“What comes around goes around,” is an old saying with almost karmic tones. It’s an attitude that is prevalent among people. There is a belief out there that says, “If you do bad things, bad things will happen to you. And if you do good things, good things will happen to you.” That is not always true in this world, as just as that might seem.
In Luke 13 Jesus talks about some people who had some bad things happen to them. He speaks of some people from Galilee who, when offering their sacrifices, were killed by Roman soldiers. He refers to eighteen people who had a tower fall on them. Then he asks, “Do you think they were worse sinners than you?”
Hmm, awkward moment!
The truth is we do not always get what we deserve. Guilty criminals get set free. Good people become victims. Bad things happen. And then there is the ultimate situation where we get what we do not deserve: when God intervenes in our lives and pours out his mercy and love on us and gives us forgiveness.
We spend so much time thinking about what we “deserve” when we feel that we have been wronged. We would do well to think on that sentiment for a while. What do we “deserve” from God? Yet, what has he chosen to give us?
Every moment of every day is lived in the hope and promise that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. God has given us undeserved kindness and unmerited love, and in that we rejoice. And it is from that “grace” that we then look at the world differently. It’s no longer about fair or unfair, or that person is better or worse. Instead, we see a world where bad things take place – which are symptoms and consequences of sin – and we get to be messengers of hope and forgiveness for our God who is not fair, but desires to give His love to people who don’t deserve it.
To this day Jesus calls out to a world that rejects him – he calls out through you and me – and he would gather all people to himself. Like the mustard plant that he speaks of in v. 18 – all kinds of “birds” are welcome. However, the message is clear that while God’s mercy is abundant, the ways to come to him are not. In fact there is but one way – through faith in Jesus.
The hope that we have in Jesus’ death and resurrection is the hope that permeates our lives like yeast through dough. It is also the hope that needs to spread to the whole world. It is our privilege to spread it. We get to address a world that is looking for fairness with one of the most unfair messages ever: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that, in him, we could become the righteousness of God. Jesus trades his holiness for our sins. He gets what he does not deserve. And so do we. Thanks be to God!
Father, you are so good to me even though I do not deserve it. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to make the unfair trade of my sins for his holiness. I still get caught up in what’s “fair” and the game of comparisons. Help me to see every moment as a gift, a mercy from you, and a moment to be thankful and rejoice. As that attitude grows in me, give me opportunities to share my hope and joy with others, so that I can point them to Jesus, too. Amen.
In Luke 13 Jesus talks about some people who had some bad things happen to them. He speaks of some people from Galilee who, when offering their sacrifices, were killed by Roman soldiers. He refers to eighteen people who had a tower fall on them. Then he asks, “Do you think they were worse sinners than you?”
Hmm, awkward moment!
The truth is we do not always get what we deserve. Guilty criminals get set free. Good people become victims. Bad things happen. And then there is the ultimate situation where we get what we do not deserve: when God intervenes in our lives and pours out his mercy and love on us and gives us forgiveness.
We spend so much time thinking about what we “deserve” when we feel that we have been wronged. We would do well to think on that sentiment for a while. What do we “deserve” from God? Yet, what has he chosen to give us?
Every moment of every day is lived in the hope and promise that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. God has given us undeserved kindness and unmerited love, and in that we rejoice. And it is from that “grace” that we then look at the world differently. It’s no longer about fair or unfair, or that person is better or worse. Instead, we see a world where bad things take place – which are symptoms and consequences of sin – and we get to be messengers of hope and forgiveness for our God who is not fair, but desires to give His love to people who don’t deserve it.
To this day Jesus calls out to a world that rejects him – he calls out through you and me – and he would gather all people to himself. Like the mustard plant that he speaks of in v. 18 – all kinds of “birds” are welcome. However, the message is clear that while God’s mercy is abundant, the ways to come to him are not. In fact there is but one way – through faith in Jesus.
The hope that we have in Jesus’ death and resurrection is the hope that permeates our lives like yeast through dough. It is also the hope that needs to spread to the whole world. It is our privilege to spread it. We get to address a world that is looking for fairness with one of the most unfair messages ever: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that, in him, we could become the righteousness of God. Jesus trades his holiness for our sins. He gets what he does not deserve. And so do we. Thanks be to God!
Father, you are so good to me even though I do not deserve it. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to make the unfair trade of my sins for his holiness. I still get caught up in what’s “fair” and the game of comparisons. Help me to see every moment as a gift, a mercy from you, and a moment to be thankful and rejoice. As that attitude grows in me, give me opportunities to share my hope and joy with others, so that I can point them to Jesus, too. Amen.
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