06/12/2020
Are there those we know who were called by God, and stood before Jesus to profess their faith, just as we did, but have since fallen away? Well, how do we treat them? Do we shun them, look down on them, and make them to feel unwelcome in our midst? Do we judge them, and stand firmly between them and God at the moment they might desire to reconcile themselves? Do we feel that we are the guardians of the sanctuary, and defenders of God Himself? Woe to us who keeps one of God’s children from Him.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Romans 11:29 ESV
Which one of us has never found themselves wrestling with our own faith? Which one of us hasn’t had a moment when we couldn’t bring ourself to look God in the eye, or didn’t feel worthy to enter the house of worship that once was our welcoming home? If you tell me that you are without sin, I remind you not to lie.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:8-10 ESV
The prodigal son returned, and the father embraced him, Jacob wrestled with God, David looked upon Bathsheba then took her, and the list of sinners God called to Him that struggled in their faith is long... and it doesn’t end... not even when it gets to you, and me. Yet God Listened to contrite hearts, and He made provision for forgiveness. He welcomed home the fallen, the wanderers, and those who were wrestling with their belief. What man was worthy to stand between these sinners, and God? None!
“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
James 4:12 ESV
Jesus spoke to us in parable about the shepherd who would leave his flock of 99 to go after a single sheep that had strayed. Are we meant to call back that shepherd, and tell him that he should abandon the one, or are we meant to encourage him to find the lost, and bring that one wayward sheep back into the fold? Jesus begins this parable of the lost sheep by saying this...
““See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 18:10 ESV
Years ago I heard a sermon on this very subject, and the pastor made a chilling closing point: “The only army that shoots its wounded is the Christian army.” Now I don’t know where that saying originated, and I doubt it was the original thought of this pastor, but I do know that I have seen this practice put into action. We read scripture after scripture about not judging, forgiveness, and loving... then we behave the opposite. No, we are not without sin, and yet we are quick to throw the first stone... to shoot God’s wounded child. Why do we do this? Why is it that we are so willing to make outcasts of people? I propose to you that we do it out of a fear of our own weaknesses, or perhaps an unwarranted pride in our own righteousness. So we quote certain passages of scripture in support of our actions...
““If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Matthew 18:15-17 ESV
This is a passage often used to justify judging and punishing sinners, but it isn’t meant to judge someone, it is to resolve a conflict between someone and the church, and what is the final penalty? It is to make him as a Gentile and a tax collector. Jesus sent us to witness to the Gentiles, and He sat down to dine with tax collectors... this doesn’t sound much like banishment does it? But, it certainly sounds like waiting for their hearts to be quickened once more in faith, and for us to continue to live a life of Christ before them.
Another scripture used to judge sinners is the argument that Jesus was without sin, but we conveniently forget one very important verse when our heart is being convicted regarding how we have treated others...
“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
The power of this verse is immense, and what was done here is more severe than we can imagine. We see Jesus beaten, and crucified, and we weep and mourn for His mistreatment, but that was only His body, and listen to what Jesus Himself tells us about that...
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 10:28 ESV
Being made sin for us is the real sacrifice, because without this Jesus never really faced death. His soul was never in peril. Yet it was, and He defeated the wages of sin... which are death.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”
1 Peter 3:18 ESV
So how do we approach sinners? It isn’t by abandoning them to Satan, banishing them from our midst, or claiming that we are without sin, but by exercising our faith, and helping them to overcome their sin... just as we are helped by Jesus on Calvary, and as we struggle every day against our own propensity to sin.
““Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”
Matthew 7:1-3 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who was made to be sin so that we could be forgiven. Thank you Holy Father for loving us so much that you were willing to send Him to die for us, carrying our sin onto the cross, becoming sin, facing death, and being raised Perfect, in the love of His sacrifice for the world. Help us Father to live the life of Christ, and to show our faith, and loving kindness to the sinners who are struggling In response to your call, and who surround us every day. Teach us Lord to show mercy as you have shown us mercy, and to have faith in your grace as it applies through Jesus to all of your children. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves His children, and calls out to the wanderers, and the obstinate alike. Praised be your name for coming after us when We were lost, and wrapping us in the cloak of Christ to cover the wounds of sin. Mighty are you who has defeated sin and death in one powerful blow. Great are you who has made provision for sin, and cleansed the world with the blood of your perfect lamb. Hear our prayers Father as we confess our sins before you, and ask forgiveness each day, yea, even without ceasing. All glory is yours Lord, because your grace is without end, and made to flow over us... perfect in Christ. Hear our prayers for the lost, and the belligerent who you wait patiently for, and use us Father to bring them to you. In this may we be judged worthy to dine at your table, now, and forevermore.
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Romans 2:1-5 ESV
Rich Forbes