Re:Verse reading–Luke 15:1-2, 11-32 (day six)
“I didn’t come into the world to condemn every sinner, I came to forgive and give life even to the worst sinner.”-Jesus, (John 3:17, my own paraphrase)
The older son wanted his dad to condemn his brother, rather than rejoice in his restoration. The whole point of the story is to expose the disparity between the pharisees’ condemnation of sinners and God’s mercy and grace towards sinners (that’s us). In keeping with the story, Jesus’ purpose in telling it was not to stick it to the pharisees. He wanted them to come to their senses too; he wanted them to repent and know the grace and mercy of the Father that the younger son enjoyed.
The question for us is the same Jesus had for the pharisees, will we rejoice when God redeems the most unworthy of sinners (for sometimes we think somehow we are worthy) and gathers them in our church family? Are better yet, should we repent (as a church family) of our indifference towards sinners?
We all should rejoice when God redeems everyone, including the most unworthy of sinners based on God’s standards. If we cannot rejoice in God’s love, mercy and grace for the lost or sinners at His church, where else can we demonstrate our fellowship with God, our obedience and submission to God, and our love for Him?
God is perfect. If He does hate sinners for their disobedient or unholy conduct, we don’t see and probably will never see that gesture from Him. In contrast, human beings are imperfect and do show when they love or hate others. God teaches us to love others as He loves us. So how do we love others when our hearts tell us not to surround ourselves with those we think are of different class of sins?
God opens up the opportunity for us to learn from Him how to forgive and to accept others who are different from us. We just have to learn from Him and practice those Godly skills. God created all human beings and He established His law and standards He knew would be a challenge for human beings to succeed. We are always imperfect before God! It is a common practice for a human being to condemn another human being based on his or her own standards. Going against God’s standards is a sin in itself! No one is worthy in God’s eyes! We sin against God as soon as we were born! Only God is worthy because He is the creator and the universe law maker! We all have to submit to Him and His law! If God granted mercy and restoration to God’s sinners so why we are still indifferent?
The challenge for us is how we can learn from God to forgive others who have different sins and to spread love and mercy whenever and wherever we can have some influences so we all can share joy, peace and happiness now and in eternity later. Love will transform one’s heart. We may not like someone for the sins we don’t like about but we should find ways to turn that person around so he or she will realize the consequences of those sins and reject them in the future. Love the person by helping transform his or her heart for a new way of life that is approved by God! Learn how to forgive one’s sins or mistakes is a God’s skill!
The world will know peace when we all can learn how to lift up one another, to extend God’s love, mercy and restoration to one another, and to understand the diversity that God created. We know ourselves best when we don’t like sins that other people commit. We know what we don’t want to sin! If God forgives, we should forgive. If we don’t learn from God, our Creator, rule maker, and judge, whom are we learning from??
Afterall, we should be reminded of Jesus’ mission on earth to rescue and to save the lost and we should rejoice when Jesus’ church is able to gather more people who turn to God’s way of life! Let’s dream about that big day for eternity!
We are worthy for God’s love, mercy and grace when we know our sins and repent; but we, human beings, cannot determine our worthiness based on our own claim of righteousness!