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Posts Tagged ‘forgiveness’

Sin is EOE

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2010| 1 Comment »

An Equal Opportunity Employer–that’s sin! Equal pay for equal work. Totally fair. Which is why I am so grateful for the gift of grace that continues giving even when I screw up.

Romans 6:23
For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord. [Amplified]

As a new Christian, I never understood the parable about the laborers who were hired throughout the day and paid equally, whether they started at the beginning of the day or at the very end [Matthew 20:1-16]. It all seemed so “unfair.” But now I see, first of all, that I am one of the “late in the day” laborers; and, secondly, this is the whole point–this is how grace works.

The sowing and reaping principle is in place for everyone. Other religions teach sowing and reaping as well, but perhaps by a different name like Karma. Like energy, what we expend comes back to us in equal parts. The only thing that can block the full force of this cycle is the cross of Christ, the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifices required in Jewish law were a foretelling of the work of the Messiah.

What is sin? So many think of the most dire deeds as sin like killing someone or stealing or breaking some other secular law. “I am basically a good person,” they say. And because of this human tendency (described very well in the story of Adam and Eve), God provided a “law” or code of conduct to help people see how far we are from the “mark.”

It is so much easier to observe the misconduct of others. But the the mirror of Christ allows us to see more accurately our own missteps and our self-preserving tactics (preserving “face,” preserving our standards of living, etc). There are lots of forms of sin, some easily detected, others hidden in the heart. But, in any case, all sin is covered by grace. This is where my confidence lies. Otherwise, I would be truly lost.

I hold to the tether of Christ’s mantle.

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Body Parts

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

As soon as the Bible mentions “body parts,” everyone’s mind goes right to sex. And yes, there is a lot to be said about sex and its abuses. But there are other misused body parts that do equal damage to the soul. . .

Romans 6:13
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

The tongue is the number one culprit in my life. This is the body part that is constantly leaning toward wickedness and does much damage. If I could keep my words corralled and dedicated to God, what a difference it would make. Instead, my mouth goes into 3rd gear while my mind is still in “park.” I have actually warned people that I think out loud. I hear my out loud thoughts and then massage the ideas. In a brainstorming session, I can be a true asset: Blurt Out Brown.

But this type of talking can do harm when it turns into gossip. I can’t even say it’s always malicious gossip. It’s the constant telling and retelling of a story where I might have been on the short end. And unconsciously, every time I tell that story, the perpetrator gets more stupid and I am more wrongly maligned. The listener nods and “tsk-tsks” and I feel vindicated to tell the story again. Oh shame.

There are other abuses of the tongue: cattiness, sarcasm, complaint, crudeness, name-calling, and lies (to name a few).

As I think about it more, it’s clear the tongue is but a slave to another, more secret master: the mind. It is the mind that fans the flame and directs the tongue to speak, to answer, or to attack. The mind is the “first responder.”

I love the fact that I have an active mind. I am relatively smart and I can process a lot of data. I am creative and I am facile. But this same mind that has served me well has also spent a lot of time on the “dark side.” It’s time to flood my mind with the light.

I confess my sinful tongue and ask forgiveness for the damage it has done. Oh Lord, Guard my mouth this day. Show me how to offer my words to you before they leave my mouth.

Sensitize my mind to the sacred other that I might not inflict my wounds. Hold my judging thoughts and sift them before they can take root. Take the memories I have used to justify my resentments or anger toward others.

Take my life and let it be consecrated to you.

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The Gift that Scales

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In telecommunications or engineering, scalability is a desirable property of a system, a network, or a process, which indicates its ability to either handle growing amounts of work in a graceful manner or to be readily enlarged. [wikipedia]

Romans 5:15
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Grace is scalable. Forgiveness is scalable. The Christ [anointing] is scalable.

For me, this is the point that God is driving home into my soul. There is no sin that cannot be covered by Gift. There is no mistake that cannot be redeemed in some way by Christ. There is no heart that cannot be softened or broken open.

The silly part of me just watched a YouTube video from Annie Get Your Gun and the song, “Anything You Can Do.” The Gift is the same way, ready to step up and “do anything better” than sin. Grace abounds [Romans 5:20].

I struggle so much with “condemnation,” a voice that is constantly reminding me how I fall short, how I sin, how I judge others, how I fail. But today, the message of Romans 5, though layered in hundreds of words, is the lifeline: the gift scales and overcomes my sin. There is nothing I can do that grace can’t do better.

This is not given to encourage bad behavior but to build confidence in the grace of God. As I participate in the dance of grace, letting go of sin through confession, there is room for other things, other thoughts, other behaviors.

As long as I continue to covet the things and abilities of others, I cannot appreciate what I already have. As long as I judge another, I cannot see their sacred heart. As long as I gossip, I cannot hear the still small voice of God.

I open my hands to your gift this day.

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Rescue

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2010| 3 Comments »

Rescue implies that a person is in a dangerous situation. At the point of discovery, there are no accusations or recriminations against the person in need. We don’t scream down the mind shaft, “what were you thinking?” … or at least, we shouldn’t.

Acts 26:17
“…I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them. …” [Paul retelling what he heard Jesus say to him on the road to Damascus.]

Our family is in the process of looking for a new dog. Historically, we have always waited for a dog to drop into our lives or we search out a “rescue.” These are the animals who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected. They are in need of love and a family. They need encouragement and protection. They need a place of safety. Sometimes, it takes a lot of time and patience to incorporate a rescued pet into a family.

Human beings are even more complicated to rescue. The people who end up in bad circumstances because of their own choices may be a little easier (if they can admit to the part they played in getting there). But, many are in denial. In either case, these people still need to be rescued “out” of theirs situations before anything else can happen. Again, using the mind shaft image, it’s not worth explaining or lecturing to the person at the bottom about playing too close to the edge.

Sometimes, I think we try “rescue” tactics with people who don’t believe they are in trouble. This does not work. You cannot dangle rescue paraphernalia in front of folks who don’t feel like they are in danger. That would be like handing someone a life preserver in the desert. It doesn’t make sense.

If we are in the rescue business, then we need to understand that particular person’s mind shaft, desert, or ocean experience. And if we aren’t equipped to do that, then we need to find someone who can.

There are things, however, that can be given to anyone in any situation. They are grace gifts: love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance. These have little cost. Giving them is a choice.

But rescue is action. Rescue takes extra energy. Rescue takes lots of time. Rescue may require more than one worker. Rescue can be difficult. Rescue may not be convenient for the rescuer(s).

Jesus told Paul that he would rescue him from difficult circumstances … but Jesus also said he would place Paul among the very people that would drag him into more difficult circumstances.

Once rescued, it’s important to rescue others. But, we must be wise and tolerant and loving along the way. We must be ready to answer the call of “help.” Before then… we just keep giving the grace gifts.

Give me courage to ask for rescue when I need it. Give me courage to respond to the call for rescue from others.

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Past and Future Witness

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

When we enter into relationship with Christ Jesus we are also entering into an agreement to be a witness to the acts of Jesus in our lives up until that moment and as events unfold in the future. Much like the cusp of the New Year… we look back, but we also look forward.

Acts 26:15b-16
” ‘I am Jesus, whom you [Paul] are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. …”

When I started on the Way, I was a little embarrassed. I wasn’t comfortable with the trappings of being a “Christian.” There was a whole new vocabulary and depending on the types of believers around me, there were expectations about behaviors. Sometimes, the whole thing just didn’t feel real. Was I really going to carry a bible around with me all the time and wear a cross around my neck and give homage to Christian holidays? Was I really a person who would stop saying Jesus Christ! when I banged my toe or hit my fingers with a hammer? Was I really going to go to church every Sunday or even extra days throughout the week? Would I pray in public? Would I raise my hands and dance in the aisles or would I kneel in a pew and cross myself? Would I pray for people over the phone? Would I ask people to pray for me on the Internet?

Which of these outward expressions would really witness to my faith in Christ?

None. Not really. Somewhere along the way, I realized it was my transformations within that would dictate my outer expressions. And even from the very beginning, there was a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. No matter how I stumbled, there was a wooing that would bring me back to the Way.

I experienced private joy when I walked around my apartment for an hour singing the only Christian song I knew, Jesus Loves Me. There were intense times of forgiveness of my father who died and abandoned me at a young age, and forgiveness of people who had hurt me, and forgiveness of myself for the hurts I had caused others (my mother, my first husband, my brother, my friends). There were testing times too because I wanted to see if God really cared about me as an individual. He did. He does.

Now, what of tomorrow? What will be my witness be for tomorrow? What more will the Christ do in my life? Perhaps this is the reason I write now… to capture today so I can be ready for the next hour, the afternoon, the evening, and then tomorrow.

Yes, I am on the Way. It is a long path that winds ahead. I can look back on that path and see where I took some “long cuts” (opposite of a short cut) and I can see where the path was wide and easy as well as the places that were narrow and difficult. When I turn to look ahead, I can see there are curves ahead that prevent me from seeing very far into the future. But I do see that there is a path. And when I look around, I can see the footprints of others. I am not alone on the Way.

Yes, it’s all good. I am comfortable in my Jesus shoes at last. I am content.

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30th Anniversary

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Thirty years ago, I finished reading the New Testament all the way through for the first time. I had a decision to make. Was it the truth or a lie? I kneeled beside my bed and confessed to this Jesus that the words felt… they resonated like truth. That decision changed my life forever.

Hebrews 5:14
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

In some ways, I feel as though I am still on “spiritual milk” and have not matured as I should. After all, it’s been a long time. I have professed followership of Jesus for many, many years. And yet, I still struggle with many of the basics: love, trust, faith, hope…

Perhaps that is the maturity… I recognize I am still struggling. When I was younger in the Lord I can remember attending spiritual retreats where confession was a signature event where we pounded our written sins onto a cross. For many, it was extremely cathartic. But for me, in those early years, I’d struggle with the writing. What should I put on that little piece of paper? What great sin had I committed that still needed to be confessed. Hadn’t I confessed them all by now?

That makes me laugh. These days, I confess my sins daily. They accumulate quickly. I place even the smallest sin at the foot of the cross before that sin can grow, like yeast, to a besetting mountain of emotional pain or denial; before it can darken or harden my heart any more than it already has. And, unfortunately, I confess, some days, it’s the same sin… judging, pride, resentment, self-pity, anger… to name a few familiars.

I understand now, more than ever before, what it means to pray the Jesus prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

My sins are legion, which reminds me of the demoniac [Luke 18:30] who was possessed of many demons. In the same way that many demons can be “swept away,” they can also come back to look for purchase in a newly cleaned “soul.” Sins also reappear [Matthew 12:43-45] to plague the spirit.

This is my message to any believer, young or old: confess often, accept grace and forgiveness daily, and give to others what Christ gives to you.

This is not just the beginning of the church year, it is also the beginning of my own new year in Christ. Continue to teach me, guide me, and renew me. Amen.

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Grace vs Pragmatism

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 15:39a
They [Paul and Barnabas] had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company…

I think about all that Paul and Barnabas had been through and wonder how this disagreement finally tipped the scale. Maybe they were always kvetching with each other and this was one kvetch too many. Who knows? But clearly, these wunderkind apostles did fight.

It appears that Barnabas was ready to extend grace to John Mark for his disappearing act when they were all traveling together before (near Pamphylia), but Paul was not. For Paul, it was simply unwise. He didn’t think they could “count on” John Mark.

Both Paul and Barnabas were considered apostles. Both men were familiar with the Holy Spirit. Both men were prayer warriors. Both men were leaders. And yet, they could not agree.

It is no different today. There will always be disagreement between leaders … between believers. Some lean toward grace and some lean toward pragmatism. Is one right where the other is wrong? No, they are simply different roads.

John Mark went on to write the book of Mark which has been included in the canon of scripture. Barnabas disappears from the story after leaving Paul. Silas, Paul’s new companion, went on to work with Timothy. And of course, Paul continued his own journeys. Each man contributed to the story in his own way.

There is a place for both: grace and pragmatism. They are not necessarily on opposite sides of the coin.

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