Thursday, March 9, 2017

Homily for 10 Mar 2017

10 Mar 2017

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the school office, and the secretary was sorting through old student records from the 1930s or so.  And, of course, they’re required to keep them because that’s part of somebody’s “permanent record.”  The record is always there.  That C-minus that little Henry got there in 1932 is just going to be there—forever.  It’s a permanent record.

Thankfully, however, God does not keep a permanent record on us.  He says, “If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, none of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him.”  God does not “mark our guilt;” he’s not interested in using our sins and mistakes as ammunition against us.  God does not keep a permanent record on us.

Nonetheless, however, there is a record; it may not be permanent, but God isn’t blind to our sins.  He can see what we do—both the good and the bad; he’s like Santa Claus, I suppose—“making a list and checking it twice.”  But God writes his list in pencil.  The “record” that God has in his mind can be easily erased and forgotten.  And so, there’s a record, but it’s not at all permanent.

In fact, it’s completely erased, torn up, and thrown away any time we say, “Yea, I did that; I committed that sin.  I shouldn’t have, but I did.  And I intend to get on a different track.”  And when we take just one step onto that different path, our record is gone.  It doesn’t linger in God’s mind as a “permanent record.”  It’s just simply gone. 

We’re the ones who remember our sins.  But God doesn’t.  And that’s a reason to come to the altar of God and offer a sacrifice of thanks.

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