Thursday, November 5

...Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.”   – Luke 15:11-13

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’  - Luke 15:28-30

Let’s look at the lives of these two brothers. On the outside, they look quite different; one is really, really bad and the other is really, really good (on the outside). However, on the inside, these two are really not all that different, they are actually quite similar. They both reject the love of their father because they both are more interested in their father’s wealth than in having a relationship with him. They both want what the father can give them more than they want him!

The younger brother thinks he can get what he wants by demanding his rights and doing things his way. The older brother thinks he can get his way by obeying and following all the rules. Both want what they want and they really don’t want the father. If we were to strip away all of the external differences between these two sons and get right down to the central issue, what would it be? What was really behind their rejection of their father? 

In a word – SIN.

This is not a word we use or hear much in our contemporary society. It is not even a word we hear much in many churches these days. We would rather use other words like mistakes, struggles, burdens, issues, or flaws. “Sin” sounds so negative and outdated. Who wants to hear about sin? We would rather hear about love and grace and joy and peace, and about how God wants us to live happy, healthy, wealthy and victorious lives. Let’s be honest, the Bible’s teaching on sin is an offensive and highly unpopular concept in our culture today. However, I cannot think of a more relevant topic for our culture than a biblical understanding of the nature of sin. 

In 1910, The London Times Literary Supplement sent out a letter to several famous authors asking them to answer this question, “what is wrong with the world today?” G.K. Chesterton famously responded to this question with his own letter, which read, “Dear Sirs, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton.” Chesterton understood the basic Biblical doctrine that the primary problem in the world is not out there, but is right inside each one of us.

Romans 3:12- All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Psalm 14:3 - All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Psalm 53:3 - Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

1 John 1:18 - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

These verses don’t exactly leave us much room to justify or rationalize do they? We might not like it, and we might not want to admit it, but the Bible is clear, we are all sinners. In fact, one of the chief characteristics of sin in our lives is our inability to see it and to acknowledge it in ourselves. Oh, we can see it in others clear enough, but we tend to have spiritual blinders on when it comes to our own sinfulness.

Ah, but here is the beautiful irony of the Gospel…once we are willing to admit our sinfulness and face the depth of our wickedness, then (and only then) we are able to truly grasp the depth of God’s love for us. In this sense, facing our sin is the gateway to getting God’s grace! 

Jeff Frazier