07/23/2019
Perhaps today Someone will ask you if you have sinned, and you will tell them that you can’t recall having committed a sin today, but think again. Were you in the presence of those who were committing a sin and said nothing, or did you give the appearance of being complicit in a sin by not opposing it or removing yourself from it? If so that is to you a sin because to whom much is given much is expected, and even by your tolerance you teach others that their sin is acceptable. We “were like one of them.”
“On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.”
Obadiah 1:11 ESV
I was reading my devotional message this morning and Charles Spurgeon spoke on the subject of tolerance or complicity, and it convicted me. Every morning I pray that God would forgive me of all sins I have committed knowingly, unknowingly, and by absentia, and yet I concentrate so little on those sins of omission, or absentia. Listen to the words of Spurgeon...
“Have you never been like the wicked? Have you heard people laughing at evil things and didn’t find the joke offensive? You were like one of them. When the ways of God were described with insults, and you were bashful and silent, you were one of them. When worldly people were taking advantage of others in the marketplace, were you like one of them? When they were pursuing wealth and power like a hunter after game, were you as greedy as they were? Could anyone see a difference them and you? Is there any difference?” - Charles Spurgeon
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
James 4:17 ESV
Several years ago I was with a man in the emergency room who was suffering from something called “Hospital Delirium.” This is a common condition that effects a large percentage of those over 65 who have either been admitted to the hospital, had an extended illness, or undergone certain surgeries. It is temporary in nature but quite unsettling. Those who have it think they are somewhere they are not, experience things that aren’t happening, and frequently see people and things that aren’t there. Once this condition clears the person most likely will not remember it.
I had known the man I was with for many years, and we were extremely close. I was in the room with his son, and while the doctor was struggling to treat him he kept trying to get up out of the bed he was in. He thought he was back in WWII. Finally the doctor looked at the two of us standing there and asked us to hold his arms down so that he wouldn’t pull out the IV needle that was in his arm. We immediately went to the bedside, and it was no effort to hold him because he was quite old and frail. Then it happened... he looked up at me and in a most convicting and pitiful voice he said “I would have expected this out of him, but not from you Rich.” It broke my heart to hear those words... it breaks my heart to think that God might view me this way.
God expects more of us as people of faith than He does of others. Just as this man knew me to have always treated him gently and lovingly in the past expected me to never treat him poorly (at least poorly to his way of thinking at that moment of delirium), God expects us to behave as the people of faith we are, and it hurts Him deeply when we stray from that expectation. The one thing we know from God’s Word is that those of faith fail all the time... even in absentia, but that our God hears us when we come to him in contrition... and He forgives us. So, even when our failure is by abandoning Him in the presence of His enemies, or tolerating the sins of others... it hurts Him, and we become as those who sinned.
“And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.”
Luke 12:47 ESV
But we are never denied forgiveness if we confess and are contrite. He loves us nonetheless, and is waiting to forgive; even forgiving those things that we felt we could stand back from and not be assigned guilt for.
When Jesus was on the cross and said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He was certainly asking forgiveness for the rulers and those who were actively crucifying Him, and casting lots for His clothing, but He was also asking forgiveness for the “innocent bystanders” who were merely looking on, but who, in their inaction, had become complicit in this act.
“And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!"”
Luke 23:34-35 ESV
So, Let’s ask ourselves again, have we sinned today? Have we stood idly by and said nothing, done nothing, tolerated something? Do we claim innocence through inactivity? Are we, the Church who tolerates a sinful society without a word spoken, or by making excuses for ungodly behavior innocent? Is Jesus looking at us and saying “forgive them!”?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the love you show us in the face of our inactivity, and tolerance of sin. Thank you for waiting on us to realize our sins of absentia, and for us to fall on our knees in contrition as we ask your forgiveness. Thank you Holy Father for your Son Jesus who asks that you forgive us when we know not what we do, but Lord we pray that you open our eyes, and reveal our sins of omission to us. Show us how our inactivity and tolerance of the world’s sinfulness has become our own sinfulness, and how those sins are both personal, and as a church. Circumsizse our hearts, and our minds, so that we are sensitive to the wrong that occurs around us every day, and don’t let us become the “not so innocent bystanders” as it is occurring. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who sees our heart, and knows our minds. Great are you who waits for us to come on bended knee, asking forgiveness for the sins of others that we have become complicit in. Praised be your name for the mercy and grace that awaits us as sinners by omission. Hear our sudden shout of remorse at the realization of our sinfulness, and lead us back to you... knowing full well that we did not give you food when you were hungry, or water when you were thirsty. Forgive us now and forever, and thank you Jesus for your intercession when we truly know not what we do... or don’t do.
“It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers”
Deuteronomy 6:13, 18 ESV
Rich Forbes