| You're the Reason - article by Joel Hempel
In preparation for Holy Week and this article, Marcia and I watched The Passion of the Christ. If you have not seen it, I don’t necessarily encourage you to do so. It’s touching and loving at times but mostly brutal and gruesome – until the last scene. After watching the movie and letting into my heart the pain Jesus endured – for me, I became compelled to confront us with our sinfulness and reluctance to see our reflection in the mirror of God’s Law. I encourage us not to turn away from clearly seeing the reasons that compelled Jesus to sacrifice himself for us. Yes, that’s right. You and I are the reason – all of us and what we think we have hidden. If it weren’t for you – and me – Jesus would not have had to endure immeasurable pain, suffering, and eternal rejection – a sentence beyond our comprehension and one we will never have to suffer – thank God. Most of you know the story of God’s prophet, Nathan, confronting King David with his hidden sins of adultery (some would say rape) and murder. If you don’t or you need a refresher and an eye opener, read Scripture’s version of a Hollywood tell-all drama in two chapters (2 Samual 11-12:25). Let’s face it. Every one of us needs a Nathan at different times in our life. This article may be your Nathan. If you need it to be, I pray you receive God’s blessing. We can live with sin long enough that we become blind, and our conscience becomes calloused. Do you need to hear the painful truth? As hard as it is to hear sometimes, truth is redemptive. I thank God for the Nathans who entered my life when they were most needed. So, if you have the courage, stop reading this, find a place away from others, and give unguarded thought to everything about you that is offensive to God. Look at the evil tendencies that cling to your flesh and refuse to die. What attitudes, thoughts, and feelings continue to act up against God’s will? Own the behavior that hurts our Savior! But wait! Isn’t there a yes but? No, not when looking at the reason for the crucifixion. There is no yes but; no, I didn’t mean it; no, that’s not me. You and I are guilty! Own it! Too quickly, we Christians want to run to God’s grace and receive his forgiveness. But quickly running to the merciful arms of Jesus and bypassing ownership of our sin and guilt can be what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace. It’s like reaching into our back pocket for a get-out-of-hell-free card. Here’s the tension we live with: We truly live in God’s grace and forgiveness. But refusing to squarely face our defiance and nuanced posturing to look pretty good – results in (a) not contemplating and grasping why it cost Jesus so much to win our freedom and (b) failure to receive the fullness and richness of God’s grace. Notice the italicized word, receive. It’s one thing to sincerely believe we are forgiven and that God loves us without condition. It is something altogether different to receive God’s grace deep within us so that it changes us and turns us into powerful witnesses of his LOVE. Do yourself and everyone around you a great service. See Jesus on the cross! See his pain. See his LOVE. See yourself loved, forgiven, and freed to face your sins and change. | 
