The news
about the Ebola outbreak in the countries of West Africa has certainly been
sobering. Its deadly impact was played out before us as we watched, read, and
listened to news coverage every day. As long as the issue was an African issue many
Americans did not think of it all that much. Yes, it was sad… and dangerous
sounding. But our political leaders and medical experts assured Americans that
it could never be a serious issue in our country. In my own estimation there
has been a degree of hubris exhibited by those in these leadership roles. Hospital
caregivers and transportation providers have been careless. Exposed people have
either unknowingly or carelessly exposed other people. Proper procedures have
been ignored. It is as if in our sophistication, technology, and expertise we
think we are free of any concern or danger.
Recent
events have proved otherwise. The bubble of our invulnerability has been burst.
The potency and movement of this virus has turned out to be not quite so “easy”
to contain or manage. Mistakes have been made. Apologies have had to be given. Carelessness
and actions without thought opened the door for exposure and transmission of
the virus. It became something like a giant game of “Whack-a-Mole”, with
authorities dealing with one situation only to find more and more people in
need of watching, quarantining, or treating.
My
purpose in this devotional is not to point fingers and lay blame, or to suggest
that I have a full understanding of all these events. I share these impressions
more to make a spiritual point: the situation echoes the way that people often
address the deadly issue of sin in the world and in their lives. In our
arrogance we minimize our sin. We do not consider it to be all that serious –
it’s just not that big of a deal to us. But the Bible says that sin is the
sting of death (1 Corinthians 15). Human beings believe their sophistication,
knowledge, technology, scientific accomplishment, etc., will deliver them into
a better world and solve all or most problems. Sin is considered a trivial
matter… nothing to worry about. Yet the Bible suggests it is our greatest enemy
and the cause of death that separates us from God forever if it is not
addressed. Our pride leads us to believe that we can manage our sin. We think
we can contain its impact. "Our sin won’t be as bad as ___." (the spiritual
equivalent of Africa). We think it is worse here in this person, or over there
in that person. We believe… “I’m not as bad as ‘they’ are. Sure I have some.
I’m not perfect. But it’s not all that bad. God will understand.” We minimize
sin and we think we can manage sin to our great peril.
God does
not minimize sin. He knows its destructive power and pervasiveness in the lives
of those He created and loves. He knows that it permeates every dimension of
our lives and we have not been able to “control” it. It has taken us deeper and
further into ourselves and away from Him than we care to admit. It has stained
everything we are and everything we do. All of life in our world feels its
impact. And the cure - the solution for it - must surely be greater than
anything we are capable of. We know God does not minimize sin because of the
steps He took to deal with it. The seriousness of sin is indicated by the step
of love taken by God to send His only Son into the world to take that sin upon
Himself. The atoning work of Christ on the cross is just so incredibly “big” as
the means God resorted to in order to cleanse us, heal us, and free us from the
inevitable death sin brings. The greatness of this work of love cannot be
overstated.
It is
not healthy or wise for us to diminish or shrink the seriousness of sin. And it
is just as unhealthy or unwise to believe ourselves capable of fixing it or
eradicating it. How foolish we are. How proud we can be. The truth about sin is
an opportunity to grow in our appreciation of and total dependence upon the
cross of Jesus Christ. The good news is that as deep as our need is… the grace
of God is deeper still. The blood of Christ has real power for our need… for
cleansing… for even knowing God… for receiving and responding to grace in
faith… for walking (living) a grace-made life in relationship with our Father
each day as sons and daughters in His kingdom. Yes, we take sin seriously. But
we take God’s grace more seriously (and joyfully) still.
Romans 3:21-24 (NIV) 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart
from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and
are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus.
Romans 5:6-9 (NIV) 6 You see, at just the right time, when we
were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very
rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own
love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more
shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Romans 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Corinthians
9:14-15 (NIV) 14 And in their prayers for you their
hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
PRAYER: Father, I take sin seriously. It is deadly.
But the cross of Jesus Your son has delivered me. As I think about this and
live in the new life you have given me, every day I appreciate and value the
cross more and more. Though my sin is great, Christ is greater. What an amazing
and wonderful thing it is to be your child through such grace. Every day, in
all my ways, may I continually experience the riches of your grace and the joy
of being your son. In Jesus’ name,
AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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