Over and again the writer tells us how to deal with
sin. We are to be quick and not reluctant
to confess our sins and not to be so confident of forgiveness that we make the
mistake of taking sin lightly. The
confession in Rite I in the Prayer Book reminds us of the gravity of sin,
"We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness… We
do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the
remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable." It keeps the balance right though in the plea
to God, "Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful
Father…" He is a most merciful
Father and we know it because of the cross, the wisdom of God and the power of
God. We have sinned against Him and we
should be grieved because we have followed too much the devices and desires of
our own hearts rather than the good path He has called us to follow, and given
us His Spirit to desire it. Sin is a
great matter that required the cross to fully remedy. Why do we pile on His burden with our
unwillingness to not only confess but repent?
James and John want to call down fire from heaven on those
who oppose Jesus. Wow! First, they think they can do so and second,
what an idea from those who were taught to bless those who persecute them and
to love their enemies. We have developed
the idea that we shouldn't have opposition and if we do we should call down
judgment on that opposition, forgetting that there is an enemy, but that enemy
isn't flesh and blood. In the west we
have also come to believe that following Jesus is comfortable and probably will
bring material blessing. Over the
entirety of the history of our nation, we have had freedom and applause from
society but things are definitely changing and being a person of faith is going
to be more difficult and certainly less popular over the next season of time. Be prepared, Jesus didn't call us to material
comfort and blessing.
Those who are sealed tell us that although the number is
sizeable it isn't infinite. Numbers set
limits don't they. They tell us that
there is a finitude to a quantity, the set has a boundary and some are outside
the boundary. It might feel good to be
inside that set but only if we keep in mind that we are there for
eternity. Sometimes the grass can look
greener on the outside of the boundary and we go astray. We are called to a pleasant pasture land
where we are safe from the true enemy of our souls and the more we worship and
give thanks for what He has done for us and given us, the easier it becomes to
say no to temptation.
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