09 Mar My Grace is Sufficient (Lent Series Part 4)

March 11 – Day 19 (Wednesday)

Reading: ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
–Colossians 1:13-14

Reflection: When we do not forgive, we live in a domain of darkness: isolated, angry and depressed. When we allow God’s forgiveness to heal us, we also allow God’s light in that enables us to begin to forgive others. As we discussed yesterday, forgiveness is a release from imprisonment, a release from resentment and anger. The weight and darkness of these feelings can hold us back, but when we live in the light of Jesus and His forgiveness, we can take experience more and more joy and rest. I believe this is what Jesus meant when He said that His “yoke was easy and light.” Forgiveness is still hard and is still work (wearing a yoke meant doing the hard work of plowing hardened soil), but it provides a lightness and peacefulness that is not found anywhere else.

Prayer: Father, thank you for sending your Son to redeem me out of the domain of darkness. I was so lost in my unforgiveness, but you redeemed me out of that old kingdom and brought me to enjoy your rest in your blessed Kingdom. May I grow in the light of your love and grace more and more, amen.

March 12 – Day 20 (Thursday) 

Reading: ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
–Colossians 2:12-14

Reflection:  Here Paul makes an important connection between baptism, faith, and forgiveness. In our baptism we are raised with him, just as he was raised from the dead. Through our faith, trusting in the promises of the resurrection we are made alive again with him. Not only that, but all of our sins are forgiven as well; this includes the ones we are aware of and can confess as well as the ones we cannot remember. But these promises do not end with the forgiveness of our sins. Through the work of Jesus on the cross, Paul proclaims that the debt of our sins are also cancelled, as though they never existed. The record of our sins are erased and we are given a new standing before God as a truly new creation. No one understood the gravity of this reality more than Paul. Saul the zealous enemy of Christ and persecutor of the church was made alive, not perfect in his actions, but declared perfect by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. This incredible promise is for all who by faith follow Jesus and our baptism serves as a powerful reminder that our sins have been forgiven.     

Prayer: Father what great joy it brings me to know that in my baptism and through my faith in Jesus’s work on the cross my sins have been forgiven. When I am tempted to not trust in your forgiveness, help me to cling to these promises. In addition to forgiving my sins, you also cancel their debt, erasing their crushing demands on me. For this I am truly grateful, so I ask you to help me to live each day remembering my baptism and the reality of being raised from death itself, just as you raised your Son.   

March 13 – Day 21 (Friday)

Reading: ¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
–Colossians 3:12-14

Reflection: The way forward to become a part of a community is finding a way to consistently forgive one another. I like how this passage phrases it, “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you.” This passage implies that there will be complaints that come up on a regular basis. The reason for this constant state of seeking to forgive others is because God does the same for us: God is constantly forgiving the various sins we commit on a daily basis. Without this perspective, it can be easy to become jaded and hardened of heart when you find yourself needing forgive someone over and over again (perhaps feeling like Peter who asked if he should forgive someone up to seven times). In short, when we regularly forgive, we are loving others like God loves us; namely, we are not keeping a record of wrongs and instead freely and consistently forgiving (cf. 1 Corinthians 13).

Prayer: God, thank you for not keeping an ongoing tally of my wrongs and sins; grant me the grace to do the same for those around me, forgiving them as you first forgave me. Give me the strength and endurance to continue forgiving those around me, amen.

March 14 – Day 22 (Saturday) 

Reading: For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. ² For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
– 2 Corinthians 2:1-4

Reflection: Paul shares these words right before telling the church in Corinth to forgive and comfort the one who is seeking forgiveness. Here he is reflecting on a painful visit that he is acknowledging that did not go well. He seems to be suggesting that he caused them unentended pain. This visit was followed up with a letter that was written out of anguish, affliction, and tears to show them the love he has for them. Paul suggests that the only one that is there to make him glad, is the one whom he caused the pain. In our sin and brokenness, we can even be glad in the pain we cause others. As Richard Rohr suggests our pain is either used by God to transform us, or we end up transmitting it on others. As we were reminded of earlier this week Satan would like nothing more for us to hold on to our pain and use it to harm others as we withhold our forgiveness. Let us all be careful to not fall into that trap.     

Prayer: Jesus, sometimes I fall into the schemes of the enemy and refuse to forgive others. This only leads to a path of bitterness. Forgive me for the times  that I have used my pain as a weapon against others. Help me to forgive others, even when it is difficult. Show me the path of healing and use my pain to transform and heal me. For those that I have harmed, help me to seek their forgiveness, knowing how much you have forgiven me, amen.   

March 15 Week 4: Personal Responsibility – 1 Timothy 1:12-20. Acts 26:9-11) In training the young pastor Timothy, the zealous Paul is brutally honest about his own past and present struggles with sin, calling himself the chief of sinners. He does not deflect his own sinfulness or try to blame others. Here Paul goes out of his way to show his ongoing need for mercy so that Christ can display his perfect patience.

March 16 – Day 23 (Monday)

Reading: ¹² I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, ¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 
–1 Timothy 1:12-14

Reflection: We should never forget how far God’s redemption had brough Paul. Though he was once a persecutor of the church, God used Him to help build the church throughout Europe and Western Asia. God’s grace “overflowed” and spilled out into the lives of so many that Paul came in contact with. This overflow happened because Paul didn’t hide his past or his sins. He allowed God to use His story to transform everyone that he met.

Prayer: God, thank you for redeeming me from my past like you redeemed Paul. Grant me the courage to share my WHOLE story, even the ugly and messy parts, so that others can celebrate the grace that you’ve overflowed into my life. May that grace continue to overflow into the lives of those around me, amen.