Just one terrible mistake

Just one terrible mistake

5 years ago, I was speaking one Sunday morning on the subject of loving other whole-heartedly and some of the situations that complicate our relationships. Then, it happened. I spoke three words and saw the eyes of a woman in front of me widen as she thought of an entirely different image than I was reaching for! Then I heard the quiet laughter spread across the church. The unintended meaning of what I had just said came into my mind. My face grew red with embarrassment! It was a gaffe and a half. No, I won’t repeat here.  Every now and then, someone is kind enough to say those three words, just to remind me.  35 minutes of preaching and most people remember just three words!

Your life can be defined by a single decision, a mistake, a choice made in haste or for ignoble reasons. That’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?  My little mistake only ruined a single sermon. The mistakes of some ruin their lives.  President Richard M. Nixon’s entire political career is eclipsed by a single word, “Watergate.” A stupid decision to cover up a crime of little significance destroyed him and His Presidency.   What history reveals to us about that man, however, is a sobering lesson for us all.  In reality, Watergate revealed the arrogance and paranoia that ran wide and deep in the Nixon administration.  If a younger Nixon had overcome his sense of inferiority and defeated his fears, there would have been no conspiracy, no impeachment, no Watergate.  

Often that ‘single mistake’ that defines somebody’s life is really the moment when a deep flaw finally surfaces. Infidelity starts with a wandering eye.  Embezzling company funds is preceded by small dishonesty. Being caught in a major lie is the result of telling little lies along the way.  More positively, a holy life on the outside starts with a transformed heart, filled with the Spirit! 

Jesus made it easy to understand: “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:43-45, NLT)

Are you living wisely, disciple?
Are you giving the Spirit access to your heart and mind so that He can bring about health and wholeness in your thoughts and plans?

Christians believe in redemption!  No one is defined, in God’s eyes by a singular sin. The Bible is filled with stories of failed men and women who found forgiveness, new hearts, and fresh starts.  David, the poet–king of Israel, became a  notorious sinner in mid-life. When the ugly facts of his adultery, treachery, and murder by proxy were exposed, he turned to God with a broken heart, the enormity of sin weighing heavily on him. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. … Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (Psalm 51:1-2, 10-12, NIV)  In the New Testament, we meet a hateful man, a religious zealot named Saul who murdered in God’s name until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.  Grace changed him and he changed his world!  Yes, you know him as St. Paul!

John reminds us that restoration requires confession, owning our sins without excuse. "If we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus." (1 John 1:9-2:1, The Message)  That promises makes me want to shout-  Hallelujah!  My past need not define my future because of God’s great love and mercy.  Have you knelt before the Cross of Christ Jesus for renewal?

I’ll have to live with the jokes about my gaffe for the rest of my tenure as pastor at Faith Discovery! It was a teaching moment that has made me much more vigilant in my choice of words.

Disciple, walk near to the Lord. Respond quickly to the Spirit’s gentle prompts. He will guide and guard.  And, should you fall, turn back quickly. He forgives and restores.
“Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge! You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes." (Matthew 6:9-13, The Message)
____________

Alas, and did my Savior bleed,

And did my Sov'reign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For sinners such as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown,

And love beyond degree!

But drops of grief can ne'er repay

The debt of love I owe.

Here Lord, I give myself away,

'Tis all that I can do.

At the cross, at the cross,

Where I first saw the light;

And the burden of my heart rolled away.

It was there by faith I received my sight,

And now I am happy all the day!

Alas And Did My Saviour Bleed (Hudson)

Isaac Watts | Ralph E. Hudson

© Words: Public Domain