Have You Been Forgiven Much?

"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." 

Luke 7:47

It is no surprise to us that when judged according to God's perfect standard all are proved sinners.  God does not judge using a curve:  we are either righteous or unrighteous, holy or polluted, pass or fail.  There are two ways to gain entrance to heaven.  The first is to be born without a sin nature and remain perfect in thought, word, attitude, and deed without a single stumble, obeying the Law given to Moses in every tiny detail.  This means avoidance of all sin, offering the appropriate sacrifices at the right times, eating foods deemed clean under the Law, keeping the Passover, and on and on.  This is certainly impossible for everyone since we all have a human dad, the Temple is no longer standing, and we have all made countless mistakes!  The other way (and only way!) to be declared innocent by God is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ by grace through faith.  When we repent of our sin and trust in Jesus for salvation, we are forgiven, our sins are atoned for by the blood of Christ, we are proclaimed righteous, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. 

Jesus, however, was conceived in a virgin by the Holy Spirit.  He kept the Law and was flawless in word and deed.  His sacrifice on the cross was therefore acceptable before God, being the Lamb of God without spot, pure and holy unto God.  He once for all died for the sins of the world so whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  A Christian is someone who has recognised their doomed condition due to sin and has owned it for the sake of forsaking it.  A self-righteous person is convinced that because there are people who appear to be greater sinners than him, repentance is not necessary.  He is proud, refusing to admit his need to be forgiven and reconciled to God - if there indeed is a God!

Prior in the Luke passage, Jesus had been invited to eat with a self-righteous Pharisee, a teacher of the Law.  A woman who was known as a great sinner came to Jesus, anointed Him with fragrant oil, wept as she wiped his feet with her hair and kissed them.  The Pharisee was indignant and judged Christ negatively, questioning the permissive response of Jesus:  "If this man is truly a great prophet, He would never allow such a sinful woman to touch Him."  Jesus, knowing the self-righteous and judgmental heart of Simon the Pharisee, called him out in front of all the dinner guests.  Simon didn't see himself as a great sinner.  Because of that, he had been only forgiven little.  The result of his lack of repentance was little love for God.  He had not been forgiven much, so he loved little. 

The result of repentance is an increase of love for God.  Having grown up in the church, I know a lot of "churchy" people.  I have seen it to be true that many who grow up in the church and live a "clean life" by worldly standards lack the repentance of those who have been great sinners.  I used to be one of these people.  All people are great sinners, but self-righteous folks don't see their own sin properly.  Because they do not deem their sin as grievous, they neglect and resist repentance - thinking it is a sign of spiritual weakness - or fearful of judgment by other self-righteous church people.  The end result?  Little love for God.  This lack of love results in little labour for God and judgments of others.  A lack of repentance brings a man to be a Pharisee who invites Jesus over for a meal but refuses to make the sacrifices great sinners freely perform with great joy.

If you love someone, you will do something about it.  Proverbs 27:5 reads, "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed."  Because I love you, dear reader, here is a gentle rebuke:  if you do not do much for Christ it is because you do not love much.  If you do not love much because you have not been forgiven much.  If you have been forgiven much you will love much.  Much love results in much labour and sacrifice for God's glory.  Love for God will compel you to give up what is most precious to you for Him without hesitation.  Instead of being depressed about our faults, let us confess them and repent, agreeing with God once and for all.  The more our sins are forgiven the more reason we have to love Jesus and remain loyal to Him.  Our sins are great, but our God is greater.  May our love for Him increase so all will know we are Christians by our love!

Sowing Among Thorns

Last night I read and took to heart the exhortation found in Jeremiah 4:3:  "For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns."  I started thinking about the many references in scripture to thorns.  Thorns are a consequence of Adam's transgression (Gen. 3:18).  Thorns cling to clothing, fur, pierce skin, and cause pain.  Instead of providing food, thorny weeds only make more of the same.  When Jesus went to the cross bearing upon Himself the sins of the world, a crown of thorns was pressed into his scalp.  Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.  The results of sin, infamously destructive and deadly, are symbolised in the crown of thorns Jesus wore.

Jesus told a story often called "The Parable of the Sower."  Matthew 13:3-9 reads, "Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Later in chapter 13, Jesus explains the meaning of the parable to His disciples.  The good seed represents the Word of God (Luke 8:11), and each place the seed is sown symbolises various conditions of the heart.  Some seed fell on stony ground while other seed fell on good soil.  There was also seed which fell among thorns which choked the seed.  Matthew 13:22 contains Christ's explanation:  "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful."  It appeared to be good ground, but there were other seeds which produced thorns present in the soil.  Thorns sprang up with the tender shoots from the good seed and made them unfruitful.

If you have done any amount of gardening, you will have been confronted with weeds and thorn-bearing plants.  I have carefully cultivated a small garden plot, bought quality topsoil and amendments, only to have more prickly weeds than vegetables!  While this may be a testimony to my poor gardening, we can easily understand the point Jeremiah makes.  It would be a gross waste to sow seed upon dry, hardened, unprepared, fallow ground.  It would also be foolish to sow good seed among thorns because they would demand the nutrients young plants require to grow and be fruitful.  A distinction between Christ's teaching and Jeremiah's exhortation is that Jeremiah makes it deeply personal.  God through the prophet Jeremiah says to the people, "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns."  This is an objective statement intended to drive home the point personally:  "You have unprepared hearts.  The consequences of sin marks your hearts:  lack of repentance, fruitlessness, hardness, and barrenness.  To think that God's Word will make the slightest impact upon your hearts in your current condition is utter folly.  Don't bother wasting your time unless you first humble yourself before God and repent.  Prepare yourself to meet with God."

As I read this, it struck me how we can fall into the same trap as the Jews to whom God spoke through the prophet.  They were God's chosen people, had been given His ordinances, and were offered fellowship with God.  But they had not first prepared their hearts to receive from Him.  They were caught up with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.  The problem was not a lack of good seed or effort in scattering it, but a lack of brokenness and repentance.  Their hearts were hard and the weeds - the consequences of pride, greed, unforgiveness, bitterness, and all manner of sin - grew unabated.  The good will not overcome the evil if the evil is not systematically, thoroughly eradicated.  The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and is the divine "Round Up" that kills sin in the very root.  But if we neglect to prepare our hearts to seek the LORD, becoming resistant to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can have a patch of thorns in our hearts which need uprooting before the good Word will have the desired effect.

Spiky weeds are an easy path to a green yard, but God wants more than green foliage:  He desires fruit!  When we are battling doubts, confused, or struggling with temptation, sometimes we think the answer lies in more Bible reading and listening to sermons.  Unless we prepare our hearts first by breaking up our fallow ground and clearing our hearts and lives of all sin, it will profit us little if at all.  Praise God that Christ is the Husbandman who gives us new hearts and renews our minds.  Let us heed the good Word:  plow up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.  May the good result described in Colossians 1:10 be manifest in God's people:  "...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Expectation Without Disappointment

Sports fans all over the world are focused on London as the 2012 Olympics have commenced.  With four years between chances to compete for mere moments to secure a gold medal, the unspeakable elation and disappointment of these athletes is also on display.  Some have waited four years for redemption after a poor performance in the previous Games, and others have waited their whole lives just to have a chance at Olympic glory.  The best athletes in the world train incredibly hard, sacrificing all else to perform at their best to win.  There are those who win, and those who do not.  I don't view anyone who makes it to the Olympics as a loser.

Flipping on the TV this morning in Sydney, the big news of the day was the expected victory that didn't happen.  The buildup to the 4 X 100 men's freestyle relay has been enormous, and there was an expectation of our swimmers to win gold.  Some speculated that the world record might fall based upon their times in the trials.  But statistics and historical data are meaningless once the race begins.  That is one of the exciting things about sport:  things don't always happen how we may expect.  It turned out that France edged out the USA for gold and Russians took home the bronze.  The Australians were left stunned, not even winning a medal.  Even today the disappointing reality seems like an surreal nightmare to those four young men.  The next four years will crawl by until the men once again have the opportunity to be crowned Olympic champions in the relay.  Good on ya, boys.  You'll get 'em next time.

One of the swimmers was interviewed this morning on channel 9 and was trying to convey his deep disappointment in the result.  He talked about all the hours and effort they had put in to perform well.  He spoke of many sacrifices, how he hadn't eaten a slice of bread or had a drink all year.  The loss seemed to make him wonder aloud if all the hard work and sacrifice was really worthy it.  Had he been interviewed with Olympic gold gracing his neck, there would have been no doubt:  it would have all been worth it!  It's painful and awkward to feel like you have lost something you never had in the first place.

Perhaps this is how some people feel as they go through life.  People make sacrifices for all sorts of reasons:  they work a second job to put their children through school; some wake at 4am every morning to begin their training regimen; others eat and drink less than they'd like to improve their fitness.  The life of a Christian is one of great sacrifice.  Before the end of our days it is a good question to have settled:  is my sacrifice worth it?  For a Christian we only need answer this question:  was Christ's sacrifice worth it?  It was certainly worth it!  Christ died on a cross as the Lamb of God and rose three days later defeating death.  He has purchased with His precious blood all who repent and trust in Him for salvation.  Because He deemed it a worthy sacrifice to die for man, man ought to view Christ as worthy of all sacrifice.  Any sacrifice I make for His glory is small indeed compared to that of Christ, being God made flesh.

Though we will experience tribulation in this life, we are told to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world.  We have granted us by grace a hope that cannot disappoint.  Romans 5:1-5 reads, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."  While Olympians work, train, and sacrifice all for a chance at momentary glory that fades away, the hope we have in Christ today is sure and exceeds any expectation we could possible have.  I am sure there are some Olympians who win gold and experience the great euphoria of victory.  It only may be a short time later when they open that box and look at their medal and think, "So that's it?  Now that the moment is gone, what is left for me?"  Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:10, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity."  One would think someone like Michael Phelps with his many medals would be satisfied, but he still wants more gold.

The trip to the Olympics for some might be disappointing, but no one will be disappointed who is given a glorious entrance to heaven by grace through Christ.  Born again Christians enter, not because of our worthiness, but due to the goodness and victory of our King Jesus.  The streets of New Jerusalem will be made of pure gold.  There will be no sun because God Himself will be the light.  There will be no time restraint, for we will dwell with God in His presence for all eternity.  There will be no sin, sickness, disease, crying, or death.  The happy euphoria we experience on earth is but a fleeting hint of the profound joy, satisfaction, and awe we will experience forever.  This world is filled with disappointments, but we know that God is worth every sacrifice.  He is worthy, faithful, and true.  He has already won, and the day is coming when the celebration will be unhindered.  God gives us hope that cannot disappoint!

Share Christ's Life

We don't need to look to hard to find object lessons of scriptural truth all around us.  I found one right in my yard!  From the time we moved into our house about a year and a half ago, the tree in our front yard looked a bit sad.  It was absolutely infested with ants and it wasn't long before bark beetles set upon the gnarled trunk.  After a valiant battle against erosion and pests, I have concluded it has finally died.

My initial hope was that it was a deciduous tree that is dormant during the winter, but when I examined the branches carefully they all appeared to be dry and dead.  Sulfur-crested Cockatoos over the course of several afternoons chewed off most of the tips of the branches when the tree was still alive, and that didn't help matters.  But the other day a small bush caught my eye across the street!  Could it be?  Yes!  It wasn't a bush but a healthy sapling seeded by this dead tree!

When I saw this I considered how that the now dead tree had given life to this young sapling.  I thought of the words Jesus said in John 12:24:  "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."  As a planting of the LORD, we must do all we can to sow the good seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while we are still alive.  The day will come when we will leave this earth and be unable to move rocks, plow, plant, water, or harvest a bountiful crop.

The thought of evangelism can be a daunting one for many Christians.  Perhaps to put it into perspective, ask yourself:  what is the worst thing that could happen if you shared your faith?  How do you answer?  I will tell you how I have answered this question:  I could be rejected, scorned, ostracised, slandered, maybe even physically assaulted.  If I boldly shared the Gospel in a country where it is illegal to share your faith, I could be imprisoned, put in a work camp, or solitary confinement.  I could be be subjected to torture and even death.  Even should this be the outcome it is a small loss because I would be instantly ushered into eternal glory in the presence of the LORD and receive great reward.

But you know what God has shown me?  That's a selfish way to answer the question.  I ought to rather consider, "What is the worst possible outcome - not for me - but for those lost people with whom I do not share my faith?"  The answer is simple:  the soul that sins shall surely die.  The wages of sin is death, and those who die in their sins face certain judgment according to God's law and an eternity of torment in hell.  Whose outcome is worse:  my worst case scenario or theirs?

If we desire that others receive life through Christ, our lives will provide the proof.  In God's strength may we do His work while it is day because night is coming when no one can work.  Jesus is coming quickly, and His reward is with Him!