The standard by which we will be judged ultimately is not a
curve, but it will be the standard of God’s perfection. Now hear this, “everybody’s
entitled to one mistake” – says who? Where did God ever say you can all have
one mistake? One free sin, one free act of treason against my authority, one
free insult to my integrity? He never said that did he, but even if he did, how
long ago did you use yours up?
We’re comfortable with our imperfection, we judge ourselves by
each other. No matter how ashamed I may be of the weaknesses of my life (and
sometimes when I look inside myself I make myself sick, don’t you feel like
that. Do you ever disgust yourself, saying how could I do that?! I can’t
believe that I’m that selfish or I can’t believe that I’m that covetous, or
lustful…) we are quick to excuse ourselves because we look around and we can
always find somebody who is more depraved than we are, at least on the surface.
So we can be like the Pharisee that went up to the temple to pray and say “O
God I thank you that I’m not like that miserable guy over there”. We find a way
to excuse ourselves, and to flatter ourselves, until we see the standard. When
that happens, we are undone, as
Isaiah was undone when he saw pure holiness; he understood what it was
that he wasn’t. He couldn’t stand it and he’s on his face and he’s screaming
out in pain saying woe is me for I am undone for I am a man of unclean lips and
I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
Almighty.
Why did Isaiah’s hand go instinctively to his mouth? Why do
words matter?
What was God's response? He did not:
- berate Isaiah for his excessive self-flagellation
- relish in Isaiah's suffering, leave him to writhe
- offer cheap grace
Instead,
"Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."
The burning coal was used to cauterise dirty lips.
Dear Father, we pray that we might know your forgiveness, that we too might say, "here am I, send me".
A lookinsideyourself identity, is
1) Incoherent
our feelings are mixed up, we want and do not want at the same time
2) Unstable- we're always changing
"[therefore] you're always a fool, you're always an idiot, you're always a jerk"
3) Illusory (to say that my identity comes from my inner feelings)
because of #1
therefore, the identity you project stems from the feelings you choose
and the feelings we choose? the norms we okay are shaped by the culture that we are in- we reject things inside us that society shuns, we say that's not me! based on the moral grid (what is ok and not ok) based on what our culture applauds and locks up. Truth is we are saints and sinners at the same time
4) "I've got ten seconds to justify my existence" vs. I know who I am in God. Man has become the measure of all things, including himself, and that is a crushing burden. "What do you want to be in the future?"
5) Excluding
success pitted against the next man
but yishanhaiyouyishangao so which shan are you really?
where does your self worth go when people let you down?
only if you have the esteem of someone you esteem will you have self esteem
only if you have the adoration of someone who adores you - that's heaven
he used the example of a deck of cards- your identity is like a deck of cards, but is Jesus at the top of the deck? Actually I think God is more than the top card, because what is the top card but just another card like the others. God is print on all the cards and if your whole deck is a God-printed deck, God is in control of all aspects of your life, then he is truly on top.
People who are really into justification are nervous about justice, the people who are doing the work of justice are very often shying away from saying, "I want to show you how wrong that is."
“Christ hath merited righteousness for as many as are found in Him. In Him God findeth us, if we be faithful; for by faith we are incorporated into Him...I must take heed what I say; but the apostle saith, ‘God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.’ Such we are in the sight of God the Father, as is the very Son of God Himself. Let it be counted folly, or frenzy, or fury, or whatsoever. It is our wisdom and our comfort; we care for no other knowledge in the world but this, that man hath sinned, and God hath suffered; that God hath made Himself the sin of men, and that men are made the righteousness of God.”- Richard Hooker
The way you know that your heart is right with God, that you've got a relationship based on grace is that you care about the poor
Prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos,all say: If you aren't intensely concerned for the quartet of the vulnerable, the widow, orphan, immigrant and the poor, it's a sign your heart is not right with God.
Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed[b] go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Isaiah 58:6-7 fasting was a sign of humbling yourself, of saying, "I'm a sinner, I need your mercy".
If you really knew you were a sinner saved by grace, if you really really really were humble before God, you would not be treating people like that
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Deut 10:12-19
(Jesus talking about the Pharisees) And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” Mark 12:38-40
While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. Luke 11:37-46
A faith that does not lead to works is dead, it is not real saving faith... but what are these works?
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:15-17
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. James 1:9-10
The doctrine of justification by faith contains untapped resources for healing the inner city:
Imagine you have no job, no money, you live cut off from the rest of society in a world ruled by poverty and violence. Your skin is the "wrong colour" and you have no hope that any of this will ever change. Around you is a society governed by the iron law of achievement, its guided goods are flaunted before your eyes on TV screens and in a thousand ways society tell you everyday you're worthless because you have no achievement. You're a failure, and you know that you will continue to be a failure because there is no way to achieve tomorrow what you have not managed to achieve today! Your dignity is shattered, your soul is enveloped in the darkness of despair but the gospel tells you that you are not defined by outside forces! The gospel tells you that you count, even more that you are loved unconditionally and infinitely, irrespective of anything that you have achieved or failed to achieve. That's the doctrine of justification by faith, proclaimed and practiced, a dead doctrine? Hardly.
