March 15th

Last night, Seth (my youngest son) and I spent some time reading our Bibles together.  We read Exodus 34:6-7, Ephesians 2:1-5, and Joel 2:12-13 together which all emphasize the mercy of a holy and good God.  I reminded Seth of the three-fold catalyst that made our salvation possible from Ephesians 2:1-5, which includes Gods rich mercy, great love, and sufficient grace.  I want to show you what I showed my son, but to do so, you need to see it against the backdrop of two of the three above passages, so here they are:

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. (Exod. 34:6-7)

And you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Eph. 2:1-5)

Gods mercy has always been available to anyone who would desire it, but as we know, many are not willing to receive it on Gods terms and in Gods way.  Our problem is as ancient as the first Garden (see Gen. 3), for our posture is one that demands that God meet us on our terms instead of His.  We even see this with Caiaphas, the high priest who interrogated Jesus by demanding: I place you under oath by the living God, to tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.  Jesus answered the high priest with these words: You have said it yourself.  But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven (see Matt. 26:57-68).  The irony is the God-Man stood before Israels high priest whose responsibility it was to mediate between God and the people, but only wanted to put Him to death.  After Jesus gave His answer, Caiaphas tore his robes as a way to demonstrate his deep grief before the people, and accused Jesus of blasphemy even though the Bible forbade the high priest from tearing his garments (see Lev. 21:10).  Under the guise of religion, Caiaphas rejected the mercy of God by rejecting Jesus because it was not offered on his terms.  

Caiaphas no doubt had read Joel 2:12-13 many times before the evening he would play his part in the execution of the true Messiah and redeemer of mankind.  Against the backdrop of Exodus 34:6-7 and Ephesians 2:1-5, think carefully about what this Old Testament prophet said about true religion: Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And tear your heart and not merely your garments. Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in mercy And relenting of catastrophe.  The question I want to leave with you before we come together to worship the Christ this Sunday is this: What metaphorical garments are you tearing and to what extent are you ready to tear the garments of your heart?  Let me ask this question another way: What is it that is keeping you from giving God all of your heart?

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday in our 9:00 and 10:30 AM worship services!

Grace,

Pastor Keith