I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
When our consciences would condemn us, we must turn to the promises of God. His promises never fail. Whatever our sins, whatever our fears, whatever our unbeliefs, they cannot stand against the overwhelming mercy of God, spoken to us in Scripture, poured over us in baptism, and fed into us in holy communion. No, they cannot stand, for the promises of God are strong and sure…..
So said Matthew Block in the Canadian Lutheran a while back. I have always been worried about preaching too much Law to those who are in despair. More and more in these “grey and latter days” I worry more about not preaching enough Law to those who really don’t give a rip about anything.
There of course needs to be a balance but sometimes I wonder how you preach repentance and faith to those who don’t believe in “Sin” anymore. Their question is not Luther’s “how can I find a gracious God”, but “where does God even fit into my life if there is a God in the first place?”
Sadly I am seeing more and more that the forgiveness of sins is taken by many as a kind of joke that amounts to little more than superstition. It is too bad because our theology is pretty plain that “where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation”.
