FROM THE PASTOR
when god fixes - god fixes for good
Had an oil leak in one of my old cars once. Once! My dad and I traced an oil leak to a crack in the oil sump. The crack was “Y” shaped, like a lightening strike about 20 mm long. The crack wasn’t simply in a spot where it could be easily fixed, no, it was on a curve. My first thoughts were how we going to fix this? And fix it so it won’t leak again?
To me, it meant taking the sump off to fix it properly, which meant either lifting the motor up so the sump could be slid out, or having to take the motor out completely. To dad, that was the hard way; he said I’ve got a better way. Once he told me what he was going to do and how it could be fixed without ripping the motor out; it kind of made sense, but it seemed as though it wouldn’t fix the oil leak for good. After he explained it all, I remember thinking some expletives, but my words were, “You gotta be joking! There’s no way that’s going to work!”. Even to this day I can hear him say, “It’ll work”. And to my surprise and absolute amazement, his repair job worked. The oil leak was fixed and it never leaked again! It was fixed for good. What I thought impossible, was made possible.
Now I want to bring you back to a verse we heard around Christmas time. Christmas Eve to be exact. It has relevancy for us right here, right now, and for the future. St Matthew writes: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (1:21). Why this verse? Why now?
God fixed sin for good. There are times we believe we can fix this sin or that sin, while other times we wonder if my wrong doing can ever be undone. Or, we sometimes believe that we can make up for our sins by doing good, trying harder, and we think, this will ultimately make it up with God. But no matter how hard we try we cannot earn God’s favour by what we do. And further to contend with is our sinful human nature that’s quick to tell God how we think God should fix sin in our lives, and how to fix others who are the real sinners! We are in need, aren’t we? God can fix anything. God can make possible the impossible. In worship, a Sunday or two ago, we heard those famous words from St Paul who wrote: “God showed love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
I’ve been doing a lot of little fix up jobs here and there during the Coronavirus; and I’ve felt a bit like Bob the Builder whose famous catch-cry is: “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”. But when it comes to sin. We cannot fix it. But God can and God did. God sent His own Son into our world as our big Brother to fix everything we cannot. We can't live up to God's holy standards, but Jesus did for us. We can't make things right with God with good intentions, but Jesus did by taking the world's sin upon Himself and suffering its punishment on the cross. Our sins are dealt with for good. With that message of God's perfect "fix" through Jesus, the Spirit works faith and gives the sinner a new heart, which becomes evident in love for God and neighbour – for good.
We Pray For:
† The church, that it my proclaim the Word of God boldly.
† Those who have heard the Word and not taken to heart its message.
† Protection from fire, flood, famine, war, accidents, social strife, and the ceasing of Coronavirus outbreaks.
To me, it meant taking the sump off to fix it properly, which meant either lifting the motor up so the sump could be slid out, or having to take the motor out completely. To dad, that was the hard way; he said I’ve got a better way. Once he told me what he was going to do and how it could be fixed without ripping the motor out; it kind of made sense, but it seemed as though it wouldn’t fix the oil leak for good. After he explained it all, I remember thinking some expletives, but my words were, “You gotta be joking! There’s no way that’s going to work!”. Even to this day I can hear him say, “It’ll work”. And to my surprise and absolute amazement, his repair job worked. The oil leak was fixed and it never leaked again! It was fixed for good. What I thought impossible, was made possible.
Now I want to bring you back to a verse we heard around Christmas time. Christmas Eve to be exact. It has relevancy for us right here, right now, and for the future. St Matthew writes: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (1:21). Why this verse? Why now?
God fixed sin for good. There are times we believe we can fix this sin or that sin, while other times we wonder if my wrong doing can ever be undone. Or, we sometimes believe that we can make up for our sins by doing good, trying harder, and we think, this will ultimately make it up with God. But no matter how hard we try we cannot earn God’s favour by what we do. And further to contend with is our sinful human nature that’s quick to tell God how we think God should fix sin in our lives, and how to fix others who are the real sinners! We are in need, aren’t we? God can fix anything. God can make possible the impossible. In worship, a Sunday or two ago, we heard those famous words from St Paul who wrote: “God showed love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
I’ve been doing a lot of little fix up jobs here and there during the Coronavirus; and I’ve felt a bit like Bob the Builder whose famous catch-cry is: “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”. But when it comes to sin. We cannot fix it. But God can and God did. God sent His own Son into our world as our big Brother to fix everything we cannot. We can't live up to God's holy standards, but Jesus did for us. We can't make things right with God with good intentions, but Jesus did by taking the world's sin upon Himself and suffering its punishment on the cross. Our sins are dealt with for good. With that message of God's perfect "fix" through Jesus, the Spirit works faith and gives the sinner a new heart, which becomes evident in love for God and neighbour – for good.
We Pray For:
† The church, that it my proclaim the Word of God boldly.
† Those who have heard the Word and not taken to heart its message.
† Protection from fire, flood, famine, war, accidents, social strife, and the ceasing of Coronavirus outbreaks.