Day 35, April 2, 2007
Malachi 2:10-17
As we enter holy-week, our consideration of the meaning of Christ’s death and life comes to bear powerfully on each of the scriptures we consider. In this case, Malachi names the sin of divorce, forcefully and without equivocation. “I hate divorce” God says. Is there mercy and forgiveness for sin? Always. That’s part of the power of the cross – ‘justified by the death of His son’ is how Romans 5 puts it. But though our sins are forgiven, it’s vital to realize that Christ’s resurrection life is offered to us with the intention— not of saving us from sin’s penalty, but from sins power. “Justified by his death…saved by his life!” is how Romans 5 puts it.
Saved from what? The answer is that we’re saved from a living a life of self-destructive choices and actions, moving instead into that posture whereby Jesus’ hope, mercy, love, power, and holiness, is finding expression in our daily living. That, of course, is the whole point isn’t it!
But, using divorce as an example, Malachi points out how we tend to (instead of calling sin what it is and asking for forgiveness) reframe the conversation in such way that the sin is no longer sin at all, but somehow a necessity in this fallen world, or even a good thing because of all that we’re able to enjoy as a result of walking away from covenant relationships.
Friends, my heart breaks when this happens – when our commitment to covenant relationships disintegrates, when that which God calls sin is dismissed as an expedient necessity, when we justify our wrong choices – we’ve slipped yet another step further down the road of misrepresenting the heart of God. I’ll move more fully into the life that Jesus died and rose again for, as soon as I stop justifying my wrong choices and failures and call them what they are: sin. Be they relational, sexual, financial, racial, or otherwise, when God reveals my shortcomings the right response is confession – homologeo in the Greek language – which means to ‘say the same thing.’
Holy Creator, as we ponder your life, death, and resurrection this week, we express our gratitude that you have come to earth, died, and risen, not only for the purpose of forgiving our sins, but in order to so fill us with your life, that we begin to live our daily lives differently, empowered with your Spirit in order to be people of both hope and holiness. As we pause in silence, would you reveal those areas in our lives where we are still clinging to sin, perhaps justifying it, perhaps even calling our actions good and necessary. Our ongoing transformation depends on our continual confession and repentance. And so we pray that, as you reveal areas in our lives that need adjusting, we might be quick to confess and slow to justify. And, over all that we pray, we thank you that we needn’t be afraid of confession, knowing that our confession always leads to assurance of forgiveness and the restoration of real fellowship and intimacy with you. Thank you. In your name, amen
Spend some time today seeking God, asking him to show you those areas of life where you’ve been quick to justify and slow to confess.
posted by Richard Dahlstrom @ 9:13 AM
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