Holston Daily Devotional February 18, 2021

Focus Scripture

1 John 1:8-9

If we freely admit that we have sinned, we find God reliable and just—God forgives our sins and makes us thoroughly clean from all that is evil.

Devotion

A psychiatrist in one of my congregations told me that his favorite part of the worship service came after we prayed the prayer of confession. It was the assurance that if our prayer was sincere, God was willing to forgive us. He said, “I have seen hundreds of people in my practice who long to hear that they could be forgiven by anyone. In the announcement that God is willing to forgive a person’s worst moments, there is more therapy being done than I can do in many sessions.”

But what actually happens when God forgives us? It does not mean that God will deliver us from facing the consequences of our sins. Words said in anger are not magically erased from the memory of those who were the targets of our anger. Nor does God’s forgiveness release us of the obligation to repair the human relationships we have injured.

What does happen involves one of the dimensions of meaning in the word for forgiveness used in this text; the word is “aphiesthai.” One of the meanings is that a time of exile is over. Our wandering spirit exiles us from the guidance of God. The exile is like old car radios where the clarity of sound diminished the farther you were from the station’s transmitter.

Admitting our specific sins points to the basic sin of exiling ourselves from God. John Wesley saw clearly that humanity is sick with twin diseases: we are alienated from God and fearful of death. The fear of death leads to our continued focus on immediate pleasures, and our alienation from God means we are no longer able to receive with clarity

the guidance God offers. Fortunately God offers twin cures for our twin diseases: the cross is the ultimate event showing us how far God will go to find us and the empty tomb the ultimate cure of our foolish worry about death.

Admitting our sins and hearing that forgiveness is available sets us on the road back to the process of being cleansed. Memories from childhood of a ringer wash machine, twin tubs of hot and cold water, and a bag full of clothes pins come to mind; washing clothes then was an all-day affair. And washing our souls – our inner consciousness of life – takes even more time. But the joy is that as we renounce our status as an exile, we do not find ourselves returning to the courtroom of God’s wrath, but to the courtyard of God’s love.

The power of the psychiatrists words is illustrated by another story from that same church. A couple were devastated by the news that their adult son had been killed in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver.

The mother recounted to me that she went to the first court hearing with a great deal of hatred in her heart. But as she saw the driver of the other car for the first time, she said, “Something came over me and I saw him as some mother’s son.” After the hearing she caught up with the man who had killed her son and said to him, “I just want you to know I forgive you.” He then collapsed into her arms and said to her, “You don’t know how long I have waited for anyone to say I could be forgiven.”

Prayer

Eternal God, this day I admit I have wandered from you, replacing an eternal relationship with you for immediate pleasures for me. Exiling myself from you has made me miserable and has disappointed you. I no longer want to be this far from you. Today I set my feet on the road back to you in full assurance that every step I take means another part of me will be cleansed. Amen.