Not Me
From the Auschwitz death camp, the Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe wrote to his mother, "Do not worry about me or my health, for the good Lord is everywhere and holds every one of us in his great love." Soon after he wrote this, on the morning of July 29, 1941, ten men were condemned to death by starvation as punishment for another prisoner's escape. But then Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take the place of one of them. The deputy camp commander accepted the sacrifice. After enduring two weeks without food or water, he was killed with an injection of carbolic acid on August 14th.
1 John 1:8-2:2
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Kolbe heroically took the place of a man condemned to death. But as I enjoy the comforts of suburbia, it's even stranger that Jesus was willing to die for us. I remember sitting in my friend's living room for our weekly small group meeting. His mom was in town, and she rested in an oversized recliner as we cleaned up from dinner. Once we started our Bible study, I mentioned how we all struggle with sin. She piped up, "Not me!" I had to ask a follow-up question, "So, you always love God and others without fail?" Without missing a beat she said, "Yes, I think so." I didn't know what to say. It's easier to deceive ourselves than to confess the full extent of our sins. We'd rather flatter ourselves as basically good people. It destroys any basis for pride if we acknowledge that we are so desperately wicked that only the death of Jesus would be sufficient to forgive us. But because our sin is bottomless, we sometimes think we have to grovel before God. We pray like Psalm 22:6, "I am a worm and not a man," is the whole story. John says all we need to do is confess our sins. It's as simple as one Greek word. If we tell the honest truth about what we've done wrong, God not only forgives us but also cleanses us. God removes the punishment and the pollution. This is righteous, or just, because God cannot punish the same sin twice. Jesus has gone to God the Father and pleaded, "Forgive them." His argument? His own blood, shed on the cross, as the punishment in our place. He says, "Look, the price is paid. So they are free to go." We might think this is the ultimate win: we keep sinning, and God keeps forgiving. But that shows we love sin, not God. Effectively, it's another way of denying that sin is wrong. The confession of our sins requires that we renounce them as evil, and turn away from them to the God who loves us. If we grasp that his love is great enough for every person, how can we now want to be purified of our evil, that we might love others as he has loved us?
What does it tell us about Jesus that he is both our Advocate and the atoning sacrifice for our sins?
Most of us deny our sins in subtle ways. What's your preferred strategy?
What's one sin you've never confessed to anyone?
Take five minutes to honestly inventory your sins before God. After confessing each one, pray, "Thank you for forgiving and cleansing me."