The stain of sin
It's 5:00 a.m., and I let our lab Lady Gator out to do her business first thing as the day awakens. I wander around our back yard, when here she comes out from the woods with her head down, ears low, walking slowly towards me with that "hey, don't be mad at me, I'm a dumb dog" look. Sure enough, when she gets within about 10 yards I "sense" the problem, pardon the pun. She must have found a nice big pile of deer poop to roll around in and now she smells like, well, you know.
To the garden hose, and giving her a bath from the freezing cold water first thing to start my day. She is not happy about the bath. I am not happy about any of this. Especially since we just went through this last week. When is she going to learn to stay out of the poop? I grow more and more angry and frustrated until the analogies of the spiritual life start to kick in. You can probably guess. How often do I show up on God's doorstep, smelling like, you know, covered in filth for the umpteenth time? How many times does He have to take me out back, pour cold water all over my life and dreams to cleanse me, when all the time I think He's just being mean? When am I going to get that if I roll around in sin, I can say I'm sorry all I want but there's still a cold bath waiting for me?
I love my evangelical roots, I really do. The emphasis on how the grace of God is all encompassing and all we need for eternal salvation is so true. But sometimes I think we forget our part in it all. Us Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics get pinged sometimes for emphasizing works too often. But there is a place for repentance. Yes we are forgiven, but forgiveness doesn't necessarily make me smell better. Only with the soap and suds of a life of repentance and humility do I get to work out the stains.
This tension between grace and works isn't one of these where we compromise the teaching of each. There isn't a middle ground where we water down both sides. It is true that only the grace of God through the love and sacrifice of Christ can save us. And it is also completely true that only through work, hard work cooperating with God's Spirit, can I get my life clean. Sanctification isn't microwavable, or 3 dollars at Starbucks. Baptism, the sinners' prayer, the sacraments, that's all the start of a process, not the finish. I think it was Melanchthon who said "we are saved by grace alone, but that grace is not alone."
A college student gets drunk and kills someone in a driving accident. He may be forgiven, but the stain is forever. A woman leaves her husband to run away with her neighbor. She may be forgiven some day, but the pain in the family will linger. I, Athanasios, criticize and hurt someone's feelings. I show lack of concern for the poor and suffering every single day as I go about my business. I...well the list goes on. I ask for forgiveness, knowing it is assured through my Savior's work. But I still head to the back yard to do my work of spiritual disciplines. Not as punishment, not to atone for my sin, but to "work out my salvation in fear and trembling." To attain purity of heart. To not mock my Saviors sacrifice by treating it as cheap, but to accept and appropriate it lovingly.
To the garden hose, and giving her a bath from the freezing cold water first thing to start my day. She is not happy about the bath. I am not happy about any of this. Especially since we just went through this last week. When is she going to learn to stay out of the poop? I grow more and more angry and frustrated until the analogies of the spiritual life start to kick in. You can probably guess. How often do I show up on God's doorstep, smelling like, you know, covered in filth for the umpteenth time? How many times does He have to take me out back, pour cold water all over my life and dreams to cleanse me, when all the time I think He's just being mean? When am I going to get that if I roll around in sin, I can say I'm sorry all I want but there's still a cold bath waiting for me?
I love my evangelical roots, I really do. The emphasis on how the grace of God is all encompassing and all we need for eternal salvation is so true. But sometimes I think we forget our part in it all. Us Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics get pinged sometimes for emphasizing works too often. But there is a place for repentance. Yes we are forgiven, but forgiveness doesn't necessarily make me smell better. Only with the soap and suds of a life of repentance and humility do I get to work out the stains.
This tension between grace and works isn't one of these where we compromise the teaching of each. There isn't a middle ground where we water down both sides. It is true that only the grace of God through the love and sacrifice of Christ can save us. And it is also completely true that only through work, hard work cooperating with God's Spirit, can I get my life clean. Sanctification isn't microwavable, or 3 dollars at Starbucks. Baptism, the sinners' prayer, the sacraments, that's all the start of a process, not the finish. I think it was Melanchthon who said "we are saved by grace alone, but that grace is not alone."
A college student gets drunk and kills someone in a driving accident. He may be forgiven, but the stain is forever. A woman leaves her husband to run away with her neighbor. She may be forgiven some day, but the pain in the family will linger. I, Athanasios, criticize and hurt someone's feelings. I show lack of concern for the poor and suffering every single day as I go about my business. I...well the list goes on. I ask for forgiveness, knowing it is assured through my Savior's work. But I still head to the back yard to do my work of spiritual disciplines. Not as punishment, not to atone for my sin, but to "work out my salvation in fear and trembling." To attain purity of heart. To not mock my Saviors sacrifice by treating it as cheap, but to accept and appropriate it lovingly.
posted by Jeff at
5:44 PM
