“God
Forgives Me” was the title of a talk I gave at our church a
while ago. It's one of my favorite topics, probably because
I need God's forgiveness so often. But as I feverishly finished
my remarks that Saturday night, I wasn't the least bit happy
with it.
My
message seemed pedantic and propositional, proving the basis
of, need for and results of forgiveness. What was I doing, presenting
a case to the jury or offering hope to sinners like me?
Blecch!
I'm sick of treating messages like theme papers. When will I
learn that forgiveness is less about clearing a slate and more
about restoring a relationship? Why breathe all the life out
of the message by treating it like a law debate?
It
was too late to reconstruct my whole message, so as I began
to conclude my talk, I did what orators should never do–I said,
“I don't really like this message, and here's why...” I think
(and hope) you can get away with that once.
What
astounds me about God's forgiveness is that He seems to get
such a kick out of doling it out. If you doubt me, take a close
look at Ephesians 1:4‑7 and notice the words “in love,”
“his pleasure and will,” “grace...freely given,” and “grace...lavished.”
Love,
pleasure, grace...freely given, lavished. Sounds like God is
having way too much fun with this. And He is. He doesn't fold
his arms while Jesus pleads our case to Him.
“But
you've got to let them go, Sir,” Jesus begs.
“Okay,
if I must,” He responds as He pounds the gavel. “Not Guilty!”
We
can imagine Jesus saying to us, “You're lucky he's on your side.”
We walk out, free but shamed, our tails between our legs.
My
goodness, what kind of picture is that? But it's how I picture
my heavenly Father and me. He loves me!
“Oh,
you again. Same sin as last time?”
In
my head I know it's not like that, but it's in my heart where
I get things mixed up. I just can't get over this whole forgiveness
thing, but it was in place “before the foundation of the world”
(Ephesians 1), before sin even happened.
It's
like God said to Himself, “I want a canvas on which to paint
my grace. I want it to be magnificent, with bold strokes and
lavish colors. How can I do that? I know. I'll make a world
full of people in need of grace.”
Later
the text says four times that humanity's greatest glory is to
live “to the praise of His glorious grace.” And what is it about
us that most magnificently demonstrates God's grace? Our sin
and His forgiveness.
“Look
at this one,” God seems to say. “You should have seen him before
I got hold of him. He was a liar, a cheat, an addict, a real
mess. He's a real grace project. I've never had so much fun.”
Anyway,
my message didn't have any of this good stuff in it, so I had
to figure out how to sneak it in at the last minute. It came
out kind of convoluted, I'm sure, but I hope everyone, especially
me, got the point: God loves to forgive.
