Swimming In The Murkiness of Sin

This past weekend, Tiffany and I helped chaperone the youth group’s trip to Lake Wedowee in Alabama. As it turns out, this lake is the location of two pretty significant and related lessons.

When I was youth-aged, I went to Wedowee for a weekend of lake fun. It was there I learned how important it is to wear sunscreen. I spent several hours out on a boat without it and got the worst sunburn of my life! I have the sun damage on my left arm to prove it! As I’ve gotten a little older and wiser, I wear sun screen religiously. And now, I’m supplementing my sun protection by wearing one of those nifty swim shirts, similar to what a surfer would wear. Lesson I.

This past weekend, prior to getting on the boat, I lathered up with an 85 SPF sunscreen. I then donned my swim shirt, which is solid white, to further protect my pasty-white torso. We then struck out on the boat for an afternoon of swimming, tubing, wakeboarding, etc. Once finished, we headed back to shore for the next slate of activities, which for me included lying around on a float – hard work to be sure! While Tiffany and I were swimming in the water, I made some comment about how clean the water appeared to be for lake water. She tacitly agreed and we continued our afternoon of leisure.

When our swimming session was completed, I made my way out of the water with Tiffany right behind me. Once I heaved myself out of the water, Tiffany was able to see my white swim shirt and commented on how dirty I was. I didn’t believe it until I actually pulled my shirt away from my body and saw how it was no longer white, but the color of a latte! While swimming in the lake, the murkiness of the water dyed my shirt a light brown! Returning home, I soaked it in a diluted bleach solution, but guess what? The shirt is still brown! Lesson II.

Having my swim shirt re-colored got me thinking about the murkiness of sin. While we are willingly swimming around in sin-stuff, we look around and think that all’s well. In fact, we look past what we’re really getting ourselves into and think that it isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s fun and probably even exciting. Not experiencing any immediate consequences, we get deceived into thinking that we are above the need to avoid whatever it is we’re doing. It’s all about deception, and while we’re enjoying ourselves, we are deceived that what we’re doing is a-ok. The problem, however, is that it isn’t a-ok, and we’re being tainted while note even knowing it. Quoth Scooby Doo, “Ruh Roh!”

Once tainted with sin, there is nothing we can do on our own to cleanse ourselves. We can try with all our Humpty-Dumptyesque efforts to wash the sin away, but we simply aren’t capable. We need some help. That’s where GOD comes in, because it is GOD alone who cleanses us from the stain of sin. “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51.7)

GOD came to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and in Jesus’ sacrifice, broke the strangle-hold that sin has on us forever. In accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, you can receive the immeasurable blessings of eternal life that begins with the cleansing of sin. Revelation 7.15 tells us that those who believe in Jesus and follow Him will be able to wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, making them white again—whiter than snow! It’s the blood of Christ that cleanses us better than any bleach ever could.

If you have been swimming in the murkiness of sin, thinking that you’re staying clean, be careful! The honest truth, though, is this applies to us all. Accepting Christ, however, cleanses you from the inside out, purifying you, making you whiter than snow. Accept GOD’s love for you. Embrace Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Go to Him to be cleansed. The murkiness of sin stains even if you aren’t aware of it, but GOD alone makes you clean. So take a dip in the living water of GOD’s love! Get clean, stay that way, and may it change the way you live forever!!!

A Great Quote

Pastor Rick Warren is someone I follow on Twitter. You may know of Rick as the Pastor of the Saddleback Church in California and the bestselling author of the books, "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life." Earlier in the week, he tweeted something that strikes me in light of my earlier blog post. He tweeted:

"I believe in the separation of church and hate."

~ Rick Warren*

So do I! May we all as we shine the LIGHT and LOVE of GOD!!!


*You can see Rick Warren on Twitter by clicking here.

Remembering 9/11

I got to sleep in this morning. It was nice. We have a busy day in store for us, as my mom is headed down to Newnan to spend some time with us and to have me help her with some techno-things. I got out of bed, put on my UGA game day gear, and shuffled to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee. Through my overslept stupor, I turned on the TV and was immediately hit with the profound significance of the day ... a day that has forever changed America and the world. Video footage from that day was being replayed, while pictures of those who were lost graced the screen. My stomach turned and I was automatically taken back to that fateful morning.

9/11/2001: a mere month since my dad had died and the time when Tiffany had just learned she was pregnant with Ethan. I was exercising and listening to people vent on sports talk radio about how my beloved Bulldawgs had lost 14-9 to the South Carolina Gamecocks the Saturday before. Once the news started to break, the talk shifted from football Xs-and-Os to what was transpiring in New York. I immediately changed the channel to NBC and the Today Show to watch coverage of this bizarre tragedy. Of course at that time, no one knew the extent of what that day would become.

As the events unfolded, I was glued to the television screen. My heart – which was already conflicted in the grief of losing my dad and the expectancy of welcoming Ethan to the world – began to break for those who had perished. It didn’t take long before the phone rang and it was the senior pastor of the church where I was serving telling me that we were planning a worship service for later that day. He wanted me to begin brainstorming how we would approach this unprecedented (at least in my lifetime) opportunity to shine the light of the Gospel into the lives of a frightened people. The day became very busy from that point, and I can only remember a couple more details, but two things still stand out in my mind.

The first is how after the service, as the sun had gone down for the night, I went out into our backyard and prayed to GOD, just as I had done many times. The oddity of looking up into the sky and seeing no airplanes still makes me cringe.

The second is something from a little earlier in the day, and it was the news of the man who was officially identified as the very first casualty of 9/11 – Father Mychael Judge, the New York Fire Department Chaplain, who was killed by flying debris in lobby of the North Tower as the South Tower collapsed. As news of the attacks reached the emergency responders, Father Judge raced to the scene to offer his help and spiritual support. He was greeted by Mayor Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the victims of the attack and the entire city. He was with other firefighters, helping the victims – many of whom would not survive the day – offering Last Rites as he was killed. His funeral was attended by 3,000 persons, including dignitaries like former President Bill Clinton. In fact, following the funeral, his fire helmet was taken to the Vatican where it was presented to Pope John Paul! This was a man who had given his life to show love in a time and a place where it was practically absent.

Because of the way he lived his life, Father Mychael Judge was known and loved by many, and the story of his impact was shared in our Memorial Service at Saint Andrew UMC in Marietta. You see, I had been scouring the Internet all day long trying to figure out what in the world to include in a service like that! It was then I had found some info about Father Judge and how he died in ministry to the victims of that day. During my simple research, I found a prayer he was known to use to help order his life that we used in our service. I have since used it many times myself, even making it into a bookmark that I carry around in one of my Bibles. That prayer is:

"Lord, take me where You want me to go,
let me meet who You want me to meet,
tell me what You want me to say,
and keep me out of Your way."

Father Mychael Judge

That prayer strikes me today, just as it did then. We are called to give our lives in service to the world, and use every bit of ourselves to make Jesus known, but we cannot do that if we are consumed with hate. That was not how Jesus was, and certainly isn’t how He calls us to live today.

There has been a lot of talk in the news recently that, in my opinion, is giving Christians a bad name. In defense of GOD and the faith, some have fallen into the trap of hating those who aren’t like us. This bothers me! At the time Jesus was being arrested for his mock trial and imminent execution, Peter pulled out a sword to fight off those who were attacking him. Not only did Jesus order Peter to put that sword away, but Jesus healed the man’s ear that Peter had lopped off! (See John 18) The same man who had come to arrest him … now THAT’S grace and love! Jesus had every right to use His cosmic power for defense or retaliation, but He chose a way that strikes us in the heart of our own bent toward hate when confronted with a tragedy, and He did it with love.

I understand why people are up in arms about Bibles being burned, Christians being persecuted, and GOD being forced out of the public awareness, but friend – and this is a growing burden in my spirit – we aren’t doing Jesus any favors by fighting fire with fire! The greatest response we could possibly have is to love with the love of Christ in spite of the problems in the world. This, to me, is a much stronger statement, than falling to the level of others who do hateful things. Love is our only tool and weapon in this fight – loving like Jesus!

Here, on this 9th anniversary of 9/11, and considering all the unrest around us, it is evident to me in a powerful way that love is the answer for the world. It isn’t in burning books or shouting hateful things to people who aren’t like us, it’s about showing love to others in the face of all the reasons we should not. It’s a day we will never forget, and we never should. This isn’t the time for hate, this is the time for love … and LOTS of it!

I want to leave you with words from the Apostle Paul, as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message, “Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.” (Romans 12.9-21, MSG)

Have a great day, remember 9/11, and find a way to love like Jesus, for this is how we’ll change the world!