Fearing God For His Forgiveness

Suggested Reading: Psalm 130

One of the bad things about vacation, especially if you have things planned to do, is that kids can get really tired and cranky. When they start misbehaving there is a fine line that parents must walk between being disciplinarians and extending forgiveness. If we don't discipline them when they misbehave, they begin to believe that it is acceptable to misbehave. If we are so harsh with our discipline that a transgression is unforgivable and they don't get to do anything they can adopt an attitude of "Well, I've already blown it, what is the point in trying to behave?" When we come down on our kids (especially on vacation), we want them to believe that they stand a chance at forgiveness so that we stand a chance at getting them to behave.

Psalm 130 expresses a similar situation between us and God. Psalm 130:3-4 reads, "Yahweh, if You considered sins, Lord who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared" (HCSB). At first, that sentiment seems a little odd. How does offering forgiveness lead to fearing God? But the principle is exactly the same as I described with my children on vacation. If God didn't offer forgiveness, what would be the point in fearing God? We have all sinned at some point, most of us before we truly begin to grasp the consequences. Without the prospect of forgiveness, there is no point in trying to obey God because we are already damned. But if we can be forgiven, then there is a possibility that trying to live right from this point forward will pay off.

As parents, employers, supervisors, and people in authority, there is a tremendous lesson to be learned here. Offering forgiveness does not mean we are weak. Offering forgiveness does not have to undercut our authority. In fact, not offering forgiveness may undercut our authority more. The possibility of forgiveness can be motivation for people to do their best because they understand that one failure does not mean disqualification from the benefits of living and working well. But refusing to offer forgiveness can harden people against us and de-motivate people because there is no longer any point in trying to do things the right way.

But this principle is also significant because it is a logical basis for us to remain grounded in the hope of God's forgiveness. There are times when we think we have messed up so badly there is no point trying anymore, when we think we have disqualified ourselves because we have done something so terrible that forgiveness is no longer an option. If that is where you find yourself, the psalmist reminds us that God offers forgiveness so that we might fear Him. God would rather forgive you and bring you back onto the straight and narrow than condemn you. God is more interested in you living right from here on out than in punishing you for the misdeeds of the past.

"Yahweh, if You considered sins, Lord who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared." God wants to forgive us. Will we accept forgiveness or harden ourselves for no reason? Will we offer this same forgiveness to those around us?

Batman, the Righteous Prostitute

Suggested Reading: Genesis 38

One of the compelling elements of superhero stories is the contradiction inherent in a person who illegally acts as a vigilante in order to fight crime and seek justice. Batman is a great example. Often chased by the police for his vigilante activity, Batman is also the only means of defeating many of the super-villains who attack Gotham City. In some tellings, Batman works with the police but it is often a secret relationship because Batman's work is technically illegal. Technically, Batman is breaking the law but he is trying to do the best he can in a desperate world.

In Genesis 38, Judah, one of the twelve sons of Israel, has three sons. His oldest marries a woman named Tamar but then dies. In accordance with the Old Testament laws of levirite marriage, Judah's second son also marries Tamar. But when the second son dies, Judah puts off giving his youngest son to Tamar, afraid the woman is a jinx. When Tamar realizes Judah is not going to follow through with his obligations of providing his youngest son as her husband, she dresses up as a prostitute and positions herself where she knows Judah will pass. Judah encounters her, propositions her, seals the deal, and then goes on his way, never realizing that he slept with his daughter-in-law. When Tamar shows up pregnant, Judah is furious and wants to have her executed for adultery. But when she provides evidence that she is pregnant with Judah's child, he changes his tone. He proclaims, "She is more righteous than I am, because I didn't arrange for her to marry my son Shelah" (Genesis 38:26, NLT).

At times, we see people in their sin and we want to pass judgment on them. A man leaves his wife and we want to judge him for infidelity or for giving up on his marriage. We see a young woman get pregnant out of wedlock and we want to label her as easy or promiscuous. Our child comes home from school with a note about the disturbance they created in P.E. and we want to jump all over them for being a problem child. And while the things these people have done are wrong, we rarely know when they are only doing something wrong because they don't know how to make a bad situation any better otherwise. Maybe that man is leaving because his wife is abusive. Maybe that young woman was trying to avoid losing the only man who ever showed her any positive attention. Maybe that child was defending himself from kids who know how to strike when the teacher isn't looking. Maybe they're all just being selfish. But maybe they have reasons.

The point is that we never know why people make the decisions they do. We never know if we would do the same thing - or something worse - if we were put in their place. So we should avoid judging people just because they do something wrong. Maybe they are just making bad choices. But maybe they are just desperate and need our help and prayers more than our condemnation. Their reasons never make the actions right but we should take a look at their circumstances before we start bringing the hammer down on people who mess up. After all, we can all wind up desperate.

Expectations for an Adultress

Suggested Reading: John 8:1-11

Not long ago, I introduced my children to the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. One of the great things about that movie are the stories of how Mr. Holland, as he invested time and energy into his students, expected things of students who had never really had anyone expect anything from them before. One red-headed student in particular grew up in a family where all of her older siblings were high achievers but no-one ever expected anything of her. Mr. Holland kept pushing her, expecting her to achieve, and eventually she did, not only musically but also by becoming the state governor. 

Previously, we looked at how Jesus refused to play the Pharisees' game with the woman caught in the act of committing adultery, but the story didn't end there. After Jesus turned the tables on them, agreeing to stone her only if the first stone was thrown by someone who was sinless, Jesus was left alone with the woman. He asked her if anyone had condemned her and she responded that no one had. Jesus then added, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore" (John 8:11, HCSB). Having just saved this woman and having refused to condemn her himself, it is easy for me to hear the tone in Jesus's voice in my imagination. Jesus does not speak to her in disgust or in disappointment but in expectation. "Go and from now on do not sin anymore." With that statement Jesus gave this woman caught in adultery something no one else seemed willing to give her: expectations.

In my work with students through the years, I have learned that students tend to give you what you expect of them. There are always exceptions, but in general students behave the way you expect them to.  If you expect them to be disrespectful, they behave disrespectfully. If you expect them to behave like responsible adults, they eventually do. Expectations are a statement of belief in a person, one way or another. Jesus understood this and he gave this adulteress high expectations. Without condemning her, Jesus expected more from her.

Sometimes we are really good at expecting things from people; we just expect the wrong things. Too often, we expect people to fail. We expect people to let us down. We expect people to go on with their lives, never living up to their potential. And we normally get what we expect. What would happen if we expected more from people, without reminding them of their failures by flavoring our expectations with condemnation? How would people change if we expected more from them? Who in your life desperately needs the gift of expectations?