks that leads you into increasing hot water. Living a life of self-absorbed comfort that is increasingly distanced from the suffering and needs of others is yet another pot of water that slowly heats up. We often become unaware of how our life is heating up, bubbling and churning when we continue to immerse ourselves in the habits of a sarcastic tongue, the silent treatment, belittling criticism, judgmental gossip, and apathy. Even the unproductive and negative patterns of our own minds can turn up the heat from helpful self-awareness to destructive thoughts that boil over in self-judgment.

 

What begins as a warm bath desensitizes us to the world around us. Not only that, we become lulled into a sleepy stupor that robs us of a full life. In all these situations and more, we are like the condemned lobster: we don’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.

 

We are slaves to whatever we obey, captive to whatever we willingly choose to follow. (Romans 6:16). If we persist in choosing to remain in a harmful way of thinking and behaving we will end up in boiling hot water. We won’t see it coming. The longer we remain there, the less we will be aware of its disastrous effect on our life.

 

When we choose to abandon God and instead pursue living “my way” we get into hot water. But if the Lord is your shepherd, he will lead you beside cool, refreshing waters. He is in fact the fountain of living water we need. (Jeremiah 2:13)

 

Look at your surroundings. If you find yourself becoming too hot-tempered, overly anxious, fearful of “secrets,” or too comfortable, jump out of the cauldron of harmful thinking and behaving before it’s too late.

 

Don’t be the lobster.

 

What type of soil are you?

 

No doubt, you’ve heard the story many times. Jesus tells the parable of the sower who broadcasts seeds: on the path, on rocky soil, amongst the thorn bushes, and on fertile ground.

 

The seed on the path is trampled on and quickly snatched up by birds. The path is a popular place filled with the commerce of life, with careers that challenge and so many things to consume. But it’s difficult for the seed of life to grow there. For us, it is “in one ear and out the other,” a sermon forgotten before the car reaches home.

 

The seed on the rocky soil shows promise when it sprouts, but it fades and dies in the hot sun. And so the hope of the gospel too often fades and withers in the heated trials of our lives. We question God’s faithfulness when things don’t go our way. Hope starts to rise within us when the spirit moves us to tears. But the tears are quickly wiped away and hope forgotten.

 

The seed that grows among the thorns is crowded out. There is no room to grow because there is too much competition for light and nutrients. Like my flower bed that became choked out by wild raspberries the years I was sick, our lives are so filled with other things that crowd out the presence of God. So focused on pursuing our life dreams, we forget to wake up to the reality of our life purpose. Worry grows and crowds out faith. Anxiety spreads to choke out peace. Envy and greed smother the space for contentment to grow. It seems the only solution is to till the ground and remove the thorny things that crowd our life garden.

 

And then there’s the seed that falls on fertile, receptive soil, a soil that gives of itself freely and completely to the creation and nurturing of new transformational life. One small seed transforms into a large tree that bears much fruit. Another grows into a head of wheat that feeds a child. Another bears beauty to behold in a world scarred by ugliness. The good soil is productive and filled with purpose and power to sustain real life.

 

Is that the type of soil that characterizes your life? It could be. Where hearts are receptive to God’s light, a life grows and transforms into something quite great. It bears up under the storms of life. It overcomes disease. It takes its daily nourishment and strength from being rooted in God’s truth and grace. The fertile soil is cultivated by the regular plowing of God’s Word, refreshed with the living water of God’s truth,  and filled with his goodness.

 

Whatever soil you’ve been in the past doesn’t matter. Today is a new day. Yield all of it to God and watch how he grows your heart in a most magnificent way.

 

True worship

 

Luke tells the true story (Luke 7) of Jesus having dinner at the house of one of the religious leaders. While there, a woman comes in. Not just any woman…THAT woman. Her ill reputation around town should have kept her from entering this respectable house. But she wasn’t concerned with what others thought. She began to wash his feet with her tears, kissed them, and poured perfume over them.

 

The pharisee Simon thought to himself that if Jesus were really a prophet, he would know what kind of a woman this was, and presumably would send her away with disdain. Jesus tells Simon about a moneylender who forgave two men their debts, one who owed much money and another who owed less. Jesus asked Simon which man would love the moneylender more, the one who owed much or the one who owed little. Simon correctly answered, the one who owed much. Jesus responded that this same woman who came to worship him and wash his feet showed him much love while Simon who was the host showed him little.

 

Jesus concludes that those who are forgiven much love much but those who are forgiven little love little. Then he forgave the woman of her sins. And when the guests murmured about this, he helped her faith again by saying, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50).

 

Astonishing, right?

 

If you had been a guest that evening, what would you thought as you walked home? Maybe like Simon, you would have remarked at the shameful woman who interrupted this special event. Or maybe you would have left amazed at the humility and love shown by the woman you had earlier judged. Or would you have left with a sense of awe and wonder about a man who could forgive sins, even THOSE sins?

 

As I leave this story, I think about how very large a pile of debt was created by my own wrongdoings. How about you? Perhaps in our eyes, it has become all past events, washed away and forgotten. In one sense, that’s true. When we confess our sins, Jesus forgives them and casts them away, remembering them no more. But I wonder, if we truly remembered each day how great a debt was forgiven, would we respond more like that woman whose only motivation and driving ambition was to worship the one who forgave her? How it would affect our daily worship if we remembered how great the grace was that washed over us. Maybe it would drive us to an authentic worship based on great love, not Sunday habits and rituals.

 

It’s the battle we all face: the shame of falling short, of not measuring up, of pursuing self in place of pursuing God. There is no self-cure; only the repentant heart that invites the forgiveness of Jesus. But sometimes we believe the lie instead of the truth. The lie says, “You’ve battled this sin all your life; you can’t overcome it.” The lie says, “You’re not worthy.” The only way to fight the lies is to take up the truth – God’s faithful promise of grace and peace that come from a repentant heart. Shame has no power over a heart fully given to God for this is what he promises:

 

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6–7).

 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

 

“Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43).

 

Worship is not adherence to a set of dos and don’ts. It’s not a ritual of dressing up and going to church. True worship is going to Jesus full of love and gratitude wherever you find him, any time of any day. It is the deep acknowledgment that we are sinners in need of a gracious Savior, the only one who can pronounce peace upon our soul.

 

Confess. Receive forgiveness. Worship fully. Go in peace.