Sin is a loaded word. For those outside the faith, it’s a funny and dated religious term. For Christians, we repeat it so often that it loses its bite. Scripture reveals that sin is worse than we know. Jesus is so serious about it that he says, “If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.” What is it about sin that’s so fatal it would require Jesus to go to the cross?
This Lent we do a soul examination, studying all the ways God describes the complex of sin. Lawlessness, adultery, rebellion . . . The cancerous nature of sin means that we need to go deeper than surface confession. The problem is worse than we know, which makes our Savior greater than we can imagine.
Invocation
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, who delivers us from all evil.
Invitation Prayer
Lord Jesus, you suffered evil at the hands of the religious establishment. Priests accused you of blasphemy. In their trial against you, they called the Good Shepherd evil. Forgive your people when we call evil good and good evil. We are sheep easily led astray. Renew us to be your people, clean and holy. Amen.
Word
Joel 2:14 “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?”
Meditation: Sin Offerings by Anna Jacob
In January, I started a reading plan that involves reading the Bible chronologically over the course of one whole year. Right now the daily readings have fallen into Leviticus. It can be repetitive. It can be dull. It can be strange. Yet it can offer amazing insight to God’s character and his overall desire to redeem his people.
During this time in history, there is a large group of people (the Israelites) wandering through a desert. They have recently been freed from slavery and are doing their best to follow God’s instructions. Well, some of the time. But even despite some of their best efforts, they keep getting things wrong.
In this book, God’s word goes into very specific detail on how to worship him. He gave the Israelites instructions for setting up the tabernacle, his dwelling place among them. He had a plan for what the priests would wear. He listed out the necessary offerings to be made: wave offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings.
Our reading for this week mentions these last two offerings. The Israelites of this time period are experiencing great hardship. A plague and drought make these types of offerings impossible to give. Regardless, the prophet Joel encourages the people to repent and turn back to God. More important than these offerings, God wants the hearts of his people.
The people of the Old Testament spent many generations trying to please the Lord. They had law after law, rule after rule, given to them to follow. Yet no matter how hard they worked to follow God’s ways, they ultimately fell short of the necessary requirements to completely rid themselves from sin and death.
As modern day Christians, we continue to battle with sin. Thankfully, we no longer need to follow the ancient offerings practiced in the Old Testament. We know that God has fulfilled his promise to redeem the world. He sent his one and only son to atone for all of our sins. He defeated death on a cross.
We may not need to offer God burnt offerings. But just like the Israelites in the Old Testament, God wants our hearts.
Dear Lord, thank you for atoning for my sin. Daily I offer my heart to you. In your name I pray, Amen.
Sending
In the face of evil, may the God of faithfulness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Jesus Christ. Amen.