William Barclay's New Daily Bible Study on Luke's gospel makes an interesting point.
"We will understand these parables [of Luke 15] more fully if we remember that the strict Jews [the Pharisee's in our context] said, not 'There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents', but, 'There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God.' They looked forward not to the saving but to the destruction of the sinner." (p 237)
I found this really interesting as I thought about the current context in which we live. Are we still like those Pharisees? Would we rather see a sinner "get his just deserts" than find freedom in Jesus Christ? We often get teary eyed over a great story of God's grace (I was a crack addict and now am a pastor) when they look back far enough that the ugliness of the addiction is gone, but to have someone clean but 30 days tell that story leads us to wonder if it'll last, and certainly hope they don't stick around our church too long in case it doesn't.
It is a challenge to me. I expect God to throw a party every time I repent (and it happens a lot), but I keep at arms length those who I don't think are sincere. I am being challenged to join that party.
1 comment:
What always gets me is the question of the quality of one's sin. It always seems like the sins you're most familiar with are the ones that seem the least scary. My guess is that the fear associated with a particular sin is the most dangerous obstacle in our desire to create a community of inclusion and equality before God.
Fun observation, the "word verification" I was given to post this comment is "gawk." Coincidence?
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