Lord, we ask that you would bless us as we hear your word,
that you would renew our minds, and you'll renew our hearts,
you'll renew our souls, that you'll meet us where we need it.
Lord, we thank you that these words are ancient,
and yet they are for us this very moment today.
We pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.
Please be seated.
We've been going through the Gospel of Mark.
In fact, we're going to be going through the Gospel of Mark for some time,
and it really is, when you go through a whole narrative like this,
rather than just maybe a one-off sermon, you start to see patterns.
You start to see the intention of Mark, certain things that he is doing.
And one of the things that he is doing is that he is leading us to the cross.
We start to see bits of who this Messiah is and what he has come to do.
Before we get into it, I'm going to just share a bit of a story.
Years ago, I was really offended by a family member in a big way.
It was a very rude thing that was said.
And I lost my cool.
It was over the phone.
And I was 20 at the time.
And my anger came out in a physical way, and I smashed the phone.
I was so angry.
I've never seen red in my life.
I saw red.
I was bent.
I was bent with anger.
Anyways, didn't talk to this family member for months.
It wasn't the first time I've had an issue with this family member.
And anyways, it's summertime, and I'm at a summer camp.
And if you're at a Christian summer camp ever, it's like spirituality is like it's ramped up to like a 10 or 11.
Like you are on a high with Jesus, especially if you're 20.
And I just thought, man, you know what?
I've forgiven.
I've forgiven this family member.
I've got to phone them up.
I phoned up the family member.
It was six months, almost to the day.
And small talk, small talk, small talk.
And I said, you know, by the way, what you said in January, I forgive you.
He said, forgive me for what?
Oh, man.
I thought I forgave.
And within a moment, the red came.
I was in the car.
I didn't smash it or like drive it into the ditch.
Like it wasn't quite at that level.
But I realized then, and it's stuck with me ever since, forgiveness is something we need.
We also need to give desperately.
But it is darn hard to give it.
And it's hard to receive it.
We're going to learn a bit about forgiveness today.
How Jesus approaches it.
We're going to see that forgiveness is actually at the center of the cross.
And as Mark is leading us, setting these kind of breadcrumbs, so to speak, leading us to the cross,
we're going to see that forgiveness is something that is greater than we could have ever hoped for.
It is beyond the pale, the forgiveness of God.
It's, and I use this, it is scandalous.
It is a scandalous thing.
Jesus is proclaiming the gospel of God, the good news that he will destroy death and forgive sins forever by dying on the cross.
This is what we see right from the opening verses of the gospel,
that Jesus is the gospel himself, his life, his death, his resurrection.
And that an implication of the gospel is the kingdom of heaven breaking into the kingdom of earth.
And all of a sudden we get to see little flavors, little bits of flavors of the kingdom.
That restoration and healing start to take place wherever Jesus goes.
Cleansing and joy starts to take place wherever Jesus goes.
We learned about the cleansing of the leper last week.
The kingdom of God is breaking into the kingdom of earth.
We'll see how Jesus this week has the authority and the ability to forgive sins.
Not in the Daniel style of forgiving sins.
The 20-year-old Daniel style of forgiving sins.
Or maybe the 35-year-old Daniel forgiving sins.
Or your version of forgiving sins.
But true forgiveness of sins.
And we'll see this play out as Jesus interacts with a paralytic,
interacts with a traitor,
and how it kind of plays out at a dinner party.
So let's take a first look at the paralytic.
This is a very, very, very famous passage of scripture.
The lowering of the paralytic through the roof.
Let's take a read.
This is chapter 2 of Mark, starting in...
Why don't we start in verse 2?
And many were gathered together,
so that there was no more room, not even at the door.
And Jesus was preaching the word to them.
Notice, Jesus is preaching.
Five times I've counted, since chapter 1,
Jesus is either preaching, teaching, or proclaiming.
And in all cases, what's implied is that
he is preaching, teaching, and proclaiming the gospel.
The good news of God.
And this is no different.
He is preaching the gospel.
And people are eager to hear.
I have a suspicion, though,
and we'll see that people are actually eager just to see a miracle happen.
Jesus has already done a few of them.
Anyways, the crowd is pressing in against Jesus.
Verse 3.
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,
they removed the roof above.
And when they had made an opening,
they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
So this house, it would not have been a big house.
There's no room.
It wouldn't have been an uncommon thing to remove a part of the roof.
It's pitch.
It's wood.
You remove it.
It's, I mean, seasonally, they'd have to repair the roofs anyways.
So it's not like for us.
It's like, oh, yeah, he tore up on my roof.
Thanks a lot.
$20,000 bill or whatever, you know.
In this case, the guys are just like, well, we need to get this paralytic down.
They open the roof and they lower this friend down.
And then all of a sudden the excitement starts in the story.
Verse 5.
And when Jesus saw their faith, talking about the four friends,
he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven.
It's very interesting what we have here.
Jesus, he is proclaiming the gospel.
People are there maybe to hear the gospel, but really to see some kind of miracle.
Jesus is a miracle worker.
He heals people.
He casts out demons.
He cleanses lepers.
And he's proclaiming the gospel.
This paralytic comes and there's like almost bated breath, I can picture.
And instead of healing him right off the bat, he says your sins are forgiven.
If we pause it right there, there is no miracle that is happening.
Jesus is just pronouncing words.
The wonderful thing about this is that Jesus is seeing the faith of the friends of the paralytic.
He sees their faith and then looks at the paralytic and forgives them of his sins.
And this isn't like a point in the sermon, a bit of an aside.
Don't give up on praying for your friends and family.
Do not give up.
If you've been praying for something, for some kind of breakthrough for years, don't give up.
God hears your prayers and they're precious to him.
And he might move the next prayer you pray.
He might do a miracle in your midst and change hearts or bring great healing.
This is what we have here.
These guys, in a sense, are interceding for their friend.
They're helping their friend.
They're sacrificing for their friend.
It's a bit of an aside.
Don't stop praying for those in your life.
Let's get back to the text.
Jesus, unlike any other religious leader in the Bible, he is pronouncing forgiveness of sins on his own authority.
The prophets, the kings, whoever, they are saying stuff in the Bible, saying like,
The Lord forgive you your sins.
The Lord forgive you of all of your infirmities.
All of your misdoings.
Jesus here, what does he say?
He says, Son, your sins are forgiven.
He is speaking with authority as if this man whom he just has met is under him.
He is over his authority.
And it's also very interesting that Jesus here, it seems like, so nothing specific is given in terms of what these sins are.
But it's, Jesus is, he's not just saying some kind of generic thing.
He is speaking to the heart of that young man on his cot, on his bed, and he's saying your sins are forgiven.
The very specific things about, the thing about sins is they're very specific to us.
In a kind of a weird way, our sins are the things that make us quite unique.
I mean, you might do the same kind of sin as somebody else, but it's unique to you in the situation.
Jesus looks at this young man and says, son, your sins are forgiven.
He speaks to his heart.
Jesus knows what's up.
He knows what this guy needs.
And he speaks directly to him.
Really, really incredible and also controversial, and this is kind of where it picks up steam.
Mark draws our attention to the next verses.
And in many ways, the scribes are going to say, verse 6 and 7.
But if you're being honest and following along and kind of putting your Christian history behind, if you can,
and you're reading this, you might ask the question,
who is, what kind of gall does Jesus have in saying this?
And the Pharisees say just this in verse 6.
Now, some of the scribes, the scribes of the Pharisees were sitting there questioning in their hearts,
why does this man speak like that?
He is blaspheming.
Who can forgive sins but God alone?
The thing here is that they're not wrong.
Verse 7, what does it say?
Who can forgive sins but God alone?
They're right.
Jesus never corrects that bit, does he?
Look what he says after.
He says, why do you question these things in your heart?
He is addressing how they're incensed with Jesus,
that he is a blasphemer in their books.
See, the scribes aren't wrong, but they're failing to see that Jesus,
there's something about him.
He is a divine man.
There is something wonderful about this man.
And isn't it so interesting that we can be almost right,
and yet be completely wrong?
We can get 90% or, you know, three quarters of things right,
and we can just slip up on one bit,
and it renders everything wrong.
And this is what's happening with the Pharisees here.
Jesus is perceiving in their spirit.
So not only does Jesus say something that only God does,
aka forgive sins,
but he is perceiving in their spirit.
He is reading their minds.
Who can read the mind of somebody?
I've, you know,
I think I have intuition with Christine, my wife,
where she can give a look,
and I'm just like,
I know exactly what she's thinking.
Maybe I nail it every now and then.
Not too, too often.
We don't have intuition.
We don't know.
We can't read people's minds.
You can know somebody very, very well and misread.
Jesus here, he is nailing it.
He is perceiving what they were thinking.
Only God can do such things.
Who knows the mind of men except God?
Who knows,
who can understand what's going on in the human mind,
in the human heart except God?
And it speaks to Jesus' divinity.
It continues.
Jesus says,
Why do you question these things in your heart?
Which is easier to say to the paralytic,
your sins are forgiven,
or to say, rise, take up your bed, and walk.
And we'll pause there.
What is easier to say?
I can say anything I want.
I can say, yeah,
your sins are forgiven you.
Nobody can verify that.
I just say stuff.
If I all of a sudden then said,
you know,
take up your bed and walk,
and nothing happens,
I mean, that's the harder thing to verify.
That's the harder thing of the two.
I can say whatever I want.
If that person doesn't get up,
it's not verified.
I'm a liar.
I'm a cheat.
I'm a swindler.
My words mean nothing.
Jesus here,
he says,
what is easier to say to the paralytic,
your sins are forgiven,
or to say,
rise up,
rise,
take up your bed,
and walk.
Verse 10,
but that you may know
that the Son of Man
has authority on earth
to forgive sins.
Then he looks to the paralytic,
I say to you,
rise,
pick up your bed,
and go home.
And the paralytic,
former paralytic,
rose and immediately
picked up his bed
and went out before them all,
so that they were all amazed
and glorified God,
saying,
we never saw anything like this.
Jesus,
he says to the man,
your sins are forgiven,
and then,
he validates that claim
that only God could make
by healing the paralytic.
Because the same authority
and ability to heal
is the same authority
and ability to forgive sins,
to truly forgive sins.
Only God and God alone
can forgive sins.
The authority is only God's,
and clearly here,
Jesus has that authority.
And for you folks,
if you have friends
that are Jehovah's Witnesses,
or are Muslim,
or people that are just skeptics,
atheists,
say something like,
Jesus never ever claimed to be God,
it was some manifestation
that came up later on,
the church made it up,
or Paul made it up.
Jesus, sure,
he doesn't say that I am God.
Everything in this section
screams that Jesus is God.
Everything.
That he has God's divine authority,
God's divine ability.
Only he can forgive sins.
Him and him alone.
Jesus heals the sinner,
but really, what does he do?
He forgives the sinner.
He is validated
as God himself
with all authority.
And this, then,
forgiveness
flavors the rest of this portion
of Scripture.
So,
he shows his forgiveness,
Jesus does,
by healing a paralytic,
but then also
with the call of a traitor.
Take a look with me
at verses 13 and 14.
Jesus went out again
beside the sea,
and all the crowd
was coming to him,
and he was teaching them.
Again,
Jesus is teaching.
He is proclaiming.
He is preaching the gospel.
Verse 14,
And as he passed by,
he saw Levi,
the son of Alphaeus,
sitting at the tax booth.
And he said to him,
Follow me.
And he rose
and followed him.
Levi,
also known as Matthew,
is a tax collector.
And he most certainly
was a traitor
to his people.
He was a collaborator
with a foreign power.
I don't think it's quite
apples to apples,
but I think something
that would maybe
be a bit more current
is, say,
the French
who collaborated
with the Nazis
during the war.
This foreign power
came in.
They were oppressive.
They taxed people
into poverty.
And this tax collector
was a Jewish man
who collected taxes
and stuffed his pockets,
lined his pockets
with money
that was forcefully taken.
There was no chance
that Levi was a part
of the religious community.
He was greedy.
He was on the outskirts.
He was considered
a traitor
to his own people.
He was an unclean person.
In fact,
there were two big rabbis
not too long
after Jesus' time
who disagreed
on just about everything.
But one of the things
that they agreed upon
was that it's totally
permissible to lie
to tax collectors.
They don't deserve
our honesty.
They're traitors.
I don't know
if there's some kind
of equivalent
in our day,
but the tax collectors
were not cool guys.
They weren't.
They're not like CRA people
or just bureaucrats
just doing their job.
These guys were corrupt.
They were corrupt.
They sold out
their own people.
Jesus shows up
just like with
Andrew and Simon
and James and John
in chapter 1
and he doesn't say,
Levi,
you need to get
your act together,
clean yourself up,
and then come follow me.
He just says,
follow me.
It's the same call
as the four other ones
in chapter 1.
He says,
follow me.
And what does Levi do?
He leaves his tax booth
and he follows Jesus.
We start to see
the beginning of restoration,
that forgiveness
is being extended
to somebody
who ought not
to be forgiven.
I mean,
he really shouldn't.
He should pay
for what he's done.
You know,
sometimes vengeance
feels good
and it feels right
and I'm not saying
it's,
I'm not condoning it,
but it's like,
like you're,
if you're being honest
with yourself,
like yeah,
that guy should just
be tossed in jail.
The key should be
melted down,
like not even
tossed in a river,
just obliterated.
Jesus says,
follow me
and he starts
to extend forgiveness
and all of a sudden
we start to see
that the forgiveness
that Jesus extends
is truly scandalous.
It is.
It knows no bounds.
There's no untouchables
to Jesus' forgiveness.
No matter what
we have done,
are we Levi?
And even if we were worse,
this text tells us
that the call
is for us as well.
It's beautiful.
It really,
it really is something.
And it,
it makes me uncomfortable.
Because the,
the,
the levels of forgiveness
that have been extended
to me,
we'll talk about this
in a bit,
God is calling me
to extend them to others
and I don't want to.
I really don't.
Maybe you don't either.
I don't know,
I don't know
if you,
if you want to either.
But Jesus extends
this forgiveness
to persona non grata
Levi.
It's,
it really is
something else.
And what is
Levi's response?
Yeah,
I'm taking it.
I'm,
I'm taking this,
this offer
and I'm following Jesus.
And this brings us
to the other thing
that shows us
about God's forgiveness
is the dinner party.
So it's,
it's clear,
we'll continue on,
verse 15.
It's clear that this is
at Levi's,
what's implied is that
it's at Levi's house.
But before we read it,
it's also implied here
that Levi isn't the host.
But Jesus is the host.
And as he reclined,
Jesus at table
in Levi's house,
many tax collectors
and sinners
were reclining
with Jesus
and his disciples.
For there were many
who followed him.
And the scribes
of the Pharisees
when they saw
that he was eating
with sinners
and tax collectors,
see unclean there.
Unclean.
No different
in many respects
than the leprous man.
Okay?
See,
see that.
Think unclean.
We'll go back
in verse 16.
And the scribes
of the Pharisees
when they saw
that he was eating
with sinners
and tax collectors,
those that were unclean,
said to Jesus' disciples,
why does he eat
with tax collectors
and sinners?
And when Jesus heard it,
he said to them,
those who are well
have no need
of a physician,
but those who are sick.
I came not to call
the righteous,
but the sinners.
And it's not as though
there are a class
of righteous people
that Jesus isn't referring to.
What he's saying is,
I've come for everybody
because everybody's a sinner.
There are none righteous.
I've come for everybody.
Who here looks like
the true,
unclean sinner?
Is it the tax collectors
and sinners?
Sinners is this kind
of generic term.
Or does it,
is it the Pharisees?
Like,
is there not room
at the table
for them too?
I think there would be.
Their pride wells up.
Their self-righteousness
wells up.
We are the religious ones.
These people
that were the tax collectors
and sinners,
they were either
too busy
or too poor
or just completely indifferent
to join any kind
of religious life
in Israel at the time.
Interestingly,
shepherds were a part
of that.
Shepherds,
I know we read about
shepherds
in King David,
King David being a shepherd
and Christ has
a beautiful picture
of a shepherd.
But shepherds became
the type that were
untrusted
because they weren't
a part of religious life.
prostitutes,
tax collectors,
beggars,
lepers,
you name it.
They were unable
to participate
in religious life.
And Jesus,
what does he do?
He doesn't whip them.
He doesn't just
give them a tongue lashing.
He eats with them.
He has table fellowship
with them.
You can invite anybody
over to your house
and if you feel comfortable,
you probably should
if you can.
But, you know,
it's nice to have dinner
with somebody.
To have table fellowship
with somebody
in the Bible,
it meant
that you were
embracing them.
That there was
a connection,
there was
a friendship,
there was
some sort of
deep,
deep bond.
And that's what's
happening with Jesus.
He is
the true host.
He is
forgiving the sinners
and the tax collectors.
And the basis
of this table fellowship
is truly forgiveness.
And although
we don't see it here
as though
the tax collectors
and sinners
are throwing themselves
at Jesus' feet
asking for forgiveness,
forgiveness,
we know that
in Scripture
that the basis
for table fellowship
is the forgiveness
of sins.
How do we know?
At the end of the age,
and if anybody
wants to turn to,
I'll just read it
off my notes,
Revelation chapter 19,
at the end of the age,
the redeemed of God,
those that He saves,
will dine with Him.
It's called
the marriage supper
of the Lamb.
And although Revelation,
the book of Revelation,
can be kind of intense
and difficult to understand
and, I don't know,
cause of all sorts
of controversy,
Revelation 19,
6-9,
I mean,
it is like the high point
of our existence,
of what we'll experience.
That we are forgiven
in such a way,
clothed with God's righteousness,
and we dine with Him.
Verse 6 of chapter 19,
Then I heard what seemed
to be the voice
of a great multitude.
This is John,
the Apostle,
speaking.
Like the roar
of many waters,
and like the sound
of mighty peals
of thunder,
crying out,
Hallelujah!
For the Lord,
our God,
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice
and exalt
and give Him the glory.
For the marriage
of the Lamb
has come,
and the bride
has made herself ready.
It was granted
her to clothe herself
with fine linen,
bright and pure.
For the fine linen
is the righteous deeds
of the saints.
And verse 9 says,
And the angel said to me,
Write this,
Blessed are those
who are invited
to the marriage supper
of the Lamb.
And he said to me,
These are the true words
of God.
To dine with Jesus.
That there is no more
separation between us
and Him.
His forgiveness
goes down
to the last inch
of our being.
There's no more
of us
that is no longer
redeemed.
We're redeemed
completely.
If you are honest
with yourself
and you
ask yourself,
What sins
have I committed
that are very unique
to me?
That make me unique?
And if you are
honest and raw
with yourself
about that,
and you might feel
shame and guilt,
look to the cross
and know that God
has forgiven them all
if you only
cry out to Him.
If you only
leave the tax booth
and follow Him.
In the end,
it really isn't
the amount of faith
we have.
And we want to grow
in our faith.
We do.
But it's the object
of our faith.
That's what matters.
It does not,
it doesn't matter
as much
in many respects.
In fact,
it doesn't matter
at all
at how tight
my grasp
is on Jesus
if His grasp
on me
exists.
Because He'll never
let me go.
That's why
when we go through
tough times
where our faith
wanes,
it's like we have
no faith,
it feels like,
we can be sure
that God
in Christ
is not letting us go.
The object
of our faith
is what matters.
So Jesus
dines with sinners.
And it is this
beautiful picture
of what is to come
and all of a sudden
we start to see
a bit more
of who this Messiah is.
Mark is laying
these breadcrumbs.
He's leading us
on the trail
to the cross.
We're seeing
what Jesus is going
to do on the cross.
How He is going
to truly forgive
our sins.
He's going
to pay the penalty
on our behalf
so that we can
be in His presence
forever.
It's something
you could have
infinite lifetimes
to try to earn
and you won't
earn it.
It's incredible.
It is remarkable.
How do we respond?
Well, there's
a few different ways.
We can look
at the four
friends
lowering their
paralytic friend
through the roof.
We can look
at Levi
and how he
leaves his tax booth.
Those are all
I think really good
things to look at
as an example
of how we are
to respond
to Jesus.
But Jesus
in verse 14
of chapter 1
really verse 15
when Jesus
comes on the scene
his first words
that he says
in Mark's gospel
it says
the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom
of God
is at hand.
Repent and believe
in the gospel.
The response
is to repent
and believe.
It is.
Jesus says it.
And in the same
message
he either
preaches
teaches
or proclaims
it's the same
thing.
Repent
and believe
in the gospel.
So what does it
mean to repent?
I think
it's being honest
about our sin.
We need to recognize
that we need
deep forgiveness.
We need to not
justify the fact
that we are
tax collectors
and sinners.
And our society
is set up
in such a way
maybe even
your mind
is set up
in such a way
that justifies
sin.
The way
we see need
and choose
not to
meet it
not because
we don't have
the means
or the time
or the ability
because we're selfish.
Or the things
we do with our bodies.
How we view
sexuality.
We have this
kind of subjective
nature about it.
How we
abuse people
with words
or deeds.
We are mean.
We are
just
low level
abusive
in maybe
sometimes
the way
we treat people.
Whatever it may be
we can easily
justify our sin.
The call
of repentance
is to just
be honest.
Be honest
with your need
for Jesus.
That's it.
I mean
it really
is just
first and foremost
recognize
that we
are in need
of him.
We can't
live a godly
life.
We are the
tax collectors
and sinners
in the story
by the way.
Just in case
you were thinking
you were
maybe
I don't know
somebody a bit
more nicer
in the story.
I'm the
sinner and tax
collector
in the story.
Maybe you're
even the
Pharisee
or the
scribe.
The call
is still
the same
to repent
and believe
so we
repent
we throw
ourselves
at the
mercy
of
Jesus
we stop
justifying
we stop
seeing truth
as subjective
but objective
that there is a
truth that there is a
way to truly live
and the second thing
is to believe
and it is to have
faith in Jesus
and again
it is
it matters
more about
who our faith
is in
than how much
faith we have.
We want to continue
to grow in faith.
I can't say that
enough
but we have
our faith
and trust
in Jesus.
We need to be
careful
that we're not
like the crowds.
The crowds
in the gospel
of Mark
for whatever
reason
show up
and Jesus
has compassion
on them
he teaches
them
but they
get in the
way
the crowds
do.
They get in
the way
of this
whole healing
of the
paralytic.
The crowds
aren't
they don't
exactly have
the best
reputation
here.
Remember
Jesus
when he's
going to
get
crucified
where are
the crowds
then?
It's really
easy to
think
I am
close to
Jesus
because I
am a
part of
the church.
I am a
church goer
and it's
really good
to go to
church
and to be
around
church people.
It really
is.
But let
that not
be confused
with having
genuine
faith in
Christ.
To be
more of
like the
Levi
who follows
Jesus
rather than
the crowds
that just
hang around
looking for
a show
or maybe
the benefit
of being
a part
of a
community
or being
a part
of a
more of
like a
respectable
person or
a part of
polite society.
I don't mean
necessarily like
within our
community but
within the
group.
I don't
know.
Whatever
thing that
you think
coming to
church will
do,
it has to
start with
Christ.
Repent and
believe.
And it is
hard and I'll
close with
this.
We're not
going to
get to
the second
part of
Mark until
sometime in
the new
year.
We're going
to go up
to chapter
nine and
then we'll
switch it up
for a few
weeks or
something like
that and
then we'll
come back
to Mark.
But when we
come back to
Mark,
whenever that
will be,
I think
maybe the
fall of
2022,
there's this
really beautiful
picture where
this desperate
man comes to
Jesus and
begs that
Jesus would
do a miracle
for his
boy.
And he
says to
Jesus,
I believe,
help my
unbelief.
That is
becoming a
prayer in
my life
because I
realize,
Lord, I
believe,
actually I
don't,
help me.
My faith is
small.
I don't
trust that
you can
really
forgive my
sins.
That you
are the
one who's
really going
to restore
me.
And cleanse
me.
And that I
truly have a
spot at
your table.
But the
prayer is,
I believe,
help my
unbelief,
I believe,
even with a
tiny shred,
you can
pray,
of faith,
that you
are the
one who's
doing this
work.
And I
think it
brings great
joy to
God.
And that he
will work
in our
hearts to
grow that.
And we
grow,
by the
way,
with
fellowshipping
with one
another,
by reading
his word,
by praying
with one
another,
by lifting
each other
up,
carrying each
other's
burdens,
not trying
to get
some kind
of new
result by
the same
sinful
decisions.
Friends,
our God
has set a
table for
us.
It is
what we
will be
doing for
eternity.
Let's
really press
into that.
Heavenly
Father,
we thank
you so
much for
the truth
of your
word.
We thank
you that
Jesus
indeed came
to heal
the sick
and not
the well,
to call
the sinner
not the
righteous.
Lord,
help us
to never
think that
in our
own strength
we can
be the
righteous,
that we
are well,
but it's
only through
your Son
that we
are made
righteous,
only through
your Son
that we
are forgiven,
only through
your Son
that we
are cleansed.
Lord,
by your
Spirit,
do a big
work in
our hearts,
we pray,
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.