Resurrection Letter No.17: Change Your Understanding of God

 

Dear Good Shepherd and friends,

Have you ever heard the phrase, "You brought this upon yourself"? Maybe you've heard it spoken to you, or to someone else, or maybe you said this to someone.

It's a common response, at least in our culture, to poor decisions that have bad outcomes. Somehow we are indoctrinated in our culture to make sure that people who make bad choices feel and know the effects of their choices, and we want them to face the consequences. We want people to know what they did. 

We are a culture of retribution. 

Yeah, well, the phrase, "You brought this upon yourself," said Jesus....never. Jesus seems to be operating on a completely different wavelength than we are.

Time and time again, the gospels show Jesus running into people who were seen by others as ones who made poor choices, usually from the standpoint of what the people thought were God's expectations: the woman caught in adultery in John 8; Zacchaeus in Luke 19; Matthew the tax collector and his shady friends who liked to party in Matthew 9, just to name a few. 

Every time, Jesus refused to point out their poor decisions. Instead he welcomed them into his company. Every time. 

Where other (often religious-type) people see a need to repent and own up to poor choices, Jesus sees people who need to be welcomed.

Tax collectors and sinners, lend me your ears! Jesus welcomes you. 

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Maybe you don't care. Maybe Jesus doesn't matter to you. Maybe you've had enough talk about God in your life and not enough action that shows it is all real and worth it. That's fine. And I'm sorry for that. 

At the same time, let me suggest that you don't let the negative experiences ruin the hope. At the least, the gospels tell the story of a real, historical person, Jesus of Nazareth, who showed a different angle on God and asked us to believe it. 

The angle on God Jesus gives us plays out like this: the ones who need to "repent" are the ones who act as judges over others. The God Jesus shows us is a God who welcomes, and does not judge. We, in our human imperfection and limited understanding, are in no place to be the judge, especially when God does not. 

If you've grown up with the God who judges and condemns every sinner and every sin you commit, then you've been taught about the wrong idea of God. 

Let me say that again to be clear: If you've grown up with the God who judges and condemns every sinner and every sin you commit, then you've been taught about the wrong idea of God.

And if that idea of God is why you struggle with God or the church. I apologize. But I also say, don't give up on God.

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Consider the woman caught in adultery in John 8. We may or may not identify with her specific problem. But we can all identify with the general experience of dealing with poor choices and mistakes -- the things that prompt others or ourselves or the religious folks to say, "You only brought this upon yourself."

Most of us will never know the woman's backstory. The religious leaders who brought her to Jesus probably didn't even care. They just saw someone who was "sinning." And they were right. Her actions were destroying her marriage and her quality of life. What she was doing fell under the category of human sin. 

The religious leaders wanted Jesus to join in their judgment, "You're making poor choices. Own up to your choices and the consequences, you sinner." 

But Jesus didn't play that game. 

And he turned the focus back on the "righteous" ones who were making sure she faced up to her sins. He said to them, "Who of you is without sin?" 

They couldn't answer. 

Then he sent everyone away. They forfeited their position as judges over the woman. 

Then Jesus himself did not condemn the woman. She didn't even ask for forgiveness or a new chance. Jesus just gave it to her -- forgiveness and freedom, right there on the spot. The story does not say she said she was sorry or even felt sorrowful. 

Where the religious leaders saw a wrong worth rejecting, Jesus saw someone worth welcoming. 

Sure, the people were pointing out her sin. It was right there, out in the open. The fit had hit the shan, as they say. But Jesus didn't join in on that. In fact, he had a problem with that. 

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That's the Jesus who is the real Jesus. The one who sees your missteps, your poor decisions, your sin and says, "I don't condemn you. Go on with your life, free from those things." His actual words to the woman were, "Go and sin no more." 

But "go and sin no more" does not mean "go and do better." It does not mean "go and stop hanging out with the people who have a bad influence on you." In the gospel of John, "go and sin no more" means this: "to see through new eyes, to live freely in new life because Jesus, God among us, has welcomed you."

It's not an excuse to keep living as we did or have been. It's the freedom to be something new. To walk away from habits of living that are dead ends. Once we believe God's forgiveness is real, the only one keeping ourselves from walking away into a new, better, existence is us.

Here's an interesting bit of information: when the New Testament writers write about Jesus forgiving sin, it's this Greek word aphiemi. Say it with me: AAHH -- FEE -- AAYYY -- MEEE. 

It's the same word used when Jesus "casts out" an evil spirit. Imagine Jesus casting evil away, like throwing bad food into the trash, to be sent out of the house. It's the same with sin. It's out of the picture. Gone. You are free from it. 

I know what you're thinking. What if I mess up again? Same process. Jesus' statement that sends sin away from you still applies, every time. And every time, God welcomes you. Even before you have a chance to ask for it. If you're not convinced, read the Prodigal Son story again. It is the picture of God's welcome.

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. It creates new beginnings. Let every day be a new beginning for you, dear reader, the one whom God welcomes. 

Lift your head. Your past or your present or even your future mistakes have nothing on you. Let God's forgiveness define you.

In defiant hope,

Pastor Kyle