Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Lenten Devotional – Day 31

Q. 84. What does every sin deserve?

A. Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.

“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” (Gal. 3:10)

Fear the judgments of God! Dread the wrath of the Almighty! Do not discuss the works of the Most High, but examine your sins - in what serious things you have offended and how many good things you have neglected. - The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, Book 3, Chapter 4

  Anyone who honestly examines our relationship with God and the many ways we employ in our lives to avoid God’s presence in our lives, we must come to the conclusion that we don’t desire much from God expect wrath and curse. Fortunately, for us God does not see it the same way. I have discovered that sin has its own punishment built into it. When we separate ourselves from the will and presence of God, this separate on its own inflicts injury, hurt and suffering in our lives. What we might call the wrath of God, is only our own sin catching up with us and is all self-inflict. We would rather live under the delusion we are good and upright, even though the evidence shows otherwise.

sin2  In the early part of this century, a novelist researching a book about life in a certain New England town visited the local cemetery as part of his investigations. The writer noted with interest that nearly every tombstone from that era bore a final epitaph. Unfailingly, these were words of praise for the departed with references such as "kind,"  "generous,"  "upstanding," loving" and "faithful" appearing again and again.
This prompted the researcher to ask, "I wonder where they buried the sinners?"

  Former Yale chaplain and seminary president John W. Vannorsdall writes: “In spite of the fact that God must watch his whales die, and our submarines increase, God comes to us with the message of love, not wrath. That's why it seems so remarkable to me that when God comes to speak God's Word to us, that Word becomes a child. A child announced by singing, not by thunder. A child born by lamplight in silent night, rather than a Word which shakes the mountains, pouring rivers of unstoppable fire down every side. The Word becomes a child, which can be received and cannot hurt us: a Word which does not make us afraid. I am prepared for the anger of God, and believe that God has a right to wrath. What is so amazing is that when God comes among us, whatever God's hurt and indignation, God comes not with violence but with love, even as a child vulnerable to our further hurt.” - He Came to His Own Home, 24 December 1978, The Lutheran Series of the Protestant Hour

  In one of Charlie Chaplin's great silent films, he plays a prisoner being transported to jail, but his boat has been shipwrecked. At the film's beginning, Chaplin is sitting on a beach looking at the clasp around his leg attaching him to a ball and chain. The whole film shows him relating to this ball and chain and attempting to escape its weight.

  First, he thinks to humor it. "When its guard is down, I will dash away." So he makes little jokes to accomplish this purpose. He walks the length of the chain and falls into the sand.

  Scratching his head, wondering what to do next, he decides that he can outsmart it. He gets up and tries to walk away -- and again falls into the sand. Now, he becomes more thoughtful. His next strategy is one of reason. "I know. I will talk to it! I will reason with it!" But down he goes again into the sand.

  Now at the end of his patience, he pretends the ball and chain are not there. He kicks sand over it, and for a while it looks as if his problem has vanished. Thinking he has solved his dilemma, he strides to the end of the chain. Down he goes.

  At this point, the insight finally dawns. Like a light turning on in Chaplin's head, he realizes that he cannot solve the problem alone. If he is going to be helped, it has to come from the outside. In the last scene, he is seen looking upward in hope of a rescue.

  The Easter message tells us that our enemies - sin, the curse and death - are beaten. Ultimately, they can no longer start mischief. They still behave as though the game were not decided, the battle not fought; we must still reckon with them, but fundamentally we must cease to fear them anymore. - Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline (New York: Philosophical Library, 1949), 123.

Today’s Lectionary Readings
Morning Psalm: 147
Evening Psalm: 31
Jeremiah 25:30-38
Romans 10:14-21
John 10:1-18

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