“Don’t put your servant on trial, for no one is innocent before you.”
MAIN POINT: You need to learn to discern what is sin and what is God’s will.
Have you ever been on trial? I was on trial many years ago for a traffic accident where I was found to be the cause or guilty one. I had to pay the other insurance companies for years after that. I sat in a trial too a few times, as an observer, as a witness, as a supporter of the people involved in the trial. David is right, there are no innocent parties. Most situations in life are complex and even what appears to be the simplest of scenarios can often be traced back to other causes, perpetrators who had been themselves victims and so on.
I want to make it clear I am thinking these things through. I have invited you as the reader to join me in the process. Depending on when you read this and in what form, you may see photos of the process of writing/copying or transcriptions of audio reflections I make while walking to work at Het Goede Boek. Or you may have no context. You may not know me. Each day I have been writing a reflection, a Bible lesson, a sermon, or a response to a Psalm of the past 143 days. I have gone to the Psalms like the Israelites exited their tents to collect manna or food for the day during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. I have trusted each day God would give me something to write. I am recording these thoughts to share for several reasons. One is in the hopes that my children and grandchildren will someday read them and be encouraged to see the faith God has given me. Also each day the volunteers in Het Goede sit and read a verse from the Bible and pray before we open the store. Yesterday we read in the store we read,
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”
There is an interesting interplay between guilt, sin, fear, depression, will, submission and growth. We as sinners know only one path and it will always be the one where we are guilty.
Jesus did not walk the path of sin. But He did grow, struggle, face temptations, desire His own will and become sorrowful.
“Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.””
I have meditated on this verse in Matthew often and I wonder so many things.
I wonder if there are any parallels of experience and feeling for David and Jesus?
“Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die.”
Obviously it seems easier to relate to David, because I have no difficulty in seeing many of the same struggles I have in life: fear, pride, lust, lies, anger. Some of these were merely the temptation to sin and other times I look back and know for certain I crossed the line and took the wrong path. Jesus never took the wrong path. David and I have taken the wrong path before.
I am certain we have much to learn when it comes to discerning what is sin and what is struggle and temptation to sin.
Listen. It is at this fundamental level we will struggle and the father of lies will try to trip us up. Those things which are not sin but simply the struggle or temptation to sin where we have had great victory but felt like a failure will be areas where Satan will try to make us feel guilty.
And those things we have done, said and thought that are 100% sin and an offence against God and man, Satan will try to convince us are not sin.
Learning to distinguish between temptation, struggle and sin is the task of a life-time. I think it makes sense that Jesus at least had to learn, grow and struggle with that discernment too. Even though He never failed, I’m sure He was tested and had to learn and decide often what is sin and what is not sin.
I’m surprised, though I shouldn’t be, that a frequent area of struggle for the follower of Jesus is judging others' sin. And the thing that gets us all upset and the thing we use as the example of grievous sin is something that we don’t even struggle with.
Here are some things that I am fairly confident are not sin but we might feel like they are.
Struggle.
Jesus struggled. So it can’t be sin in all cases.
The need to pray.
Jesus needed to pray. So prayer is not a result of sin.
The need to grow in wisdom.
Jesus grew, even in wisdom, so to move from less wisdom to more wisdom can be done without having been sinful.
Having enemies.
Jesus had enemies, so just because people want to kill you doesn’t make you a sinner.
Being vulnerable, or mortality.
It is not inherently sinful to get tired, to be moved emotionally, even to die isn’t sinful.
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?”
(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
I am reluctant to even describe this statement accurately. But whatever you would say to describe this cry, these words, one thing is for sure. Jesus did not sin in saying them.
I’m going to at least ask the question. Did the Father do this, or did Jesus only feel like it was true, and was it only temporary? Didn’t Jesus see it coming? Wasn’t it part of the plan? Is He doubting, but without sin? Is it like many things in life we really don’t know, even Jesus didn’t, until we are in the situation.
Can we express what appears to be a lack of faith and not sin? Can we doubt without sin?
Let me take a different approach. I am drawn to Hebrews 12 to think about learning to struggle against sin:
“Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”
Jesus endured hostility. With me so far? That’s verse 3 of Hebrews 12.
“As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.”
Hebrews 12:7
Jesus is God’s own son. Was Jesus disciplined? At least for our sins? Or even to grow even more in faith or wisdom or obedience? Jesus is expressly described as growing in two of those three. He had to learn obedience. And he grew in wisdom. Could it be that part of discipline is not about sin but about growth? And needing to grow is not sinful.
I’m trying to help us discern and not be lazy on this point so Satan cannot trick you, discourage you and depress you with lies.
“Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. “
I think we have to constantly, for our whole lives, struggle against sin, struggle to discern what is the right way. I think we are meant to be needy, to be reaching out, to be learning, to be dependent on God to distinguish right from wrong, to learn the motives of our hearts. It will show us what is sinful, but it may not be sinful to stand at the crossroads wondering and asking for help. Yes we would pray, Be merciful to me and help me to not sin. But we don’t have to feel guilty for needing to pray that prayer.
In this way I am quite sure more of David’s words can be heard coming from the mouth of Jesus than I previously would have thought.
I have said it before but it bears repeating. Jesus learned obedience. Jesus lived His life as a human in the power of the Holy Spirit in communication with the Father and in dependance on God for wisdom to know each step and to do what is right. Jesus as the second Adam faced the tempter but did not sin. Nonetheless, He faced temptation. He faced questions, He faced the need to pray. He lived as we are to live so we can see how God wants us to live. If we are His followers then we need to see more clearly that Jesus really walked a path we also are expected to walk. Because when we are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit we become like Jesus and we can learn to obey, just as He did.
Are not these two verses similar?
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.”
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Conclusion:
Jesus and David show us that to learn to discern what is sin and what is God's will is not sinful.
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| Handwritten Psalm 143 |
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