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Category: Forgiveness

Finished?

Finished?

I know it’s strange, but I enjoy mowing the lawn.

Earlier this week I mowed our yard for the first time this year.  Those of you who live in other parts of the country won’t have to worry about that particular task for a while yet, but here in the Pacific Northwest spring arrives early.  The daffodils are starting to bloom, and the grass is beginning to grow in earnest.  Which means lawns need to be mowed. 

Fortunately, I enjoy mowing the lawn.  Well, technically I enjoy viewing the mown lawn afterwards.  I don’t mind mowing the lawn, but what I really appreciate is seeing the finished product.  And especially if I trimmed along all the borders!  When the job is completed, the grass blades are all nicely snipped off at a uniform height.  The lawn looks like a lovely, living green carpet … delightful to the eye! 

If I’m able, I celebrate the completed job from my deck by reclining in a deck chair where I can soak in the view and drink in the smell of the cut grass.  The appearance is extremely satisfying!  There is nothing quite like a manicured lawn to foster contentment in a job well done.  There on the deck I bask in the knowledge that the lawn mowing is finished.

But the lawn mowing isn’t finished.  In just a few days during the height of growing season the fine, finished appearance morphs into a rather untidy view.  Even when the grass transitions to dormancy in the winter months, the spring brings new life again, and the mowing resumes.  (Case and point: me mowing the lawn earlier this week!)  The sad reality is that the lawn mowing is never finished.

And that’s how it is with so many things, isn’t it?  The house repairs and house cleaning, the car maintenance, the work responsibilities, even our relationship adjustments are never, ever finished.  Restocking the pantry, washing and folding the laundry, paying the bills … also never finished.  Gleaning insights, becoming wiser, learning and growing into a better person is a life-long venture and is never completed.  Indeed, the list of unfinished business is a long one.

Which can be a rather depressing thought.  Wouldn’t it be nice if something worthwhile could truly be finished once-and-for-all?

Well, there actually is something wonderful that is finished.  Totally, completely, irrevocably, once-and-for-all finished!

No, it’s not taxes.  Not bills either.  Neither is it work or life-struggles.  Nor shady politicians.  Or aging ungracefully.  I’m sure we could make a lengthy list of issues that we would like to see brought to an end, but which won’t truly end until we die.  (And that’s an altogether different finish!)

Unfortunately, this aforementioned “once-and-for-all” finish isn’t an end to our sinfulness either.  Our faults and flaws will remain with us until, well … our ultimate finish, the moment we die.

So then, what is this thing that is totally, completely, irrevocably, once-and-for-all finished?  It’s not our humanness, our frailties and mistakes, or our utter sinfulness – but the atonement for our sinfulness!

That atonement was procured by God’s holy Sacrifice.  By Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”  (John 1:29). 

It wasn’t pretty.  It didn’t catch the eye and elicit a lingering gaze like a newly mown lawn.  People had to look away in horror and revulsion.  The very Son of God hung naked, beaten and bleeding on a Roman device of torture and death.  He had done nothing wrong; committed no crime.  But he bore all our wrongs and was punished for our countless crimes; crimes that were committed against him.  (Consider that concept a moment.)

Jesus didn’t miss a one.  There wasn’t a single sin we have tallied that he did not cover completely.  Not our secret sins.  Not our horrible sins.  Not our repeated sins.  Not those sins we are most ashamed of now.  All were included in his all-sufficient sacrifice. 

How do we know?  How can we be confident of this beyond a shadow of a doubt?  Because he said so himself!  “It is finished,” proclaimed our Savior from the cross.  (John 19:30)

When he announced, “It is finished,” Jesus wasn’t speaking about his suffering being over or his life being finished by death, though he died shortly after uttering those words.  No, what was finished was the payment for our transgressions.  It was a debt that was fully paid; a spiritual lien that was completely removed from our record. 

It was a job that wasn’t presumably or partially finished, or finished temporarily, but completely and certainly finished.  That is, finished finished.

How incredible!  How wonderful!  There really is something that is completely completed!  We are redeemed and restored through Jesus. 

“Is the payment for our sins really and truly made?” we timidly ask.  To which the Lord Jesus answers assertively, “Yes, it is finished!”

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Covered versus Removed

Covered versus Removed

As I write this, a winter storm rages outside.  The snow is piling up at a rapid pace.  For those of you who reside in other parts of the country, you shrug your shoulders and reply, “So what?  Been there; done that … nearly weekly all winter long!”

But for us in Western Washington, significant snowfall is cause for significant attention.  It rarely happens here.  When blizzards occur, or are expected to occur, they dominate the news.

For some, snow is a four-letter word, and one of the very worst words on the list!  Snow is cause for fear and trepidation among many.  Perhaps even panic, if driving is necessary.  The panic is due in part to the lack of snow removal plows available locally and partially because of the inexperienced winter drivers who live here.  But mostly the unease stems from the many hills in the area, some of which are steep and become treacherous with just a skimming of snow.

For others, lowland snow is a delightful novelty, and something to celebrate and experience.  Those many hills in the region that make driving dangerous also provide makeshift toboggan runs … even if one doesn’t own a taboggan.  Trash can lids make handy-dandy sleds; large boxes broken down will work too.  Anything that provides a little “slide” and a place to sit will do!  And usually one doesn’t need to journey far to find a hill to scoot recklessly down.  Meanwhile an army of snowmen is raised to try to hold off the attack from the warm rain that typically invades a day or two later.

Snow in the Pacific Northwest is a novelty both welcomed and dreaded.  And a bit of both for many folks.

When a healthy amount of snow accumulates, there is an obvious result.  It covers everything outside.  The house, the deck, the grill, the garage, the vehicles, the streets, the trees, the shrubs, the lawn … everything is draped in a beautiful blanket of white.

Which means a great many blemishes are covered over.  Aging shingles on roofs.  Rust and dents on vehicles, as well as cracks in the windshields.  Potholes in the streets.  Dead limbs on trees and weeds in the lawn or flowerbeds.  Garbage in the alleys.  Even dog doodoo in the back yard.  Everything looks lovely under a thick layer of snow.

But looking lovely and being lovely are two completely different things. 

When the snow melts, the blemishes remain.  The flaws reappear; the necessary repairs still need to be done; the garbage and doodoo are re-revealed. 

So what about our spiritual flaws?  What about our ugly sinful blemishes?  We certainly want to cover them up with as lovely a coating as possible in an attempt to look good before God and people.  Something similar to snow would seem to be wonderful! 

Of course, God sees all.  And other people see a lot too, regardless of the efforts we make to throw a pretty cloak overtop.  And coverings like snow are temporary anyway.

Thankfully our God has provided a solution!  It doesn’t sound as lovely as a layer of snow, or seem to be as attractive or appealing, but it is far more effective.  God’s solution to our sin-debt?  Covering us in the blood of Jesus, the holy Son of God and our Savior.

I recognize this is anything but a pretty picture.  However, don’t shrink from the illustration; embrace it!  Because Jesus’ blood not only covers over believers’ transgressions; it removes them completely!  As the Holy Spirit made clear when he had John write, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

This is a recurring theme throughout Scripture, both in the Old and New Testament.

In Leviticus 17:11, the Lord states, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

Years after Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, Peter writes this: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

The snowfall is gorgeous; gorgeous as it falls and gorgeous where it lays.  But it only covers.  Even more beautiful is the blood of Jesus which covers and removes our ugly flaws in the eyes of our Lord. 

How to Interact on This Blog

To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

To Subscribe – Go to the “Follow This Blog Via Email” column.  If you don’t immediately see that box, click on the “Comments” tag under the title, and scroll to the very bottom.  You should find it there.

Goodbye Garbage

Goodbye Garbage

There are times when the garbage just has to go.  Spoiled casseroles that got buried behind other leftovers in the refrigerator until it was too late.  Fat or grease that festered in the wastebasket over the course of a several hot Summer days.  The smelly remains of our fish dinner from last evening’s meal.  Overflowing baby diapers left to ripen.  Kitty-litter.

We’ve all been there.  Rank odors waft from our disposal containers signaling it’s time to transfer the putrid mess to a more removed location.  So, holding our breath, we whisk the offending material away.  What a relief it is to drop that bag in the trash barrel in the alley!  Even better when on “trash day” the trash truck arrives, tips up the barrel, flips it over and shakes the smelly contents out, swings the empty barrel back in its place and then rumbles away.  And just like magic our garbage is gone!

Each of us generates trash every day.  The EPA estimates that the average American produces almost 6 pounds of trash per day.  If recycling is factored in, the amount drops to about 4 ½ pounds of pure waste.  Even so, the typical person racks up over a total of 29 pounds per week and 1,600 pounds of garbage in just one year!

The estimate for the annual weight of the garbage that all humans worldwide generate is 2.6 trillion pounds.  (This doesn’t include industrial waste or commercial trash.)  The United States is the top producer of “municipal solid waste” in the entire world, generating about 268 million tons yearly.

Where does this heaping mound of garbage go?  Over half (52%) ends up in landfills.  26% makes its way to recycling centers, and another 13% to waste-to-energy plants.  9% is composted.  While we probably don’t reflect on its destination much, we certainly are delighted when our rotting and reeking refuse is gone.

Hard as it is to fathom, we all produce garbage even more noxious than the bags we transport to the alley at arms-length.  Our lying and cursing tongues; our coveting, lusting and hating minds; our detestable pride or lingering despair; our countless sins of action and inaction; our incessant idolatry; and our neglect of God and the good, raise a sickening stench to the holy Lord.

The logical conclusion was for God to discard our smelly selves far from him.  But the Lord had a different plan.  Instead of disposing of us in entirety, he determined to simply dispose of our stench, (our sin), and keep the rest of us.  So the Lord Jesus came to dwell among us, to love us and in love to let us crucify him.  He took our place, wearing our sin-stench and bearing our sin-punishment. When he exited his tomb on Easter morning, he cast death behind him and our sins far from him (and us!).

How far has our unholy reek been removed?  The Bible provides some impressive pictures to illustrate the distance.

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives transgression?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea”  (Micah 7:18-19).

Just for reference, the deepest depression in the earth is in the Pacific Ocean.  It’s known as Challenger Deep, a portion of the Mariana Trench.  It dives to a depth of more than 36,000 feet.  That’s almost 7 miles deep; a significant burial indeed for our sin! 

Or how about this concept?  The Holy Spirit inspired David to write these lovely words:

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”  (Psalm 103:8-12).

Saying goodbye to our sin garbage is the best goodbye of all, which makes our gracious God the best Trashman of all!  Thank you, Lord!