It's unbelievable the aim some sinners have when given a stone.
"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone." John 8:7
Sometimes in life you get to see the fruits of your hard work. Not too many, but there's just enough to make you feel like God truly is working in your life.
I once had a man in my congregation who would not receive Communion. Every Sunday we had Communion he would sink down in the pew while everyone else came up to the rail. The first time I served Communion I thought that maybe there was something physically wrong. It's not unusual for me to take the Communion elements to people in the pews who can't come kneel at the rail.
Sometimes people won't take Communion because of religious reasons. This often occurs when different denominations marry. One spouse will come forward but the other won't because they will take Communion at their Church when they have it the next Sunday.
Not knowing what the reason was, after I had finished I held the plate and cup, looked at him and discreetly pointed to see if he wanted me to come to him.
He fervently shook his head no.
I didn't think much of it until the third time I served Communion. After Church that day I asked if I could come visit them. The wife was excited and said "Yes!" However the husband just lowered his head in resignation and said, "I guess."
That afternoon was great. We sat in their living room and ate strawberry shortcake and drank coffee. Then at what I thought was the right time I asked the husband, "Do you mind if I ask why you don't take Communion?"
The wife sat up rigidly in her chair and stiffly said, "I'll take the plates to the kitchen."
That left us alone in the room. He looked at me. I smiled at him and we stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity. I wasn't budging and he wasn't volunteering.
Finally he gave a heavy sigh and said, "Preacher I can't take Communion because God can never forgive the things I've had to do."
He told me that during WWII he was what they later called during the Vietnam war, a tunnel rat. He served in the Pacific theatre and went from island to island, liberating the small dots of sand and jungle from Japanese occupation. He told me of the flame thrower he carried. Of the tunnels they just collapsed. He spoke of the children that were used as human shields and the barbarism of torture he saw from people they liberated. He had seen dozens of his friends killed and had killed hundreds during the island campaigns.
"After what I've seen. What I've done. What I can't forget, I just don't see any way God can take a sinner like me," he said with tears streaming down his face.
No amount of reassurance would change his mind that day. So I dedicated myself to talking about God's grace whenever I could. To preach about the forgiveness of sins and the justification of the spirit. When we went fishing together I always talked about how people in the Bible came through great sin to become men and women of legend and inspiration.
"God knows your name," I would tell him. "And God has your name written in rolls of Heaven."
My last Sunday at that Church I served Communion. And on that awesome day, this man came forward, bent down with creaking knees and for the first time in 68 years received the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
I still cry when I think about it.
When Moses went into exile in the desert he thought he had sinned too greatly to become a man of God. He thought he would never be the leader he wanted to be and his life of meaning and purpose had been reduced to a sad existence working for his father-in-law as a ranch hand. Then one day, God called his name.
"Moses! Moses!" God shouted from the burning bush. God told Moses to leave his shame and misery behind. To stop acting like he wasn't good enough or righteous enough. God would later say that we are holy because God is holy! Not because of the good or bad things we've done, but because of the goodness of God.
God is calling you today as well. To leave behind your life of sorrow and shame and start living a life of redemption and freedom.
Let us pray.
Dear God. We know that we can never be good enough to be worthy of your grace. But we also know that we don't have to be. That your son Jesus set us free and we are now holy because you are holy. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
The Blessings of Our Lord Jesus Christ Be With You!
PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.
Religion on 06/24/2015