Scripture Reflections

On Sunday, Justin+ preached a beautiful sermon from Ephesians 1. (If you weren’t at church, I encourage you to go the website to listen to it!) He began with verses 9-10, where Paul speaks of God’s plan to unite all things in Jesus Christ, and noted that this uniting, or gathering of all of the heavens and all of the earth into the very life of God, begins with Jesus gathering all of our weakness and sin into himself. Because Jesus gathered us, including our brokenness, into himself, we are given the fullness of God’s life.
 
The fact that we are given the life and joy of God because Jesus gathered up human sin and brokenness into his own life is an especially important reminder this week. After all, this past weekend we saw a profound picture of human sin and brokenness when a man attempted to assassinate former President Trump.
 
It is striking that Cain’s murder of Abel is the first sin recorded after Adam and Eve sought to claim the right to determine good and evil for themselves. Murder is a capstone sin, a final product of our sinful heart, because it is an attempt to destroy someone God created and loves—it is war against God himself. According to Jesus, it is in the same family of sins as hatred and judgmental malice, and according to James, it flows from our covetousness and dissatisfaction with our station in life. In other words, the seeds that give birth to murder are in all of us—hatred, a critical spirit, and covetousness. Even though those seeds won’t grow to full fruit in the vast majority of people, they still need to be rooted out, because they are evil. What happened this last weekend (regardless of what you think about the former President or American politics) was an example of humanity’s wickedness and rebellion against God.
 
And yet, Jesus was willing to bring the full scope of human wickedness into himself (including this act!), so that we would be united to God in him. The malice and evil that is rampant in our world (and in our hearts!) was gathered up into Jesus’ very heart, where it was carried in love and suffering, so that we might be able to participate in the joy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s love for each other.
 
As you see the darkness of the world, remember (each time you are confronted with evil, whether in your own heart or in someone else) that “this too Christ carries.” There is no evil that he does not willingly gather into his heart, because he longs for us to possess the life of God in joy.
 
Steven+