04/03/2019
There is sin in the life of each of us, and we struggle with it. What are we to do with this albatross that hangs around our neck? How can we free ourselves from the stench of it? With such a detestable burden, we are fortunate that God sent His Son Jesus to relieve us of it, but the cost to Himself was enormous. When we look at the passion of Christ do we see the enormity of the effort... the true grace revealed in His suffering?
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”Isaiah 53:6 ESV
Men have suffered, and untold numbers have been put to death by crucifixion, but none have taken upon themselves the sins of the world. None have absorbed the most vial and despicable atrocities of the world like our savior Jesus Christ did. The unspeakable punishment his body received as He moved towards the cross, and finally hung there, is a symbol, a shadow, of the real torture He was going through. A pure and innocent man filled and smeared we undeserved sin.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
All of this for me, and for you, but are we just as blinded by our sins as those who crucified Him... those whom He looked down from His cross, and forgave? Do we continue to carry our own sins when His life, death, and resurrection cries out for them? The suffering and crucifixion of Christ was not a travesty, it was an act of absolute love; the true travesty is that we would continue to struggle at the sham of ridding ourselves of sin when He has paid such a price, and already taken them for us.
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.”1 John 2:2-3 ESV
Have you ever tried to help someone but they were too proud to accept the help? Have you seen someone in a desperate situation, but they wouldn’t allow themselves to take assistance, or a charitable offering? There is just such a story in my family...
It was the time of the Great Depression and many were living in poverty, and going hungry. My grandparents were eking out a subsistence for themselves and their children on their farm, but many days came and went with little food, and starvation was a very real concern. This was true across the country, but nowhere any more than in Appalachia. It became so bad that the government started handing out rations to stem the disaster. So as the families lined up in bread lines, and at food trucks to get life saving supplies, my grandfather would not go into town for the assistance. A wealthy man in town knew him, and he also knew his children were starving, so he came out to the farm and told my grandfather that he needed some locust posts for fencing he was doing, and offered him a fair price for a large number of them. They agreed on the price, and the man paid for the posts in advance.
It took quite a while, and a lot of hard work, but my grandfather cut and stacked all of the posts that were ordered, and told the man they were ready to be picked up... the man said he would send someone by to collect them, but he never took delivery of the posts. Eventually they rotted away, but my mother and her siblings were fed, and the family survived the depression.
This good man from town knew that my grandfather’s pride had blinded him, and that he wouldn’t accept any unearned assistance, so he devised a plan to save this family, and it worked! Later, when it became obvious to my grandfather what had been done, the story became precious to us, and is told over and over again, lest we forget. This is a semblance of our faith, and salvation. Jesus gave Himself for our sin, with nothing more than our acceptance of Him as the price. By God’s grace He gave us redemption, and by that merciful grace we are saved. Yet, quite often we continue to struggle at cutting our locust posts, and stacking them up for pick-up. The travesty suffered by Jesus is in giving us his life, and redemption from sin, and then for us to remain blind to the grace of that sacrifice.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV
So what about the albatross of sin that rots about our neck, or the locust posts that we must negotiate to sell? What about these sins, and our pride, that we can’t relinquish to Jesus because God’s grace is not of our doing? Are we, by holding to such, crucifying Him yet again?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, and the mercy and grace He brings to us. Thank you Holy Father for His obedience in your will upon the cross, and even more, for the sins of the world He suffered there. Help me Merciful Father to put away my pride, and accept your grace freely. Never let me forget the story of the locust posts, and how, except by the unwarranted goodness of another, my family was saved. Help me to see Jesus in such goodness and mercy, teach me to offer it in like kind to others. Never let the desire to address my own sin place Jesus back on the cross Lord. Open my eyes to your grace, and His suffering; let me see clearly the price of the burdensome sin He shouldered for me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who sent His only Begotten Son to suffer, die, and be resurrected, for me that I might be relieved of my sin and death without cost or effort to me. Praised be your name, and all glory be yours Gracious Father! In you is all goodness and love, now and forevermore.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”1 Peter 2:24-25 ESV
Rich Forbes
To better understand the albatross read...
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43997/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-text-of-1834