The Speck in My Brother's Eye

For scores of Americans, this week has been one of terrible loss. From my own small town to the great metropolis of Boston, grief and terror have seen an abrupt rise to power. In my town, a fifteen year old boy killed himself last week, shocking our close-knit community. In Massachusetts, double bombings killed and maimed dozens, and emotionally scarred thousands. In Texas, a fertilizer plant explosion compounded the national chaos and loss of precious lives. Law enforcement and emergency personnel are slain in the line of duty. Children lose parents. Parents lose children. Runners lose legs. And the whole world falls to shambles. Isn't there something or someone, somewhere, to blame for this terrible mess?

Yes.

There is one terrible, hellish curse to blame for the atrocities we've seen this week. It's name is Sin, and it is the grotesque delight and consuming passion of humanity's archenemy, Satan. How he laughs when bombs detonate and chaos reigns. How his legions cheer when children die on sidewalks. What sick delight he finds in sowing seeds of darkness in every heart, cultivating his crops of terror in every corner of the globe.

It is easy in times like these to attribute the heinous insanity of Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarneav to devilish forces. Discussion forums across the web wish them both eternal damnation for their crimes. It's tempting to agree.

But, truthfully, do I have any right to wish that these young terrorists burn in hell? What makes them more deserving than I? The fact that they set off bombs and killed people, while I did not?

Listen to these words by C.J. Mahaney: "When I become bitter or unforgiving toward others, I’m assuming that the sins of others are more serious than my sins against God. The cross transforms my perspective. Through the cross I realize that no sin committed against me will ever be as serious as the innumerable sins I’ve committed against God. When we understand how much God has forgiven us, it’s not difficult to forgive others."

The message of the cross is not a system of "worthiness to be saved," with some people working their way to the top of a waiting list. It's not for "good people" who are proud and blind to their sins. It's for the scum of the earth, to redeem them from the destruction that reigns in their darkened hearts and consumes them with an everlasting death. And here, Jesus says to us, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (see Matthew 9:11-13)

I, too, have a heart of sin like the Tsarneav brothers, like you, like every other person on this earth today. We are equally condemned in our sins. Friends, we're all the scum of the earth. 

"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye." (see Luke 6:41-42)

 The response to this Week of Terror ought not be bitterness, revenge, or hatred. My attitude cannot be one of scorn or mockery toward the condemned. What hypocrisy to preach mercy and salvation to all--except those who "jump off the deep end" and kill people. They ought to perish in their sins. No! My attitude must be one of tremendous grief and fervent prayer for a country reeling in the aftershock of devastation, both victims and perpetrators. All desperately need the salvation that comes through repentance and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, a message rejected by millions, but hope and healing and life and peace to all who surrender to Him.

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Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. 

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. 

They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

 ~Revelation 22:1-5

Good Friday

From an email to my girls this evening~

Today, my scheduled Bible reading landed in Jeremiah 7 through 11. In this portion, Israel, the chosen and beloved people of God, has repeatedly forsaken him for evil pleasures, including idol worship, adultery, and child sacrifice (not so very different from our own country, hmmm?). Jeremiah is sent by God to tell the people that they have literally left God with no choice but to severely punish them and purge their sin from among them by allowing them to be brutally conquered and slaughtered by their enemies. They respond with half-hearted repentance, but their attitude is more like a shrugging-of-the-shoulders, implying that God is a meany and would punish them no mater what they do. Not true. Their persistent rebellion brought their own condemnation upon them. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that he will also reap (Gal. 6:7).

This is a matter of serious consideration for us. Sin's consequences are grievous, for all sin is a terrible offense against a perfect, just, and holy God. We cannot fully comprehend what holiness is, for we are without it. Any righteousness, any goodness, any holiness, is imparted through Christ, and found only in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit after repentance and belief in Jesus' atoning death, burial, and resurrection as the substitutionary sacrifice in our guilty place--the place of dishonor, unholiness, and worthy of punishment for our sins. "The wages of sin is death." "Your sin will find you out." The Bible is very clear about the result of rebellion against God. Sin begets death, pain, misery, strife, fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, self-love, distrust, pride, lust, greed, and on and on the list goes. It is an ever-descending spiral to hell, literally. Such is our fate apart from Christ.

But, today is not called "Good Friday" for no reason. It is a good day--a most excellent, wondrous, glorious day for all mankind. Today we remember with special remembrance that God stepped into the gap between our unworthy, defiled, unlovable selves and his holy, majestic completeness--and he became like us, in a body like ours, to love us, heal us, and die for us to pay the debt we ought to have paid, a debt that deserved no less than the eternal outpouring of the wrath of God. He bridged that abyss, he loved us when we were unlovable, he called us when we hated him, and he healed us when we were beyond human healing. He saved us, literally. Do not forget this grace, this favor, this unmerited affection and kindness, this benevolence that came to us, who were so undeserving and wretched. It is his grace that saves. Repentance and belief is the appropriate response from any human who has ears to hear and eyes to see and understand the truth of such love. For those who would deny that wickedness that dwells in their own hearts, those who would stop up their ears and turn away their eyes from the light, they, like the Israelites of Jeremiah's day, have damned themselves by rejecting the grace they need so desperately.

Remember what it is you have been saved from, and always think, "But for the grace of God, there go I." Beware of pride. Remember who we are apart from Christ--despised, guilty, and worthy of all condemnation. Remember who you are in Christ Jesus--a new creation, and the beloved bride of Jesus himself. An adopted child of the Most High God, grafted into his Church by grace, sweet grace. And rejoice in such a remembrance, no matter what your present circumstances may be.

That is all, dear ones. Good night, on this Good Friday.
Love, B