Sonny’s September article:
Under the Surface
In John 21:17, Peter tells Jesus, “Lord, you know everything,” when asked if Peter loved Him.
Peter followed Jesus for three years and came to the conclusion that Jesus knew everything
about him. What about us? Do we believe that Jesus knows everything about us?
I ask this question because each of us has warts and blemishes that we try to hide from others.
Who hasn’t put some extra makeup on their face to hide an ugly pimple? Unfortunately, the
issues that we try to hide from others are often more severe than acne. The things we hide are
often sinful issues that we struggle with in life. These issues boil under the surface of our public
persona. Sometimes we are the only ones who know about these issues we wrestle with in our
lives. Even our closest friend or spouse may not know or understand who we are deep inside.
But Jesus does. What do we think about that?
Did you know that some people do not come to church because they feel they are unworthy of
God. Essentially, they think they are so bad, they cannot be forgiven. I heard a story of a man
who came back from WWI and refused to go to church because he knew he was condemned
for what he had done in war. This extreme example highlights the problem of sin that keeps us
from God. Can God forgive us of even the worst sin? That is our hope and prayer.
While the man above admitted his guilt, there are many in our world who refuse to acknowledge
their sin publicly. We keep them deep inside until often our sins eat us alive with guilt, stress,
and even disease. Additionally, the idea that Jesus knows everything adds to our paranoia,
because then we cannot even keep our secret from the one we want to impress the most, God.
People like this are akin to the proverbial duck who is calm on the surface, but working hard
under the water to maintain stability. We sometimes see people come out of their semi-peaceful
state and have mental breakdowns or worse, as they may release their pent up feelings in
anger and violence.
I believe the Chad and Lori Daybell saga is like this. They seemed to be happy, peaceful people
on the surface, but underneath, they were scheming to steal, murder, and evade their sins.
Chad is on death row, still denying his guilt probably because of the heinous nature of his
offenses. Lori is serving several life sentences for her sins, but refuses to be accountable for
her actions. In fact, she is leaning into the idea that Jesus knows her and knows she would
never murder anyone, even though she is convicted of conspiring to do that five times. See the
problem? We have evil in our lives and either refuse to admit it or embrace the evil and blame
God for what we have done. What should we do?
If Jesus knows everything about us, both good and bad, can we ever be forgiven of our sins is
the real question we struggle with. We hide and lie about who we really are and hope that
others never find out about the “real us.” We either ignore the idea that God knows everything
about us or we accept that and run away from Him ala Jonah. We struggle with sin and sinful
thoughts. I believe Jesus made our conundrum worse by saying if we think about sin, lust, or
call someone a bad word, that is just as bad as adultery or murder. Where does that leave us?
We are just never going to be perfect and Jesus knows it?
Thank goodness for Paul in his Roman letter. Please take a look at Romans 7:14-25. Here,
Paul describes our sin problem. I find it fascinating that some theologians refuse to
acknowledge that Paul had a sin problem. They believe he was just trying to help us regular
people deal with our issues. I wonder what they think about the “thorn in his side” he tells the
Corinthians about (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)? In Romans 7, Paul describes what he calls a
“principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.” (vs 21) I
want us to consider this idea that we are, in fact, like Paul, “all too human, a slave to sin.” (vs
14) This means each of us has issues that make us sinful humans. Could it be that Jesus
knows who we are and forgives us anyway?
Paul has a solution for us sinners who are afraid to let anyone know who we really are, even
Jesus. As he concludes his thoughts about sin and its hold on us he opines, “Oh, what a
miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (vs 24,25) So in Paul’s mind, the only
answer to our sin problem is Jesus. Jesus knows us and knows our sinful faults, but He loves
us anyway. Instead of trying to hide from ourselves, we need to at least acknowledge our sin
(as Paul does) in order to invite Jesus to forgive us. Perhaps the key is to forgive ourselves first
and then let Jesus do the heavy lifting in our lives to free us from sin and death.
I want to close today with Paul’s conclusions from his thorn in the side. I believe this thorn was
a sin problem that God gave him to keep him humble. But Paul decides to revel in his
weakness because Jesus tells him, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in
weakness.” (vs 9) Perhaps we should remember this the next time we feel guilty about being
human. Can we do what Paul does when he thinks about his life for Jesus? In verse 10, he
decides to “take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and
troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Today, let’s decide to give Jesus our sinful issues, knowing He already understands us and
stands ready to be strong when we are weak. This is not an invitation to sin, but rather our
acceptance of God’s grace and love in our lives now and for eternity.