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, you know the power of the evil foe. You endured his temptation in the wilderness for 40 days. Answer our prayer to “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Keep us from the devil and his schemes. Guard us from the fiery arrows of satan. Grant us life by the power of our victorious King, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Word
Exodus 32:14
“And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.”
Meditation: Mercy by Anna Jacob
Sin can be a hard topic to discuss. It can make you uncomfortable. I know I feel very exposed when I begin to think of the ways I have fallen short. I would like to believe that most of my sin comes from unintentional acts. I want to think that I wake up every day with the purpose of doing things right, making good choices. But, like all of us, I am hopelessly flawed.
This week’s meditation takes us back to the Old Testament Israelites. Their actions may seem to have good intentions. They want to worship the Lord, but he is not with them. Moses has gone up a mountain and has been there for quite some time. The people convince Aaron to make them a golden calf.
Whether they had good intentions or not. This act of worshiping an idol was not pleasing to God. It angered him greatly.
How often in our own lives do we become impatient with God? We may feel like he is absent from our lives and give ourselves permission to look to other more present sources. We put our energy into our work, our hobbies, our finances, our possessions. We set God aside and choose to rely on our own efforts and ideas of how life should be lived. Ultimately, we start to put other things before him.
Early on in my career, I found it easy to set God aside. I knew he would be there. When I wanted him. When I needed him. Why not focus on more important things? Once I had those figured out, then I would find a way to fit him back into my life.
Boy, was I wrong.
That younger version of myself spent a lot of time and energy putting her career and life choices first. And along the way, it meant I also put myself above God. Looking back I can see how self-centered I was. Yet I did not see it at the time. I did not realize it, even if it was unintentional, that I had put God on the back burner. And what was worse, I slowly began to trust in only myself to figure out life.
From my daily reading today, I was reminded that we all deserve death. And that if we are alive, then we are living on God’s mercy. Just as the Israelites’ actions in the Old Testament, we too have fallen short of God’s commands. But there is good news! We have a loving God. We have a merciful God. We have a God that intentionally redeemed us! So though we may deserve death, by his mercy, we are offered eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Dear Lord, thank you for your relentless mercy. Help me to avoid those idols I pursue. Remind me of your daily presence and unending love. In your name I pray, Amen.
Sending
In the face of evil, may the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.